What do you look for in a RV Park?

[AquaHuntress]

Originally Posted by rk911

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.

Wow that is really good to know! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer!

[RoadEyePie]

I see that this is your first post. Welcome to the forum and that's a good question, but I expect it will get varied responses. Families with children probably place a high value on the amenities such as pools, playgrounds, and activities. I expect a universal high priority will be for clean facilities, hookups that work, level sites....stuff like that. Many will say that an overnight CG along the way to a destination elsewhere, will be a convenient CG along the route with a quite in and out. And for the snowbirds, it's anyplace in Arizona or Florida....For me I believe I would reject CGs with a lot of permanent residents.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by AquaHuntress

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

We full-timed and traveled constantly for 16 years with our 40' motorhome. The only time we made reservations was when we definitely had to be somewhere.... like visiting family, weddings, etc.

There are plenty of campgrounds out there. If you feel you need one of the best and most expensive 'resort' or if you're staying in a prime vacation area like Disney World then yes, you may have to make reservations.

We were more geared to the outdoors so we stayed in public campgrounds (national parks, national forests, state parks, county and quiet small-town city parks). Some of the prime national parks like Yellowstone even have complete campgrounds where you can't reserve. We also stayed on public lands and boondocked - forest land or BLM land (in the West).

There are many ways to RV. You'll find the right way for youself! Good luck!!

[Teamfoxy]

We are happy if all we have is electricity so that we can run the AC when it is hot. We can go 4-5 days on our tanks, so full hook ups are not necessary as long as we can water up and dump on the way in or out. Most state parks have more space between campsites than commercial camps, but many cannot take larger RV's because they were originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps durring the depression. Back in sites in crowded campgrounds can be tough if you have a trailer, but are usually not a problem with a motorhome.
If we are staying somewhere for a longer period of time, we usually reserve in advance. In FL in the winter, and in popular resort areas, reservations are a must. When traveling and staying 1-3 days, we can usually find something if we make a reservation on our lunch stop. National parks usually hold about half the sites for walk ups and if we stop by 2pm have never not found an opening.

[Oldmso54]

@AquaHuntress - we were impressed with cleanliness of the parks, the really beautiful natural settings, more space, level lots and just the overall serenity.

[V3600]

It depends on what I'm going to be doing at the park. If it's an overnight stop I look for a clean park, decently priced, that is big-rig friendly for my toyhauler.

If I'm staying at a destination park, where we'll be camped for a week or more, it had better be an above average park with great reviews. I don't mind paying extra for a primo location like Chula Vista in San Diego that goes for $103 a night but is on the water, with a marina, with a restaurant, is in immaculate condition, etc.

Bottom line is I avoid dumps or anything less than about a 7 on the Good Sam scale. I've stayed in some of those and won't go back.

[puttin]

Near a body of water somewhere is always nice. Full hookups are great too (We'd forego sewer at the site if it was otherwise nice- as long as it had a dump station on the way out). Easy entrance and exit makes it less stressful. Don't need pool, club house, pickle ball court, etc. A nice community propane fire ring is nice where you can meet other campers. Out here we like Durango RV Resort or JGW Resort (both on the Sacramento River).

[R2Home]

When we do need to use an RV Park it is either for a place while we visit/sight see or the need to dump/top off our tanks. Full hook ups are nice, but as long as we can dump our tanks and refill water, we are OK. Friendly staff, easy access/level parking areas and since we travel with our Labs, pet friendly and a nice place for our four legged, fury kids! We do not need anything fancy, as that is not who we are!

[BCam]

I don't see that anyone mentioned safety. We've never had a problem but if things within or around the park look dodgy, pass it up. It's not unlike picking a motel.

[AquaHuntress]

This is so much great information. I can't thank you all enough for responding! What an awesome forum! Dog friendly is a must for us. I guess we should look for places with a dog area? They are used to being able to run around.

[AquaHuntress]

I see a lot of you saying look for clean. Do you find many places to be unclean? In what way?

[rk911]

after 32-seasons we feel able to judge a book by its cover or in this case a park or CG by how it looks on the way in. if it looks unkempt, trash on the ground and so forth then that tells us the owners don't care and we'll go elsewhere.

we travel with Maggie The Wonder Beagle and have found that most privately owned parks we've used in the ladt 4-yrs have had an enclosed doggie run.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Ohiomike]

We bought our first rv last summer and took 3 trips. 2 of them were to Ohio State Parks and the other to a KOA that’s an hour away. I think we like the state parks due to natural amenities and we did fine with electric only. The costs were roughly $30 per night compared to an$100 per night Koa cost which was electric and water only. We loved both and are hooked. We plan to spend some weekends camping locally and 3 big week long trips to regional destinations. We bought a 32 foot class a for a family of 7. Smaller seems to work out as we are there to hike and see the beauty of the areas we camp in and can fit more spaces and get last minute spots bigger units can’t fit. Koa weekend was an example last minute spot and we just fit in the site with room for my wife’s van to park definitely go for it and don’t hesitate to buy used if you can do a good walk through and test everything. Enjoy the lifestyle it’s great.

[TonyDi]

I've found that the vast majority of CGs are kept clean. They need RVers to keep coming back. The ones that are unkempt are generally the ones with long term/live there campers. Reservations can be tricky but if you are flexible you'll almost always be able to find a place to stay. We don't use the facilities most CGs have. We like to explore so we're not there that much.
Give me a CG that's clean, has nice sized sites, with room for our toad and we're happy.