to much info

[Rich_Mar]

We bought the G S travel & savings guide book. Not happy with it at all. It's what, 3 or so inches thick weighs several pounds and goes into detail about a ton of subjects I couldn't care less about. But to try and find the legend to explain the synbols, I can't. Like the ratings on the camp grounds (9.5 etc) Where are they, what page? It's not page 184. Anyone else find this book with just to much info. I know different strokes for diff folks but I would like to find a good and simple campground book giving locations and etc. As they say today, it's not user friendly. Any good and to the point campground books out there? thanks

[Wanderlost]

I use both electronic and paper, then phone the potential campgrounds to get the missing info. Works for us, and we've not had any bad experiences yet.

I would, however, very much prefer GS/CW to confine the book to just campground materials. I don't need their opinion of what to see, blah blah blah. The local traveler brochures do a much better job.

[aerbus32]

Like many, we no longer use the paper references. Purely electronic. The last time we used the book, we took it to a place that divided into 3 sections & put a spiral binding on it.

[naturist]

Book? What's a "book?"

I gave up on printed paper books several years ago. I don't have a smartphone, but I DO have an iPod Touch, which runs the same OS as the iPhone and the iPad and operates only on wifi. There are a number of inexpensive or free apps for finding campgrounds, all the info that ever was in Woodalls or the GS books, and it gets updated at least annually for no more money. Between GS Camping, Allstays, RVParky, and the Government app, all that info is available for computer search and almost instant find, interfaces with maps, and works great, plus it is a LOT less weight to drag around.

See, here's the thing: printed book campground guides are dinosaurs. Big. Bulky. Heavy. Slow to search. yada, yada, yada. The market is going away. You asked for a good one? Ain't none. Give it up. Get the apps.

[noplace2]

Fulltiming for many years. Gave up "opinion" sites nearly as long ago. Your opinion and ours is quite likely to not even be close to matching what is important to us.

We research an area that we are interested in visiting. We make a list of facilities that suit us and then we call them and ask them pertinent questions. (We have a list) There is nothing like talking with the people who work the place. Information, friendliness, tone of voice etc. Out of our 15+years FT, we have only made one mistake in the past 6 years.

Do your homework, talk to the people involved and never rely on someone else' opinion. Works for us.

[2gypsies1]

prichardson wrote:
Unfortunately Woodalls is no longer. GS/TL took them over. In the process there was actually a reduction to the amount of information published on many of the individual campgrounds.

They eliminated campground information and added a ton of big city things to do.

I wonder how many actually use their hundreds of pages of siteseeing stuff. That's not the place I would think to go. There's lot better info by using Google and the city you want to explore.

It's supposed to be a campground directory, not a travel book.

[Pogoil]

We use the book as a tool along with other sources. We like the book, but again I like to read the newspaper as well. Phone or WiFi is not always available.

Pogoil.

[donkeydew]

Rich&Mar wrote:
We bought the G S travel & savings guide book. Not happy with it at all. It's what, 3 or so inches thick weighs several pounds and goes into detail about a ton of subjects I couldn't care less about. But to try and find the legend to explain the synbols, I can't. Like the ratings on the camp grounds (9.5 etc) Where are they, what page? It's not page 184. Anyone else find this book with just to much info. I know different strokes for diff folks but I would like to find a good and simple campground book giving locations and etc. As they say today, it's not user friendly. Any good and to the point campground books out there? thanks

take two aspirin and call the inn the morning.
they will explain it ti you

[janstey58]

Download Yelp on your Smartphone and use this tool to search for RV Campgrounds, gas stations, restaurants, etc..... No charge! Each posting has reviews and in most cases pictures.

[Homer1]

I stopped using the G/S campground book years ago. RV Park reviews gives me most of what I want, even then one must find a middle ground, as there are vast variations given on a single campground.

[tdiller]

prichardson wrote:
Unfortunately Woodalls is no longer. GS/TL took them over. In the process there was actually a reduction to the amount of information published on many of the individual campgrounds.

Woodalls was taken over by AAA. I got their camping guide from my local Chicago Motor Club (AAA). I also go there to get information on what to see and do wherever I'm going along with maps of the states I'm visiting. It's all free as part of my roadside service package which inlcude any vehicle I'm in my motorcycle and my camper. Worht the 100 bucks a year to me.

[prichardson]

Unfortunately Woodalls is no longer. GS/TL took them over. In the process there was actually a reduction to the amount of information published on many of the individual campgrounds.

[craig7h]

I picked up the Woodalls camping quides from AAA. They are broken down by sections of the country, very easy to handle.

GS has been told over and over about the size of the book and has not taken any steps to make it user friendly. Oh well

[D_E_Bishop]

I don't know if Trailer Life is the same as GS and I think our TL is a few years old but we use it when we're on the road and find it easy to read. We also have the AAA camping guides for the areas we will be traveling to and through and we have a KOA guide too. The other guides we carry are individual State camping guides. Some times we get the AAA and the individual State guides before we leave home and sometimes on the road. I agree that the TL book could be split up by time zones and put four smaller guides in a package for a few bucks more than a single book.

If we are at home or in a campground with good WiFi, we also use the reviews from various sources and we use Google Earth for a look see. It has helped with picking locations by seeing what is in a CG and where it is.

Kind of a round about answer but that the sources we use.

[JESTER7406]

"ok google, shom me rv park near me"