In our six months on the road, I’ve come to learn a lot about campgrounds. There are a wide variety of types and amenities, so I thought I’d share some of what we’ve learned, and what we look for in a campsite.
Here’s how I break it down:
- National / State / County Parks: These are usually rustic campgrounds in beautiful natural surroundings. Most were built in the days before monster big-rigs, so the roads and sites often cannot accommodate the larger RVs. Also, the sites are typically 30 amp electric only, or electric/water only – it is rare to find full hook ups (sewer) or 50 amp service. A very basic (think concrete block) bath house and dump station are likely the only amenities besides a campsite. But, you have the entire park at your doorstep. The cost is usually modest ($20-30/night) and most offer online booking options. If you can fit, these sites can be wonderful. Recognizing the need, some Park campgrounds are upgrading to meet the needs of big-rig sites, so I always check. I love to stay in parks where we can, but it is often just not feasible for us.
- Basic (bare-bones) RV parks: We’ve stayed in a few of these. Often located just off the highway, they will offer a long pull through site with full hookups, a bath house, and not much else. They are fine for overnight stops or a few days stay. Prices are usually moderate in the $30-40 range/night. If the campground is in the right location for our travels, we’ll stay there. We have to watch for unpaved surfaces, though. Once we stayed in a campground that had been carved out of a cow pasture, the gravel was inadequate and soft and our jacks simply sank into the ground.
- Upscale RV Resorts: These can be really, really nice. Typically newer and built with the high priced big rigs in mind, they offer paved roads with ample maneuvering room, concrete pull through sites, and full hookups including cable TV and wifi. The grounds are usually manicured. There is a club house, pool and often a hot tub. Bath houses are hotel-like; tiled, spacious and immaculately clean. You may have daily garbage pick up from your site and there may be organized activities offered. Of course, you pay for the privilege – $50-$75/night, depending upon length of stay. We have found ourselves often gravitating to these parks simply because they are so easy to get around. We don’t have to worry about shoe-horning ourselves into a too-small spot or bashing the rig on overhead tree branches. It’s just easy.
- KOA’s: I’ve made this a separate category because we’ve ended up staying in KOA campgrounds several times due to their locations. The closest campground to the kids in Orlando is a KOA, for example, but we’ve also stayed at others around the country. What we’ve found is the campground quality is wildly variable as these are “franchised” facilities. Many are older with big-rig-unfriendly characteristics. Although many do have resort features such as pool and organized activities, the cost is typically higher than private campgrounds with similar amenities. I’ll stay at a KOA if it is the right location, but only if there isn’t a better value nearby.
- Membership campgrounds: I’ve stayed at exactly one “Coast to Coast” campground and one “Thousand Trails” campground and was not favorably impressed with either. Both were older campgrounds with limited big rig sites. Both memberships required hefty up front buy-in plus annual dues, for limited campground options within their network. Both campgrounds had the “show up and find your own campsite” system, rather than assigning a suitable site during the reservation process, which makes me very nervous. At least the C2C campground let us stay for 5 free nights as a promotion to try them out. I paid a premium price for the TT campground experience and that was for a 30 amp site that put our slide-out 4 inches from our neighbor. I’m sure these membership programs work admirably for some, but it’s not for us.
We knew going in that buying such a large motorhome would limit our camping choices. Since this is currently our full time home, we chose our motorhome for the daily luxury and cargo carrying capacity it offers. The downside is that we rarely have the “wilderness camping experience” that can be had with a smaller rig and the camping cost is higher. But, we budgeted for that.
We find that we can mitigate the cost by staying longer in one place. Campgrounds often offer weekly and monthly rates that are discounted, so we try to stay at least one week anywhere we go. We have several “monthly” stays booked as we go forward, and that can be quite a discount over the daily rate. Also, when you move less, you burn less diesel fuel.
Our primary search tool for campgrounds is the AllStays app. It’s fantastic! It gives you campground locations, facility information, and a link to the facility website. It also gives location of rest stops, truck stops, low bridges, and steep road grades. We look for campgrounds with pull through sites, or back-in sites with lots of maneuvering room. We look for easy access into the campground, and satellite-friendly (open) sites. We check the Google Earth satellite view to see if tree limbs may be an issue for our 13.5 foot tall bus. Full hook up is preferred, although we can do without sewer for a week or more if a decent bath house is nearby. Once we zero in on a campsite, I’ll also check reviews on Google, Yelp, and RV Park Reviews.
Campground we avoid are those we won’t fit (obviously) and those with poor reviews. In today’s economy, there are increasing numbers of people who are choosing to live in RV’s because it is cheaper than other housing options. Many of the parks we’ve visited allow long term residents, which is fine as long as the sites are kept tidy. However some campgrounds are allowed to get trashy, or are in unsafe neighborhoods. Fortunately, having access to campground reviews allows us to screen out those less desirable options.
