South

Mr. Beef wrote:
to Texas to Kansas

By that - I'm assuming you don't plan to go west of I-45 - the freeway between Houston and Dallas, or certainly not past I-35 - the freeway from Laredo to San Antonio to Dallas to Oklahoma City to Wichita to Kansas City.

You can easily put two or three thousand miles on the road traveling in Texas from east to west to north to back east.

A few things about Texas.

The east Texas Gulf coast is okay, but nothing like the Florida panhandle coast. You probably don't want to go out of your way to visit Galveston or Corpus Christi for the beaches.

Texas has wonderful state parks, some with full-hookup sites. Many were initially built by the CCC. Some of my favorites in east Texas are Daingerfield, Caddo Lake, Tyler, Bonham. State parks are open year round.

Texas also has many wonderful US Corps of Engineers campgrounds on lakes across the state. Lake O' the Pines is very nice in east Texas. Most COE parks in Texas are open year round - one on every COE lake will be open all year. (A note - flooding in 2015 and 2016 damaged several campgrounds. The COE has not repaired all those, so some individual campgrounds might be closed until repairs are finished.)

Lake Texoma north of Dallas and COE parks in Oklahoma are closed from Oct 1 to either late March or late April.

The big cities - Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio/Austin - are worth a visit if you like big cities. There are few campgrounds in the city area - most are on the outskirts.

For Houston - we tend to stay on the north of town.

For Dallas - Cedar Hill State Park is centrally located to the south of the metroplex on Lake Joe Pool. Hickory Creek COE Park just of I-35E is north of the metroplex on Lake Lewisville. Holiday COE Park on Lake Benbrook southwest corner of the metroplex. In Grapevine near DFW airport is a good park run by the City of Grapevine - The Vineyards at Grapevine.

For San Antonio - there is on park in the central city that a lot of folks like. Name escapes me. We like the COE parks on Canyon Lake.

The Texas Hill Country is a stretch between 15 to 50 miles west of I-35 running from west of San Antonio up to near the Oklahoma border. The most popular areas are west of San Antonio and Austin. Many great state parks in the area and several very good commercial parks.

Trying to pick a best park or two in Texas is like trying to pick the best item on a Las Vegas casino buffet.

If you go to Florida, don't go to Grayton Beach SP! You wouldn't like it at all. The camp sites all, in the older section, have growies between them and way to private with elect & water, but no sewer. You feel isolated and alone. The beach, a drive, long walk or bike ride away, has virtually no one so if you sink, help is miles away. And the breeze is only intermittent at best and not hardy.
So I can tell you wouldn't like this place.

enjoy!

St Andrews State Park in Panama City, Fla. Fort Pickens in Pensacola. Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. All beach areas. Smokey Mountains are always a favorite.

No reason not to hit the Florida panhandle for some of the best beaches in the world and very nice campgrounds.

Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Luray KOA in VA (Skyline Dr and Caverns). Anastasia State Park FL. Stephen Foster State Park White Springs FL. East Bank Corps of Engineers Park, Chattahoochee FL. (look on Lake Seminole on recreation.gov, any of the FL state parks in the panhandle. Meaher State Park, Mobile AL. If you go to New Orleans we liked Bayou Segnette State Park. take I-310 south to US 90 east best way to get to the park). Lake Chicot State Park Arkansas. I would go back through Arkansas rather than Kansas. Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers Campground Lake Lewisville just north of Dallas TX. Twin Fountains RV Resort Oklahoma City OK. Then head east through Arkansas and southern Missouri?? Lake Fort Smith State Park AR. Sam A Baker State Park MO. You could also drop back down to I-40 and stop at Tom Sawyer RV Park on the MS River in West Memphis AR (one of our favorites). Nashville: Seven Points Corps of Engineers Campground on Percy Priest Lake or new commercial RV park: Safe Harbor RV Park on Percy Priest Lake. Noticed you were from TN but didn't say where. Please keep us posted. Enjoy your trip!

In NE Alabama Coleman Lake Campground in the Talladega National Forest is a beautiful and well kept campground. It's one of our favorite spots and I'm actually heading there today for six days. Very isolated, no cell phone service, fifteen miles to nearest town, great hiking and small lakes to kayak and fish. Only $16 a night with 50 amp service.

Others to consider are Oak Mountain State Park, Cheaha State Park, Nocalula Falls and as mentioned Gulf State Park.

2gypsies wrote:
Gulf State Park at Gulf Shores, Alabama is awesome...lovely white sand beach, fishing pier, good biking into town, huge campsites, fresh shrimp from the docks, good restaurants, close to Jacksonville, FL for a day trip to the air museum, lot to do in the area.

I think they meant Pensacola, FL. It is the Naval Air Museum which is awesome. DW and I went there a few years ago and it was awesome.

Put the Big South Fork on your list if you have not been there. Fall is a great time to visit.

Gulf State Park at Gulf Shores, Alabama is awesome...lovely white sand beach, fishing pier, good biking into town, huge campsites, fresh shrimp from the docks, good restaurants, close to Jacksonville, FL for a day trip to the air museum, lot to do in the area.

Lots of good camping in all of those states. Really depends on what you want and the kind of camping you like.

RVParky is a good planning program. Their trip planner lists camp grounds, links to reviews, calculates distance between them and re-orders them as you change the path.
Takes a little getting used to it, but worth the investment in time.