High price campground prices.

[egwilly]

Originally Posted by windsorbill

Unfortunately you didn't get much bang for the buck.

There is a place in S. Calif (newport dunes RV) at about $400/night during the summer for a premium site. At least a year in advance to get the really good sites. My buddy parks his Tour there for a month each summer. A bargain at $8k/month

Seems like the $60-120/nights are a bargain.

Well, with global warming, Newport Dunes soon will be off limits to RV's, and will need to have boats to stay there!

Nice place, but not worth that kind of $$. We stay at parks that average about $70/night with hookups. Indian casinos are reasonable around here.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by egwilly

Well, with global warming, Newport Dunes soon will be off limits to RV's, and will need to have boats to stay there!

Nice place, but not worth that kind of $$. We stay at parks that average about $70/night with hookups. Indian casinos are reasonable around here.

You're right. That place is stupid expensive. My buddy gave me 3 nights there once for helping him at his house. I saw my invoice he paid, over $1200. Granted, one of the best sites there, but holy cow!
Not my kind of place for that much $$.

[twogypsies]

There are tons of reasonable campgrounds to stay if you're not set on the amenities. Also, get off the interstates. The small towns have nice ones. Don't overlook public parks. Many small towns have awesome city or county campgrounds. There are also fairgrounds, casinos, public lands, etc. Even in popular snowbird states there are reasonable campground to stay. They're out there! You're definitely not forced to stay at expensive ones.

[rollondown]

For what its worth, the toll roads around Houston will toll by plate. It's worth the cost. We just spent some time in New Caney, just northeast of Houston and our price came out to 48.95 a night. That was with a weekly rate and discounts. At that price, the park was half empty. Forest Retreat RV Resort.

[lrgomez1976]

I also became a member of KOA and they have locations all over the states. Prices are decent.

[Ray,IN]

The price of RV parks has a great deal to do with land values and location. Many years ago a land developer in Florida paid $1 million per lot for an RV park. The land location was that desirable. So it's not hard to see why RV park site fees are getting expensive, and why new RV parks are seldom constructed near popular attractions/areas.

[richardgood]

Originally Posted by LickingTexas

I was traveling through Houston Tx, a few evenings ago, I had a designated campground pick out, but traffic was terrible, I guess the holidays didn't help the traffic any. On my GPS it has a choice of no toll roads. I choose no toll roads, I thought, with in 10 minutes of campground, I was coming to a toll road, cars lined up for 1/2 miles, just about to pull my hair out from the unfriendly traffic, Wife was sleeping back on the bed, wife had all our money(no pun intended), I took the last exit off of 610 before the toll rd. what a mistake 40 ft motorhome with toad behind, programed GPS for Lowes, I was close to getting bat out, and beating the ground with it, I was so upset with traffic. I programed GPS for nearest campground, Westlake rv campground was the closes, no one was at the office of the campground. So I pulled up to the gate at the Westlake campground, the gate opened, at 7:30 pm, left 8:30 am. I stopped, and paid at the office, gal at office told me thanks for being honest , and paying instead of just driving on. The price was $62.22, for just one night, holy snow balls, I got good Sam discount $6.22, cost me $56.00 I didn't even hook up water. Where can we report outrageous prices for campgrounds, I know don't go, and they won't stay open, but I didn't know the price, or I would have stayed at Lowes parking lot. few nights before I stayed at Cabela's for 6 hours. I have been using passport America, when I can 1/2 camp sites. I didn't mean to right a book about this, Sorry

Liberty City RV park and marina opposite Manhattan is over $90/night but cheap compared to the hotels.

[LickingTexas]

Originally Posted by lrgomez1976

You have to remember that holidays and special events will bring higher prices. If traveling and need to spend the night for some shuteye plan ahead and check with local Walmarts. When I travel long distance, I will call ahead and get the OK from management.

If you read the whole thing,you would have seen I did plan ahead for campground, I didn't plan ahead for lousy traffic..

[LickingTexas]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

A typical private campground in California is $85 - $110 a night.

Holy snowballs, I would have past out. Thanks for the warning, I'm wanting to see the red woods.

[diva51]

It may seem like the campground owner is making a fortune but that may not be true. As a commercial real estate owner I can understand the prices. The cost of taxes have increased....insurance has increased greatly over the last few years. Don’t forget liability insurance and the costs to staff the campground. What about the facility updates? Then there are advertising costs for some to add to the list. I can certainly go on.... I forgot the mortgage!!!!

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by diva51

It may seem like the campground owner is making a fortune but that may not be true. As a commercial real estate owner I can understand the prices. The cost of taxes have increased....insurance has increased greatly over the last few years. Don’t forget liability insurance and the costs to staff the campground. What about the facility updates? Then there are advertising costs for some to add to the list. I can certainly go on.... I forgot the mortgage!!!!

You are absolutely correct and you have only scratched the surface of costs involved. Just the equipment required for the day to day maintenance is a huge capital expense. The first campground I ever stayed in back in 1977 has evolved from 40 sites to over 180. They have tractors and a lot of equipment for maintaining roads etc. throughout the campground They also use the tractor to pull a wagon for free hayrides for the children. A UTV to carry cleaning supplies to the remote shower and bathroom facilities or to do maintenance on electrical and plumbing and sewer issues. They have a sand banked pond there which requires constant raking etc. to keep it nice. The chemicals to treat the water in the pond add up in a short while. The water supply system has to be properly maintained and monthly tests conducted which are monitored by the health department. All this requires supplies and manpower. There is a lot of grass there which needs constant mowing. The mowers they have are not cheap. Some of the permanent campsite residents will grab a mower and do their lawn and often times their neighbor's lawns. Dumpsters spread around the grounds are costly.
The electrical power company is not bashful about charging a commercial rate to power campground lighting. The power use is metered to each permanent site and the site renter pays the fee monthly. The CG owner has to pay for the meter rental from the power company.
All this and the daily rate is $26 for a full hookup. Yet some folks balk at the price.
There is more but I will let someone else have the floor.
Merry Christmas!
Lynn

[dlb53151]

I am a frugal guy. But... I don’t mind paying $80 to $100 per night for a nice, well maintained RV Park with paved roads.

At the end of the day, Supply vs. Demand drives pricing. If there are people (not me) willing to pay $400 per night, more power to the RV Park owner.

The demographics are shifting, as more high income earners are getting into this. Lot of demand for bigger travel trailers and class B’s and A’s.

[hamm2018]

First thing Merry Christmas to all.
The cost of staying in a RV park is going higher. Like everybody has said demand drives the prices. If you go into a tourist area the cost is higher because of the demand for a site. If you go to an out of the way campground the cost could be lower. Much like a hotel cost, or parking at a baseball game. Closer to the venue the higher the cost. Next to a stadium maybe $20.00 a little further down the road $15.00, yet a little further down $10.00.

We are going full time June 1, 2019 we have several memberships with us, and hope we can use these to help reduce the cost. We are 1000 trails members and plan on trying to use this as our main campgrounds for our travels. If anybody has any ideals about reducing cost PLEASE share with us!!

[RiverBurt]

Any port in a storm.