What do you look for in a RV Park?

[AquaHuntress]

Hi folks, my husband and I are looking into buying our first RV! We would love to start traveling around Florida. What are the things you look for when choosing a RV park? There are so many to choose from. Just wondering if all of the "Amenities" that cost more are really worth it? Does anyone really use the big club houses or bath houses? What are the must haves that make the extra cost worth it?

[Old-Biscuit]

For US the CG is NOT the destination so don't care if it has pool, club house, sponsored activities, spa etc.
Clean, maintained CG that we can park our RV to sleep in at night.
During the daytime...out & about exploring the local area/sights

[Dentkimterry]

The first thing we look for is a vacancy! ��

Terry

[rk911]

we rarely use the amenities at parks other than at the park where we spend a few months during the winter. so our needs are fairly simple...

- full hook up where the electrical connection has it's own circuit breakers
- pull thru spot
- open to the sky for the sat tv dish
- clean
- relatively quiet

pluses are...

- a picnic table so I don't have to pull out the folding table for the grill
- a concrete patio (gravel is fine where the MH gets parked)
- "off-street" parking for the jeep

[AquaHuntress]

Good point, Thanks!

[AquaHuntress]

Originally Posted by Dentkimterry

The first thing we look for is a vacancy! ��

Terry

Is that usually difficult to find?

[jmck1737]

We are similar to Old Biscuit above; we do not travel with children so where we stop and stay is for sight seeing and exploring in the area. We like easy in and out of the pull thru's, good solid electrical with no brownouts. Clean and level site when we arrive. Clean laundry area is also a nice plus. Walking trails or nice area in campground to walk after dinner. We stay in a lot of older "plain" campgrounds and county fairgrounds and parks with RV sites with hookups. Why pay for playgrounds, water parks and pools when we don't use them.

Sewer hookups for neighbor NOT within a couple of feet of our picnic table is always a bonus. Amazed how many parks have sewer hookups within feet of your patio space.

[AquaHuntress]

Originally Posted by rk911

we rarely use the amenities at parks other than at the park where we spend a few months during the winter. so our needs are fairly simple...

- full hook up where the electrical connection has it's own circuit breakers
- pull thru spot
- open to the sky for the sat tv dish
- clean
- relatively quiet

pluses are...

- a picnic table so I don't have to pull out the folding table for the grill
- a concrete patio (gravel is fine where the MH gets parked)
- "off-street" parking for the jeep

Awesome info thank you!

[AquaHuntress]

Originally Posted by jmck1737

We are similar to Old Biscuit above; we do not travel with children so where we stop and stay is for sight seeing and exploring in the area. We like easy in and out of the pull thru's, good solid electrical with no brownouts. Clean and level site when we arrive. Clean laundry area is also a nice plus. Walking trails or nice area in campground to walk after dinner. We stay in a lot of older "plain" campgrounds and county fairgrounds and parks with RV sites with hookups. Why pay for playgrounds, water parks and pools when we don't use them.

Sewer hookups for neighbor NOT within a couple of feet of our picnic table is always a bonus. Amazed how many parks have sewer hookups within feet of your patio space.

Yuck! Thanks for the heads up on that one!

[Scatterbrain]

Originally Posted by AquaHuntress

Is that usually difficult to find?

Yep. We usually book a month or so in advance. Even then we can have issues finding an available space.

[Oldmso54]

For us it depends on the length of stay. Generaly speaking looking for level spots that accommadate our rig...

For one night stays, safety and convenience are the main criteria. If it has a pool, tiki bar, restaurant or fire pit we may or may not take advantage of that stuff - just depends.

For longer stays the more amenities the better - just in case we feel like taking advantage of them.

For destination stays I like larger parks/resorts with more stuff!

Having said that we stayed at a number of State Parks (FL) on our last trip and I was VERY impressed. They are going to be on future 'go to' places.

[AquaHuntress]

Originally Posted by Scatterbrain

Yep. We usually book a month or so in advance. Even then we can have issues finding an available space.

Is that all over the country or a specific area or state?

[AquaHuntress]

Originally Posted by Oldmso54

For us it depends on the length of stay. Generaly speaking looking for level spots that accommadate our rig...

For one night stays, safety and convenience are the main criteria. If it has a pool, tiki bar, restaurant or fire pit we may or may not take advantage of that stuff - just depends.

For longer stays the more amenities the better - just in case we feel like taking advantage of them.

For destination stays I like larger parks/resorts with more stuff!

Having said that we stayed at a number of State Parks (FL) on our last trip and I was VERY impressed. They are going to be on future 'go to' places.

What did you like about the state parks versus others?

[rk911]

Originally Posted by AquaHuntress

Is that usually difficult to find?

seriously, it can be during the camping season. lots and lots of RVs on the road competing for the relatively fewer spots.

- if you MUST be somewhere on date X for Y-days then a reservation is almost a must.
- if you're heading to a resort area, the beach, the mountains then a reservation is almost a must.
- if you're heading out on a holiday weekend (july 4th, memorial day, etc) then no question a reservation is almost a must.

this all assumes you're not boondocking or dry camping off the grid on national forest or BLM land. but even then it can get a bit crowded.

if you can plan your camping for the weekdays when others are working. better chance of just winging it.

we pretty much limit our camping to the months when school is in session but even then we're finding more and more folks on the road. we usually only drive 200-250 miles per day and are usually parked and setup by 3pm. at that point the parks are pretty empty but 2-4 hours later most if not all of the spaces are taken. 30-years ago we could wing it very easily but not as easily today.

a lot of state parks set aside a percentage of their sites for reservations and a smaller number for first-come, first-served.

don't let this deter you...you'll figure it out.