People who have no idea about the stretches of road through the desert states should do a lot of research and choose a different mode of transportation there. It's not a pleasant way to die. Bicycles not recommended either. You just can't backpack there without water caches, lots of resources and preplanning, and going out there for weeks? uh uh. Without the desert rat experience it's like winter camping - not much margin for error with that extreme environment.

I do have experience with sleeping in parks - with people who do it, at least. At any given time I have two or three homeless people on my case load. Your Parks May Vary.