Layout of campgrounds

SoundGuy wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
There are parks with better sites if you look for them.

Sumter Oaks RV Park, Bushnell, FL:

Jacksonville North/St Mary's KOA, Kingsland, GA:

The Villages at Turning Stone, Verona, NY:

Those are "better" sites? I'd call those maybe a 3 out of 10! :E

You need to come north here to Ontario where a "better" site would look more like this ...



Obviously of the tens of thousands of sites available in the provincial park system, conservation areas, etc, not all are this generous but as a general rule this is what you'll often get. Neighbours? ... sure, might be lucky to see part of the site next to you ... maybe. One downside - those camping on electric sites in the provincial park system would be well advised to have lots of main service cable on hand as 100'+ runs aren't unusual at all. :E

And yes, we have camped in many various parts of the US and haven't often found sites as private as those here in Ontario. :B

I purposely only showed a few private park sites, since that seemed to be what the OP was griping about. If I included the thousands of available federal and state park sites, I would have included sites like this one at Myakka River State Park in Florida:



Or this site at the COE Tompkins Lake park near Tioga, PA:



Yes, there absolutely are some very private provincial park sites in Canada, just as there are in the US if that's your primary criteria and are willing to look for them.

parkmanaa wrote:
The biggest difference between a private park and a Govt. park be it Corps of Engineers, or just a park built by a state, is one is privately financed, the
others are Govt. subsidized. One must make a profit or close it's doors, the others can lose money forever and still remain open.
Cost of building a nice park is extremely high. A few years ago The National Assn. of Campground Owners came out with a cost figure of $14,000 per site to construct, AFTER you buy your land. That means a 100 site park costs $1.4 million dollars to build plus cost of the land, which is also expensive if located in a good location with high traffic count.
It's a matter of Govt. supplying or private industry supplying the park.

x2. And ongoing high maintenance/operation costs after it is all built. Depending on location the peak use may be seasonal, so the owners must make a years worth of income in only 4-5 months. No one gets independently wealthy running a private RV park.
Profit is not a dirty word.

Except for our seasonal site, most of our camping is in state parks in FL, GA & SC. We prefer wooded sites and some privacy. State parks usually offer both of those, although some do not - like Topsail near Destin, FL. Probably the only non-state park we stay in near home is Disney's Fort Wilderness. Most of their sites are roomy. The ones we try to stay at have a lot of "wilderness" around it.

Our seasonal site is more like a parking lot campground, but there are lots of trees and every site has grass. To our west is a farm with great sunsets. To the east is another seasonal camper. They are an older couple, very nice and very quiet. To the south there are two rows in front of us, but the sites directly in front of us are no longer usable, so we have a view of the lake about 150 feet away. To the north is another older seasonal couple, except they are rarely here. They rarely spend the night and when they do come, it's usually only for a few hours.

-Michael

Dennis M M wrote:
Best bet is to go to RV Park Reviews.com and check the reviews.

I also look at the satellite view on Google Maps to see if the site I want has a clear view of the sky for the sat dish.

I use that site religiously. It has certainly given us good info about parks to try and ones to avoid. I'm amazed at how some parks get such a low rating.

We skipped western Los Angeles area once just because of the low ratings of the parks in that area and drove much further than we would normally. When we stay at parks, I will rate them on rvparkreviews.com. I find the poster's opinions very helpful.

MM.

Best bet is to go to RV Park Reviews.com and check the reviews.

I also look at the satellite view on Google Maps to see if the site I want has a clear view of the sky for the sat dish.

And, some of those CGs are from a time when RVs were smaller, and often have electric, water and sewer issues.

My family and I tend to do state parks in order to have some space and quiet. The fact that alcohol is prohibited helps things stay quiet. Fewer golf carts and less water parks allow us to enjoy nature....but certainly to each his own.

For our 16 years of full-timing we used public parks 90% of the time...or else boondocking on national forest or BLM lands.

We absolutely hate campsites right in a row. Even in some public parks - national forest, state parks, COE or city and county parks, they are able to have hookups without loosing the space and privacy. Having to look at RVs on all 4 sides of us is awful and especially having the neighbor's sewer connection at our picnic table. Ugh!

you my friend are in the wrong parks. find some more wilderness style parks (I almost exclusively look for provincial parks around here)or better yet go boondocking you are in a way nicer part of the planet than me for wilderness

The biggest difference between a private park and a Govt. park be it Corps of Engineers, or just a park built by a state, is one is privately financed, the
others are Govt. subsidized. One must make a profit or close it's doors, the others can lose money forever and still remain open.
Cost of building a nice park is extremely high. A few years ago The National Assn. of Campground Owners came out with a cost figure of $14,000 per site to construct, AFTER you buy your land. That means a 100 site park costs $1.4 million dollars to build plus cost of the land, which is also expensive if located in a good location with high traffic count.
It's a matter of Govt. supplying or private industry supplying the park.