beginner advice on campground selection please

Always remember, different strokes for different folks. Friends think a RV park they go to is heaven. We drove thru it and did not find one lot we would take.
We want trees, shade and privacy. They want a view and a swimming pool. They would hate the ones we go to.

steveh2112 wrote:
also, there's talk of the national parks closing if the budget thing doesn't go through or something, i forget the details

i assume if you book at a nat park and its closed you get your money back?

Yes. I booked 5 nights at Cataloochee CG in the GSMNP in mid October. On the reservation receipt e-mail from Reserve America it states that if the park is closed due to an emergency I would get a complete refund. Being proactive and expecting the closure, I booked my vacation at a beautiful, private, remote campground in the middle of the Smokies on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The government can't close it, so I can enjoy my vacation without worring about politics.

Chip

Wing it & sample them all. No reservations unless over a holiday weekend in a popular area.

The private CGs are for doing laundry on weekends & maybe WIFI for ET to call home. County, State, COE & National parks are the preference Sunday through Thursday nights.

Make the long hauls Friday or Saturday. Do Wally & get the weeks shopping done while you are at it.

steveh2112 wrote:
also, there's talk of the national parks closing if the budget thing doesn't go through or something, i forget the details

i assume if you book at a nat park and its closed you get your money back?

That will be resolved, one way or the other, before you get here. And cosidering how bookings are done, no, I would not. expect to get my money back. Force majeur.

also, there's talk of the national parks closing if the budget thing doesn't go through or something, i forget the details

i assume if you book at a nat park and its closed you get your money back?

When you make your plans always try to have a second possible chocie. We were going to stay at a National Monument and when we arrived they were closed to put in new buildings. We stopped at a tourist information office and asked for help in finding a park. We were directed to a pit of an RV park after we had explained carefully that we wanted a public park to set up our tent. Luckily it was still early enough that we could travel on for several hours to our next stop.
Be willing to make changes if you find something along the way. We were directed to a National Forest in Nebraska that we really liked.

obgraham wrote:
You are trying to plan a USA trip the way you might in your country. That is going to be tough. I suggest you find another couple to buddy with -- we do stuff in odd ways here

the only friends we have that i would consider spending 6 months with just built a house and are pretty broke.

they would love to go but not possible next year.

anyhoo, we are planning to do a European trip with them in about 5 years when i'm officially retired and hopefully getting some of my US social security money back

by the way, i've done plenty of road trips in Thailand. i live in Phuket (south) and my wife is from the north and Thailand is as long as the US north to south so i'm no stranger to eating up the miles.

In addition to state and national parks good places are BLM campgrounds and those in the national forests. On average the cost we see is $15 a night and seniors with a pass pay half that amount.

Private parks will have full hookups and often Wifi and cable TV. Most of the time the rates are between $30 and $50 a night. The private parks are more likely to have pull through spaces and longer spaces for people towing trailers or another vehicle.

Most private RV parks are conveniently located close to a major highway which also makes them noisier overall than the state and federal campgrounds.

In terms of amenities and showers and overall restroom cleanliness I have found the national and state facilities to be better maintained than the majority of private RV parks.

In some RV parks you are paying for a clubroom and swimming pool and other items that you may not be interested in using and this is reflected in the daily rates.

The best information is online with the state and federal agencies. The guidebooks have been of zero value with the notable exception of the book California Camping by Tom Steinstra which is a fantastic guide for California.

We live in Western Michigan and we are a long way from a National Park with camping. State parks vary by the state and some require you to have an additional pass in addition to camping fees. There are many CGs that have lower prices because they do not have pools, play grounds and recreation buildings. We stay at many of these because we don't swim, and don't have small children. We use our MH as our portable hotel and don't spend much time there during days. We sleep there!! Chicago in particular has very limited camping within a short distance. That makes for higher rates. In DC it makes for higher prices. Have an enjoyable trip.

steveh2112 wrote:

1775 wrote:
I want to point out to the OP that many campgrounds will not allow one to put a mini-van and a tent on a site. Some campgrounds do have tent sites but these are just for tents and the van or car is parked not on the site. Some will not allow a van other than one used just for transportation that does not have "facilities" - water, electricity, etc. They really don't want someone pulling in and sleeping in their van with a mattress on the floor. This is something to consider in your deciding what you want for an RV and how you will travel with it.

For what you are looking to do, you would best in a small trailer or popup. There are trailer pop ups where the top is a tent and there are some facilities inside. I have seen many of these at campgrounds so that would not be an issue. These will be your least expensive way to go and you can use your mini-van to tow it

really, i didn't know that. how would you define 'many campgrounds'? i'm hoping mostly for national parks (at least in the west), what about them?

i'll look into the popup tent/trailer idea. i guess i could pull that with a reasonably powerful car?

just looked into it and i think you are on to something there
i like this and this to pull it

seems to have everything i would need and can be towed behind a normal car, thanks a lot for the idea

the only down side i see is it is a seasonal thing so may be hard to sell in September, but i guess if i price it right, anythings possible, after all, come to think of it, its September now (we don't have seasons where i live so i sometimes forget there is such a thing as winter)

i really like this idea now i look at that thing some more, way better than sleeping in a van, it has everything, even a shower!
i'm thinking about making that guy a really low ball offer and if he accepts i'd have to store it somewhere for 6 months. hum, something to think about.

I don't see anything on that car's listing that it has a tow package and this car maybe too small to tow anything, even a popup. Whatever you buy you want to check out its tow capabilities before considering it.

And back to campgrounds - Federal park campgrounds book completely long in advance for "on season" camping. So to start planning this trip, you need now to start looking at where you will go and what campgrounds you would stop at. Then look at the website for the campground - just about all campgrounds including those in Federal or Regional or State parks have websites. Also private campgrounds have websites. You can use this site to find campgrounds in any area - with a link to the campground website and also reviews. http://www.epgsoft.com/CampgroundMap/ The website for many campgrounds include a list of "rules" and there you will find out what is allowed and what is not.

In areas with cold winter weather, campgrounds close in October and do not open again until April. So if your plans call for travel in those months in between you need to see if you will find open campgrounds.

You have a great vacation idea but you need to do a lot of research on what you will find in regard to campgrounds where you plan to go - and what those will be like when you plan to go there. Start with a route in mind and follow it on the campground map link and see what you will find out.