What does the future hold for the transient RVer?

[jswickard]

We are “half-timers,” traveling extensively during the summer, having done so for a number of years. We typically stay several days at any one campground, using both public and private facilities, and take day trips with the toad to visit local attractions. As aging seniors, we have become creatures of comfort, so we seldom do dry camping. Our itinerary is not normally planned in detail, electing to stay longer where we like, and leaving sooner when we choose.

This year we have had more difficulty than ever before in finding availability in well rated campgrounds, especially when planning only a few days ahead. The RV manufacturing industry is reportedly booming. Unfortunately, I see few instances of more campgrounds being built. It would seem that each year more and more campers are, and will be in the future, competing for the same number of campsites. (Does the law of supply and demand then predict that campsite prices will be going even higher?)

As part of the situation, there seems to be a trend for locals and families to reserve every campsite, especially in public facilities, for every week end; sites are readily available during the week, but non-existent for transients come the weekend.

Add to that the periodic influxes of tradesmen living in RVs while they are employed on local construction and similar projects.

I have no quarrel with those that are filling the campgrounds; they have every right to reserve campsites to live their own dream. My concern Is whether we are gradually being forced out of our own chosen RV lifestyle.

I’m curious if others are seeing the same trend, and if so, where this is all headed? What does the future hold for the transient RVer?

[Skip426]

Hopefully, the same law, of supply and demand, that drives up the price, will lead to the development of more RV parks, as investor/developers, see an opportunity for profit.

[nothermark]

I would add that it somewhat depends where you want to be. S Florida will always be crowded in January, doubt it is a problem now. If you want to hit the hot spots the reservation systems have given the plan ahead folks the edge.

FWIW from conversations with park folks over the years the only thing the reservation system has done is open up midweek. The same folks that reserve a bunch of weekends used to register for 2 weeks at a time even if they were only in residence for the weekends. The net result was the park systems lost money with reservations.

[GaryKD]

Hi jswickard,
I am also a 1/2 timer, wintering in south Florida. What I have done is purchase a lot in an RV resort. It took 3 years of looking but finally found a place that fit my needs. The lot is in Sevierville (eastern) Tennessee. From this lot I can easily be locally entertained (quite a variety of things to do). There are 3 interstate highways nearby (2 north/south and one east/west). Medical facilities and access is outstanding. Tennessee has low fixed costs. It quite a bit cooler at 1K' above sea level, at the base of the Smoky Mountains than in southern Florida. What does all this mean? From this lot, if I want to travel, I can easily go to any part of the USA. So there you have it. I do not usually travel during holidays times or peak family times (when kids are out of school). However that leaves April, May, first 1/2 of June, September, October and the first 1/2 of November for travel. That is 5 months of the year to wander as I see fit; using the Sevierville lot as a base camp. For me, life is good.

I have had no difficulty staying in upscale RV resorts with all the creature comforts.

[NLOVNIT]

Here in the east, CG's are mostly full on summer weekends resulting in having to plan ahead (sometimes as much as a year) when wanting to stay in the popular, destination CG's. When we 1st started RV-ing 15 years ago, Sept & Oct were fairly quiet months, even on weekends due to kids being back to school & the plethora of after-school activites they have that kept people out of the CG's. Now with CG's wanting to stretch the season as long as possible, fall-festival & Halloween weekends have packed them. The quiet weekends are now in the early Spring (Mar & Apr), shortly after they've opened for the season.

With all the people I see at RV shows & all the SOLD signs I see on RV's there, more & more people, especially families with parents who work during the week, will be RV-ing on the weekends.

For those of us who still do the weekends thing, it just means less spur-of-the-moment & more plan-ahead to stay in the CG's we want to frequent.

Lori-

[Dutch Star Don]

I've been seeing the same thing as the OP in the last year or so. About every two years we like to visit Oregon and travel the Oregon coast. This year we had a hard time getting sites along the coast, even when booking over a month in advance. This has never happened before.

[TonyDi]

I agree that the law of supply and demand will dictate that more CGs will eventually be built. However, not overnight. If we consider the amount of time it takes to get the permits, environmental impact studies and utility okays it will be a slow go.
Plus land prices for primo sites is high and going higher. Then there is the financing to build it etc, etc, etc.

[osok]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I've been seeing the same thing as the OP in the last year or so. About every two years we like to visit Oregon and travel the Oregon coast. This year we had a hard time getting sites along the coast, even when booking over a month in advance. This has never happened before.

