Earlier this week, RVtravel.com publisher Chuck Woodbury emailed me a video discussing the status of camping over Memorial Day weekend. It was a commentary about empty RV parks over this traditionally packed camping holiday. I have to agree. I watched the video and share a lot of the observations after traveling this last month. Campgrounds may be empty again… but what does that mean?
Empty campgrounds on Memorial Day
My RV park on Memorial Day had a lot of empty sites. I was so surprised. I hadn’t hesitated to pay $70 for one night to get a spot because it was Memorial Day weekend. But I was too late planning and figured that the high price was my just due. Little did I know that $70 has become the new $40!
A few of our staff members nodded their heads in agreement at a recent staff meeting where we discussed this. They had the same experience over Memorial Day weekend.
I have found the expensive parks are, at most, half full, and some are only 10 percent full. We stayed at a huge lower-cost “Mom and Pop” RV park across from the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park in June. School is out and while there was a row of full-timers, dozens of sites were empty.
Higher prices
In more than a month of traveling, we have only been turned down once and that was near a major city on a weekend. This is so different than our trip north last year. The state, regional and COEs are still hard to get into without advance planning, but it isn’t as hard as it has been over the last three years. We got in at a state park in Colorado on a weekday… but it was $46!
The prices at campgrounds are outrageous! I felt like I was getting a deal if I could find a private RV park under $60. I will plan our trip back to Arizona now so we can get into more state parks and COEs. A couple of the cheaper ones we found were the RV parks that catered to full-time workers. A few saved one or two sites for “transients” like us. The worker campgrounds were full.
I met a couple that are relatively new owners at a private campground and they said this is the first year that they are not booked solid every weekend in the summer. The last few years they had waiting lists. Every single private campground we stayed at was never anywhere near full. I also found that park stores were practically empty and not because they sold out, but because there were not enough customers.
I only saw one exception and it was a Holiday KOA near West Des Moines, Iowa. They recognized the need for activities for the kids, had remodeled facilities, a huge well-stocked store and had expanded to provide easy access and long sites for today’s RVs. There was a massive number of premium sites that had grills, huge concrete patios, gliders, tables and chairs. Even the premium sites were filling up on a weekday in preparation for the weekend.
Is camping dead? I don’t think so. Has camping slowed down? Most definitely, at least at RV parks. Perhaps new RV owners are bored with it, didn’t think it would be so expensive, and are ready to sleep in hotel rooms, fly the friendly skies or just stay home.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
Read our readers’ experiences with crowded, or not so crowded, campgrounds in my weekly Campground Crowding Column.
##RVT1109
By Friday of Memorial Day weekend there were 4 first come first serve sites open where we camp at. The weekend after Memorial Day there were 31 first come first serve sites open as my wife and I were still camping in the same campground.
We are actually thinking about getting out of it due to the high prices. Between RV payment, insurance it costs us $1200 a month before we even fire the thing up. A 5 day trip from Florida to New England costs us around $1300 just in fuel and camping. Then add back in the monthly expenses.
My wife and I stayed at a state park for memorial day it was no where near half full. We just returned from a 2 week trip 1 week at a mom and pop on the coast of Virginia, we were the only ones there until a single tent showed up on the 3rd day. The second week we stayed at a state park on the Chesapeake bay 1 hour from Baltimore only 3 other campers there if you count the host. Don’t get me wrong I like the loneliness with my wife. The price not so much, my guess is they will go down as demand goes down.
And hopefully by the time they lower the prices, many, many RVers have already sold and moved back to non RV travel again.
I agree with Nanci. I also think that many new camper buyers were, as I call it, buying spare time. Often people purchase campers or boats with the subliminal thought it would buy them spare time. Once Covid was over, the spare time ended, parents were back at activities with the kids and called back to work. Any dreams of extra time to camp was over.
Wow, I find it hard to believe that these campgrounds are all of a sudden either crowded or empty. Or is it just the way its being reported for better viewership? I don’t get it.
Hi, Dave. We’re reporting what our writers and readers are seeing/experiencing. Just depends on the area, I guess. We wouldn’t purposely contradict ourselves just to get “better viewership.” That would be counterproductive, not to mention just stupid. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
We humans are a funny bunch. We sometimes report what we think we see or want to see rather than what is actual. I take all surveys with a grain or bag of salt, even if self reported. In one week some reported empty RV lots and others reported them to be full of RVs for sale. Some have trouble finding a camping spot and others travel with no problems. What may be seen as a problem for one, evidently is not a problem for someone else. We may all agree that the sky is blue, but beyond that ,,,, I mean, just look at my in-laws. How did my wife come from that lot? lol
The campground where we workkamp was full over the Memorial Day weekend. But the rest of the season thus far has been slower than last year. Also this is the first year I’ve heard comments or complaints about our prices (we are the highest in the area). Supply and demand has certainly raised prices. Just as it has for everything else.
This is one reason made my reservations in Oct. of last year for the this year. The prices are locked in. The new rates are at least 10% more now, but very few available sites.
Since we are retired, we are flexible as far as dates go.
Park I stayed at was full Memorial Day weekend, in the Midwest, but it was $55 a night, they had a lot of activities and I didn’t hear anyone complain about the price, $70 might have made a difference, but had to stay in a hotel recently and $170 a night was the most reasonable I could find. Inflation and taxes has hit all businesses and are passed along to the consumer.
Sounds like they are “Killing the Goose who laid the golden egg”.
On short notice, at the end of May 2023, I was (easily) able to book 7-day camping trip to a large and very popular state park outside of Cincinnati Ohio. This trip is over the ever-popular 4th of July 2023 weekend. In fact, shockingly, there were many, many camping sites open. It’s not just the high prices of campgrounds, but the high prices of everything. People are hurting. If they do have money, many people are looking at alternates. As a Boondockers Welcome host, I stay almost completely booked throughout the months. Other campers, including myself, are looking at vacation alternatives: Why book a $70 campsite, gas, food, etc. when we can book an inside cabin on a cruise ship for about the same price and get food, lodging, entertainment, and exciting locations to visit? All-inclusive resorts are another option that, when you run the numbers, can be comparable to today’s cost of camping.
