Forum Discussion

yankeeslover's avatar
yankeeslover
Explorer
Jan 19, 2014

Seasonal question for weekenders. how far is your campsite??

Im in my second year of camping with my TT. Last summer got real fed up with weekend camping with the camper with towing on a Friday evening, arriving late to the campground setting up, and then leaving early sunday morning.. it go so frustrating that I stopped camping in mid august because of all the hassle.. So this summer my family is considering trying seasonal. im in the Adirondacks of NYS. most campgrounds charge around 1500-2000 per season. I think this might be better for my family as I can leave work on a Friday night and not worry about towing and setup.. and then we can leave when we want on sunday.. Plus probably cheaper in the long run with less gas..
My main question is, how far do some of you travel to your seasonal sites? I found some seasonals around Lake George, which is around 45 minutes from me, but a lot of those sites look very busy, I found some campgrounds more north around the lake champlain area.. from pictures and reviews they look less busy then lake George.. but, would be around 2 hours one way for me. Im not sure if that's too far for the weekender or not.. im sorry, im very new to this. We took loan out for camper last year, and then we took a huge paycut right after, arghhhh. so I have to also be budget conscious. I found a campground by lake champlain only $850.00 per season.
I also have to find a place that my 7 yo daughter will have fun at.. so would like to find place that atleast has a pool for her.... I thank everyone for reading.. I am also posting this in the general rv board as im not sure where this should go..thanks
  • davosfam's avatar
    davosfam
    Explorer
    Jan 23, 2014
    Our lot is 30-45 minutes from our house. We spend most weekends there during the summer.

    It is really hard to get reservations around here so that was the deciding factor for us. I think this will be our first summer that we will camp exclusively at our lot.
  • tatest's avatar
    tatest
    Explorer II
    Jan 23, 2014
    35 miles. Not truly seasonal, but I'll set up for a couple weeks at a time, and commute daily. Do it several times a year, between trips. Lakefront site at a quiet, quite remote, tribal park. I prefer it to a very busy COE 18 miles from home.

    If I had to do weekends, my tolerance would probably be 100-150 miles, 2-3 hours, because that's my limit for travel to a resort lake for a 3-10 day stay.

    But your choices must be based on what is available. If you are 300 miles away from the only place worth staying the weekend, then that's what you must do. I've been a few places like that, but mostly been luckier. Grew up in Michigan where I was never more than 20-30 minutes from a lake, needed a really good reason to drive more than 100 miles for a weekend outing.
  • Kittykath's avatar
    Kittykath
    Explorer II
    Jan 21, 2014
    It's a 30 minute drive for us. In our hauling days, we'd end up at this campground anyway. It's a county park, so it doesn't have many more amenities than a good beach, a fishing pier & boat launch, volleyball, horseshoes and a couple of hiking trails. You'd be surprised how resourceful the kiddos can be even though activities aren't laid out in front of them.

    When one of 8 seasonal sites opened up, we grabbed it and are now grandfathered in for the future. Our kids are now out of high school, and the close proximity allows them to visit whenever, or go back and forth to college or work. It takes longer for DH and I to drive to our work places than to our campsite. We never miss the flurry of summer activities back at home. They'll be time for traveling and sightseeing in the future.
  • KA4EBU's avatar
    KA4EBU
    Explorer
    Jan 20, 2014
    Live in Memphis, have an RV spot on the Tennessee river at Savannah, TN. It is 102 miles from home to RV. We own the spot, so we leave the RV there from March/April to November, except for trips we take. Never thought we would like a place like that, but we love it.
  • TxTiger's avatar
    TxTiger
    Explorer
    Jan 20, 2014
    My seasonal is 350 miles from home. It's a long way but a great place to ride motorcycles. I trailer the motorcycles there and stay anywhere from 5 to 7 days. It's a full days drive there and back, so it's not a weekend type of trip. Works good for me as I can take off from my business about one week per month to go enjoy. I would like a closer spot but it's a destination area for motorcycle riding that I don't have close to home.
  • atomlinson's avatar
    atomlinson
    Explorer
    Jan 19, 2014
    1hr40min from home to our seasonal. Our main thing was finding a campground that would entertain our kids, especially my 11 year old daughter and any friends she wants to bring along. Our new seasonal is loaded with kids activities, including swimming lake with beach, go carts, game room, miniature golf, etc.

    What's also nice about a seasonal is that Sunday. No packing up and worrying about leaving early. We take it easy while the weekenders are packing up and going home, then have the campground pretty much to ourselves, then head home around 5 or 6 that evening.
  • JJBIRISH's avatar
    JJBIRISH
    Explorer
    Jan 19, 2014
    a two hour time limit is ok, 50/60 to 100 miles…
    close enough to use anytime, close enough for guest to visit and far enough to avoid uninvited guest…

    I am at my site most of the summer and roll south for the winter… the difference is I own and hold a simple deed to my campsite…

    That required some upfront cost but smaller (much smaller) annual cost, with a lot of amenities and things for the kids and the adults to do… it’s open all year so people can winter camp and do winter sports as well…
    my upfront cost have appreciated each year even in the downturn so I have almost no cost associated with the site including it’s use…
  • rjf7g's avatar
    rjf7g
    Explorer
    Jan 19, 2014
    It takes me 1:45 from the door of my house to the door of my camper with no stops. We camped over 100 nights last year as we open up the weekend before April 1 and close up the weekend after October 31, camp every weekend except the few we can't for work or family reasons, do 2-3 weeks of vacation (one in April for Spring Break and one or two in June/July for 4th of July). We take a color with groceries and a Rubbermaid tub with clothes down with us on Friday and bring leftovers and dirty clothes with us on Sunday or even Monday AM. We tried staying Sunday night and getting up early Monday AM to come home - we got in an extra night and did our morning chit chat on the way home so we actually only had to get up an hour earlier!

    Go for it!

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