An obstacle detection apparatus for detecting the three-dimensional shape of a parked vehicle (30A, 30B) based on an image of periphery of a vehicle and a distance to the parked vehicle present in the vehicle's periphery, the apparatus comprising: a single beam sensor using laser or a sonar using supersonic waves for determining, in association with traveling of the vehicle along a direction, a distance to the parked vehicle present in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle traveling direction; a camera for obtaining a peripheral image having a view angle including the parked vehicle, in association with the traveling of the vehicle; subject-vehicle position specifying means for sequentially specifying a present position of the vehicle which changes in association with the traveling of the vehicle; first-plane setting means for setting, as a first plane and based on said distance and said subject-vehicle position, a face of the parked vehicle which extends perpendicular to the horizontal plane and extends, at the same time, along the traveling direction of the vehicle; plane-edge estimating means for estimating a plane edge of said first plane relative to the vehicle moving direction, based on said distance and said position of the vehicle; image recognition area setting means for setting, as an image recognition area, a corner portion (CA, CB) of the parked vehicle included in the peripheral image and including said plane edge; image recognizing means for image-recognizing an occlusion profile of the parked vehicle in the image recognition area from the peripheral image, so as to recognize a curve shape of the corner portion (CA, CB) of the parked vehicle; and three-dimensional shape recognizing means for recognizing the parked vehicle three-dimensionally, based on said first plane and the result of the image recognition made by said image recognizing means. a single beam sensor using laser or a sonar using supersonic waves for determining, in association with traveling of the vehicle along a direction, a distance to the parked vehicle present in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle traveling direction; a camera for obtaining a peripheral image having a view angle including the parked vehicle, in association with the traveling of the vehicle; subject-vehicle position specifying means for sequentially specifying a present position of the vehicle which changes in association with the traveling of the vehicle; first-plane setting means for setting, as a first plane and based on said distance and said subject-vehicle position, a face of the parked vehicle which extends perpendicular to the horizontal plane and extends, at the same time, along the traveling direction of the vehicle; plane-edge estimating means for estimating a plane edge of said first plane relative to the vehicle moving direction, based on said distance and said position of the vehicle; image recognition area setting means for setting, as an image recognition area, a corner portion (CA, CB) of the parked vehicle included in the peripheral image and including said plane edge; image recognizing means for image-recognizing an occlusion profile of the parked vehicle in the image recognition area from the peripheral image, so as to recognize a curve shape of the corner portion (CA, CB) of the parked vehicle; and three-dimensional shape recognizing means for recognizing the parked vehicle three-dimensionally, based on said first plane and the result of the image recognition made by said image recognizing means.