The only reason that wouldn’t be an option for us is our pets come with us. Otherwise, we would probably be done with camping.
As a previous owner of 3 motorhomes, I feel as if my camping days are over. Starting with the ridiculous price increases due to OEM’s insistence of adding every new tech item to a coach, lousy service, warranty difficulties and pure greed. The only reasonable models are usually stripped down models with inferior materials that are destined to last less than 10 years even while buyers are having to finance for 15 – 20 years, long past their useable lifetime. After all, everyone needs pop art in their front yard after these cheap units finally give up or begin to crumble. Operating expenses make your head spin, campsite costs are not worth it. Where to pull over when enroute and just rest with no need for so called RV resort’s amenities. Inexperienced owners who lack common sense and courtesies when in a park or on the road spoiled the experiences. I can easily get in my car and travel with less fuel expense and afford to stay in nice lodging for comparable or less $$.
No I absolutely will not be staying in those high priced campgrounds. These campgrounds are now charging high rates plus charging to pick your site (KOA) and even an amenity fee ( Sun Outdoors) ridiculous! I will be heading to the keys and so far booked 11 days at state parks. I also will go to mom and pop locations to support them. I would rather spend my $ to see the areas I travel to and not to these greedy for profit corporations
Hear! Hear!
I say this is awesome unless they go out of business, which is possible. The screwed up and now will pay the price. (Another thing that’s annoying are all of their draconian policies, like no refunds or even credits when we had to switch the one private park reservation due to health issues.)
We recently traveled from Florida to NY very slowly, driving only about 3 miles a day. I booked our travel only a few weeks before we left. We were able to get sites in nice state parks every night, except one Saturday night in Virginia.
I hope they leave their prices high long enough for most of the newbies to give up on RVing.
Wow – 3 miles a day! Sounds like a very relaxing pace…but also a long time to get to NY from FL.
“3 miles a day”? Did you forget a zero or two, lol.
So it took you a year. Bet you didn’t miss very much!
We mostly stay at Michigan state parks since we’re still working and don’t have the available time to drive long distances. Michigan switched to demand pricing a few years ago so typical wieekend rates are $45-50/night for small electric-only sites packed cheek to jowl. We wonder a lot about being able to travel west of the Mississippi where there’s fewer people and more open land.
Exciting! It was only a matter of time so hopefully this will bring prices down a bit over the next year along with looking for a new coach
I can understand. When a private campground charges more than the motels, why go through all of the work of setting up and breaking down. Some owners seem to be overly greedy, given the fact that an overnight stay using electricity and water is likely not that costly for the campground. At $60 per night times 30 days the cost is $1,800. In many rural areas, that figure approaches the cost of renting a house. It will push more and more campers to dry camp or to cease camping altogether.
I tried booking at the nice expensive RV parks or a Beach site in Southern California for Memorial weekend and no bueno. A friend of mine told me about a small Mom and Pop Campground at the base of Palomar mountain, Noth County San Diego.
What a nice find.
Yes half the park had full timers, they where mostly senior citizens living your life, I could definitely understand the roll hills and hold of trees are amazing.
It was only $45 per nite. Simple, Nice, Clean, Quite, Oakknoll Campground.
Yes campgrounds are more expensive. Have you stayed at something better than a 2-star hotel recently? And if you stay for more than one night, don’t expect the room fairies to make your bed while you are out sight-seeing like they used to. Eating in with your RV is still less expensive than eating out, but you may have noticed how much more expensive eating out has become?
I am not complaining about the prices. I’ve been through a few inflationary periods in my life. I see little different about this one. And for the record, I worked waiting tables in late 60’s, early 70’s. I hated working the lunch shift with the gaggles of old ladies. All too many were stuck in the 1950’s when leaving a 25¢ tip for the entire table was a lot of money.
We camp a lot (40+ years), and have been full timers as well. We purchased a MH and would do it again. We have seen prices rise on everything including camp grounds, so we are prudent in our location choices, but do not plan on stopping. We agree that campground prices have risen, and we will see some fall back so just remain vigilant and keep on camping. It’s such a great way to see AMERICA.
I recently booked a trip from Central Florida to Cherry Hill, MD near DC. The KOA in SC is over $100 a night, as is the popular park in MD. I felt they set the reservation system to only offer the premium sites at the KOA in SC. I may be wrong. Cheaper parks were full. At least reported as full for the last weeks in July.
Since I’m traveling in a small 22’ toyhauler, I find the cost outrageous. That said, I travel with 4 large dogs. Boarding 4 large dogs is over $200 a night. If I want to travel, staying in a hotel with my dogs is typically not an option. Cherry Hill has a dog walker available. $60 a walk for 4. So, while it is expensive, some of us will continue to pay for the freedom of travel but do less of it. There are a lot of pet campers out there. (Not all considerate unfortunately)
Just an added note: I’m typically sandwiched between a couple of huge Class A’s at campgrounds. That is more intimidating than paying the higher fee!
Cherry Hill is a great park! We stay there every year and have enjoyed the dog walking services too. If you reserve a site on an inside, shorter road you are more likely to not have the big rigs.
Inflation is a big Factor with gas hovering around $3.90 a gallon
I do believe these parks that call themselves “resorts” are pricing themselves out of the market.. I didn’t spend $100k on an RV just to spend $100plus on a 1 night stay. Case in point, Disney Camp Wilderness, $174 for full hook up, THAT AINT PREMIUM SITE
REDONKULOUS
We constantly travel doing the Michigan to Florida to Arizona triangle or reverse for the last 5 years. We’re 68 ft. long with our cargo trailer so we require a longer site. With that said prices seem to have increased 10% nationwide. I will admit that in Florida where we stay has almost doubled over the last 5 years. We have our regular places we stay and haven’t really seen any of them so full we couldn’t get in. We do feel that making a reservation in the morning has helped as we’re driving with the exception of Florida. With this said we never paid more than $50. per night.
Thank you for the article. At my age I love to complain and talk about “the good old days” and this is what this article does. We have been subject to historical inflation since the last national election. Prices will never return to what we consider normal or reasonable. Our national energy industry has been throttled in a misguided effort to “save the planet” from what it does naturally and historically over eons. Besides being used to make electricity petroleum based products are the mainstay of everyday life. We naively walked into this “eyes wide shut”. Yes, sadly the $70/night campground is now the new normal. In a locker in the 5th wheel I have an paperback book titled “Camping on $10/day”. I enjoy reading about history. Were it not for Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Host the unit would have been sold.
