G'day, We will be travelling all over the U.S. & would really appreciate some advise on which is the best campground franchise to join as far as locations, value for money, discounts for members, awesomeness etc. we are a family with 3 young girls. Also who has the best road side assistance? Is it good Sam? Many years ago I joined AAA as it was sought of affiliated with our RAC here in Aus, are they still good?We will get a National parks pass or membership. What are some other must have memberships for the U.S? Is there a State parks membership?As we will be full time RVing for over 6 months I feel we will really be able to make use of a good membership, so a heads up would be great.

IMHO basically none of them are as,good as they once were. I would save my money and visit state,parks, national forest camp grounds as much as possible. You will enjoy the time you have much more. Unless you like resort type camping?BTW if your over 62 stop at the first forest service office you come across and get the geezers pass. It will let you camp and park for half price at many many places across the countey.

G'day! Passport America is a half price camping club that always pays for itself with us. They do have restrictions on when you can get the discount, but we just read the restrictions before we decide to stay there. www.passportamerica.com You will get mixed comments about this but we also like KOA (Kampgrounds of America). They are expensive but usually are fairly nice and have lots for kids to do. They have a value card you can sign up for and get 10% off their sites. You also earn points and can convert the points to coupons for discounts on future stops. If you don't want a fancy site, many KOA's have back in water electric sites that are cheaper than full hookups with cable, etc. www.koa.com for more info. Another campground organization is Yogi Bear's Jellystone www.campjellystone.com They are also expensive but have lots for kids to do. Not sure if they have a discount program. you can find national campgrounds on www.recreation.gov Free sites we use www.woodalls.com to locate campgrounds and we always check www.rvparkreviews.com before we stop there. We use www.mapquest to map to the next location and add stops along the way.We have a Class A and use Coach Net for our roadside assistance. Good Sam also had roadside assistance. I would find one that specializes in RV travel. Enjoy your stay!

You will enjoy this land so much more and really understand how beautiful it is if you stick to mostly State parks, National Forest Service sites, Corps Of Engineer parks, and National Parks, most of which are a bargain IMO.

I have had AAA & Good Sam emergency road service. I dropped AAA. Good Sam ERS worked twice for me. As I can sometimes get a senior discount at campgrounds. I do not need more than Good Sam Club.My daughter-in-law hails from Perth. My son says the family really knows how to make a person feel welcome.Welcome..

We do not belong to any camping membership clubs, we carry a woodalls / good Sam camping directory and take the private camp grounds as they come. We have never been disappointed. we camp mostly in the state or national forest, and remote areas (boondocking) many towns and cities have public parks that will have dump stations, and of course we have use the Walmart and Casino parking lots.the more famous tourist attractions will require reservations so simply call ahead.

New to RVing in the U.S. | Good Sam Community

28 Replies

frankdamp
Explorer
Jun 04, 2013
Mik:

We live in Anacortes, which is about 70 road miles from Vancouver and 20 miles west of I-5 at exit 230. SR-20 Spur comes withing half a mile our house. There are several very good State Parks around here and the San Juan Islands are definitely worth a visit.

Give us a bell once you're within shouting distance and we'll help out however we can. We're in the phone book.
wintersun
Explorer II
Jun 04, 2013
A good resource is the US National Forest Service where they will mail you detailed maps of the national forests and adjoining Bureau of Land Management lands. These show public lands where camping fees are half what they are in private RV parks and the public land campgrounds will be a lot more scenic.

In addition to the USFS campgrounds and BLM campgrounds there are state parks and county parks and even city parks with excellent RV facilities and these too will be cheaper than the privately run RV parks. With the US Forest and BLM campgrounds there are ones that are classified as being for "dispersed" camping and the fees are even less and no reservations are accepted so if you arrive by noon you have an excellent chance of finding a space. These dispersed are "primative" so you need a self-contained RV with its own fresh water and toilet.

For California the book by Tom Stienstra is fantastic. Wish people would do comparable books for other parts of the USA but if they have I have not been able to locate them. His book "California Camping" is great for trip planning.
Mik68
Explorer
Jun 04, 2013
D.E.Bishop wrote:
Mik, We live in Los Angeles and thought that if you need any help while you are here we could help. If you have any questions Pm me and we'll chat. I'd be happy to shout you one if meet.

David

Thanks David, That is great to know, I'm sure there are things I will need to know as we get closer, at this point I'm doing a lot of internet research, but will PM you (what is this, private message, how do I do that?) , thanks again for the offer. Mik
D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Jun 02, 2013
Mik, We live in Los Angeles and thought that if you need any help while you are here we could help. If you have any questions Pm me and we'll chat. I'd be happy to shout you one if meet.

David
Mik68
Explorer
Jun 02, 2013
bsinmich wrote:
You are saying 6 months. Are you aware that if you are in the Northern part of the US & even Canada, that many of the CGs close at the end of September or October. The main reason is that the water lines will freeze when winter gets here.

Yes, we experienced this when we cycle toured across Canada, they started to close after Thanks giving which was in the later part of October from memory & yes it was very cold, snowed one night on our tent, which made for very cold riding the next day. we got outta there soon after that. Our plans have us in Vancouver by early September & heading South on our way back to LA. so should be all good!
bsinmich
Explorer
Jun 02, 2013
You are saying 6 months. Are you aware that if you are in the Northern part of the US & even Canada, that many of the CGs close at the end of September or October. The main reason is that the water lines will freeze when winter gets here.
wbwood
Explorer
Jun 01, 2013
Mik68 wrote:
sdianel wrote:

Free sites we use www.woodalls.com to locate campgrounds and we always check www.rvparkreviews.com before we stop there.
We use www.mapquest to map to the next location and add stops along the way.

Have been onto www.goodalls.com as suggested for free sites, how does one find the free camping on this site? Also doesn't seem to have a mapping system that shows the location of camp grounds listed in a chosen area, like passportamerica.com does? My wife likes this site. :D

Good SAMs website does. Might be worth getting a one year membership with them. Can use the campground search software, get discounts at good Sam affiliated parks as well as discounts at camping world stores.
lmsteck
Explorer
Jun 01, 2013
We have Good Sam's membership as well as roadside assistance. We are also KOA members (10% discount). As previously stated, KOA's can get pricey, but they are great for kids. We have 2 small children and they always have a blast at the KOA's we have camped at. We're also big on state and national parks, but in California, you'll need reservations, even in the spring. If your interested in Yosemite, it's much easier to get a site in April (Upper Pines, North Pines and Lower pines campgrounds are open), after that it gets progressively more difficult to near impossible.
Jim_Shoe
Explorer
Jun 01, 2013
Mik68,
That drain info would have helped my when I was a young man. More than one morning I woke up not knowing what hemisphere I was in. :)
Mik68
Explorer
Jun 01, 2013
sdianel wrote:

Free sites we use www.woodalls.com to locate campgrounds and we always check www.rvparkreviews.com before we stop there.
We use www.mapquest to map to the next location and add stops along the way.

Have been onto www.goodalls.com as suggested for free sites, how does one find the free camping on this site? Also doesn't seem to have a mapping system that shows the location of camp grounds listed in a chosen area, like passportamerica.com does? My wife likes this site. :D