Tired of parking lot camping

[iamalienru]

I own a 40' American Eagle motorhome. I also have a 20' boat. I live in Southern California. I would like to find a park with hook ups that has pleanty of space maybe a fire ring and the feeling that you are in the outdoors. Could be in the woods or coast, cooler areas in the summer and warmer in the winters. I am heading up to northern Cal in September Mendocino County. Do these types of places exsist? I would travel to Utah, Arizona even Colorado. I know most places with hook ups want to jam as many spaces close together to make the most of their property but maybe there a few that have the camper in mind. If anyone has any suggestion please let me know

[B_s_Bunch]

Fall Creek Falls Tenessee. My bet is you will like it. Have fun Larry

[Sez_Hoo_]

If you have access to Military Bases I would recommend the beach campground at Marine Corp Base Camp Pendleton. $45 for full hookups on the beach, I mean on the beach. It has a concrete fire ring at each site.

[Don_and_Barb]

I'm not familiar with So Cal. But up here in northern Cal there is lots of camping that is not in a parking lot. I've been to Bass Lake, it's dry camping but it's in the middle of pines and redwoods, beautiful but hot in the summer. Also above Angels Camp are a few campgrounds that allow RV's not sure of the length limit. I know that most of the State parks have a 30' limit so make sure you check before you go. I hate parking lot camping so I made sure I bought a rig that's under 30'. Though my friend has a 33' and has never been questioned about it when the limit is 30', but 40' they might notice that bad boy.

[RayChez]

I just got back from a forty day camping trip to northern California where it was nice and cool. We belong to ThousandTrails, Naco so we stayed at SnowFlower preserve which is right next to Crystal Lake and high timber. It had water, electricity, but to dump you either had to go to the dump site or pay for the wagon to come to your coach and pump the tanks out. But the sites had plenty of room to accommodate big rigs.

After we left that preserve spending 21 days there, we decided to come back to southern California using hwy 395 which has lots of state and federal parks. My coach is 38' and I had lots of problems trying to find a state park that would accommodate anything much bigger then a 30' motorhome. Most of the state and federal parks were full or reserved way ahead of time. I ended up paying big bucks to stay in privately owned camp grounds. They were nice next to good fishing areas, but expensive.

Most of your state parks IF you can get reservations run around 17 to 29 dollars per night. Federal parks are about the same unless you own a Golden Age Passport, THEN you can stay for nine dollars per night. Mind you that none of the state or federal parks have full hook ups. You will be luck to just have water.

Like somebody else mentioned TTrails does offer a lot with preserves right next to beaches all the way to the Canadian border and it more then pays for itself if you enjoy camping.

[SteveRuff]

We have been staying in Thousand Trails parks on our trek through Washington and the Oregon coast. Some of these parks are so wooded you truly feel alone but you have access to water, electric, and often sewer or at least a dump station. Down side for me is that many have been in areas with spotty cell coverage at best which makes for unstable Internet connections and almost no satellite television. Still, after buying the zone pass and taking advantage of a two for one special where I got two zones I am staying 30 nights for free. After that I have to pay an outrageous $3.00 a night! Go to the web site and see if any of their parks are in areas you are interested in going.

[iamalienru]

I really didn't expect such a great response to my question I will be checking out all of the suggestions. When I find the perfect spot I will share my information. Thank you all

[Busskipper]

Double post deleted

[Busskipper]

iamalienru wrote:
I have no problems with camping without hook-ups it just would be nice if I could find it all. I will check out all of the suggestions I am also looking for boondock spots along the coast or a lake area ..thank you all

Not to be a PIA but time of year will be critical to achieve your desires no matter where you go. We have been in Yellowstone and achieved the results you describe -- only thing was it was in late October early November. We have pulled into Monument Valley and again had the same results, again just after Thanksgiving.

I have not traveled in California in better than 10 years -- but even then we Camped alone on the Beach just south of LA, all alone looking straight out at the sunset again just after Christmas. I got so tired of the miserably overcrowded roads we've just decided to look and spend time in other areas and if we run out of thing to see and do, we will return to California, beautiful state just too many PEOPLE.

As many have said -- State Parks -- Reservoirs -- and Corps of Engineer areas are on occasion overlooked and you might find something along that vane -- but with so many people hard to imagine any areas that are not crowded in the season.

BOL,

[Monaco_Montclai]

Parking lot camping, wow. Not me, wall mart is not for me, any camp ground will do, and ow its all. Happy-camping

[mena661]

iamalienru wrote:
I have been searching and found some on the Colorado River but too hot during the summer. I am looking for a space that your neighbor is about 15 to 20 yards away from you and you have a nice camp area. Boondocking areas up the california coast or lake areas would be ok. I am just looking for something really nice. Getting information from folks the have been to the sites is a lot better than trying to find one via the internet thanks for your replies

Well since boondocking areas are on the table then we REALLY like Thornhill Broome (Point Magu State Park) between Oxnard and Malibu. All the sites are RIGHT on the beach. Your campsite is about 60ft wide x 100ft long of sand (you parallel park in the site). I also recommend Refugio SB, Carpenteria SB, and Jalama Beach (Santa Barbara County Park). Jalama Beach and Carpenteria might be tight for a 40 ft but I would call to make sure. I know for a fact that Refugio and Thornhill easily fit 40 ft. There's a FHU CG just east of Refugio, Ocean Mesa RV and Campground that has 50ft sites. It's not on the beach side of the freeway though but it is on the side of a hill facing the beach.

[iamalienru]

I have no problems with camping without hook-ups it just would be nice if I could find it all. I will check out all of the suggestions I am also looking for boondock spots along the coast or a lake area ..thank you all

[RognBon]

In the Mendocino county area, I recommend Pomo RV park just South of Fort Bragg. We have no problem fitting in there in our 40' Dynasty and toad. The spaces are large and level with lots of trees and shrubs which provide plenty of privacy between sites.

[gswcgi]

Immigrant Lake just off of I-5 right over the Oregon border, incredible spot overlooking a great lake with full hook ups run by the county. A real gem!

[2gypsies1]

We choose as our first choice, national parks, national forests, state parks, Corps of Engineers, county parks and even city parks. We love natural surroundings and avoid private parks as much as possible.

We have a 40' motorhome and don't find a problem fitting into these kinds of parks but you have to do your homework. You can find some kind of hookups in all of these types. Not every one of the national parks, etc. but certainly in some of them. Perhaps not full hookups but even national parks or forests will offer electric sites, sometimes water and most often dump stations. All work for us! Also, we don't require any hookups if that's where we want to be. All RVs are self-contained so really, why do you need hookups? You just learn to conserve. It's very doable.