Inflation root cause is from the same greedy companies which received the largest tax giveaway ever in 2016.
Nonsense. Inflation is a function of money supply, pure and simple. The current inflationary cycle is a product of massive government spending in the form of “stimulus”. Stop regurgitating partisan talking points and learn a bit about economics.
Right On
That’s not what causes inflation. Companies want you to be able to afford to buy their stuff. Obviously.
I still camp for $10 or less/day, because I use that horrible, leftist technology called “solar” to power my RV and free myself from hookups. It supplies all the juice i need. And, before you go there…. yes, even in the Midwest in Autumn.
Spot on Al!
I camp out of a pickup in the backcountry and I spend more than 10 bucks a day. Hyperbole doesn’t help you win any argument. It just makes you sound foolish…
You’re not finding the right places, apparently.
Me too AL. Paying exorbitant fees to camp defeats the whole purpose. Might as well stay in a hotel.
BTW I am currently in a gorgeous national forest campground in CA that’s half empty on Father’s day weekend .
Sounds fantastic! Hope you had a great Father’s Day weekend!
Camping for 10.00 a day that had to be about 1969.
We camped at a state park in Iowa over memorial day weekend. The days before the weekend were wonderful – no crowds and quiet times. When the weekend hit it filled up with lots of noisy and inconsiderate groups. If I had a choice to pay seventy dollars a night for quieter more solitude versus $40 a night for noisy crowds, I will pay the $70 every time!
My wife and a buddy of mine and I go to the Hamvention – the world’s largest amateur radio convention – in Ohio every May. We used to get motel rooms until it proved to be cheaper for my buddy to borrow his mom’s Jayco Jay Feather. We found an RV park not far from the event that will charge us “only” $240 (minus a 10% discount because I’m a veteran) so stay Thursday-Sunday – and THAT seems like a deal nowadays, especially for a full hookup site!
In California I’d by thrilled to find a $70 a night RV park. We recently paid $284 a night for a spot in Newport Beach and even the Indian casinos are charging much more. You can’t buy anything for prices that were 10-20 years ago and RV parks are no exception. For us $70 is great but please don’t ask me to pay $150 and up for a KOA site or other park.
You paid…. what?! That is an insane price. There is plenty of wonderful, cheap or free RV camping throughout California. It can most often be found on public lands, including BLM land, National Forests, National Parks and, in rare cases, State Parks (like Anza-Borrego).
Those places are becoming fewer and farther between. Mostly because of people in RV’s. They’re used to just leaving all of their trash behind and for many, the lack of an actual dumpster doesn’t deter that.
I agree with you that people of all types can be disrespectful and maybe a few spots have been ruined or closed, but I live full time in my RV when I’m on North America (I don’t bring it overseas with me) and I still find plenty of wonderful, clean, free/cheap public lands to camp on in California (and other states).
Glad you like CA.
Yeah Bob we love camping in California too, such diversity and so much to see, Mountains, Beaches, Desert, Giant Redwood Forests, beautiful rolling hills and wineries, we love it !!! Not to mention all the blm land and great weather !!!
Agreed, Gary. California is an awesome state to camp in!
We spend a minimum of 80 nights per year in California and that won’t be changing anytime soon. I may not like the management but i sure do like the people we meet and the parks we visit. You’ll have to pry Ca. out of my dead cold hands.
We full time RV for 20 years now we go for 2 months 2 or 3 times a year. RV parks and Campgrounds prices are out of control. Our last time out the RV park we go to had several empty sites. Hopefully the cost will quit increasing and maybe even lower some because of the Campgrounds not being full
It depends. Weekdays no problem, weekends full.
I too have noticed the higher prices, inquired at one park and they said that the water and power rates have dramtically increased. They have found that a lot of the new moho’s are now all electric and so use an amazing amount of power plus they now have washer’s and dryer on board which reduces the park income. Last time I stayed for a summer month the power bill was $210 but water was free. I don’t have a washer and dryer. I suspect due to the new style of all electric rigs that the rates will not be going down much.
There’s a real simple solution to outrageous prices: don’t pay them! There are so many cheap or free alternatives. National parks, state parks, NFS, BLM sites, etc.
Forget private campgrounds… try other ways of camping. Even with kids – give them a chance to hike, fish, and enjoy the natural world. Unplug and get back to basics.
Bingo. Private campgrounds nearly always offer an inferior experience for a higher price than public lands.
The state and national parks we fit into are limited, BLM is few and far between in the eastern half of the country. I’m not whining…we love our Big Rig but it does come with limitations. That does mean that we often have to pay those higher prices. I mind it less when we reach our destination than when our only option is a resort with all the bells & whistles and all we need is an overnight stay. We try to search out Walmarts or Harvest Hosts but those are also limited in our usual route. But I hate to blame the Mom & Pop campgrounds. Many of those are just squeaking by with the higher insurance rates, utilities, maintenance, etc. they have to pay. At our ages, our future years of “camping” are limited so we will spend what we need to in order to continue doing what we love as long as we can. We’re fortunate we have the resources to do that. Too many others that we know are leaving the RV world to settle, sometimes in a S&B, sometimes in a park model. That may contribute to those empty spots also.
And many in a broken down Lean -to of what used to be an on the road camper.
Agreed, I almost NEVER stay in RV parks
It’s only a last resort situation for me.
Is that a pun, Cheri?🤔😅 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
I hate to say this but with all the shooting and straight up hate in America now I’d be on my P&Q’s and keep my head on swivel 24/7 my opinion.
I do believe that some campgrounds are pricing themselves out of the average campers budget range but that seems like supply and demand and just inflation overall. I do think that many “new” campers from the COVID surge are finding it is more work and more expensive than they anticipated and now they have other choices again since the world has opened up. I expected much of what is happening right now. I have to admit it has been slower happening than I had expected.
Cheaper to stay in a Motel. Lot cheaper. Why go “camping”? I live in a heavily modified RV on a friend’s property. It hasn’t moved in 4 years and this is why.