Do you feel the Oregon FMCA Rally with hundreds coaches contributed to parks filling up a month before and a month afterwards? I ask because we noticed in Georgia last spring the influx of attendees at FMCA Rally filled a lot of parks prior to and after event.

On our soon to depart trip we will be in areas that attract fall campers so we had to make reservations a few months in advance. No doubt some areas attract more campers than less tourist areas. Decades ago we sometimes were the only campers at a park during the week. Now seems most parks are at least half full or more during the week.

[Superslif]

Yes, reserving far enough ahead of time for weekend stays is hard to do not knowing the weather.

On our longer trips of 14 to 16 days, I might link up stays at 2 or 3 state parks. In order to get a descent site I might reserve 6 months ahead of time. Once I know my vacation weeks (6) I'll start making reservations.

Now what I have noticed over the last 10 years is: This is observations from staying at the state parks of Ohio and PA. Yes, the weekends are very full, but I see less campers during the week (Mon -Thur). I'll also see where more people coming and leaving on sites during the weekend. I attributed that to spouses having to work one of the weekend days.

Also even in the state parks I'll see RVers using them as home bases for contractor jobs. This nation is turning into a nation of "sub-contractors".

Not very often do I reserve for a weekend months ahead of time. Never know what the weather will be. What I will do is knowing we want to go camping the next weekend because the weather looks good, wait till maybe Tuesday or Wednesday and make a reservation. Might have to go to another state park that doesn't get as busy within 60 miles from home. Like to keep the weekend stays within a 90 minutes drive.

[JFXG]

In the past two years + since we started fulltiming, we have spent about ten months in full travel mode. In that time I could count on one hand the number of times we found no spot at a place we had picked. Having said that, I will acknowledge that we rarely go to "destinations", and when we do it's usually off season-- Grand Canyon in January, that sort of thing. Although just recently we were at Glacier the week before Labor Day, and Yellowstone on LD weekend, and had no problems at either place with just a few days advance calling.

HOWEVER---- in talking to RV Park managers over the last couple of years, I've found numerous who say they intend to let certain group memberships lapse, particularly PA. Their outlook is simple: everyone's got a discount card, so nobody really gets a special price. Also, their campgrounds are full or nearly so in season, so why should they discount?

Could be just talk, but we'll see....

[smlranger]

When I was still working, we always planned our RV vacations for off-peak times in either spring or fall. We rarely made reservations unless we knew we were going to a very popular place.

I retired in May and, in spite of my reluctance to travel during peak summer months, we hit the road on June 6 with no reservations anywhere. We figured we could get into RV parks during the week and keep moving and boondock in Walmart on weekends if we had to. We traveled from Virginia to Oregon thru the West, stopping along the way to see things. We were always able to find a place to stay in our preferred location with a few exceptions. We did call ahead a few times to ensure we would get a spot. We could not get into any RV park in Bend, OR over July 4th so we just stayed put at a nice RV park in Idaho until July 6. We were barely able to squeak into a nice RV park for a week on the Oregon coast in Newport.

That said, my preference would be to avoid a lot of mid summer travel, focus on finding warm locations to winter, and take shorter spring and fall trips. We did see a lot of folks with new RV's, including younger families. I can certainly see more competition for the better RV sites moving forward.

[Dutch Star Don]

Both the FMCA rally and the opening of salmon season didn't help the Oregon situation, but we've been there during that time frame in the past and didn't have the issues.

Now, on another trip, we are planning to spend a night at a KOA which is right next door to the Pomona RV Show. I checked today for a site and surprisingly found two available.

[JFXG]

ADDENDUM: Another thing I've noticed is the apparent abundance of "under the radar" CG and RV Parks in some locations. I usually do a general Google Map search, and specific searches (Nat Park, St Park, PA, GS, KOA, etc) as applicable. On arrival in most locations, we've found a great many RV parks and CGs that appear to be nice places, but seem totally unaffiliated, showing up on almost nobody's search. Odd.....

[lrose44]

Well....
I have thought about trying to open a campground here as a little venture.
Maybe 25 to 30 spots to start with.
All pull throughs.
Just the basics to start.
Maybe a mile off the interstate 57 here near Salem Illinois where we have the farm.
Crunching the numbers.......
Depends on what you would charge...$25...$30..$35
On our way to Destin,Fl where we visit the Kids we stay at Athens ,Al in a basic campground that charges $25.
Ususally 20 rigs there just to overnight with full hookups.
Need more info to see if it would be a decent venture.
Wal Mart here has 2-5 rigs every night.
Any ideas anyone?