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GBEngineer's avatar
GBEngineer
Explorer
Apr 26, 2015

TT - Wilderness Lakes reviews please

I am considering joining Thousand Trails. I am planning to full time for a few months and would like to remain in the area where Wilderness Lakes is located. I have done some research on the site and found a couple reviews, some good and some bad. I am not looking for a 5 star resort but something fairly clean and safe for my family. The main draw is the price. If I can join for $545/yr and stay for $3/night for 2/3 of the time that will sure help the budget. Is it hard to get a spot there on short notice (less than a week) and can you usually stay for a full 14 days or do they run out of spots and you have to leave earlier than that?

Sorry for the questions. I don't think I can trust asking the sales person. I think they will tell me whatever they think I want to here so I will sign up. I just really need to find a place to stay inexpensively for a few months.

Thanks for any opinions or reviews.
  • Wilderness Lakes is one of the Parks that we wrote off of our list to return to. About 20 years ago we had res for 7 days there but the stink of the dairy farms around the Park and the flies were two much. After two days we left and have never been back. This was in July and the Park was loaded with kids which was ok as we had two GKs with us. TT works for us as we have been members for over 30 years. We spend each summer in Oregon and Wash along the Coast and it only cost me $275 a years for my dues. The Zone pass is a good way to go. Two zones for the price of one and after the year you can just walk away. After you get a res you will never be forced to leave early. Only twice in over 30 years
    I could not get a res into Palm Springs during the winter as I waited two long to get res. We spend about 150 days/nights in TT Parks, two weeks in and two weeks in another TT Park etc. TT is not nearly as good as it used to be but still better than most camping clubs out there
  • No sure what the zone pass contract says, but be careful buying resale memberships. Thousand Trails has many, many different contracts. Some good, some not so good. My dues are more then the price of a zone pass.
  • X2 on what aslakson said. We like Wilderness because of it's diversity of campers. Buy a resale.
  • We like Wilderness Lakes - and while we've not been back since the next door dairy farm closed (the smell is reportedly much different now), when we get back to the west coast we'll be spending more time there in the winter. We've never had a problem getting a spot, although we tend to reserve several weeks out. And once you make your reservation, you'll have your spot for the duration.

    There are lots of kids in the park when school is closed - none of them ours (we're beyond that).

    Consider the possibility of buying a full membership on the resale market - one that gets you longer stays than 14 days for zero dollars. Our annual dues are about what your zone pass would cost, and we get 21 day stays, no time out between stays (and usually just 7 days before returning to the same park). And no $3 a day ever. A resale membership can be had for around $2500 one-time. After that, pay your annual dues and stay as much as you want. For a fulltimer, it's the best deal there is.

    There are several 1000 trails parks within an easy drive of Wilderness Lakes - Palm Springs is great in the winter, and Pio Pico near San Diego is also nice. We've spent several winters in Southern California, bouncing from park to park, with no daily charges at all.

    al