“Cheaper to stay in a Motel. Lot cheaper.” Hahahaha.
yeah – big exaggeration there
Agreed with a lot of what’s said in this article. While you can expect a waterfront spot on the Gulf to catch a premium fee, standard sites have gotten out of control. It’s understandable not everyone RV’s because it’s less expensive, however, there is a cost component for many. When you compare the cost of $75 a night for a standard site to a $100 a night hotel room, that includes breakfast, the justification for the campsite become much more difficult.
We’re not new to RV life and recently discovered State Parks and have had amazing success. Nearly every State Park we’ve stayed at has been fantastic. Clean, quiet, well run, fairly level, beautiful, and reasonably priced. These are now my first look places when we’re on the road.
Wish things were different down here in houston…galveston island packed…lake conroe packed…even the Sam houston state parks packed through september…tried to go out by Austin area and finding it is no different
Eventually those CG that are empty will have two choices: lower their prices or close up shop. Hoping they just lower their prices.
Not necessarily. If they can make the same money by renting out half of the spots they come out ahead through decreased utilty and maintanance costs.
Lower their prices forgitaboutit.
Many are half full already with people that live there, so they may be making what they need and don’t care.
Over the last 4-5 years we have found it more difficult and expensive on the eastern and western coast lines, where there are higher numbers of population. All of Florida in the winter is horrible no matter if your inland or close to the coast and we are now avoiding it along with most of New England along the coast in the summer months.
Five years ago I would stay at commercial ‘mom and pop’ campgrounds about half of the time. I can’t afford them any more, since they started jacking prices up to get whatever someone will pay. I now modify my route to use public campgrounds, with a few exceptions. Can’t be the only one doing this.
My predictions of the massive RV sales of the last few years is coming to fruition. I said in 2020 and 2021 that the surge in RV sales to younger people who fly to their vacation site, rent a car for a week and fly home would not last. There is to much work in camping, yes after the work that’s when camping becomes fun. That dirty 4 letter word called work is more than the younger generations want to put into their vacation. Since most grew up being waited on by mom and dad from birth to being kicked out after college, they tend to still have the “I wants” in adult hood. Apparently the wages are high enough that that can pay for everything they “want”. That’s the way they were raised and that’s the way they live.
No offense intended but, if you’re camping in an RV, you aren’t doing a whole lot of “work”.
Depends on the RV. We have a Class B camper van, so we’re set up in 5 minutes. Same for departure. We’ve watched folks with trailers and 5th wheels “work” for over an hour to setup and depart.
It depends. We have a travel trailer and it doesn’t set itself up or tear down.
I wonder how many of the empty sites were no-shows? I’ve read in this newsletter that it’s a known problem. Another probably small but still contributing factor to fewer campers may be businesses that are requiring employees to return to the office. During the pandemic it seemed lots of people were buying RVs of some sort to travel while working remotely. Now with employers making in-person work mandatory it means some percentage of those RVs are sitting at home. However the cost is most likely the biggest factor. $70 is the new $40? Yikes!
Depending on the site and whether you are full hookup or not, here in Iowa it’s $20-40 a night. I would have a hard time paying more than $50 a night. There are a lot of things that factor in what you are willing to pay.
Thank you, Nanci! We are at the FMCA campground in Cincinnati today and they no longer allow limited free camping to members for 2 nights monthly. Instead, the charge is half-off for 2 nights and full price for up to 5 additional nights each month. The full price for power only is $20/night and full hook-ups are $30/night for full hookups. So, yes, their prices are highet, but still nominal. We just booked 10 nights next April in a county park outside Washington, DC and the price is the same per-night as last fall, $40/night.
You are talking about rv parks….not campgrounds. These terms are not interchangeable. The campgrounds…not rv parks…in Oregon we’re overflowing on Memorial day weekend.
I booked our trip to the Hershey RV show yesterday. They wanted $60 to dry camp in a parking lot at the show with no reservations accepted. Convenient yes but what happens if it’s already full when you arrive and all the parks are booked? Most nearby parks were already booked. One was over $90 a night. I booked a state park 30 miles away for $30 a night with senior discount.
Ahh, you’re camping really close to our sticks and bricks house by about 5 miles. Hopefully you got one of their full hookup sites!
Plenty of sites available including full hook up sites for $42 but we went with just electric and water.
I couldn’t agree with you more on high cost sites. I made reservation’s at a KOA camp ground in Cape Charles VA. During the week it was $ 94.00 per night for a 30 amp service with water and sewer. Monday through Thursday. For Friday night the price jumped up to, are you ready for this, $ 174.00 because it was going into the weekend. And then there was a $ 10.00 per night ($ 50.00 ) Amenity fee charge. Can you believe this? What in the world is going on? Time to start rethinking about things.
For the last 8 years we have stayed at The Virginian in Jackson Hole, WY. Wife does an Arts and Craft show in July and sometimes in August in town. We have seen the nightly fee go from $35 to $45 and three years ago the campground and Lodge were sold and the nightly fee is over $160 !!! The only improvements were to fill the potholes. We understand that it has been sold again and will only book for 2024 and not beyond. LOCATION,LOCATION,LOCATION.
We sold our rig a couple of years ago for more than we paid for it. Since then we have travelled to various parts of the world where the exchange rates have created travel bargains. Our US travel has been shorter trips, staying with family and friends.
We may return to RVing sometime out in the future when the next financial crash improves affordability but for now we are fairly happy with our other options.
We are seeing the same up here in Canada, but also believe fuel prices is a contributing factor as well!
I find this rule/quote is getting more the norm than ever before, and that is;
“THE MORE YOU PAY, THE CLOSER YOUR NEIGHBOR”
I have to agree, we’ve been doing a lot of RV’ing these past 3 years about 30,000 miles all over this great country. We used to do private parks with fhu averaging $50-$100 a night our typical trips would be 2-4 weeks or more. We’ve been all over this country and carefully planned each stop. We never boondocked because we were used to the comforts of home. That’s all changed. We’ve upgraded our Winnebago View with solar and lithium batteries and the ability to almost double our fresh water and grey tank. We now cook outdoors on a 2 ring Coleman burner. In short we’ve learned how to go off grid without giving up everything. We still take a shower most days and relax and watch tv in the evenings or enjoy the night sky. It’s been an awesome experience to camp in nature that you can’t get at an “RV Resort”. We recently spent 9 nights in Joshua Tree for $7.50 a night with our lifetime national parks pass for some of the best views and experiences, that was
Memorial day week, no crowds !!!
