Campground Locators in the modern world?

[dkperez]

Back in the olden days, we carried a 2-inch thick book from Good Sam to find campgrounds. Cumbersome and required a bit of fiddling with pages and reading small print, but it worked...

Later, say 2010 or so, they came out with an electronic version, but since it cost more than the book, we stayed with the paper book.

These days, we have cell phones, and even better, tablets, on which we COULD read the electronic version of the old campground book. But, as near as I can tell - it doesn't exist any more. I recently went searching for an ebook version of the Good Sam Campground book I could put on the tablet, and couldn't find one. Worse, it SEEMS like (from the review I read) that starting about 2015 the book changed and no longer contained as much useful information - like addresses and driving directions.

I did find some websites that purport to provide many campsites, but reading this kind of stuff on a cell phone sucks unless you're about 12. I also found the results they returned to be wildly different depending on which website I checked, and of dubious accuracy in some cases. And burning bandwidth at the prices Verizon charges messing around looking at a bunch of campgrounds in or around the city where you'll be isn't optimal. At a minimum I'd like to have things on the tablet, which at least has a decent sized screen and doesn't require constant pinching and unpinching to zoom in and out........

SO, 'nuff whining. How are other people doing their campground locating these days? Still using the paper behemoth? Have an electronic version that works? Browsing/searching websites on a cell phone?

Did I just miss the Good Sam or Woodall's electronic version, or is that such dinosaur technology that everything's been replaced by web searches?

[twogypsies]

Do you carry a laptop? Easier to read than a phone. Otherwise go back to the big book. Good luck!

[sdennislee]

I use the Good Sam app on my iPhone and iPad and the KOA app on iPad. I still carry the 2" thick Woodall's book.

[Arch Hoagland]

I use Google maps.

I select the area I want to camp in and do a search for "RV Park"

The satellite view then allows me to look at the entire campground and surrounding areas.

[dverstra]

I use the Allstays app on my phone and laptop computer. I paid for the membership and have no regrets.

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

I use Google maps.

I select the area I want to camp in and do a search for "RV Park"

The satellite view then allows me to look at the entire campground and surrounding areas.

I've been using Google Maps also, but I was locating the campgrounds the hard way. I found the search function and did as as you mentioned and presto, there are the campgrounds! Thanks for the tip!

[bgsc]

Another vote for Allstays works great and gives up to date info

[MisterT]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

I've been using Google Maps also, but I was locating the campgrounds the hard way. I found the search function and did as as you mentioned and presto, there are the campgrounds! Thanks for the tip!

I've also found that google Maps will render returns in different ways depending on both your 'search' wording input, AND, your map 'zoom' view...

if you use 'rv park' you might see the normal rv parks that use that term in their name, but not see COE(Core of Engineers parks) or general 'campgrounds'. I use various terms, like 'park', rv park', 'city park', 'camp', 'campground', 'camping', etc. They may all render different options.

if you have a very 'state wide' view on google maps, you might only see a few of these search locations, but if you zoom in greatly to a specific area, it may render quite a few others that you would not otherwise ever see.

While I certainly use several apps, like GS or PA, I have found many, many 'camping' options over the two years we have full timed and during travels that we would have never known about if not by using google Maps overhead view - many great rv park or camping options are not listed on the 'popular' apps, and while many might be available on a website, they are on very secondary pages of city or county government websites, who make very little effort to make them visible within general 'rv park' internet searches.

also, many fairgrounds, race tracks, and conventions centers offer rv parking, or full hookup overnights, even during non-event dates.

[twogypsies]

Keep in mind that even Allstays and Google do not have ALL the RV parks/campgrounds. We've found that out many times. You need to search by many different methods.

[dkperez]

Yeah, we've got a couple laptops, but they're normally not in the truck with us - they generally live in the trailer. Easy to use in the evening, so if I know ahead of time I can use the normal web searches.

Beyond that it sounds like even in 2016 the old-fashioned behemoth book is still a frequently used/selected tool. I figured I was just missing the electronic version, but it appears not.

We're Good Sam members so I can always use their website, which appears about as good as any - I did some searching in small towns in MN, IA, and WI that I'm familiar with to see what different sites/searches would find. They varied considerably so I reckon it'll be worthwhile to try multiple searches and sites.

[ArmandV]

I still use GS, Woodall's, KOA and other paper campground directories.

I agree on using a laptop instead of a cell phone.

[J Birder]

One more vote for Allstays. I tested it by looking for some really obscure camp grounds. Included in my test was a free, national forest camp ground with only eight sites, that is located about 12 miles from the nearest pavement.

Allstays passed all of my tests.

Joel

[Magic Bus]

Allstays all the way.

[KT4Wextra]

Allstays is good because you can filter the results. I also like http://rvparky.com also http://www.rvparking.com is petty good. Good Sam leaves out a lot of campgrounds and RV parks.