How do you pick the RV Parks you stay in ...

You might try this website. I've found it to be fairly accurate.

www.rvparkreviews.com

If you want a Good Sam park, go here:

www.goodsamclub.com/travel

We like National/State/BLM/County sites so when we decide where to head we check out any of those first.
RVReview works for us

We use recreation.gov to locate COE parks if there are any in the area we'll be visiting. If you're 62 you can get the sites for 1/2 price with the America the Beautiful Senior Pass. See info hereabout how to obtain.

daverich wrote:
I first look on Passport America's site and then go to RVparkreviews.com.

If I still have questions, which I normally do not, I ask here.

The same - only about 60% of the time I come here also ...

I determine where I want to go and then use RV Park Reviews.com to narrow down the campground options. Sometimes you're boxed in by dates or towns for camping due to the reasons your going there, but I always read or look at any available photos, including Google Maps.com, as much as I can before settling on a campground.

On the road, on familiar routes we plan our trips to stop at the places we already know and like.

In a new area, we'll look at places a couple hours forward in the Trailer Life directory, but often just stop at someplace we spot along the way. My experience is maybe a third of the RV parks out there are not in anybody's directory, but that's not the whole country, just the middle. So the criterion is essentially "it's here, I'm here, and I'm ready to stop for the day." It is just a few hours, to hook up power and sleep, I'm not fussy.

For destination camping, several days stay, might refer to RV Park Reviews, but much of my destination camping is not in RV parks, rather at public campgrounds on lakes and reservoirs, or state parks at historical sites. Ambience is usually quite different from RV parks.

tripadvisor iphone appl.

Since we fulltime and most of our travel is between volunteer positions and our preference even for overnites is minimal we just look at a map and what state parks are on route and within our daily driving range 200-250. Then check the SP's website for site size, amps and whether they have pull throughs then check rvparksreviews for unbiased info. We usually travel S-F so never worry about reservations.

Google Earth, here. I like big sites with lots of trees and privacy on loops that aren't likely to have a lot of car traffic so that the kids can bike safely. I don't need any hookups.

We almost never, given the choice, stay at private campgrounds because they rarely allow one to reserve a specific site in advance and tend to have much smaller, less private, sites.

I prefer CG's that aren't just "parking lots". As such, I'll research a site on the 'web, and look at on Google earth. Website photos are sometimes helpful, but you need to realize they are usually taken of the best parts of the CG only. Reading reviews on Google is also helpful, but again you must take these with a grain of salt! Price plays a lesser role in my choice, although I'll always avoid KOA's due to their exorbitant rates. Here in Western Canada, I will most often choose a Provincial Park campground, as they are uncrowded, have lots of trees and space between rigs, have reservable sites and reasonable prices.