Prices are too high! And parks are packing them in like sardines. We will still camp as long as we can find affordable sites with a little space.
We sold our camper last spring. We were tired of having to plan so far ahead for reservations especially on weekends. Hotels became more attractive and more spontaneous even though they are more costly. With the higher gas prices of last year that was also a factor. We have gotten older too. Blessed to have seen the country and beautiful out of the way places over 30 years of rving. It was time to call it quits
I’ve been an RVer for over 50 years. However, with current cost of everything, my annual living costs have literally more than doubled…with no RVing. So, goodby to RVing. My retirement income has not gone up hardly at all in comparison.
I used to love camping, but can’t afford to go anywhere now. Being a retired single woman on a small income limits my options. Still, I’m grateful to have a paid for home, and enough money to cover living expenses.
My wife and i have been camping since our kids were young and the rates of increased overnight stays has definitely gotten out of control. Many “RV Resort Parks” in central Fl. are charging over $ 100.00 per night (some 140 +) for a back in 30 amp with up-charges for 50 amp, or pull-throughs. While we realize maintenance, staff and taxes and insurances have increased, when you approach or exceed the cost of staying in a motel (most with free breakfast) owners need to re-assess their fees or they will be looking at more empty sites. People are not stupid. Once the generation Z spendthrifts max out their credit cards and realize money does not grow on trees, they too will be searching out affordable campgrounds.
That’s an interesting take on RV park pricing and availability, and makes me hopeful that supply and demand will eventually help ease pricing. We’re only in our third year of RVing so not as experienced as many of you, but we’ve almost always been able to find very nice COE campgrounds here in TN on relatively short notice. With our Lifetime Senior Pass, those usually go for $12.50 to $15.00 a night which seems like a crazy good deal to me. Next year we’re planning a lengthy trip out west and we’ll try to make reservations early for sure. I’ll probably get bashed as a wealthy elitist for saying this, but on a trip like that I’d probably be willing to pay $70 a night for a nice private park if it’s the best option and the owner needs that to make a profit and stay in business. For the record, I’m not a wealthy elitist but trips like that make memories for a lifetime, and I don’t mind someone making a fair profit.
There’s a big difference between profit and profiteering.
I didn’t buy our camper van to pay $60/night to park it. We will generally stay at campgrounds in National Parks (I have 11 days booked in Yellowstone in August) or boondock. Our Camper is fully equipped and the batteries charge when we drive it. So we have no need for services generally other than a place to park.
Memorial Day. We are full timers and were at a very nice park, Crescent Bar, WA. Parked next to some annuals who told us it would get wild on Memorial Day. The park had a lot of empty sites. Friday a couple of tents show up, Saturday a couple more tents made their way to to best tent sites while only a couple of RVs show up. By Monday the tent site were full and a couple of tents in RV sites. Other than a loud radio playing and a few more kids and three or four boats it was not very wild and more like a normal weekend except for the tents. People with RVs stay home or went some place else. Only a few show up. Monday night the tents were gone leaving a mess. It did not look like or feel like a holiday.
We purchased a 2021 grand design last year without doing any research. I had grown up camping with my parents. It had been an inexpensive way to vacation. Living in Florida we were in shock to find the majority of campgrounds to cost between $150.00 to $200.00 a night. We than opted to try the state campgrounds. This time finding it nearly impossible to get reservations because they are booked months in advance by the snowbirds. After 4 months of owning our rv and only taking it out once to a state park we sold it.
Wow. I am always complaining about the way Florida and other parks “sock it to” travelers with sky-high day rates, while subsidizing low rates for seasonals and annuals. The parks always claim this makes them more money. Your story is proof positive they are shooting themselves in the foot, permanently scaring off new generations.
TSA checkpoint volumes are bursting at the seams. Generally hundreds of thousands more per day, every day, than last year. Either there is a huge increase in new travelers and/or people who had been traveling by car or RV are switching to air travel.
Drive around a little, even on a holiday weekend, and there are many RVs sitting in driveways and storage lots.
To me camping still consists of a natural setting (state/county RV park,USFS,BLM,COE, etc campground. Dispersed camping is our favorite. Staying in an expensive private RV park is akin to staying in a motel. That said, my style of camping in the West has very rarely been foiled by a “campground full” sign.
We had a trip from North Idaho to Elkhart, Indiana in April to May. In this “northern tier” most of the campground/RV parks were not open yet. Since we’d invested in a 1200 watt solar set up we were fine dry camping. On our way back we went southwest to New Mexico, we couldn’t believe how expensive those RV parks were! Most were $70 to over $100 per night! We dry camped at primarily at rest areas, Cracker Barrels, and Casinos. We stayed at a Koa for 3 nights in Elkhart, then 7 nights at a County park in New Mexico in our month long trip. I doubt we’ll be staying at many, if any, RV parks in future trips. No longer worth the expense.
Sorry for the delay in posting your comment, Joseph. For some reason, our sometimes over-zealous spam filter stuck it in the Spam folder, and I just noticed it in there. My apologies. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Anybody else with this issue: for heaven’s sake use one or more of the many tools available out there for finding places to camp. Between Indiana and New Mexico are many, many affordable and scenic parks. There is no reason to bounce between Cracker Barrels and KOAs.
Allstays, RV Parky, Campground Reviews, Recreation.gov, and many more tools out there.
We just bought our travel trailer in Nov and have been paying between 50 – 80 per night depending on location and size of site. I thought those were good prices, however when I see them at over 100 per night, forget it. I prefer the premium sites that give me room to stretch out and not be so close to my neighbor. If people are staying away because of cost – great, less crowded.
Come to Michigan, our State Parks are reasonably priced. Burt Lake State, beautiful view of the lake, Traverse City State Park, in the heart of Michigan’s wine country, Petoskey State Park, beautiful view of bay, Interlochen State Park, first State park and across the street from Interlochen school of arts were you attend concerts during the summer.
