campgroundreviews.com

[Superslif]

Thanx Andy....

I'll throw this out there...Might just be an idea to fold into RVParkReviews. Back about 4-5 years ago I came across a site called campsitephotos.com where they have a database of a campgrounds with pictures of each site. But it seems that in the 4-5 years they still only have covered the SE. parts of the country, not much elsewhere, maybe 5-6 parks both public or private in each state. Some state parks are starting to provide pictures of their sites. Vermont has a few parks with photos of each site.

I always try to find new places to go especially state parks, but are worried that making a reservation I will end up with a site that might be hard to get into, trees blocking my awning, or especially national parks where the fire ring and picnic table are on the opposite side of the site.

This summer I want to go to two WV. state parks, where their website only has a map of the campground layout, no descriptions of the sites whats so ever. So I'll do a Google earth view, Bing maps, Flickr to see if the site is shady, hilly...Actually Lori (NLOVNIT) IRV2 member had some pictures in her IRV2 photo gallery that has helped me narrow down a section of a park to reserve a site...

Last year I was able to use campsite photos .com to pick a site at Mammoth Caves National Park. Turned out to be what I expected (shady and level).

[StevieG]

Originally Posted by Andy R

One idea would be to let reviews from everyone show but denote those of the new reviewers so a reader can keep that into consideration.

I think that is a great idea!

[Andy R]

Superslif, I agree about campsite photos, it's something we have discussed at length and plan to offer. Once we have an app it should make the process of taking photos and mapping them to the long/latt of where they were taken much easier. We hope to have RV Park Review apps (iOS and Android) available later this year and they will have an offline mode so you can see what's ahead if you are driving where there is no cell.

There has also been some requests to be able to see reviews of campgrounds along a route. This is helpful when you are planning to drive from Point A to Point B and want to see all campground that are less then 5 miles (or whatever radius you select) from your route. Also, we plan to add points of interest and then show campgrounds based on distance from those places not just city names (most people don't know all the city names near a particular point of interest, there could be several city/towns nearby).

I look forward to looking back in a couple years and seeing where we can take RV Park Reviews. Even though it's not perfect, it's a great resource for RVers and we can keep making it better. Thanks again for the input, please keep it coming!

[JohnBoyToo]

Good vision so far !!! good luck with it...

Really like the idea of campgrounds 'along the way' as I am doing just that on google maps right now for our trip from dfw to hilton head. Having to 'do it myself' with guesses like if I drive 6 hours per day or 300 miles where would I be and where could I stay... and guess if a park is just a destination or a good stopover.

Another couple of resources we've used are youtube and facebook since people post pics and videos of EVERYTHING now

We and our rv buddies have gone through local parks and video'ed the park as we investigate them... nothing longer than 10 minutes so it's usable and it gives us the 'flavor' of the park, the types of rv's that are on a typical day there, and a third party look at the park.

We posted them up on youtube and sent links to our rv buddies to see if we are interested in meeting up there...

[wildmandmc]

best to always check reviews, hotel, cg's, cruise lines, altho you also have to take good look at what they actually say, an i have seen in past some companys will edit a neg review.

[johnhicks]

Someone contacted me, wrote that only one review could be found (of four). No idea why but they're trying.

[NLOVNIT]

I've had them vanish into cyberspace before. Since mine are pretty detailed, I've learned to type them in MSWord then cut-n-paste them to rvpr, just in case they dissappear. That way I don't have to completely retype them from scratch.

Lori-

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by Andy R

Thanks again for the input, please keep it coming!

Question - is there anywhere in Search where I can get a list of ALL the campgrounds in CA? Not just 200?

Suggestion (you asked!) - In lists, give the columns headings and make them Clickable so people can alphabetically sort by town name OR campground name.

This drives me nuts because there's no way to sort!

[JohnBoyToo]

I just tried this one, but not really that easy to use ...

And maybe it's an omen to not post it since I can't get the website coding to allow a good url

so just copy and paste this into your browsers address:
campsitephotos.com

[Superslif]

Personally I have a database of favorite state park campsites we go to in OH, PA & VT. While at a campground (state parks) come Monday or Tuesday when most people leave I'll take pictures of the site post followed by a picture or two of the site. I'll do this for the more favorable sites in a park for future visits. I'll also visit other state parks in the area for future stays.

The problem comes in where we're traveling to a whole new area / state that I'm making a reservation blind. I remember years ago calling a Vermont State Park office personal and asking for a good site for a 24' tt to their park. When we got there the site we had to take was "O boy this is going to be hairy"....kind of site. From that point on I started to do more planning on where to stay. We usually stay 5-7 days at a park, so like to get a site we feel comfortable in.

[MRUSA14]

First let me me say that I love the site and use it all the time. If I could only have one campground resource, RVParkReviews would probably be it.

I do have a suggestion. Some of us have big rigs and we won't fit into half of the campgrounds listed. It would be nice if we could filter out the ones that won't work for us, and just look at the ones we'll fit into.

[NLOVNIT]

I can agree with that. RVPR does have a big rig access selection as one of the accommodations when entering a review. It'd be nice if that could be a sortable field. Of course we'd have to rely on submitters to choose that selection when applicable & trusting everyone has the same definition of "big rig".

Lori-

[docj]

Originally Posted by NLOVNIT

I can agree with that. RVPR does have a big rig access selection as one of the accommodations when entering a review. It'd be nice if that could be a sortable field. Of course we'd have to rely on submitters to choose that selection when applicable & trusting everyone has the same definition of "big rig".

Lori-

RVPR is migrating to a new server that will provide the horsepower needed for new features such as multiple sortable fields. Not all the improvements will occur on day one but there will be major improvements over the next several months. Being able to sort by multiple tags is high on the priority list, but, as has been noted, "big rig friendly" is a subjective label that will never have the same clarity as something like "swimming pool Y/N".

[Spinner]

Will it have parametric search capability from smartphones? BTW, I use the smartphone back door right now, but it is antiquated.

I LOVE the site and haven't been led astray by it yet!

If you don't have the smartphone URL, here you go.

http://campgroundreviews.com/iphone/#_home