state park and federal park amenities

No on water, yes on sewer. We carry a 7.5 gallon water bladder and can refill the fresh water when needed. We don't have a "blueboy" for ferrying waste frim the trailer to the dump, so we have a limited time before we need to dump. But many RVers do have portable waste tanks and use them to stay in one location for a longer period.

Just saying federal parks doesn't identify which agency operates them.
Some Corp of Engineer parks have full hook ups.
BLM parks have very few if any hook ups at the sites.
National Park Service will vary on how many and what kind of hook ups.
National Forest service normally has no site hook ups or dump stations. They may have water at a spigot somewhere in the campground. They cut the threads off so no hose can be connected. get your self a "Water Thief" to attach hose for filling.

you'll have to find out what kind of camping style fits you best. a lot of folks I know ONLY camp full hookup because they think they need to constantly drain waste and refill water. Even if they're just going out on weekends.

my style, I prefer the fewer hookups the better. the less hookups the bigger the site will be. rustic USFS campgrounds are my favorite - they have no hookups at all, and limited bathroom facilities. I carry 80 gallons of fresh water, 20 in the trailer and 60 in the truck. I don't conserve water, but I don't let it all run down the drain into the holding tanks.

I'm a solo traveler so my demands on my waste tanks are minimal.

For state parks, it varies from state to state (and from park to park). Here in Vermont, the state parks have no hookups in any of the campsites--no electric, no water, no sewer. Potable water fill and a dump station are generally available. You do get a fireplace and a picnic table and often some privacy, and access to bathhouses albeit with pay (hot) showers.

Other states sometimes have more amenities for their campsites, at least for some sites at some campgrounds. Some may lack the potable water or dump station at some campgrounds (there are many Alaskan campgrounds, for example, that don't have water and sewer service at the campground). Fees are usually at least somewhat commensurate with frills and features.

in a nutshell, yes. If you stay long enough you will have to deal with refilling the fresh water and getting rid of the waste water. Some people hook up the trailer and pull somewhere to get fresh water and dump the waste water. Some people bring containers to carry fresh and haul off the waste. I have a Barker tote for the waste because it was a good deal at a garage sale. But I've never used it in 15 years.

If you're coming from tent camping just continue on as if in a tent but add in the flush toilet. Conserve water by not leaving food off the plates into the trash before you a wash the plates so you use less water. Depending on the size of your tanks you may or may not be able to use the shower. If you do try to use the shower then definitely make it a Navy shower.

• Get wet
• Shut off the shower head
• Apply shampoo
• Soap up.
• Turn on shower head and rinse off
• Shut off shower

Out here in Oregon state parks are a mixed bag. I'm sure it's the same everywhere else. It's pretty common to have just water and elec with no sewer.
A blue tote helps in those situations. We have a 40 gal grey and 40 gal black tank. We can go 4-5 nights with out emptying and not using the blue tote. We have to do some creative tank usage to do that. 4-5 nights is about all we do in one spot anyway. We rarely use the tote. If we want to go longer well find a FH spot.

Sorta depends on how big your tanks are and how you conserve filling them.

I have an AQUATANK2 water bladder for bringing 60 gallons of water to the camper:
http://learntorv.com/aquatank2-water-bladder/

And then I have a sewer bladder for offloading up to about 100g of gray & black water from the camper:
http://learntorv.com/sewer-bladder/

I wouldn't break camp for loading or unloading water.

I prefer national and state parks even if I know they don't have hook-ups or only have common water refilling stations.

We are just two and usually stay 4 days in a campsite. That seems adequate that we don't have to make a dump or refills. And we shower everyday.

BTW, we have a generator although you have to shut it off at 7 to 7 for the campsite's quiet time.

As others have noted, it depends on where you are looking, but my experience doesn’t suggest that 99% of the State Parks don’t have water at campsites. Water & electric is fairly common, although certainly not universal. County or city parks are another option with considerable variety that you might want to check.

However, if camping at electric-only sites is going to be a large part of your camping experience, you might want to purchase a unit that won’t be that hard to take to the dump station or for a water refill, and consider whether using the campground showers woould be an acceptable trade-off for fewer water refill trips.

ependydad ~~ you don't move those bladders around with a VW. not everyone can use that system.

JM2¢ ~~ YMMV