But Michigan State Parks charge out of staters an extra $30 a night plus daily “access fees” so doubt we’ll be going there anytime soon.
This is true, we stayed in Ludington State Park and paid a premium….I think it was an extra $20 because we had out of state plates. This isn’t good if they want to attract tourism. What’s the point of this…. I guess they think it’s a way to “subsidize in state campers”, but, the rates were pretty high overall for everyone. Nice park, but, it’s not worth paying extra.
GRoss- We actually do travel to Michigan. I have a vacation home there, but, because I have out of state plates and don’t have a Michigan driver’s license, I had to pay extra for a site at Ludington State Park….geez….We pay property taxes in Michigan…..So, I really felt like we were beat up by the regulations.
In our state, everyone pays the same fees for camping, doesn’t matter what state your from. How fair is that?
If Michigan really wants tourism then they better get the picture and STOP 🛑 this nonsense about charging out of state people extra money. It is definitely bad optics. People remember this and the word spreads
OR, maybe, they don’t want people from out of state? Did you consider that?
There’s certain things about Michigan I do appreciate, but, I don’t appreciate provincial thinking. It telegraphs an unwelcome message to outsiders.
Our vacation home is something that’s been in the family for a long time and it’s a nice getaway, but, the winters are impossible.
I still believe in Rv’ing but also feel prices are extreme. I am hopeful that with more vacancies that prices may come down some in time and that a balance in supply and demand will follow. The trend with higher end campsites may be of value to some but we just want full hookups with limited family activities that might drive prices higher ( trending with KOA). Might be of value to some but not for us.
When I add in the $3 cost per gallon for gas for my motorhome plus the $60-70 cost(sometimes higher) for a site. I can drive my SUV and stay in a hotel room for less. Although we prefer our motorhome, it just doesn’t make financial sense. A site at prime vacation areas has gone up to $145 a night. The rv sites are pricing themselves out.
Campground and RV park costs are the least of our concern. We don’t full time in an RV and we use our RV about two months out of the year vacationing and traveling. Given the high cost of an RV and the high cost of fuel, most campground and RV park costs are a bargain even at $100/night. Less crowding, good, easier to gain access, all good. As we traveled from CA to NM and back in May of this year, my observation was campgrounds and RV parks are as busy as ever. Maybe empty parks are a regional thing.
When a site costs more than half the rate of a mediocre hotel room, I start thinking about if it’s worth it.
We base in Arizona and have no need for overpriced private campgrounds. Our towable has 1,000 watts of solar and 400 amp hours of lithium battery. All we need is a stop to refill fresh water and an occasional dump station and we’re good to go.
Smart!
The article hits the nail right on the head based on leg traveling experience parks are pricing themselves out of out of anything sometimes motel rooms are better there are actually no reasonable RV parks in Western New York they all want to be paid by the season and they’re
When we started full-timing in 2010, we thought $20 was expensive. Now we rarely stay in commercial RV parks. We are not interested in all of the amenities. We just need electric. As a result, we now travel, 1/2 time, instead of full-time, in a smaller rig. We check every place we travel for Thousand Trails, RPI ( even their 1/2 price has become expensive!) Boondockers Welcome, Elks Lodges, Moose Lodges, Military Bases, County Parks, and Fairgrounds. All of these places are more expensive than prior to the pandemic. I am glad to hear that there are less RV’ers, as the newcomers ( post pandemic) who found out that the lifestyle is not for them. Maybe now the prices will drop, with supply and demand, and we can get back to the fun that RV’ing used to be, when it was less crowded.
I have to agree
We used to stay at nice mom and pops
45 a night
Now 95 a night
Can stay in a cabin for a little more and not have to pull camper
Some campgrounds are too expensive now. When I look for a campground and it’s over $50 I’ll look elsewhere. Maybe if they don’t have as many people staying in their parks they’ll lower the price to reasonable rates again. Better to have someone pay $35 a night than no one pay $50 a night.
I’m new to RVing and grew up doing it with my parents. Here in California, private campgrounds are the same price as a hotel room! I was surprised to hear that the campground that our parents always camped at, in Humboldt county, is over 100$ a night and no tents allowed. Because of the homeless crisis here, tent camping is now not allowed at many parks. I know we as a family would of never camped there if it was that much $. Praying that prices go down.
As a single traveler I cruise the streets now to find an extra five (5) souls for the night so I don’t feel like I’m being ‘fleeced’…😁
I wish this was the issue with Anastasia State Park in St Augustine, I feel like you have to have a site willed to you in order to get it lol.we used to tent camp there all the time, but now that we own an RV seems like we can never get a spot 🙁
Yes, I totally agree that camping has gotten extremely expensive, It used to be the cheapest way for vacation but now it cost more than a motel room. I have noticed that a lot of people are selling their rv’s. I haven’t been camping for the last few years but I am ready to go because I miss it . I have been camping since 1996. I have a favorite campground that isn’t expensive only 60.00 per night and it has everything from a middle river to go tubing down and 4 hot tubs, a pool for kid’s and a pool for adults, 2 play area’s for the kid’s and a pond for catch and release fish. Also has a waterfall. Rabbits and some ducks running around. And it’s is very much well taken care of. And they don’t have any permanent site’s for the ones who would want to live there and that’s great. And 1 hour away is a drive thru zoo that is 180 acres that takes about 1 hour and a half to drive thru and after driving thru they have a walk thru with lots more animals.
That sounds great!!! Where is it???
Prices depend on supply and demand. I was getting emails as late as 2 weeks ago for July 4 camp sites. Perhaps the demand is ebbing a bit.
Nothing but greed at all levels today.
Fuel, Fees, Crowding, why go through all of this to “get away”. The expenses along with crowded camps over the past years have taken away any spontaneity of just taking a trip! I have to reserve 9 months out at midnight to get any kind of spot at a state campground, and we’re lucky to get it.
Hopefully this increase of sites will continue but I doubt it.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t go to our regular camp site for memorial day weekend (it was booked) and we ended up going to Kankakee, IL KOA. Those spots are too close, expensive, and nothing there. The state campgrounds of Illinois & my county have lots of RV sites that are 50% off for veterans. That’s where we go. However, we’re waiting so that Wisconsin gets warmer because the Wisconsin Dells KOA would be worth it due to the close proximity to water parks. We stayed in a cabin there before we had our RV camper van.
