RV sales have slowed and fewer people are buying RVs. 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 tips to help other campers find that perfect spot.
Here are a few observations from our readers. These do not necessarily represent the views of RVtravel.com.
“No one has more right to a campsite than anyone else”
Cindy A. responds to a reader who says it is selfish to book on weekends. She writes, “How can anyone say it’s selfish to camp on weekends, especially when the people who are saying that are hoping to camp on weekends themselves? Wouldn’t that make them selfish too? No one has more right to an available campsite than anyone else.
“We usually avoid privately owned campgrounds and RV ‘resorts’ because we hate being shoulder to shoulder with our neighbors while paying a fortune for amenities we care nothing about and won’t use. Staying in state parks or other publicly owned campgrounds is usually way cheaper and offers amenities the resorts don’t have, like spacious, private sites and nature trails. Some even have sewer hookups and WiFi. Why would we ever spend $300/night when we can get a beautiful site with everything we need for less than $40/night?”
Greed has won
Edward S. is selling out and writes, “Been camping for 24 years. It is not fun anymore so we are selling our rig. Greed has won again.”
Negative, negative, negative
Barbara K. calls us on the carpet for being too negative. She writes, “Negative, negative, negative. That seems to be about 85% of your content. Read the questions above (below)- stated to bring out negative, negative, negative. Help us enjoy RVing. Stop focusing on all the problems, or at least help us fix them. My husband got so tired of all the whining that he stopped your service and I’m awfully close.”
Editor’s note: Barbara, just when I was thinking the same thing and was looking for some more positive and uplifting emails, I found yours. Sometimes folks just need a place to vent and air their frustrations. Thank you for this important reminder.
Small price to pay for the lifestyle
Phil P. writes about the gripes people have about campground crowding and prices. “I am always amazed at all the ‘griping’ about campground prices and crowding. My wife and I have been full-time RVers for more than six years now. We spend 4-5 months at an RV resort in Arizona, five months volunteering with a Christian RV group, and the other 2-3 months in different parts of the U.S. I have always been a planner so we always have reservations. No problems finding places to stay, and like everything else, prices have gone up but not to outrageous amounts. Small price to pay for this lifestyle.”
$100 no-show charge for no-shows?
Tim M. is thinking about a $100 charge for no-shows on top of losing the reservation fee. He writes, “Went camping at Bumping Lake, WA, this week and saw way too many sites reserved with no one there. Maybe a $100 no-show/no-cancel fee would help eliminate this problem.”
Where is the crowding?
James G. asks us a question about campground crowding. He writes, “Nanci, we don’t see crowding in private parks in TX, OK, AR, KS, MO areas. Where is the crowding? West Coast, public lands, state parks, national parks? Is it possible to query the readers for more specifics?”
What do you think, readers? Please leave a comment below.
No problems in Lancaster
Kristine F. writes with good news in Pennsylvania. She says, “We are in Delaware and travel mostly in the Lancaster, PA, area and haven’t had any problems with finding reservations and prices haven’t gotten crazy. We are currently on our way to the Florida Panhandle and haven’t had any issues with reservations or overcrowding. Our stopover campground in Georgia has gone from family-owned campground to KOA and now back to family-owned, all in the past four years we have been stopping there. They said KOA fees were too expensive.”
Still travel the way they have for 25 years
Chris G. says prices have gone up but not as much as hotels. “No, we are not finding campgrounds more crowded. We still travel the same way we’ve done for the last 25 years. We make reservations in advance at some destination parks, but in most places, we just call ahead that morning or the day before to confirm they have a space available.
“Yes, prices have gone up, but it’s still more affordable than staying in hotels and having to eat out every day.”
