Some Campground Reviews-the trip south
I have stayed in a number of RV parks and Campgrounds on my way south from Minot ND to Baja. Here are some short reviews of some of them.
Rapid City city park RV CG: very nice with it's won river and nearby bicycle path full of tall trees and grass. Sites can be a bit small but are good and level. Easy to deal with friendly folks at the office.
Osens RV Park Livingston MT. I would not stay here again unless it was the only choice. The park owners/managers have this surface friendliness backed by a creepy intrusiveness that is very off-putting. The sites are OK, the bathrooms good. If you are in a million dollar motorhome you apparently can break all the rules they spend so much time discussing at check-in (like having an open fire) but if you are in a humble travel trailer watch out...dont light up that charcoal BBQ.
Beaver Creek National Forest Campground (about 20 miles north west of West Yellowstone) This is a great campground with plenty of room in 3 loops. Lots of big trees and hiking possibilities. Nearby Quake Lake where eagles are to be seen in abundance.
Phoenix: Destiny Phoenix RV park in Goodyear AZ. This was a nice park with all of the amenities. Designed mostly for long term snowbirds. There were scattered orange trees and plantings and some shade trees. Everything worked and the bathrooms are clean. It's a good place to spend a week or so.
Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson. I like Tucson and I liked Desert trails. It is a bit Cliqueish. But there are abundant cactus gardens and the sites are good. Many are very close together however and choosing one that is right for you is essential. Pericles the owner manager was a joy. He spent most of the check in making sure we knew how to get around to what we might need or want in Tucson. He was a pillar of patience with difficult customers (as we witnessed on one memorable occasion) He was much more concerned that you enjoy your stay than he was about reading you a long list of rules and the riot act if you disobeyed one or two. This park was an old Waterpark/RV park at one time. It has a funky charm I liked. A great library and plenty of bathrooms and washers dryers. I liked this park and would stay again.
Desert Trails RV park and Golf Course El Centro Calif. (not associated with the one in Tucson) This park was dominated by its golf course which of course is the main draw for many who live here. This is really more like a trailer park in the old sense built around the golf course. But instead of nice double-wides and other Mobile homes the trailers are towables and fifth wheels. If you stay here for just a night or two you are assigned a spot, not well marked, in a large gravel lot, you are separated from the rest of the park and it's denizens. For what you are getting it's rather high priced. But the bathrooms and laundry are good and clean and it is close to every imaginable kind of store. It makes a good base to stay before heading into Baja. One note: their propane was cheaper at the park than at the big propane dealer up the highway.
Please do not ask me to re post these to RVPark reviews site. I have no intention of doing so. Once is enough for me. Just hoping to give a little insight from my perspective about a few selected parks I stayed in on the way south.
Rapid City city park RV CG: very nice with it's won river and nearby bicycle path full of tall trees and grass. Sites can be a bit small but are good and level. Easy to deal with friendly folks at the office.
Osens RV Park Livingston MT. I would not stay here again unless it was the only choice. The park owners/managers have this surface friendliness backed by a creepy intrusiveness that is very off-putting. The sites are OK, the bathrooms good. If you are in a million dollar motorhome you apparently can break all the rules they spend so much time discussing at check-in (like having an open fire) but if you are in a humble travel trailer watch out...dont light up that charcoal BBQ.
Beaver Creek National Forest Campground (about 20 miles north west of West Yellowstone) This is a great campground with plenty of room in 3 loops. Lots of big trees and hiking possibilities. Nearby Quake Lake where eagles are to be seen in abundance.
Phoenix: Destiny Phoenix RV park in Goodyear AZ. This was a nice park with all of the amenities. Designed mostly for long term snowbirds. There were scattered orange trees and plantings and some shade trees. Everything worked and the bathrooms are clean. It's a good place to spend a week or so.
Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson. I like Tucson and I liked Desert trails. It is a bit Cliqueish. But there are abundant cactus gardens and the sites are good. Many are very close together however and choosing one that is right for you is essential. Pericles the owner manager was a joy. He spent most of the check in making sure we knew how to get around to what we might need or want in Tucson. He was a pillar of patience with difficult customers (as we witnessed on one memorable occasion) He was much more concerned that you enjoy your stay than he was about reading you a long list of rules and the riot act if you disobeyed one or two. This park was an old Waterpark/RV park at one time. It has a funky charm I liked. A great library and plenty of bathrooms and washers dryers. I liked this park and would stay again.
Desert Trails RV park and Golf Course El Centro Calif. (not associated with the one in Tucson) This park was dominated by its golf course which of course is the main draw for many who live here. This is really more like a trailer park in the old sense built around the golf course. But instead of nice double-wides and other Mobile homes the trailers are towables and fifth wheels. If you stay here for just a night or two you are assigned a spot, not well marked, in a large gravel lot, you are separated from the rest of the park and it's denizens. For what you are getting it's rather high priced. But the bathrooms and laundry are good and clean and it is close to every imaginable kind of store. It makes a good base to stay before heading into Baja. One note: their propane was cheaper at the park than at the big propane dealer up the highway.
Please do not ask me to re post these to RVPark reviews site. I have no intention of doing so. Once is enough for me. Just hoping to give a little insight from my perspective about a few selected parks I stayed in on the way south.