We are fulltime RV people, and see prices doubled after pandemic started. We hope that capitalism still works, and offer/demand balance will bring prices to a competitive level. Otherwise we are screwed.
Thanks Nanci. Great article. Pardon me, what is a glider you mentioned at the KOA.
Hi, Shon. I just looked it up. It appears to be a rocker/glider-type chair. Looks very comfortable. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
👍
👍 Backatcha, Shon. Take care. 😀 –Diane
RV camping is definitely NOT DEAD! 10 days ago, I stayed in a clean, concrete-paved, lakeside COE campsite in NM for $6/night with my senior pass. I was in a 14-campsite loop where every campsite had a lake view. No electric in that loop because I didn’t need it, but I had a nearby threaded water faucet, a dump at the exit, a covered picnic table, and a restroom with flush toilets and showers. I’ve never stayed in a private RV park with sites any nicer or roomier than that COE cg. The adjacent loop with 30/50A hookups and obstructed lake views was mostly full, but I had the entire beautiful, lakeside, no hookup loop ALL TO MYSELF!
Hi Nanci, One reason I can mention is that a good amount of the RV parks will not accept an RV older than 10 years. The online reservation system asks how old your RV is and if it exceeds the 10 year mark, then too bad for you. Ours is an older Class A model in excellent condition except the outside paint is faded, but too bad for us, it’s over 10 yrs. We even found this to be the case at some county fairgrounds. Ugh
High prices? A campground has a set cost that they have to pay every month. They need to determine what the minimum price is that they need to charge and the minimum number of sites that need to be filled every night to pay the basic bills much less give the owners a profit and a cushion to take care of emergencies. It is hard to run a business.
We go to Florida most every year for January and February. We have a class B and would stay at campgrounds in the past. Last year for the heck of it we priced out some condos in Panama City Beach in the Pan Handle. We got a really nice condo with pool and work out room and beach access right across street for half the price of local campgrounds. Like many other posts stated, campground costs have gotten out of hand along with the cost of sub-par camping units. We already have reservations for a condo right on the beach, which again is cheaper than camping.
I bet the condo is nice in Panama City. Not sure what good the beach is the Winter when the high temp is mid 60’s and the lows are in the *40. I get your point though. Cheers!
Pay to camp is ridiculous. Why not go to a free campsites. Or is the fact that most people don’t know how to survive in the woods
If you are living out West and are lucky enough to have access to BLM lands. Not a lot places out East unless you pay to play.
Not alot of BLM east of California and other BLM lands .
Some folks like showers and warm restrooms at night. They’re funny like that.
This high price nonsense has been going on for years in some states like california. spending a grand just to take your kids camping for a long weekend or any holiday you got gouged badly by most places in that state. and year in advance reservations were a must. We solved this problem by not visiting those places and telling everybody we knew to avoid them as well. we now live in a great state with tons of inexpensive camping and a lot of places right on the lake and rivers here are free and no one discriminates cause our camper is 10 years old. I’m only stupid enough to pay way to much for an rv once in my life. its gonna die with me. We all have choices in life some just keep making dumb ones and allowing these places to gouge year after year. do your homework and live your best rv life like my family does. happy trails
I paid $125/night for an ocean front site for 4 nights it was wonderful. Before that we had stayed at Winchester Bay for I think $45/night. Wife and I agreed that the ocean front is very nice but Winchester Bay was just as nice even more so, more activity to watch, sites sizes great… this was in the fall with winter rates. We canceled this year on the ocean front and added to our stay at WinChester Bay in oregon. It makes sense/cents.
We are camping at an Escapee’s park near Branson. Now I know Branson isn’t the draw it use to be but have been shocked by the number of empty sites. There were at least a dozen over Memorial day. I guess good for us, but still sad
I’m a caretaker for a campground in California. We charge $15.00 a night. We have bathrooms, showers, potable water and a dump station. Plus we are located on a beautiful river. If any of you find yourselves in the gold county give us a call (209)213-1485. The road is a little sketchy because it’s going down the river canyon. We can answer any questions you have!
What is the place called?
Italian Bar Campground, Columbia, CA. Note: their website states 30’ or under.
It really depends on the rig. It’s the road coming down that’s the issue.
The obvious reason for the drop in RV use is not only the rising price of campsites but the price of gas. Why would I want to invest in a 100-150G plus RV and then pay $70 for gas and at least $100 to $200 more for gas than in an SUV every day I am on the move. Makes no sense.
We spent 8 yrs seeing the USA & work camping our way around. We never had a problem with the price gouging that is going around now nor the snobbery involved. Too bad. Met great people & made wonderful friends.
Thanks for the article Nanci. We booked our site just outside of Jasper National Park a few months ago, for around $75 a night ☹️, and this campground is only half to two thirds full. J.N. Park sites all have open sites too
JNP campgrounds….
What comes up will go down. There already a slow down of camper sales. You air bnbs and other options that can cut into the camping market. Don’t blame camp ground owners. like anything they go through lean times also. The good places will survive, the cruddy ones not so much .
We too can’t believe the cost on average $65 a night coupled with gas prices approaching $4 a gallon we opted to drive our economical car and stay in a hotel during our anniversary trip.
I have always thought prices were raised when products and services were “new or improved” but in the case of rv parks that’s not the case. Wasn’t it enough to be full every night? No, the owners were probably thinking, short sightedly I might add, let’s make as much money as we can. Im currently on a cross country trip and am adding solar and lithium so they can keep their price hikes.
We’ve been RVing since 2001. I remember paying $10 and $20 per night for a campsite, also under $2 for a gallon of gasoline and lunch was around $10 in a swank place. Dinner for $30 was a major outing. The other day I was pricing a stay in Las Vegas. I had my choice of $45 or $135 with plenty of options in between. Since we are celebrating 59 years, I opted for $135, I can afford it, why not? WE camp for free, HH or BW or just find an interesting looking place when we can. Not because its free, but because we choose to stop there. WE even stay in Walmarts sometimes because it is a great chance to shop and get some sleep. We are neither proud nor snobs, just RVers taking advantage of all the options our way of life makes possible. Enjoying some excellent Scotch In a service center campground where the only cost is the cost of the service.
