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 check-ins on Saturday! What?
Karen B. does a lot of planning but is finding it more difficult to make reservations for a group. She writes, “We very often travel with 2-6 others on longer trips and it requires a lot of prior planning and reserving campsites 8-12 months in advance. Generally, we are able to find spots at the campground of our choosing but there are some snags.
“We are currently planning a trip to New England for next fall. Some will not take reservations that far in advance and others require 2-night stays. Another one does not allow check-ins on Saturdays, which is a new one for us! All in all, with prior planning, we are able to get everything we need at prices that are pretty reasonable.”
Don’t even think about a state park in the winter in Arizona
Peni H. agrees that out-of-staters are booking all the campsites. She has some observations: “I live in Arizona. You can’t even think about a state park during the winter. Out-of-state visitors book all of our campsites.
“The state parks are supported with our state taxes and they should be reserved for the state people to enjoy. Use your driver’s license number to reserve those sites. At the end of each night if it’s not full, then they can call the next person on the list. Trying to go camping in my state between October and April is a nightmare.
“More importantly now is what’s happening is most of our BLM land is starting to get closed because now we have all of the people deciding to live on that land and trash it.”
Commercial sites for weekends, state park sites for weekdays
Orian J. has a solution for those who can camp on the weekdays. He writes, “We are about halfway through a 3-month trip in the northern U.S. (We live in South Texas, where we have a lot of ‘Winter Texans’. We used to be one.) I have not seen a problem with getting sites—we book them about a week (sometimes more) in advance. The only places where we have problems are state parks, which we love, especially on weekends. So If we need to, we book a commercial site for the weekend and use state parks (or city/community parks) during the week.”
Campspot doesn’t show all booking fees
Richard C. has found an issue with unstated extra fees and writes us about it. He shares, “We have found a disturbing trend with RV parks that use Campspot as their booking service. Campspot booking agents routinely [add] excessive additional fees that only show up after your credit card is charged. These include unstated upgrade fees, electric fees, booking fees, tourist fees, security deposits, etc. Always ask for the total including all fees and taxes. Their online booking system is just as deceptive.”
Pricing themselves out of business
Joe A writes, “The biggest (issue) is Fridays and Saturdays being booked up.
“Also, the cost is making it harder on me, I’m a full-timer and at $30 a night, that’s $900 for 30 days. $75 a night is $2,250 for the same 30 days!
“On the same reasoning, Fridays and Saturdays, $30 times two nights is $60 for the weekend. The same weekend would be $75 a night, $150 a weekend. Pricing themselves out business.”
Canadian observations
Leonard R., a reader from Canada, shares his observations with us. He wrote, “While all above comments have some validity, the bottom line is everything has gone up in price, with quality and service seemingly going down. My experiences are not much different!
“My 2024-25 five-month winter trip has now been fully booked, using a combination of daily stops with Harvest Hosts, short stays at state parks, medium stays at basic RV parks, and our longer stays at what is billed ‘RV resorts’.
“My observations are that there are plenty of sites available with a minimal amount of forward planning, and of course payment! From 10 percent down to full payment required at Arizona State Parks. I have paid the nasty site lock fees as I like certain spots better than others; just another cost of doing business!
“Some of the RV resorts I have booked have only about 5-10 percent of their sites for RVs, with the balance being permanent park model homes. Something to do with the taxation of an RV park vs. subdivision, I was told. If your neighbours and the facilities are great, who really cares? I know that we don’t!
“I am in a situation where costs don’t really affect my snowbird plans. The expense of pulling my home, bed, kitchen, clothing and entertainment system is still wildly cheaper than a one-month luxury cruise. I also have finally found a great out-of-country emergency medical plan.
“Life is short, I am incredibly lucky to have been born in Canada, made more good decisions than bad over my life, and absolutely love visiting our friends and neighbours to the South, the good ole USA!”
