Community Forums

1JetDoc · 05-21-2022, 07:33 PM

Anyone have some current info on this campground?

We have reservations here for next week and I've read some rather disturbing negative reviews recently... Poor maintenance, rude staff, etc, and just wondering if this is the best they can do inside one of our most popular National Parks.

Ray,IN · 05-21-2022, 08:23 PM

Trailer Village is operated by a concessionaire not the NPS. It is normally full to capacity during the warm months, thus customer service suffers.
Since you will be away from your RV most of the day, just as long as your FHU's are functioning, I would ignore everything else and enjoy the time in the NP.

radar · 05-21-2022, 10:08 PM

We have stayed there twice in a 40 foot pusher with Toad. No issues. We enjoyed our stay both times.

twogypsies · 05-21-2022, 10:53 PM

Store your sewer hose when not dumping. The ravens love to peck holes in them! (This from friends who stayed there. Otherwise, no complaints from them.) You don't have many choices unless you want to stay in Williams much farther away and have to commute and find parking all the time. Tusayan has a park but it doesn't look as good as Trailer Village. We like 10X national forest campground just outside the park but no hookups there.

bigchick · 05-22-2022, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Trailer Village is operated by a concessionaire not the NPS. It is normally full to capacity during the warm months, thus customer service suffers.
Since you will be away from your RV most of the day, just as long as your FHU's are functioning, I would ignore everything else and enjoy the time in the NP.

perfect response!

jimcumminsw · 05-22-2022, 09:13 AM

Make sure you have your senior pass to get into the Grand Canyon (free when I went) for a lower entrance fee. But you still have to pay the full camping fee for Trailer Village.

We spent a week there and could have stayed a little longer, but we had to move on to get to the balloon feast in NM.

We never interacted with the staff other than to register the first time. We did deal with the park staff since they operate everything else in the park and like most people, they are friendly, just follow the rules posted.

oilman51 · 05-22-2022, 03:00 PM

We were there on April. Everything was good and a herd of elk came through in the AM feeding on what grass there was.

DavidEM · 05-22-2022, 05:55 PM

Consider traveling around and up to the north rim. The campground near the main lodge is much more like a NP campground than the acres of asphalt at the trailer village on the south rim.

The elevation of the north rim is about 1,000 feet higher than the south, so the vegetation is better, and it is cooler there. If the north rim campground is full there is a USFS campground near Jacob Lake and another further in towards the lodge. No hookups in any of them though.

David

twojayhawks · 05-23-2022, 08:45 AM

Our experience staying at Trailer Village was great! I'm trying to figure out why anyone would bash the place. We arrived having made a online reservation many months earlier. Other than check in we never had any reason to even talk to park personnel.

rjwilliams · 05-23-2022, 10:26 AM

We were there late last season. Had no problems. Found the office staff to be quite pleasant and helpful, really didn't interact with any other people. Decent facility and close to transportation and a shopping area.

DavidEM · 05-23-2022, 10:56 AM

I am not sure I was bashing Trailer Village. It is similar to most commercial RV Parks and if that is what you like, so be it. The overall experience at the south rim is much more upscale with a viewing platform that you can see though, and it is closer to the river below.

The north rim is more rustic and the view from Bright Angel Point or the lodge itself can't be beat. The campground at the north rim has picnic tables and fire pits like most NPS campgrounds.

Different strokes.....

David

1JetDoc · 05-23-2022, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidEM

I am not sure I was bashing Trailer Village. It is similar to most commercial RV Parks and if that is what you like, so be it. The overall experience at the south rim is much more upscale with a viewing platform that you can see though, and it is closer to the river below.

The north rim is more rustic and the view from Bright Angel Point or the lodge itself can't be beat. The campground at the north rim has picnic tables and fire pits like most NPS campgrounds.

Different strokes.....

David

Thanks, David. I didn't see any "bashing" of one campsite over another one.

We chose to visit the south side of the canyon because we are going to have a very limited time to explore and wanted to get the benefit of the more developed facilities. Perhaps if we get another chance to visit and are able to stay longer, we'll check out the north rim.

cfowler55 · 05-24-2022, 12:15 PM

We were there about 5-6 wee.s ago.. I will say the fellow at the check in was a bit surly. The park is a little dated , pads not level. But , all utilities work fine. Trees cut back high enough. Elk walking thru park. Park shuttle runs right to the entrance of the campground. All things considered if we are going back I would book again.
Charlie

DavidEM · 05-24-2022, 02:13 PM

This review of the north rim came out in the WaPo a few days ago. Not specific to camping, but gives the vibe there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/trave...-canyon-visit/

David