Marriott is cheaper, more convenient, easier to book
Mark G., on the flip side, writes to us about the advantages of booking a hotel room for travel. He writes, “Simply stated, the Marriott and other hotel experiences are cheaper, more convenient, cleaner, easier to book by far, consistent and responsive. Free breakfast, pools, fitness, and restaurants nearby. And entering state, federal, and other parks and places of interest for the day is easy. We miss the camping experience, but the Encore, Sun and other private equity-owned corporate parks have destroyed it. When we want that, we backpack in. Otherwise, Marriott, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, etc., do a better job and are so much cheaper. The reality is that corporations destroyed the experience. Greed.”
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: ‘With all these extra fees, campsites are adding up to $300 a night!’
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I do not understand why RV Travel continues to publish articles like this. It just turns into bitch session.
People have the money to do what is important to them. The people complaining need to find another hobby.
We have special/defined event destinations- dog trials. We limit our first day travel to 10-12 hours and pay for a stop over at the going rate. That leaves a short-3 to 4 hour drive to our destination. Usually a state, county, township park or a private horse venue. Boondocking at destination is $25.00 to 35.00 per night with full hook-ups more. Twenty plus years ago the # of rv’s was 1 to 3. Now we can get 30 to 40. We bring the largest # of entry’s/dogs and always sponsor multiple classes and events. The trial promoters are finally getting the message and are starting to cater to RVer’s.
Cindy A., where on earth are you spending $300/night for a campground?
Phil P., could not agree more!
Mark G., it sounds like you now prefer vacationing instead of RV’ing. If that works for you, great!
Leonard,
I’ve NEVER spent $300/night for a campsite and never will. That statement was in response to someone else’s comment about the prices they were paying.
I strongly agree about the large companies taking over campgrounds. That it’s not a good idea. They then put much more emphasis on their profits vs. providing a great camping/RVing experience that people will want to share with others. As mentioned, greed! When we look for a campground in an area, first choice is state or local parks, next is private (typically family-owned) and last is a major corp. Enroute, we usually just park at rest areas, Walmart, Costco, etc. and those don’t even need to be the full night. I can function well with a good 6 hours of sleep. Let’s us get on the road early, before traffic starts to build in the hours after sunrise.
Thank you, Nanci! 🙂 We typically have been able to go approximately where we want and when we want in the southeast — Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Sometimes our first choice is not available, so we pivot until finding somewhere that works. Our first choice is US Army Cops of Engineers campgrounds, then state parks, followed by KOAs, and private campgrounds. We prefer to arrive Sunday afternoon and depart Monday morning, and go for at least 4 or 5 nights at least once a month. Yes, we are retired and have flexibikity many others may lack. Thanks again, have a great weekend, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
I like reading the negative comments. But wonder where and what kind of campgrounds some complain about. Then say hotels are cheaper. I camp only in state parks in Pa and find them reasonable. If you have a generator sites without electricity are cheaper. If you camp in a private campground the owners have to pay for taxes, insurance and utilities. Plus make a living. Utilities in Pa keep going up in my area astronomical. Campers don’t think about leaving the A/C on all day or nowadays some charge their elect vehicle. Don’t hear people complaining about food, except on the news which is very expensive now. I’d love to know how state parks pay for electricity. Yet campsites are cheap.
Barbara K…..Some articles elicit negative responses as well as positive. Just skip past them. There is a lot of other good items in the newsletter.
Of course, prices have risen, just like everything else. Why do you care if a site is empty? Enjoy your stay, visit the attractions, go for nature walks, watch the sunset, read a book, just enjoy and freaking relax. Your mind and soul will thank you. This is today, not yesterday and there is no going back. You can only reminisce and smile!
I couldn’t have said it any better than you did!
Thank You!
Best comment I’ve seen on this site in a very long time!!
