Camp ground books

That big book Woodall's is worthless.

The ratings mean nothing. Listed alphabetically by city. If you don't know the names of the 'surrounding' small towns it is not going to help you. Phone numbers outdated. Address/directions usually wrong and half the time the CG listed is closed, etc. :R

After getting off the interstate to follow directions that lead no where that book went out the window.

Google the town you are in and the CG's will all pop up for you complete with phone number and link to their site.
Use google street view to see actual area and roads in.

Passport America -- and they do have some higher end parks/resorts also where your half price cost is $35+ per night - still a discounted stay in a very nice park.

Some essential 'books' I keep are:

Passport America - at times on the road we make the decision to change our schedule - and PPA is a best source to find an alternate campground for a quick night stop.

Camping With The Corps - a book I usually find at Camping World which list Corps of Engineers campgrounds.

Escapee's Travel Guide - list of commercial RV parks which offer Escapee's discounts. Relatively compact. I also keep a .PDF of the guide on my computer.

It's just sometimes in the truck on the road, we need to get some CG info without connecting to the net or opening a computer.

Mountain Mama wrote:
Check www.recreation.gov for corp of engineer parks. Google each state for state parks.

Recreation.Gov misses a lot of COE parks because they are walk-in only, with no reservations.

Besides recreation.gov, I also check the Army Corps of Engineers Gateway web site - because it list all the recreation sites on each lake/ river. Corp Gateway

I've found a lot of campgrounds where recreation.gov doesn't list any.

OMG thank you all so much. I have to have a book or something in case we move and havent planned. But good to know all the websites, groups and books. You all rock! Thanks.

Check www.recreation.gov for corp of engineer parks. Google each state for state parks.

We have a routine that works extremely well: we'll use the Woodalls & Allstays.com. Once we narrow down which cgs, we check TripAdvisor.com for reviews of the cgs and for nearby attractions and restaurants.

If we are looking for a camp ground in a strange place we use GOOGLE MAPS... LIke said above in the search form at the top of the map of the city or roadway you are in just type in RV Campground or something like that - always have RV in the search name.

This will show up all the RV campgrounds along the map you are viewing. Then mouse click on the displayed name for more info of the campground.

Another good use of GOOGLE is keep zooming down on the campground and switch to SATELLITE VIEW and you can view the campground layout. Some are so covered with trees which doesn't let you see the parking spots...

GOOGLE MAP TOWNSEND TN

EARTH VIEW TREMONT CAMPGROUND

Roy Ken

naturist wrote:
Books? Nobody uses books anymore. Everybody either uses one of the smartphone apps (actually, any Android or iOS phone, tablet, or iPod Touch) or they use one of the web sites that lists campgrounds. Much more practical. There are several free ones, but I recommend the Allstays one, which is not free, but has a LOT more information in it.

I have Allstays, but I also have the AAA books, which I reference.
Disproves your theory! (and yes, I am a dinosaur!):)

The Good Sams aka Woodall's book is useful if you are looking for a place to stop overnight. If you are planning ahead then there are better resources online. But we use the book since we don't always know where we will stop at the end of the day and can look in the book to get a phone number to call ahead.

join passport america....worth it if you don't mind so lower end campgrounds.

and, what is a book?