Harvest Hosts

[deadticket8]

Any experience anyone wants to share? Pros, cons?

[spoon059]

deadticket8 wrote:
Good info. I never liked Walmart as all night traffic but that changed with covid. And some Walmarts are actually nice, like Ticonderoga, NY. Where are these parks $20-25 night with electric? I'm all over that! Im going cross country in spring. Planning mostly one and two night stops on way out and back.

We are planning a cross country trip in 2026 or 2027. I am researching things like Harvest Hosts for a variety of reasons. I like the idea of finding an off the beaten path place for a night or two, every 3rd or 4th night. I'm thinking I need at least the ability to use a generator though.

[Shot-N-Az]

wapiticountry wrote:
Harvest Hosts doesn’t publish the host locations because that is literally the only thing they have to sell. I would bet almost all the hosts would offer the exact same accommodations to non members if they called and asked.
Those hosts expect you to buy their products, that is how they were sold on being hosts in the first place. It is marketed as a way for those businesses to increase their sales. If the hosts get a string of non buyers just looking for free stays those hosts will become ex-hosts. They aren’t RV centric charities, they are small businesses looking for new customers.

This person gets it. Good post.

[Veebyes]

HH does not suit all. If you are the type who really "needs" power or a site almost level then HH is not for you.

HH works well for the adaptable traveller who has a battery bank big enough to get by a night without "needing" to run a generator, the traveller who always travels with at least a days worth of water onboard allowing for short or no notice stays which demand preparedness.

HH is about the experience of the location, if only for a short stay. You pick & choose your preferences. We are not wine drinkers so wineries are filtered out of our search list when considering locations.

Do we save money? I suppose so. A little. But getting 'free' camping has never been a primary reason for being HH members.

[goducks10]

I just went on HH and entered my city and email address. Up popped a map of every HH spot in the US. Seems like thats all the info you need to decide if you want to join or not.
On the map there's Icons. When you click on the icon it won't tell you where it is exactly but it's obviously not hard to tell that its a few miles from somewhere. The type of icon tells you what the HH spot is. i.e winery/farm.

Look at where you travel and see if there's some HH in your travels. Whats so hard about that?

[padredw]

No much that I can add. I am in my first year of membership and have stayed in only a few Harvest Hosts. Here is the summary of my experience: It is worth it to stay in some really different places where you can have personal contact with the owners. Our preference is mostly to stay at farms and we have been pleased with those where we have stayed. Don't do it to stay in a free or "inexpensive" place, but do it for the enjoyment of a different kind of overnight RV travel. Every place we have stayed in HH has been far better than a Walmart or even Cracker Barrel, neither of which we have ever chosen in which to overnight.

[wapiticountry]

Harvest Hosts doesn’t publish the host locations because that is literally the only thing they have to sell. I would bet almost all the hosts would offer the exact same accommodations to non members if they called and asked.
Those hosts expect you to buy their products, that is how they were sold on being hosts in the first place. It is marketed as a way for those businesses to increase their sales. If the hosts get a string of non buyers just looking for free stays those hosts will become ex-hosts. They aren’t RV centric charities, they are small businesses looking for new customers.

[Scottiemom]

To each his own. I'm willing to try it. When DH and I fulltimed, we often visited wineries (DH didn't drink, me only occasionally) as they typically are set in the beautiful countryside and many have restaurants. I will not spend a night in a Walmart parking lot, never have, never will. Okay for you if you want to, but not me. Also belong to PPA and use them occasionally.

Just another tool.

Dale

[valhalla360]

deadticket8 wrote:
Where are these parks $20-25 night with electric? I'm all over that! Im going cross country in spring. Planning mostly one and two night stops on way out and back.

It varies. In prime tourist areas, not so much but we are usually staying for a few days in those areas anyway so HH wouldn't apply anyway.

We use Campedium a lot for planning and you can set it to filter based on price.

Also, Passport America if you will be doing longer trips is well worth it. Yes, there is a cost to sign up but when averaged over 20-30 nights, the cost is negligible. If you just camp locally, it's highly dependent on if there are PPA parks that are local and you can meet the restrictions.

Looking at this past fall, we did a 3 month trip, slowly wandering from Michigan to Montana. 70% of our nights were in the $20-25 range. Of the short single night stops, it was 83%. Where we got nailed was staying inside Yellowstone and Grand Teton but that was about location and HH wouldn't have helped.

[Shadow57]

Although I don't have a membership we have stayed at a HH site with a friend who did. Our experience was great we only talked to the host on the phone they were closed when we arrived and closed when we left. It was a winery right by the expressway away from all the traffic with a nice yard and parking lot to camp in. A few other campers also, but not crowded and everyone picked up all trash.

We would have gladly made a purchase but didn't get the opportunity. I will see how often my friends use it to pay. I could actually host, but I don't think I want traffic on my small horse farm. I don't have anything to sell either.

[Tom_Barb]

We use their facilities twice, we paid full price the place was clean and well cared for. the space was larger than most other places we have seen.

We are not members, but I'd stay there again.

[RickLight]

Their website has a map showing approximate locations of hosts.

We looked to see if a membership would be good for an Alaska trip. As above, one night stops heading somewhere else seems to be the best case scenario.

[SpeakEasy]

We've been members for years.

We really enjoy using H H whenever we take a long road trip. We use them en-route, not as destinations. Most of the H H locations have been some of the nicest locations we've ever camped at. Some - not so much. But even the un-nice ones, you're only there for an overnight, so who cares, really. The nice ones are super memories. Some of the best memories are the conversations with the small business owners who developed these wineries, farms, breweries and so on. Wonderful success stories of the American dream. If you like meeting people, and you can engage them in conversation about themselves, it's a real win.

I consider the expectation of a small purchase to be a very fair trade-off for the experience of staying overnight in a unique location. Heck, even at Walmart or Cracker Barrel, if you boondock in their parking lot you make a purchase, don't you?

The issue of having to become a member to learn the locations is an essential part of the business model. If the locations were made public, then why would anyone join? Why would hosts agree to let just anyone park overnight in their location with no accountability and no expectation of any benefit of doing so?

Members are expected to produce a current membership card when they arrive, and Hosts are expected to ask for that card and to keep track of who has stayed. If you, as a non-member, managed to discover a Host and stay overnight, you essentially gamed the system. If that's what floats your boat, well - OK then.

-Speak

[ProjectMon]

I joined to see what was really on the list, to find the local Wineries that allow overnight, and have not used it yet. I did look in my local area, and there were some commercial places and some places owned by people who just like to host other RV'ers. Here are the current statistics:

Wineries 771
Farms 1546
Attractions 1194
Breweries & Distilleries 545
Golf Courses 0
Boondockers Welcome 3295
Total 7352 / 7789

[deadticket8]

Good info. I never liked Walmart as all night traffic but that changed with covid. And some Walmarts are actually nice, like Ticonderoga, NY. Where are these parks $20-25 night with electric? I'm all over that! Im going cross country in spring. Planning mostly one and two night stops on way out and back.

[valhalla360]

Scottiemom wrote:
The recommendation for purchasing is $20, not $30-$40.

For a quick overnight just wanting to plug in, most of the time we can find a place for only $20-25 for the night and if you're just staying a parking lot, you can do walmart for free.

Really only makes sense if you are planning to patronize a lot of wineries anyway.