Hey Ladies I'm back

[tethatsme]

All right we have owned our bird for almost a year, and I am planning our first big vacation. So I need some more advice on camp sites/camp grounds. Hubby wants to do like off the grid kind of camping, as in staying overnight in Walmart parking lots,and state parks.

Looking around on the internet trying to find campgrounds I'm finding they are running $35.00 to $40.00 a night. Is this the going rate or I'm I looking in the wrong places?
I have been trying to check out state park campsites some are $10.00 to $15.00 a night but have not had much luck with reservation with them. so my question is, is it worth taking a chance not having a reservation and trying to get in to the state park, or go with a campsite like koa make reservation and be safe, is it really necessary to have reservation at campsites? do they stay full all the time?

am I just trying to over think this?

[isp2952]

I have never made a reservation at a campground when traveling unless I was going to stay for an extended time or going to a rally. If I go from day to day I just usually try to get to the campground before 5 p.m. I may not get the best spot but when I'm just stopping for the night I don't care what they give me.

The rates you are quoting seem to be about right, but it all depends on where you are going too. The high tourist area campgrounds will be more and the ones out in the boonies will be less. State and national parks are fine but many are very small but you having a 36' coach will make that more manageable. Many of those parks have a large number of first come first served spots along with a smaller group that you can reserve. National and state parks frequently have a private company that does there reservations. A search should get you to them. Good luck and have fun.

[George Roberts]

If you are just staying a night or two in places Passport America will pay for itself quickly. It is half off the normal rate but usually only good for a night or 3.

[George Roberts]

Use http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ to find a spot.

[Mallie Lennon]

Hello Te,,
If you like AC, the generator is not going to be cheap at walmart.

You should not have a problem staying under $25 most of the time. There are some places where you will pay $40, for a few days. I think that is what we paid in Cherry Hill in DC. But you have to keep these to a minimum if you are on a budget.

Daily is always the highest price. If you are going to be in one place for a week, there are much lower weekly rates, and monthly is usually the same price as two weeks.


http://www.passport-america.com/
offers some half price with some restriction and some good discounts and an online directory.

Best is Federal facilities, at
http://www.recreation.gov/
Some wonderful lake side sites an $20, and half that if you have a golden age pass.
But still, full price of $20 is very good. You can pick elect needed ect. Most do not have sewer at each site but they do have a dump in the park. We did stay at on in Cotton hill, Al or Ga I think, $22 and sewer on site, Course us old folks that converts to $11.

Tell us where you are going and you will get many suggestions along your route.

[iamflagman]

Originally Posted by Mallie Lennon

Best is Federal facilities, at
http://www.recreation.gov/

I have been using this site for years to find US Army Corps Of Engineers campgrounds very similar to the link that Mallie provided. I find a lot of them can accommodate both my 'Bird and trailer at 62 feet overall, some easier to access than others but they have all been very nice campgrounds. http://www.reserveamerica.com/

I have also used this website to find either FREE or low cost campgrounds.
http://freecampsites.net/usa/

I have also used this site to find FREE parking at Casino's and some of them have low cost campgrounds too http://www.casinocamper.com/

[tethatsme]

wow that was educational.
Passport America very cool place think we will be using that one.
US Army Corps Of Engineers campgrounds another cool one, well they were all cool sites I've spent a week looking around and at hundreds of site never came close to any as helpful as those. thanks so much for the suggestion.
Te ;-)

[peteaeonix]

Passport America does pay for itself in a very short time. That said, some of the PA parks are real dogs where I wouldn't stay if they paid me. But I've stayed at some decent to really nice parks -- and if they didn't happen to be very busy, they've even bent their PA rules go get me in under the PA rate (as that would be better than no revenue at all).

RVParkReviews.com is an excellent place to vet RV parks. Good Sam also has an app for a smart phone or iPad/tablet that "rates" RV parks based on certain criteria (that may or may not matter to you). I suggest signing on as a "member" and making reports of the RV sites you use, both commercial and in fed/state parks.

RVParkReviews is a user-based rating system, where people who actually visit the parks will express their honest opinions. But it does pay to "read between the lines" sometimes. We stayed at an RV park in east Texas that was well off the beaten path. It only had a couple of reviews, including one devastating review that only awarded one star ... with the primary criticism being that "it was in the middle of nowhere" (well, you could see that on a map) and "there was nothing for the kids to do" (well, we don't travel with kids and we enjoy a very quiet RV park). So the factors that reviewer gave "zeros" to, were the factors we'd give a "10" to.... We enjoyed our stay, though we arrived hours late, long after dark, due to our blowout earlier in the day. The owners were very helpful, holding lights while we unhooked the toad and guiding us into a back-in space (only ones available) in near-pitchdark.

As for the Good Sam "ratings" they are based on an evaluation by a "professional" campground rater. The key factors relate to facilities offered, like playgrounds, clubhouse, swimming pool, etc. Restrooms and showers are rated as a primary factor. Basically, there is little to the Good Sam ratings we find attractive -- but now that we're driving a Roadtrek, the shower/bathroom ratings have taken on more interest. (I don't think I ever used the bathroom or shower in an RV park while we had our 'bird.) Good Sam has more parks listed than RVParkReviews.

I have noticed that RV parks and even State parks have come up in price quite significantly over the past few years. While official reports of inflation have shown little increase, anybody who goes to the grocery store or gas station knows otherwise -- and RV camp sites have also "inflated" somewhat over the years. Here in the Pacific NW, State parks in Washington and Oregon are often nearly the same price as commercial RV parks. (One State Park in Port Townsend (Fort Worden (sp?) state park) was actually more expensive than a couple of nearby commercial parks.) Despite the high prices for state parks, I still prefer them to commercial parks as the ambience is usually much better in the parks. Some parks in Oregon have features that rival commercial campgrounds, such as cable TV... (On the other hand, California State Parks tend to be overpriced and often do not have good facilities for RVs (no water or electric hook-ups).)

Online reservations for state and federal parks are often run by private contractors -- and there are frequently user fees added to the camping cost. ($3 to $6 per reservation, from what I've seen.) Most parks have a few first come first served spaces -- or spaces that are released due to a no-show -- that you might be able to get. As a practical matter, non-reserved spaces are most available between Sunday night through Thursday night. In other words, non-weekend days ... but holidays will narrow the FCFS spaces on Sunday nights for Monday holidays -- and the week before and after a major holiday may also have limited "walk in" spaces. I discovered that I could not reserve a "one night" space in Washington State Parks on a holiday weekend. Three night reservations were all that were allowed over the holiday period.

National parks vary significantly in quality for RVs in their campgrounds. In Washington (state) the several national parks mostly do not have real RV camp sites. Communal water faucets (no hose attachment) and 15 amp only electricity (if available at all). Note that most RVs will trip the (required) GFI plugs due to some inherent incompatibilities. (Both my 'Bird and my Roadtrek will trip a GFI socket... though I can find no electrical problems at all.)