Resources for locating campgrounds
As many of you know by now we will be visiting Overland Expo in AZ in May. However, we are not going directly there, we are flying into Denver a week before, then flying out a week after, and in betwe...
Forum Discussion
There are public lands administered by the US National Forest Service (a dept. under the US Dept. Agriculture) and the Bureau of Land Management, and the Reclamation Dept. and the National Parks (part of the Interior Dept.) and state parks and sometimes even county parks with camping facilities or at least designated areas where camping is permitted, though often requiring a "self-contained" RV.
The US Forestry Service and the National Parks publish maps that you can get my mail for the areas they manage. Both are very useful, especially the USFS ones which include both paved and unpaved roads. These will work well for much of Colorado. Snow is a possibility in some parts of the state in May.
For Arizona the BLM may cover more areas and is another resource. With Arizona I would exercise caution in the forested areas as there have been an ever increasing amount of forest fires in the state even though global climate change is considered a myth by one of our major political parties.
For restaurants while traveling we use yelp.com and find that most of he time the reviews are reasonably accurate and helpful. Gasbuddy.com helps to find the cheapest gas along your route.
I found the Woodalls guide to be worthless with its limited information and poor organization and this was for areas where I am fairly familiar with the geography. The RV camping websites are usually much better though neither are going to be 100% accurate. Some campgrounds may be closed and others may have new facilities that are not noted on the websites.
Recommend a Western USA road atlas, a GPS, and government maps, which will help with route planning and when you are actually traveling in the USA.
The US Forestry Service and the National Parks publish maps that you can get my mail for the areas they manage. Both are very useful, especially the USFS ones which include both paved and unpaved roads. These will work well for much of Colorado. Snow is a possibility in some parts of the state in May.
For Arizona the BLM may cover more areas and is another resource. With Arizona I would exercise caution in the forested areas as there have been an ever increasing amount of forest fires in the state even though global climate change is considered a myth by one of our major political parties.
For restaurants while traveling we use yelp.com and find that most of he time the reviews are reasonably accurate and helpful. Gasbuddy.com helps to find the cheapest gas along your route.
I found the Woodalls guide to be worthless with its limited information and poor organization and this was for areas where I am fairly familiar with the geography. The RV camping websites are usually much better though neither are going to be 100% accurate. Some campgrounds may be closed and others may have new facilities that are not noted on the websites.
Recommend a Western USA road atlas, a GPS, and government maps, which will help with route planning and when you are actually traveling in the USA.
