Campground Web Sites

JohnDoe wrote:
Why when you go to a Campground web site do they show you pictures of there pool, trees, inside of a room which all could be any wherein the U S but when it comes to where you park which is what I am interested in, there may be one are two if your lucky and I am assuming they are the prime spots in the park not the one where the other guys slide comes over into your spot, hard to judge if you want to stay looking at those.

And here I thought I was the only one that had a problem with the lack of campsite pix. The problem, IMHO, is that when you're coming from 1,500 miles away and you're looking for a place to stay, the website is all you really have to go by. A picture is worth a thousand words and no picture screams "STOP".

BTW.... I do some web site work, too and it's not that difficult to put together a nice photo album. They manage to do it with their amenities, so what's the problem?

John&Joey wrote:
For me, all I need to know is the average width x length of a site. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about that private CG. These dimensions are never stated on websites because I'm guessing it would turn most RV'ers away. You don't need a "website developer" to do that update to the marketing material of a CG.

Those average site dimensions are actually given in the Good Sam (combined Woodalls and Trailer Life) travel directory. I think they have always been in the Trailer Life directory, not sure about the old Woodalls.

There is no reason why the parks cannot take some shots of the camping area. Many do and they are usually nice parks. The ones who do not post any pics of the actual camping area are usually hiding something. It has nothing to do with
cost. It doesn't take any longer to take a pic of the park area as it does to take a photo of the inside of the laundry room. You can take pictures that show multiple sites in the photo from a couple areas of the park and it sure would help! Not asking for a pic of every site, but if they are all sitting in mud - show us that! Of course they don't because then we won't come.

bigdogger wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
For me, all I need to know is the average width x length of a site. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about that private CG. These dimensions are never stated on websites because I'm guessing it would turn most RV'ers away. You don't need a "website developer" to do that update to the marketing material of a CG.

Only helps if all the sites are the same width. If it is a two site park, an average width of 50 feet doesn't really make you feel any better if you get the 10 foot wide site instead of the 90 footer.

I'm guessing that really doesn't happen all that often in Private parks. If it does then you would have some really PO'ed people if they had to pay the same price for the 10 footer that the 90 footer was.

We've been doing this now for about 6 years 6 months a year. Most the private parks we have gone too the lots are normally the same dimensions.

John&Joey wrote:
For me, all I need to know is the average width x length of a site. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about that private CG. These dimensions are never stated on websites because I'm guessing it would turn most RV'ers away. You don't need a "website developer" to do that update to the marketing material of a CG.

Only helps if all the sites are the same width. If it is a two site park, an average width of 50 feet doesn't really make you feel any better if you get the 10 foot wide site instead of the 90 footer.

For me, all I need to know is the average width x length of a site. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about that private CG. These dimensions are never stated on websites because I'm guessing it would turn most RV'ers away. You don't need a "website developer" to do that update to the marketing material of a CG.

rockhillmanor wrote:
Truth be told ALL CG's have small sites.

The more sites the more money. And then there are the extreme CG's where you are parked in like sardines the next guys' slide right up against your bedroom window.

That's why they don't put pictures of their sites. Come on we all know it's almost given they are not going to be spacious.

~AND~ CG's never put pictures up of what is 'next to' their CG either.
I've gone to a CG only to find out their fence was shared by a huge truck stop, complete with diesel running all night, urine and ladies of the evening. Another CG was right next to a sewage plant, whew!


I now just plug in the address of the CG's on google maps and then zoom in on the satellite picture and then zoom in on street level.....tells me everything I need to know! CG's can't hide anything using this method! :B

I checkout the Good Sam listing of parks for a certain area. I first pick out campgrounds based on their facility rating and reviews. I then go to their website to get rates and reservation information and their address and to get pictures of typical campsites. I am only interested in pictures of typical campsites not their game room or their Christmas party, etc. If there are no pictures of typical campsites, I figure the owner is ashamed of them or doesn't consider what they look like as important and I usually eliminate them.

Like you do, I then check out the potential campground on Google Earth and in the street view also. If a campground passes all of these tests I will go ahead and make a reservation. If the stay is just for overnight, I don't even consider amenities. If the stay is for longer such as a week or longer I factor in a bit of the amenities that I might use (which aren't many). If we are staying overnight at a Wal Mart I check them out on Google Earth and street view also.


Usually I end up with very nice sites that I am satisfied with, but I have been fooled a few times!

vermilye wrote:
There are also websites that show photographs of sites for some campgrounds (mostly public):
Campsite Photos
Yosemite National Park Campsite Photos
Nice Camps

Thanks Vermilye for the mention of my site: NiceCamps.com I plan on adding more parks very soon.

Truth be told ALL CG's have small sites.

The more sites the more money. And then there are the extreme CG's where you are parked in like sardines the next guys' slide right up against your bedroom window.

That's why they don't put pictures of their sites. Come on we all know it's almost given they are not going to be spacious.

~AND~ CG's never put pictures up of what is 'next to' their CG either.
I've gone to a CG only to find out their fence was shared by a huge truck stop, complete with diesel running all night, urine and ladies of the evening. Another CG was right next to a sewage plant, whew!


I now just plug in the address of the CG's on google maps and then zoom in on the satellite picture and then zoom in on street level.....tells me everything I need to know! CG's can't hide anything using this method! :B

EDIT NOTE: I removed this post. My post was a response to a specific RV park's website that a poster believed was the correct way to do a park website. The post pointing to that website was edited after my post, removing the website information, so my post no longer made any sense.