“The reality is that corporations destroyed the experience. Greed.” One does not need Confucius to see that anymore. Corporations have ruined the American dream for the average working stiff…no longer is there that much to toil everyday and wish for a better life…not going to happen and I don’t see anything down the trail indicating it is. Welcome to America…your papers please.
not sure how true this is but I have heard that bigger people / companies are going to be buying up many state and federal lands and taking over our rights to camp in these places,I pray it is just a rumor but came from a pretty good source.. 🙁
Believe it…there are a lot of changes coming down the pike…especially after November
Darn those corporations for raising mortgage interests rates after spending those trillions of dollars of borrowed money. I’m so angry at those corporations for letting those 12,000,000 illegals into the country….what were those corporations thinking? At least we finally beat Medicare.
Your failure isn’t shared by anyone I know.
Comparing the Marriott to camping in any way is like comparing apples to roofing nails. Not even close!
Totally agree. Not even close? Not even on the same planet. People that even think that way were never real RVers / Campers in the first place.
maybe compare motel 6 to koa and you would have a point
We’re full timers traveling West to East across the northern tier using US2 as our trunk route with Nova Scotia as our end of summer destination. Since leaving the Seattle area around May 1 we have not made a reservation. Granted we disperse camp whenever possible but usually use BLM, NFS, COE, or City and County parks. We’ve been the only campers in 20+ space camps twice and haven’t seen a full one yet. Trick for us is to seek out 1st come 1st served campgrounds. We don’t use any camping apps since Campendium got ruined, just Dora the Explorer (Google).
Same experience for us too. We pretty much travel in the states west of the Rockies and don’t have any problem getting a site. We also seek out fcfs campgrounds. They are reasonably priced too.
Hi Nanci: The title of the article sort of asks for negative comments; which to me doesn’t matter either way – I learn from them all. Maybe come up with a new name?
You asked for tho’ts on noting a location of crowded campgrounds. Maybe add a space to the input form noting the state following the name of the person, or a separate line asking for locations by state and Rving/camping date noted? …or something like that!
I would love to see a survey of people that are giving up or complaining the price is too high done with age groups or income level groups.
we complain about the high cost of food and gas but that doesnt make it drop. If campgrounds saw a lot of vacancies cause of their price they would drop them.
Can’t we all just accept the fact that some campgrounds are over priced and crowded and move on? This dead horse has been flogged for months. Each time the comment’s and complaints are the same. What is lacking in all of this is a solution.
The solution is: “Get a life”. If someone has gotten their way all of their life, they have had a very boring life and I feel sorry for them.
Regarding Negative, Negative, Negative; I disagree that there is too much. I want to hear about the bad times/things just as much as the good.
Regarding $100 for No-Shows; I wasn’t able to keep a reservation once due to mechanical problems. I called the campground and told them my problem. I said I had paid for the campsite therefore I didn’t expect anyone else to use it. I told the campground my mechanical problem was being fixed and I’d keep them updated every day on my planned arrival. The campground owners agree that the site was mine. If I hadn’t called, then I agree after one day of no-show then there should be a charge and surrender of the site.
I like the $100 penalty for no- shows. If a person can’t call to let them know they can’t make it then they should be penalized. It is different if you let them know of a problem.
Prices for everything are high. Why? Prices went up when drilling on public lands was cancelled. The USA runs on petroleum. When diesel fuel prices go up, transportation costs of everything goes up. Those price increases affect a lot of other things. I just spent $85 to fill up my truck after one leg of my camping trip. I can’t imagine what it costs to fill up a Class A. My impression is people are being forced out of camping because of high transportation costs, and the trickledown effect.
No one is forcing anyone to run the roads and buy expensive fuel…must be a choice…eh?
How do you think people in big cities get food?? Do you suppose it arrives by magic?? Do they have to choose whether or not to eat??
Choices and decisions, lots to think about and act on…your choice to not look elsewhere to be the RV weekend warrior at, to stay on whatever side of the city, state or country, to buy an RV in whatever size/model, to pay whatever the cost may be to park it for a daily, weekly and or monthly rate, to each his/her own, be thankful of what you have and stop getting wrapped around the axle ’bout things you can’t control but your own!