My family and I just begun our trip down the 101 on the west coast? We've just left a Campground and found it rather sketchy. There appears to be a number of people who live full time in some of the spaces, and many of them were worry some looking. Very intimidating. Just wondering how to avoid these types of campgrounds in the future? Looking for tips from more experienced campers then I.Also looking for 101 campground suggestions!ThanksJosh

Check out rvparkreview.comYou might also stay at ajy of the Oregon State Parks for this part of your trip

+1 on rvparkreviews.com and do not forget to post a review of the places you stop so others can benefitThe correct URL ISRVPARKREVIEWS.COM

donn0128 has the right 1st suggestion, I have another. Good and bad camps are in the definition of the user. Add google earth satellite view to your search plan. Max

First I plan our stops in a general area. I then look on www.woodalls.com and make a note of a couple and note the town where they are located. Then I check those out on www.rvparkreviews.com to make the final choice. If it's on Friday or Saturday night, a holiday or a popular tourist area, I make reservations. I also locate their address on www.googlemaps.com earth view and zoom to check out the entrance and where the sites are located. Works for us.

We usually will do a tour of the campground prior to staying as we have see numerous one as you mentioned, that being the case we drive on.

How to avoid bad campgrounds | Good Sam Community

Francesca_Knowl
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
Where are you? "101" goes through three States.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Oct 21, 2014
If you waved, engaged, tried to be friendly you would find that those folks are also friendly.....more than likely they are just trying to make a living and are caught up in the routine of life vs being on holiday.

Majority of situations...treat people like you want to be treated (without fear and disdain) and you will in return be treated likewise.
Vice versa holds true also.
Paul_Clancy
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
Good point. I've had more issues with the party crowd on holiday than any permanents. As asked 101 is quite long so if you are in cannon beach we love the cannon beach Rv park, visit yearly. Also just back from newport and the newport rv park and marina was nice but windy being right on the bay. Very scenic though. Fort stevens in warrenton/Astoria is very nice and the Koa there as well is top notch.
rockhillmanor
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
jaydub74 wrote:
My family and I just begun our trip down the 101 on the west coast? We've just left a Campground and found it rather sketchy. There appears to be a number of people who live full time in some of the spaces, and many of them were worry some looking. Very intimidating.

Just wondering how to avoid these types of campgrounds in the future? Looking for tips from more experienced campers then I.

Also looking for 101 campground suggestions!ThanksJosh

The state of the economy over the past years has had CG owners looking for more ways to increase revenue and CG's are allowing more and more residents into their CG's. And sadly over time this usually brings the CG down and not desirable/safe for RV'ers and their families.

What I do is call and ask how many 'residents' they have in the CG.

Don't get this confused with the term "seasonal". Those are RV'ers who leave their RV parked all year and only use them seasonally.

So short answer is call and ask how many "residents" the CG has.
Dick_B
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
We use the Good Sam and Trailer Life directories to choose campgrounds and like KOA's for their relatively consistent quality.
magnusfide
Explorer II
Oct 21, 2014
jaydub74 wrote:

Just wondering how to avoid these types of campgrounds in the future? Looking for tips from more experienced campers then I.

Also looking for 101 campground suggestions!

Thanks
Josh

Josh, http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ has reviews that are reliable and a complete listing of your campground options by city/state/region and the maps have filter options. TripAdvisor.com is also a great resource used by RVers. I always check these two sites for reviews.

I will also use Woodalls.com to narrow my initial search. I've found that Woodalls.com does a good job of listing the more reputable cgs for the most part. Allstays will give you a complete listing so be sure you look at the reviews there to see if there might be problems. Google Earth will give you an idea of proximity to highways.
rr2254545
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
Sounds like a campground we stayed in Redway California, was dirty and many of the camping units would be condemned if they were houses. A really rough permanent crowd with dogs running free all over the campground

It was highly rated by Good Sam and I sent them a long explanation of what we found
Jim_Shoe
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
I've only been in one CG that scared me. I didn't do my usual checking on this place because I got stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam due to a bad accident on an expressway. Late in the day and nobody in the office. A few beat up TTs but no tow vehicles by them or anybody outside. For medical reasons I have to have at least electric. So I headed on down the road until I found a Holiday Inn Express. Bet it was the first time they had a Class C in their parking lot!
tsetsaf
Explorer III
Oct 21, 2014
Research and www.campgroundviews.com are what we use. I like to see what we are getting in to.
lfloom
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014
Another endorsement for RVPark reviews, but you have to actually read the reviews, don't just look at the score. There might be a review like this: "wow, they have a lot of rules! they would not let me run my generator all day, and they were angry because I played my music" And, some people would not want to stay there, but to me, that is great. Also, you will see people who downgrade a park because trees block their satellite reception. So, make sure what people love/hate about a park are the same things you would love/hate about a park.