I'm pretty sure I have nearly every campground mobile app that exists and I'm constantly bouncing back and forth between them, never completely satisfied with any of them.I was trying to find a campground that would provide a specific experience that my wife and I was looking for. We wanted a full hook-up site within 250 miles of our house that was on the water, had a marina, had hiking trails and shaded sites.Most of the apps really failed when it came to those kinds of specific amenities. But then I found this website and am stunned at how detailed the search engine is. I have no idea how I've missed that this website existed for this many years.GoCampingAmerica Find a Park

12th Man Fan wrote:Thanks for sharing.Considering it doesn't show any parks within 25 miles of Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park or Billings, Montana I would say it isn't a very useful site for Montana as a whole.

The database is privately held campgrounds only. It also appears that it's limited to members of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC). That may limit the results but it's better than nothing when it comes to centralized amentity searches.

jeffcarp wrote:The database is privately held campgrounds only. It also appears that it's limited to members of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC). That may limit the results but it's better than nothing when it comes to centralized amentity searches.Just my opinion but the limits makes it unusable for us. For instance, no 50 amp FHU parks in Prescott, AZ when there are actually several? We Have found RV Park Reviews and RV Parky to be much more useful. Even if you use this to find some combination of amenities, you are still going to have to use the other sites to make sure there are not several more with the same amenities and some may be much better. In my opinion, this site is nothing more than a sales tool for ARVC.

How did I miss gocampingamerica.com? | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

lawrosa
Explorer
May 26, 2017
jeffcarp wrote:
Thanks lawrosa. I have the free version of that app but didn't realize that the paid version does amenity searches. Do you know what amenities are available for searching?

IDK but there is a drop down menu for it. If you go to the app download page and look at the pics they show it.

Ive wasted more then 7.99 in my lifetime so buying it to see whats there would be a no brainer to me if I was doing searches based on amenities.

I try to boondock at all costs so I dont need amenities..
Us_out_West
Explorer
May 26, 2017
accsys wrote:
jeffcarp wrote:
The database is privately held campgrounds only. It also appears that it's limited to members of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC).

That may limit the results but it's better than nothing when it comes to centralized amentity searches.

Just my opinion but the limits makes it unusable for us. For instance, no 50 amp FHU parks in Prescott, AZ when there are actually several? We Have found RV Park Reviews and RV Parky to be much more useful. Even if you use this to find some combination of amenities, you are still going to have to use the other sites to make sure there are not several more with the same amenities and some may be much better. In my opinion, this site is nothing more than a sales tool for ARVC.

Agree...their database leaves something to be desired.

We'll stick with our usual...RV Park Reviews, Good Sams and Passport America.
jeffcarp
Explorer
May 26, 2017
Thanks lawrosa. I have the free version of that app but didn't realize that the paid version does amenity searches. Do you know what amenities are available for searching?
lawrosa
Explorer
May 26, 2017
I think park advisor is one of the best apps when traveling.. Does a map search and takes you right to the parks website. Then a simple click and it gives you directions.

Every park known to man comes up, from walmarts to state parks, etc etc..

I use the free version whicjh is fine for me.

The $7.99 version lets you search by amenities...

https://usparkadvisor.com/
punomatic
Explorer
May 26, 2017
I tried a search for a campground within 200 miles of my home in Oregon and was offered places in TX, MI, NH, and MA. What am I doing wrong?
jeffcarp
Explorer
May 26, 2017
They are a trade organization just like Good Sam. The campgrounds that are part of their association are in the database.
Flapper
Explorer
May 26, 2017
jeffcarp wrote:
Flapper wrote:
Just don't go north of Iowa. Apparently there are no campgrounds in Minnesota.

There are 14 of them in Minnesota in the tool.

Sorry, got a little snarky. The concept is great. I went to their web site. Searched for 30amp, full hookup, pet friendly. Nothing within 200mi (the max) of the Twin Cities, or Brainerd, or Cass Lake (of which there is at least one that meets the criteria that I have stayed at). Just the kind of tool that should be available, but they seem to still need some work, as well as expansion of their database.
Searching_Ut
Explorer
May 26, 2017
Thanks for the link. As you know, there aren't any all encompassing web sites or apps out there. Options are always good and appreciated.
jeffcarp
Explorer
May 26, 2017
Flapper wrote:
Just don't go north of Iowa. Apparently there are no campgrounds in Minnesota.

There are 14 of them in Minnesota in the tool.
ParkCountry
Explorer II
May 26, 2017
jeffcarp wrote:
My point was not to submit this site for a campground search tool of the year award. My point was and remains that I couldn't find any other tool that allowed me to search or filter by the many amenities that I was looking for on this particular trip. This tool gave me some options when that kind of search was important to me. If it fails to give me results then I'll use one of the other equally flawed options to continue my search.

Thanks for the lead, Jeff. As they say, "No good deed goes unpunished."