Amenities listed and not usable
James M. mentions amenities closed but still listed. He wrote, “We have gone to Thousand Trails in Las Vegas for several years and for the last two years their pool and jacuzzi have been closed even though there is water in both and the pumps are still running. They keep them off limits to guests, but still list them as available amenities.”
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: Look at the whole campground when booking, not just the site. Plus, reader’s idea of ‘roughing it’? An outdoor pool!
All good points. However California is also extremely hard to get spots due to all those travelers across the U.S. and abroad, coming here. I hear your pain. Oregon is up charging those from out of state to go there. I just choose to avoid those states. Don’t they realize we bring a lot more cash than locals, to their business communities?
We’ve all seen this, over the many years of RV’ing. Seems like now we’re in our 70’s, time to slow down and smell the roses!!!!
I have a suggestion…if everyone stayed in their own state wouldn’t life be better for others in their states.
Oh plleeeeze! What’s the point of RVing if you’re going to stay in your own state? We all pay state and federal taxes somewhere, so, even though it takes a bit more planning ahead, it’s worth it. After 6.5 years full-timing (so far), there’s no better way to live, in my opinion. We are blessed to be able to roam freely in this country. Stop complaining and enjoy the journey while you can!
We plan far in advance. We don’t typically look for State Parks but rather small mom & pop places close to our route and destination.
Every industry in America is being destroyed and citizens are being priced out, due to 1 issue, Ok, maybe 2. Corporate take over of family businesses and investment groups getting into small profit subsects, that they had previously ignored, Like campgrounds. There was enough profit for a family business but nowhere near enough for good passive income for groups. Unless you own all of them and raise the rates 50%-100%.
I’ll have to change my name. For the record, I am not the same Ron that’s telling people above to sell their campers.
Hi, Ron. Maybe just add your last initial? Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Or you don’t stay in private parks, but use state, county, city parks or fairgrounds, and USFS, BLM, NPS, or COE campgrounds. There are also numerous casinos with camping, many with hookups, plus overnight dry camping at rest areas, truck stops, and some shopping centers, Home Depots, Cracker Barrels, and Walmarts. Then, of course, there is FREE dispersed camping/boondocking on millions of acres of Federal land here in the West. And NO corporations or investment groups control prices at any of those camping areas!
Thank you, Nanci! 🙂 I guess we just do not travel much where lots of other people go. When we do, then we adjust. For example, the Labor Day weekend we are going to Nashville so I can watch a cross-country race. We are staying at Percy Priest Lake, a very popular place. The US Army Corps of Engineers has three (four?) camogrounds there. The most popular was full such that we’d have to move sites to stay as long as planned. So, we opted for one of the other ones. Funny, huh? RVs give people flexibility but many seem upset to have to use it, if not outright disinclined to do so. 🤔 Thanks again, have a great weekend, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
If you don’t like the cost, then sell and quit complaining. People always have the money to do what is important to them.
All this type of article does is encourage people to complain.
As you do, every single week!
well ….here he is again. Ron, just skip the article since all you do is complain.
I often wonder where all the Canadians stay on the migration south thru Pa taking Interstate 81. In the fall on their way south and their return trip north. I live by I-81 and see so many RVs traveling 81. and know they can’t make it in one day.
Frankly, I think much of this is caused by the reservation system. Dismissing the most popular national and state parks, I much preferred the ‘show up and camp’ way it used to be. Even our formerly favorite state park here in NV is no longer available without making a reservation. Five miles away – and we can’t just hook up and drive over at a moment’s notice. I know, “waaa waaa”, but still . . .
Hold on a minute!
Peni H.
Imagine the difficulties in securing an economically priced room at the Yellowstone Hotel or in Yosemite during the travel season as a walk in. Imagine the difficulties in trying to reserve a room in either place for several specific days in a specific month within a specific price range. Finding an RV site at a popular destination isn’t much different so a lot of the comments are just silly.
TLDR: Yes, as popularity of things increase, so does demand and price whilst the value tends to drop.