Notice for those unaware...We stayed at Picacho Peak (Arizona) State Park about a week and a half ago (one night, during our summer road trip)...we get into the site, get the electricity hooked up....then I look around, scratching my head--I don't see a water hookup...turns out there isn't one...apparently a 'desert' thingNot sure if only at this state park but at other state parks in the desert...also not sure if this would be only in Arizona or elsewhere...also not sure if private parks have the same issueI'd seen sites in state parks that had water but no electricity (generally used for tent camping)...never before had I come across one with electricity but no waterJust a heads-up for folks traveling through the desert that it may be best/necessary to tank some water rather than to count on its being available through a hookup

In the empty, dry West assuming any government campground has potable water is...dangerous.

trailernovice wrote:Notice for those unaware...We stayed at Picacho Peak (Arizona) State Park about a week and a half ago (one night, during our summer road trip)...we get into the site, get the electricity hooked up....then I look around, scratching my head--I don't see a water hookup...turns out there isn't one...apparently a 'desert' thingNot sure if only at this state park but at other state parks in the desert...also not sure if this would be only in Arizona or elsewhere...also not sure if private parks have the same issueI'd seen sites in state parks that had water but no electricity (generally used for tent camping)...never before had I come across one with electricity but no waterJust a heads-up for folks traveling through the desert that it may be best/necessary to tank some water rather than to count on its being available through a hookupYour post leaves me SMH. I have been to plenty of state and fed or ACOE campgrounds that are electric only sites, and a lot more that have nothing. I have also been to some that had water hook ups but no sewer connection. I knew what hookups were available prior, as they all list the hookups available on reservation sites or brochures etc.Personally I think that FHU sites such as they are upgrading to in some PA state parks, take away from the place, I avoid those areas/loops religiously. I have seen the change when they upgrade them. They draw an entirely different demographic of camper. Gone are the dark skies and peacefulness and the new trend is outside TVs and more lights than the Vegas strip, usually left on from dusk to dawn. At one close by they totally ruined an area that was used for amateur astronomy by campers for 50 years or more, by upgrading sites to FHU next to a mountainside meadow where everyone set up their scopes.

Electric only sites with water at the dump station area.Picacho State Park

Ralph, you and I sometimes disagree but not on your most recent post. 100% agree.

Once I figured out that a lot of public parks out west had no water at the sites, when making reservations I started looking for sites near the communal water spigots, so I could stretch a series of hoses 200 feet and fill up without having to move the coach. That doesn't work at the parks where the only water fill is at the dump station area or park entrance, though.

No water hookup at Arizona state park | Good Sam Community

maddog348
Explorer
Jun 17, 2018
THANKS ~ sgip2000 ~ doesn't fit in my class A OR my TruckCamper. JM2¢
sgip2000
Explorer
Jun 17, 2018
maddog348 wrote:
Thanks, sgip2000 ~~ but ~~ not everyone has a truck bed. ~~ JM2¢

You don't need a truck bed. I've had it in the back of my Jeep too.
profdant139
Explorer II
Jun 17, 2018
Oh, I see. The sign says "potable" water. I thought it was "portable." ;)
bukhrn
Explorer III
Jun 16, 2018
Been to MANY CG's around the country with electric only, our favorite NF cg In Va. has electric only, as long as they have potable water at the dump station, I'm good.
BTW, Cattail Cove State Park in AZ has electric & water.
PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Jun 16, 2018
I have one of those. I’ve used it a few times but never in the truck bed, always on the roof. Having a 4 door pickup helps and only having to go a few hundred feet.

We’ve since refined our dry camping practices. We do look for the fresh water fill before settling up. That way we always have a full FW tank and empty gray/ black tanks. When the FW tank is empty, it is time to dump. At a CG where the dump is close enough to use our sewer tote, we use it and the collapsible FW tank to replenish. If we have to move it he rig to dump, we also refill FW.
pnichols
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2018
Carrying a water bladder properly is just about a no-go with a motorhome.

Boy .... that water bladder sure would put a lot of weight on the roof of a pickup (maybe dent it?) .... as shown in the photo in the earlier link. Carrying it in the bed of a pickup is the proper place for it!

For extra drinking/cooking water on our RV trips, we pack along 48-72 of the small 16 oz. plastic bottles right under one of our dinette seats - easy to get to (each dinette seat has a flip door on the end) and no hassle to replenish in small towns. (I only HOPE that someone, somewhere is melting those plastic bottles down to put to some other good use after we discard them properly!)
maddog348
Explorer
Jun 16, 2018
Thanks, sgip2000 ~~ but ~~ not everyone has a truck bed. ~~ JM2¢
sgip2000
Explorer
Jun 16, 2018
While expensive, put one of these in the truck bed and fill. Use a transfer pump to move to trailer tank.

45 gallon water tank
mockturtle
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2018
In the desert SW, electricity is necessary for A/C most of the year. Potable water is harder to deliver. Fill your water tank before getting there.
NRALIFR
Explorer
Jun 16, 2018
I never hook the campgrounds water directly to my camper. Never. I always use the fresh water tank and pump, and it’s always full when we travel.

It’s nice having water at the campsite to fill the tank, but I can deal with whatever freshwater routine each campground has, including no water at all. I have a white hose for the standard threaded water faucet, a water thief for the ones that have no threads, a couple of water jugs for the primitive camps that only have a hand pump, and a bucket if all that’s available is a creek. We carry drinking water separately, so I’m not too concerned about how sanitized the creek water may or may not be. I carry bleach for those occasions.

I did run into a new routine just recently at two Cook County Forest Reserve campgrounds in Illinois. Beautiful parks that they have obviously spent millions on improving recently, lots of electric only campsites, but there are no freely accessible water hydrants anywhere in the two parks we stayed at. To get water, you drive to the office and ask them to drag their hose out so you can fill your tank. They do it gladly, but why they’re doing it that way I’m not sure.

:):)