Campgrounds & Parks

Some thoughts on various Campgrounds and RV Parks I have stayed at

I have not stayed at any where near enough places to form a wide ranging comprehensive study on the subject, but like many polls these days, supposed accurate answers can be gotten with limited data! I do see some indications that have held true across multiple states and locations though.

Parks that have over 1/2 of their spots taken up by full time or seasonal campers tend to be built for THOSE residents and short term stays are after thoughts. These parks are ok for a night or two, but try and find a better place to stay if you are looking to park some where for a couple of weeks or longer.

A park that tends to nickel and dime you, tends to be in poor condition. Examples of things to look for in this area are to be found in key words in their ads and policies, like metered showers, electric hot water heaters extra, and other such tack on charges that move the real day rate charge up significantly. And surprisingly, they are not putting these charges back into the park but without fail, every where there has been charges like this, they are clearly milking the business and not putting much if any thing back into it.

Pull through spots are much preferred to back ins!! Especially is towing a tag vehicle or with a 5th wheel

Trees are nice, but watch out of trees with NUTS on them, acorns bouncing off the roof are not fun at 2 am, or any other time for that matter. Also watch for which direction the southern sky is. That great shade tree just might be in the way of your Satellite Dish

If the spots are not stone or cement and you have energy and time, find another Park to stay over at. Dirt or sand pads are fine when boon docking or staying over in a National Park. That is a not acceptable in an RV Park for anything other than an overnight stay and that just barely. The other side of things, parks with a lawn watering system is another one to not stay at for any length of time. The areas may look nice, but having to pick up your stuff each night because they get wet when they water the laws is a pain.

Look at the quality of the dumping station. That will tell you a lot about the quality of a site. Look to see if there is a hose there at all, and if it has ends on it that have useable threads, or is just some scrap length thrown up there.

WiFi is becoming available in more parks every month. Soon, it will be a requirement to compete for a diminishing RV population. Just like any other broad band connection, the number of people using it impacts performance. I was in a park in VA that day one when it was sunny out and everyone was at the pools, or fishing or site seeing, the speed was great. The next day it rained and the performance was below dial-up, averaging about 35% dropped packets just due to the number of bored and stuck indoors campers and their kids using it. Some parks that are big enough usually have more than one access point, some have not spent the money for this yet. Ask if there is any quality of service guarantee before you pay for WiFi if they are "up charging" you for service.

And last but not least, look at a park before you pay for a long term stay. Or at the very least, pay for one or two nights and THEN extend the stay if the park is acceptable.

Woodall' does the best review of the various parks. You can check them out in their yearly publication or on line for a membership fee. Most sites that have a good Woodall's rating will trumpet it all over in their advertising, so I am not sure you need to join. If a site does not list their Woodall's rating, either they have not been rated or it was a low rating. Let the Buyer be Ware on those! Also look at the DATE of the Woodall's last review. Many times they are a few years old and things have been backsliding.

There are also many Membership Only parks, where you have to buy in to be able to stay there. Thousand Trails, Coast to Coast, Western Horizons, Resorts of Distinction, AOR and several more. The advantage of these parks is significantly lowering or eliminating recurring costs. Once you have bought in, you do not pay any (or very low) nightly fees. After checking out the mix and options, I bought into Western Horizons and Resorts of Distinction. The program is not just for RV er's. You can stay in Park Model units at most of the Resorts, or in Condos at some of them. The cheapest way to travel I have ever seen, especially in 4 and 5 star resorts. I spent 3 weeks in Palm Springs CA, at a 5 start resort, all for just 21 dollars.

BTW, I can see myself opening up a park some where when I am done traveling, if the right opportunity came along. The numbers look very attractive for revenue, though the start up costs are high. But what the heck, if the banks will loan me money to buy a toy that depreciates, they just might loan me the money to build a park that has a cash flow and appreciates :-) Maybe I can get Mr. Manager to co sign for me!!