So, what type of campground do I like the best? I like …. variety! It’s nice to stay in a park and experience nature. It’s also nice to stay in a fluffy resort and enjoy the beautiful bath house, hot tub, pool, and activities. The best thing about this lifestyle is that you can try all sorts of places and have different experiences. That’s what it’s all about.
Campground Review Summary
Lodi is a pleasant small town known for its vineyards – particularly those growing old vine zinfandel grapes. There are vines here over 100 years old and still producing! This area produces more grapes for wine making than Napa and Sonoma put together – in fact, some of those wineries source their grapes from Lodi. They just make the wine and charge a whole lot more for it! We found prices to be reasonable here – tastings run $5-10 and very nice wines can be had in the $20-30 range.
Using Lodi as a home base, we took some day trips to sights nearby, including the city of San Francisco. Here’s a parking tip if you can plan in advance – use the 
(Summer of Love) area. I had been to the city twice previously but did not remember the homeless problem being quite so … evident. It was disturbing to see so many homeless people sprawled on sidewalks, and two even gave a not-so-friendly single finger wave to the tour bus. San Francisco is an interesting historic town, but between the traffic, high prices, and belligerent homeless – it dampens my desire to visit there.
Off in the other direction toward the Sierra Nevada Mountains is the Marshall Gold Discovery Historic State Park. In 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in the tail race of the sawmill he was building. That discovery launched the California gold rush — a mass-migration of people flooding into the area, seeking their fortune. California became a State just 2 years later, due to the unprecedented increase in population and development. The gold discovery site became a bustling town (Coloma) and the park includes buildings and historical exhibits dating from that era. Tours are given twice per day for the nominal fee of $3 per person. We were the only two that booked the 1 pm tour, so we had a private guide! It was fascinating to delve into this exciting time of history. Ironically, James Marshall wasn’t that great of a businessman and didn’t profit from the gold rush that he inadvertently started. He died penniless.
It’s been almost 6 months since we set out on our grand adventure. I thought I’d share a few things that I’ve learned along the way about the journey, and about myself.
There’s a good reason why Yosemite National Park is iconic – it’s simply astonishingly beautiful.
One of the park highlights is the gorgeous Yosemite Valley, a U-shaped glacier cut valley complete with dramatic granite rock faces reaching thousands of feet high and long flowing waterfalls. Looking out from the tunnel view overlook to see El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls was one of those “pinch me, am I really here” moments. Being here in the spring meant that all of the waterfalls and streams were in full, spectacular flow.
One of the best ways to explore the valley is by bicycle on the network of bicycle paths. We parked the truck at a central location and used our bicycles to meander through the valley to the various sights, villages, and trailheads. The spring weather was glorious. We even stopped for a leisurely late breakfast at the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, a 1920’s era structure that retains its elegant vibe. Most of the Valley highlights can be viewed from the road, or by a short trail. More rigorous hiking is available if you want to climb steep trails up the granite walls out of the Valley.
Summary
Our concrete site was spacious and level with hedges planted on either side for privacy. The site was fully long enough for all of our vehicles.We had the usual 50 amp electrical service, water and sewer hookups. Cable TV was also available, but we didn’t bother trying it. We received several over the air channels for local news access and our satellite TV was unobstructed. Wifi was available, but our ATT hotspot served our needs. The only utility issue we had was the lack of water pressure. It was fairly low most of the time and faded to almost nothing at times, forcing us to shut it off and use our own water tank and pump for our needs. This was a city problem though, not a campground issue, not their fault. Apparently one of the city water wells was under repair, causing the low pressure. The only other possible negative was a slight “barn yard” smell when the wind blew from the right directions. This is farm country, after all.
The resort facilities were immaculately kept. The bath houses, pool and hot tub were clean and modern. We even had daily garbage pick up from our site. A Save Mart grocery store is conveniently located a mile or so away. The resort is affiliated with the Pheasant Run Golf course located next door – if you pay full price gate rate, you get two free rounds of golf per day (not including cart rental). Since we weren’t interested in playing golf, we got the Good Sam 10% discount, which essentially paid the 10% transient tax! If you are really into golf, I suppose the full rate plus free golf would be a good deal. It is a bit pricey, but when you factor in the amenities (plus this IS California), the cost seems about average for above-average features. For comparison, the rate here was only a few dollars more than Lemon Cove park (the last place we stayed) and has WAY better amenities.
The heart of Sequoia National Park is the giant trees, but there’s much more to see. This area of the Sierra Nevada mountains is home to several parks meshed together: Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest, and Kings Canyon National Park. During our visit in late April, not all areas of these parks were open, but we were still able to cover quite a lot of territory.
Continuing a little further up the same road is the Tunnel Log. When the log fell back in the 30’s, they just cut a tunnel in it and left it there! Fortunately, a bypass road is available for high vehicles.
Campground Review Summary
The setting for the campground was very nice – mostly farmland. Citrus trees were in bloom during our stay, wafting delicious orange blossom scent through our open windows. Colorful birds twittered and flitted around the campground trees. My window looked out onto a beautiful hill. It was very peaceful and quiet.
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost 