RVer wonders, ‘Will there be enough new buyers to support the RV industry?’

RV sales have slowed and fewer people are buying RVs than has been the recent trend. Has that changed campground crowding? Is it easier to find a campsite now, particularly in state and national parks? Campgrounds are changing and evolving, some for the better and some for the worse. RV Travel readers discuss their experiences and offer a few tips to help other campers find that perfect spot.

Here are a few observations from our readers.

No crowding in Texas

Abdul O. is a full-timer who has no worries in Texas. He wrote, “Really don’t have any problems whatsoever in Texas. There are plenty of RV parks and most of them are empty and affordable. I sold my house and now I am a full-time RV resident and I am very happy.”

Wintering in Florida—$3,700 a month!

Phil S. wrote to us about his experience finding warm-weather RV sites. He says, “We are full-timers. While traveling we find few campgrounds full except on weekends. Almost all tourist destinations are mostly full. Warm weather winter locations are the toughest and are booked a year in advance. Many good winter locations are half or more full of ‘regulars’ who are there every year and often have their own sites, reserved for a year or more in advance. Some parks have ‘regular cliques’ that can be hard to become part of. Oftentimes the regulars run a lot of the activities, social events, and even cruises.

“Prices are getting ridiculous in RV parks with $60/night averages and $100/night in popular areas like FL being more the norm. Wintering in FL on the west coast is costing us $3,409—$3,700/month in new RV resorts, only because the older resorts are all full of regulars. Fancy amenities we only seek for winter locations.

“Due to fuel and park prices (and everything else) and living on a fixed income, we are traveling less and are now staying in one spot in MT each summer. Our travels are only two months from one winter location (TX or FL) to MT, then three or four months to (TX or MT) alternating winter locations. We use COE, state, county, city parks, and military famcamps when possible. We are hoping the ‘Covid-influenced’ RVing trends start to diminish due to ever-increasing costs and possible reduced interest and growing families.

“Eventually, we plan on staying in one warm weather location permanently when we are done traveling as our 5th wheel is one of the only true all seasons home on wheels and residential-quality interior and will last our lifetime and more.”

Reserve a couple of days before the weekend

Candace D. finds Recreation.gov helpful in making and changing reservations. She wrote, “If possible, reserve a day or two before the weekend. Sites aren’t getting packed on a Wednesday or Thursday and it usually opens up the ability to nab the Fri. and Sat. spot. Recreation.gov free site allows you to reserve and find alternative sites and dates. Has info about hookups, amenities, maps of site prices, etc. The best part? It’s FREE! The first place we stayed was $78/day, then found Recreation.gov and found places $20/day. It was clean and we stayed 40 feet from the Mississippi River. Beautiful!”

Young couples taking from the elderly

Tina V. is not happy with the current state of campgrounds. She wrote, “My answer to all those questions is ‘Yes.’ Young couples and families are taking over campgrounds. They find it cheaper to live, work, and homeschool from a camper. They are taking from the elderly who depend on those host spots to supplement the costs of living.

“Most do not care or have any clue about camping etiquette. Their children run wild. People are getting sick of people walking through on their spot. Also, there are way more dogs than campers. The spots are starting to STINK! I think they should be separated and have their own loop or end. I don’t feel like I should have to deal with your pet. One starts barking, they all do. Used to be you could see some little critters around. Not with dogs around! They have taken over hiking trails also. Our granddaughter was bit in the face at a campground. We have not gone camping in the last two years because it was so terrible the last time we went.”

No reservations and doesn’t stay in private RV parks ever!

Karen T. prefers state parks and boondocking. She wrote, “Since late June I’ve traveled from Northern Missouri to where I currently am in Western Washington. I normally boondock, and use state parks periodically. I’ve made no reservations anywhere. Have had no problem if I pull into a state park of getting that night booked on the spot. In some parks, I booked on the spot for multiple nights. I don’t stay in private campgrounds ever. Some of the state park sites I feel are too close together, but normally I use them so I can lazily shower, leave my TT to grocery shop, or do laundry (I’m a full-time traveler), so basically I’m there ‘for a reason.'”

Will there be enough new buyers to support the RV industry?

Bruce H. wrote to us about van camping, big rigs, the ten-year rule, and 84-month RV loans. He said, “We are motorcycle or van camping so we have a lot more options than those trapped in big rigs. For the van, Boondockers Welcome and tech advances have made up for some loss in the ability to simply park for eight hours in transit.

“Crowding has had little effect. Some parks always were, other crowds we avoided anyway, then some are ‘our people’ and the event organizers have a spot for us. Post-COVID prices have been a shock that simply motivated a return to my historic avoidance of parking rentals.

“One fight troubles me, though I have no real stake in it. The ten-year rule, becoming wide and abusively enforced, is going to change things. My rig was seven when I bought it. If I was dependent on private campgrounds would I have bought it? If your buyers are doing that math, how does resale value hold up? How many repeat new buyers are going to take that beating more than once before they go fly to Hawaii instead? There are a number of people who will buy because, like me, it doesn’t matter to them. Just as there will be a market for 6- to 8-year-olds at bargain barn prices. Someone who took out an 84-month loan at today’s interest will not be right-side up on that before they think ‘never again!’ Will there be enough new buyers to support the RV industry?

“Will there be enough space demand in five years to support hotel-like prices or turning away clean classics? I predict that the 10-year rule will self-extinguish in most surviving campgrounds and the problem will go away. If I’m wrong, then those marketing high-end RVs are in the foothills of the biggest mountain they have climbed since 1974.”

6,400 miles and campsites always available

Jerry M. found a site everywhere he traveled. He wrote, “Just completed a 6,400-mile trip from NC to the Rocky Mountains. Campsites were always available. Used Harvest Hosts, state parks and commercial campgrounds. Found KOA to be expensive. Campground costs are high (and, like everything else, gas was about $4.20).”

Can’t afford $100,000 RV loan and expensive campsites too

Kathy B. soon discovered that campsites are expensive along with a large RV loan. She said, “We decided to full-time, it was our dream. Bought a very nice MH. The trouble was we had a balance to payoff, over $100,000. But, we are used to payments. However, we quickly found out we couldn’t pull into just any county or state park and find a spot for a 35-foot motorhome! So, that meant RV resorts—some were very nice, some not so, but ALL expensive. Any busy, popular areas have to be booked way in advance. Problem with the nice MH is that we soon realized we couldn’t afford that lifestyle. But we saw a lot of the South and Southwest. 🙂 ”

Spent a lot of money on rig and can’t use it

Deborah C. finds it hard to book and double the cost it used to be. She wrote, “We have been camping for a few years. We started with a travel trailer and moved up to a 35-foot 5th wheel. When we first started, I could call the week we wanted to go and have no problem getting a spot. Since Covid, it is much harder.

“We are unable to book weeks ahead because of my husband’s job. He is on-call 24 hours a day, so when we can go it isn’t but a week or two when I start looking. I do agree that it has gotten very expensive. We could go away for four days for about $200, now that has doubled to over $400 for the same time. We spent a lot of money on our rig and we can’t use it. I think that a lot of it is greed, but I don’t know if it will get any better. I love being at the campground but it is getting cheaper to stay in a hotel.”

Now, some questions for you:

• Are you finding campgrounds booked up? Or is finding a place to stay not a problem?
• Are campgrounds changing for the better or for the worse?
• Are you seeing more permanent and seasonal RV parks?
• Are rising costs affecting your camping style?
• If campgrounds continue to be crowded and RVing continues to become more popular, will it affect how or when you RV?
• Do you have any tips or secrets you’d like to share about finding campgrounds that aren’t as crowded?

Please use the form below to answer one or more of these questions, or tell us what you’ve experienced with campground crowding in general.

Read last week’s Crowded Campgrounds column: RVer cracks camping code, pays $10 for two months of camping. And ‘Why is nobody talking about Harvest Hosts?’