What are your best sources to find campgrounds that meet your needs (cost, value, etc)?
I want to get 4-5 good ones that I can carry with me.
Also - besides Howard's excellent reviews, what are some other ones online?
Thanks Randy
jdensie said
05:00 AM Apr 25, 2008
We use the following: PPA, downloaded in to our computer www.rvparkreviews.com on line Trailer Life, big book in MH We also carry a KOA book, don't use them much at all Also picked up a few disc that feature free camping and reduced rate camping. Happy travels.
Guiler85 said
06:16 AM Apr 25, 2008
Our first reference is Passport America. If you do not belong, you really need to. It is a half price club, but costs less than $50 a year to belong. We save lots of $$ by using the parks who are associated with Passport. We also belong to Escapees and Good Sam. Good luck!
Roz said
06:34 AM Apr 25, 2008
In addition to the good suggestions so far, we use two websites. www.epgsoft.com and www.rv-clubs.us/rv_campgrounds.html These provide us with good information. Both are geographically based. The first provides direct links to campgroundreviews.com and to the campground website. These two in addition to Escapees and the others mention have worked well.
I would be interested to learn of any others. Travel safely.
Charles
RVDude said
06:56 AM Apr 25, 2008
Roz, all, Change www.epgsoft.com to www.rvfamilyfun.com. The guy that developed epgsoft (for his own fun) was hired by Craig McHugh, the owner of www.rvfamilyfun.com to develop rvfamilyfun. Hence, epgsoft is not really maintained or expanded and rvfamilyfun is. However, the epgsoft site does provide the direct link into rvparkreviews which is not on the rvfamilyfun version, but, the data in epgsoft is potentially getting quite dated.
Our challenge is that there is no one source for ALL campground info. Everyone is in competition with everyone else and its we RVers who lose out. Hence we need to check every possible source just to find most possible campgrounds in an area.
Of course you'll need both printed and online. Printed because you can't always get internet. So, click this for a very complete list of guides to have on board and why for each. That list also mentions the Coleman National Forest Campground and Recreation Directory is especially good if that is your type of gig.
and any other member organizations you might belong to like PassportAmerica, ThousandTrails, OutdoorResorts, HappyCamper, Coast-to-Coast, even Elks Clubs and the like.
The best site, we think, for independent, accurate information is RV Park Reviews. Most of the commercial sites and directories have some distortion based on money spent for listing.
We encourage everyone to contribute to RV Park Reviews listings by rating every campground you visit. We're up to almost a hundred reviews now.
Fred
rwarner22 said
07:51 PM Apr 25, 2008
Great ideas--thanks for the input!
Randy
ahoweth said
06:05 AM Apr 26, 2008
I agree with all that has been stated above, however, I do use one other source. When I am trip planning I use Microsoft Streets and Trips for planning the route and I have the software put in campgrounds along the route. It is an interesting way to find campgrounds along a proposed route. Their listings are not comprehensive and only list the name of the park and it address and phone number. When I find one along my proposed route I will check it out on the other sources listed above and/or visit their web site before making a determination whether to stay there or not. Like I said before it isn't a comprehensive list as there are a lot of campgrounds we have seen that are not in the software but it is another source and it shows you approximately where the campgrounds are located with respect to any route you might be planning.
I want to get 4-5 good ones that I can carry with me.
Also - besides Howard's excellent reviews, what are some other ones online?
Thanks
Randy
PPA, downloaded in to our computer
www.rvparkreviews.com on line
Trailer Life, big book in MH
We also carry a KOA book, don't use them much at all
Also picked up a few disc that feature free camping and reduced rate camping.
Happy travels.
www.epgsoft.com and www.rv-clubs.us/rv_campgrounds.html
These provide us with good information. Both are geographically based. The first provides direct links to campgroundreviews.com and to the campground website. These two in addition to Escapees and the others mention have worked well.
I would be interested to learn of any others. Travel safely.
Charles
Change www.epgsoft.com to www.rvfamilyfun.com.
The guy that developed epgsoft (for his own fun) was hired by Craig McHugh, the owner of www.rvfamilyfun.com to develop rvfamilyfun. Hence, epgsoft is not really maintained or expanded and rvfamilyfun is. However, the epgsoft site does provide the direct link into rvparkreviews which is not on the rvfamilyfun version, but, the data in epgsoft is potentially getting quite dated.
-- Edited by RVDude at 08:02, 2008-04-25
Our challenge is that there is no one source for ALL campground info. Everyone is in competition with everyone else and its we RVers who lose out. Hence we need to check every possible source just to find most possible campgrounds in an area.
Of course you'll need both printed and online. Printed because you can't always get internet. So, click this for a very complete list of guides to have on board and why for each. That list also mentions the Coleman National Forest Campground and Recreation Directory is especially good if that is your type of gig.
Now, to round out the online stuff..
I would also add
www.OvernightRVParking.com
www.freecampgrounds.com
www.Home-Hookups.com
www.ForestCamping.com
and the usual suspects of
RVParkReviews
Woodalls
TrailerLife
KOA - yeah even these guys..
GoodSam
and any other member organizations you might belong to like PassportAmerica, ThousandTrails, OutdoorResorts, HappyCamper, Coast-to-Coast, even Elks Clubs and the like.
As well as
www.SaniDumps.com
www.RVDumps.com
ForestFires
LowClearance - Trucker Site
That should keep you clicking for a long while!
-- Edited by RVDude at 08:52, 2008-04-25