Traveling in the summer

[Snowman9000]

We have not done much camping in the summer. Instead we have focused on getting away from Illinois in colder months.

We are thinking about moving to the sun belt, and would probably be doing the opposite of the above. Namely getting out during the summer.

I read horror stories about the crowds in the summer. Of course, we don't like crowds. Who does. 🙂 So how bad is RV-ing in the summer? Or is this much ado about nothing?

[garmp]

We always wanted to see St. Augustine, FL and camp at Anastasia SP. Watched their reservation site for the closest to the dates we wanted and went from there. Reserved our 4 day stay, by guessing at a "good" site from the reservation site, google earth, RV ParkReviews and any other info I could garner.
Pretty much based our 3 week trip around that. It was the focal point and we made that the middle of our tour of the south. All worked out fine as we enjoyed every CG before and after. Just have to be flexible at times.

[RGar974417]

We camped in the summer when the kids were young. We normally made reservations. We occasionally camp in the summer with the grand kids and have always made reservations. Usually,you can normally find an open spot for one night when you're traveling unless it's a holiday weekend. For longer stays I would make reservations. And it's easier to get them if you book from Sunday through Thursday. The weekends are much harder to get a site the longer you wait to book. If you can still camp in the off season, that's best. Easier to get sites and less people. We went to Yellowstone in May. We had a reservation for the first night because it was a Saturday. We also had reservations in Yellowstone for Wednesday through Saturday. But the rest of the trip we didn't have reservations. We stayed mostly at state parks and paid anywhere from $16 to $26 for sites with electric.I tried to figure how far we would go in one day and then find a state park close by. It worked out very well.

[2gypsies1]

jplante4 wrote:
All that being said, remember that other people's plans tend to change and there are always last minute cancellations.

Good point. We've gotten into Madison and Bridge Bay campgrounds in Yellowstone this way. We just pulled up, asked for a site and a long one was available. It also worked for Zion Nat'l Park - Watchman campground.

[jplante4]

All that being said, remember that other people's plans tend to change and there are always last minute cancellations. I heard similar "horror stories" about doing the southeast over the winter. "Make advanced reservations", "stay away from this area" etc. We had no problems planning a couple of weeks in advance, and summer camping in the northern climes won't be much different. Last summer, we decided last minute that we didn't want to deal with Cape Cod on July 4th and made reservations at a KOA close by (but OFF cape). They had several sites available due to late cancellations. As is usual, people make reservations a year in advance on the popular weekends and find themselves unable to go.

[westend]

If you avoid the camping spots close to large population centers or tourist attractions, you won't have a problem.

[bikendan]

Snowman9000 wrote:
I read horror stories about the crowds in the summer. Of course, we don't like crowds. Who does. 🙂 So how bad is RV-ing in the summer? Or is this much ado about nothing?

having camped for 35 years, mainly on the West Coast, camping in the summer is as bad as you can imagine.
so bad, that we quit camping in the summer, 20 years ago.
only camp spring and fall and weekdays.
no summers, holidays or weekends.

luckily i was a firefighter so i could go weekdays and non-summertime/holidays. and now i'm retired, we still do the same.

[garmp]

Being a retired couple from the mid-west and enjoying the Gulf Coast either before Memorial Day or after Labor Day was our rule of thumb. Not so much any more, between spring and fall breaks and the year around school and their frequent breaks, there are families with children every where. And you never know when they'll be there. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that kids get introduced to the wonders out of doors. My parents took me CAMPING when I was 6 mos. old, just turned 70 the other day, and still loving it. And I should not complain about the families with youngsters being the only reason for crowds at the parks. I AM A BABY BOOMER and we're totally consuming the camping space. More of us hit the road every day.
So with that said my advice is to have a Plan B.

[mgirardo]

We live in GA and spend our summers in NJ. Our campground is more inland, about 15 miles from Philadelphia. It's not a tourist attraction - about 45 minutes to the closest NJ beach, but it is close to family which is why we are there. As our parents get older, they can't travel to see us anymore, so we spend the summers there so they can see their grand kids and we get a break from the relentless GA sun.

Our campground is pretty quiet during the week in the summer. It starts filling up Thursday and back to quiet Sunday evening. Holiday weekends are usually packed. Our campground doesn't allow pets, which probably keeps it from filling up all the time. Along the coast of NJ, campgrounds are usually close to full all summer long.

It would probably be beneficial to try a few different campgrounds for a summer or two to find one you like. Try to stay away from touristy areas to avoid the worst traffic and crowds. We lucked out and found our campground first try - although it wasn't hard since there are only 3 campgrounds in the County and the other 2 are a good bit further from family than we want to be.

-Michael

[Snowman9000]

Thanks everyone for the insight.

[JoeH]

We leave Florida in June, usually for a couple months or longer. I do plan out the trip and make reservations at the more popular spots, but have never had an issue with getting a site at or near where I wanted to be. Now, it's just the opposite here in FL in the winter. It's pretty much impossible to get a site without having made reservations way in advance.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

We live in Georgia, so it can be very hot and humid, unless you're in the mountains. Even in the mountains it can get hot, although it does get cooler in the evenings. We took a trip from Georgia to California in 2007 and honestly, we never ran into any horrors. I never made reservations more than a day in advance, except when we went up to Yellowstone. Most of the time, if it was Mon-Thurs, I just called around 3pm to find a spot we could pull into at 5:30pm. A couple times I called a day or two ahead, especially if we were going to stay more than 2 days or we were going to go into a weekend. Never once were we turned away.

Now, as far as the weather, well...anywhere you go in the South in the summer is going to be hot and humid. The Southwest will be very hot during the day and cooler at night. It's a dry heat, but once you're at 106 degrees it doesn't matter. Anywhere near a beach is going to be very crowded with families. Don't even think about going to Disney World. Any holiday will bring out the crazies.

We have some very nice COEs and State Parks in GA. We have our rig parked in the mountains now, so we go up there for most summer holidays and it's fine. We have camped at many COEs and State Parks across the South and found them to be really busy during the summers. Only once did we have a problem on a weekend. It was Memorial Day weekend and every nut in Atlanta was on the water at 5:30am and went at it until almost 11pm. Most of the campers were not rowdy. I guess the biggest issue was people letting their dogs run loose or tying them up so they could bark excessively. But during the week, most campgrounds are fairly quiet.

[Lwiddis]

During summer I "plant" myself early Friday and stay put until Sunday. Otherwise no problems during summer at non-ocean/lake campsites for me.

[Ivylog]

X2 on the above. Biannually we do three months out West without reservations. We like USFS CGs that do not take reservations the best BUT you do not show up Friday as the locals will be using most of the sites. Arrive late Sunday or Monday and take your pick. We travel and resupply on the weekends. Elevation and trees negates the need for AC.

[2gypsies1]

In our experience we had no problems finding cool-weather camping in the summer with our 40' motorhome. Plus.... we didn't make reservations. We head for out-of-the-way places, not the popular tourist places. We also enjoy national forest campgrounds and boondocking in mountain areas. We don't need hookups. It just depends what kind of RVing you do and where you go. It also helps if you're not on a schedule. When you only have two weeks time you need reservations and planning. All you working folks when you retire it's so much easier. 🙂 Your time will come! Good luck... it can be done easily.