Turned off by campgrounds

[Dream_Chaser_]

Each year, I start looking for new campgrounds either short trips or extended stays and I turn immediately to the internet.

First, I do a search for campgrounds in the area I want to visit. Click on their website for basic info, check for reviews of the park, do a Google earth look at the park and finally try to visit the park.

If the site says last updated in 2013 it is useless. When I visit the website, if I do not see prices posted, I am out of there. Or if their rates are a year or two old, I'm gone. Do their prices indicate taxes in or extra and what are they?

I like to see photos of the campground. Not a bunch of pictures of last year's Christmas party or a bunch of people playing shuffleboard -- I want to see the sites.

Wifi and cable are not priorities since I have my own services. But it would be nice to know if they are available either free or paid.

If they have activities and post a calendar of events it should be current. Showing January's events in the first week of February is a turn-off.

If I am still interested, I start checking for reviews. I don't expect to see raving reviews but helpful info is a must. I like to see pros and cons about the park. The overall condition of the park, the attitude of park workers, condition of the washrooms and laundromat are main concerns. I don't trust the "exceptional" reviews because there is something wrong in every park.

I don't know who does the Good Sam ratings but I don't put a lot of faith in them. One park I stayed in had a 10-10-10 rating by Good Sam but in reality it was more 2-2-2.

A look at the park using Google Earth always gives a good indication of the park. I have no interest in going to a so-called campground that is 90% park model permanent units and 5-6 transient sites scattered all over.

Finally, I drive to the campground for a final inspection and evaluation. I like to be able to drive around the park and if possible, chat with 1 or 2 residents.

Sorry for the long rant. I don't think my expectations are extremely high but if campgrounds want my business, the first thing they better do is make sure their website is current and has the information I need.

[toedtoes]

It came up in his later posts.

[wxtoad]

toedtoes wrote:
I think it's worth mentioning again that the OP is not looking for public campgrounds but for RV Parks.

I just re-read the original post and I didn't see anything about public vs private. Perhaps I'm missing something?

WxToad

[qtla9111]

Poorly built and updated websites

Many campgrounds or rv parks that many call "dumps"

Oh, right! We're rvers, we shouldn't hold rv business owners and rv service suppliers up to the same standards as others.

That's why we prefer to boondock. Too much hit and miss and not enough industry standards.

Seems to be similar to rv manufacturing as well.

[linnemj]

With so many people using the Internet to make purchasing decisions, I am amazed how poor many campground website are in selling their product. I agree that many owners rarely update their sites often enough. While we mostly camp at public campgrounds, we do stop at privately owned campgrounds. Some additional time and money would be a good investment.

[donkeydew]

with all that hard work i think you need a hobby.

[Bob806]

wxtoad wrote:
Boy, I'm amazed at the amount of time that some folks spend on pinning down campground destinations. Like Dream Chaser, we're always looking for different campgrounds - much more fun to visit new locations. We do very little research about them - sure, I like to have an idea about amenities and fees, but we pay no attention to reviews.

And yes, as a result, we have stayed at a couple of real dumps which I would never visit again, but on the other hand we have found some truly wonderful, out-of-the-way spots. If the place is pretty poor, we're outta there the next morning; if we like it, we usually end up staying several days.

How do we find them? I rely on The Ultimate Public Campground Project.

As always, that's just the way like to approach our travels, and it's obviously not a good approach for others. That's the beauty of it - different strokes for different folks.

WxToad

Thanks, wow I never saw that website until now.

[myredracer]

Don't know about outdated websites, but our pet peeve is what their websites or pamphlets conveniently don't tell you, like these to name a few:

- under a flight path to a major airport
- few hundred feet to loud car racetrack next door and can't talk outside
- beach is actually 1 mile or more away, and need a vehicle to get there
- next to an active railroad track or industrial plant
- really low voltage and/or water pressure
- flying insects so bad you can't go outside at all in the daytime

Have found rvparkreviews.com to be quite helpful, but the expectations of different users (TT, FW, MH, fulltimer, etc.) can vary a lot. Some parks/CGs can be great for us but awful for others so need to consider that when reading comments. The lovely photos on some websites can be misleading too.

[toedtoes]

I think it's worth mentioning again that the OP is not looking for public campgrounds but for RV Parks.

[garmp]

With all the great resources mentioned for research on campgrounds, no one yet mentioned one of my favorites:wxtoad.com. Great pics of the campgrounds taken not by the owner or promoter, but by a camper. I've referred to this many times and have gotten some very good info. WxToad, keep up the great work.

Thanks,

[wxtoad]

Boy, I'm amazed at the amount of time that some folks spend on pinning down campground destinations. Like Dream Chaser, we're always looking for different campgrounds - much more fun to visit new locations. We do very little research about them - sure, I like to have an idea about amenities and fees, but we pay no attention to reviews.

And yes, as a result, we have stayed at a couple of real dumps which I would never visit again, but on the other hand we have found some truly wonderful, out-of-the-way spots. If the place is pretty poor, we're outta there the next morning; if we like it, we usually end up staying several days.

How do we find them? I rely on The Ultimate Public Campground Project.

As always, that's just the way like to approach our travels, and it's obviously not a good approach for others. That's the beauty of it - different strokes for different folks.

WxToad

[Bob806]

I do a lot of research for longer trips, using RV park reviews, CG websites, and sometimes even the local Chamber of Commerce. Most of the time we end up in a SP or COE CG.

I think everybody on here has been disappointed a few times, it's part of traveling. The best looking CG on a website may have some campers who aren't courteous to the quiet hours, or filthy shower houses.

To me, the hardest choices involve a popular destination area, so you need to reserve or you may get shut out of a space....so I roll the dice and hope I'm pleasantly surprised by the CG. For the most part, we've made good choices.

[1971duster340]

garmp1 wrote:
rvparkreviews.com is great

This is the best suggestion yet. Quit reinventing the wheel and start with this web site.

[Drbolasky]

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
.........successful quality parks do not need to 'keep up' their website to your standard, posting current rates, or all site photos?

Another dimension to this - oftentimes CG owners do not maintain their own websites - they have another party do the construction, hosting and updating for them. So, if a site is outdated it could be because the CG owner is not paying for continual updates.

As far as pictures go - if the site host isn't an RVer they have no clue what we're looking for. Marketing strategies tend to want to show us images of people having a good time.

Just a couple of observations.

[SDcampowneroper]

Dear OP, dream chaser,
Has it not occured to you that successful quality parks do not need to 'keep up' their website to your standard, posting current rates, or all site photos? Golly, gee, give 'em a call! Don't cast them off so lightly.
I do agree using rvparkreviews.com, google earth, the new review feature on goodsam.com, and campsitephotos.com will give you a better picture and feel for a park.
I haven't been disappointed or surprised when we use all the tools in the box.