What campgrounds did you find in Vegas? I’ve only seen the one BLM site out at Red Rock.
We have been camping for the last 13 years and loved it. Because camping was a cheap affordable way to have family fun. But now we are about to throw in the towel because of prices. It cost more to stay at a cheap campground than it does to stay at a nice hotel. Its crazy and campers are tired of it.
Old school camping and the idyllic RV getaway is practically non-existent now. Supply and demand has optimized the price points to exclude non-affluent campers and created a new industry of private subscription camping. This too shall pass.
RV Camping was overrated and overhyped as a “cheap” alternative to travel. That ship sailed too. I have no idea what the next generation of dumbass kids will call it, but I do know that it will still be overpriced and overhyped.
Nanci, we have seen pretty much the same, however with 1 notable exception. On the Friday before Memorial day we blew a turbo hose while in Harrisonburg, VA. I was lucky and found a shop that got the part overnighted to us from California so we were back on the road by early Saturday afternoon, able to make up that days driving thanks to the late sunset. This incident caused us to rethink a visit to the remote Gaspe Peninsula. So we canceled several campgrounds. All were very understanding and refunded our deposit less a small fee. HOWEVER one campground that was given a 21 day notice, refused and kept our $140 deposit! The reply I got was “We do not give refunds to cancellations “ Apparently the owners have realized the new trend and are trying to make their ends meet no matter what. I was expecting 1 night forfeited, but not our full deposit, 1/2 the weekly rate and with 3 weeks notice. We will make the drive out the Gaspe, but I can guarantee you we will skip that campground!
We are planning our third winter in Florida and the park we stay at has put a policy in place that makes it more expensive – they want you to guarantee a four month stay to reserve “your” space, they’ve raised the prices about 40% and just this past week sent an email tacking on a $50 water charge. It is forcing us to consider buying a winter place in Florida and selling the motorhome.
This is the year that we were going to buy an RV for our retirement travel. Price is not the thing that’s stopping us. More and more stories about criminals squatting in the homes of people who are traveling, only for the owners to come back and not be able to get into their own home. We decided that’s too much of a risk. If the laws on that improve to protect homeowners, we’ll go buy that RV.
This happened to us in Washington State. Finally got them out after $$ and some time, but they destroyed the property in the interim and although they were caught red-handed, there is nothing done in America anymore because of all of the pay for play rats in political attire.
Install cameras that alert you when someone enters your home. The squatters will be treated as burglars if you catch them early enough
You might want to try trusted house sitters @ trustedhousesitters.com to watch your house, take in mail, take care of your lawn, shovel snow what ever you need. That way you know your house will be safe from squatters.
Try camping in Canada. Under $80 a night without any hookups is rare. Plus sites here are often small. It’s Way too expensive since pandemic hit. RV crazy hit and camp grounds got greedy. We often go to the US State Parks. Much better value. Love your state Parks.
We’re Americans visiting Canada in Alberta and BC. There are comments on how high prices up here are but let’s be fair- the Canadian dollar is 26% lower than the US dollar so $80 CAN is only $59 US. But still we’ve not seen those prices. We’ve stayed in National Parks with electric only (but water and dump in the park of course) for $34.50 CAN ($25.50 US). We’ve stayed in gorgeous overflow boondocking sites in the parks for $16.75 CAN ($12.25 US). We’re at a KOA right now just outside of a national park. We’re here for 2 weeks and the average nightly is $69 CAN ($51 US). Even in the US traveling from Florida to Montana before crossing into Canada we didn’t have to pay nearly as high rates as are being told for nice RV parks. Though they are definitely higher than a couple of years back.
I own 2 RVs one for personal and a second for employees working out in the field. I’ve turned my personal RV into an air BnB due to park prices and fuel. Bought the RV due short distance trips with long stays, they are normal for me, work related, so an RV made since. Driving and hotels are cheaper and easier, RVing isn’t for the meek, unless you make it “home”.
I am a full timer at a small park in central Florida ………fees are still outrageous and it has made for some empty spots
Talking with some of the temporary campers, I found that most of them are finding the RV lifestyle rather expensive and with the current economy they have decided to curb their travel plans somewhat
RVing took off years ago as an inexpensive way for families to have an affordable vacation without breaking the bank. However, as with everything, greed eventually takes over, you will start to see a decline in RV sales as they go up in price considerably, gas prices are high , food prices are high, and campgrounds are charging twice the amount. We have an RV but very unlikely we will replace it once it’s done it’s time. Most people are learning how to vacation at home. With pools and other forms of entertainment.
A friend of mine decided to try and get last minute reservations at a local campground. Was surprised they still had openings and would be able to accommodate him and his family for the Memorial Day Weekend. Then they quoted him $500.00 for the 3-day weekend. Needless to say, no reservations were made. Over the years I have noticed how prices have risen. What started out as around 20 dollars a night is now easily 60 – 70 dollars a night or more at the same campground. Yes, they have made many improvements over the years, and it probably the nicest mom and pop run campground we have ever been in. Been going there for over 30 years and we are on a first name basis with owners. Still go there, but not liking the higher prices.
We typically camp with a total of 3 to 4 units. We could not land 3 sites for memorial day. This past weekend, father’s day, we got 4 in roughly the same corner and only 1 spot was open while we were there. We starting booking in January. Camping hasn’t slowed in Michigan enough that you can get a spot at the last minute. At least not for groups of 2 or more.
Expensive Camping
I worked in a friend owned restaurant on a corporate campground. Between year 1 (2020) and year 3 (2022)of the restaurant being there, seasonal rate has nearly tripled. At the end of last season, and beginning of this season, nearly 25% of seasonal renters sold their campers or pulled their campers out to go else where. While transient sites on weekends appear to be relatively full, park stats show that the park is about 70% full. Prior to this the park would be at 100% minus a few last minute cancels. The other issue I have seen, Massachusetts state campgrounds for example, charge an additional fee for out of state visitors. My family enjoys Salisbury Beach State Reserve, however for the first time in near 25 years we will be visiting another states campground as the price nearly tripled ($550 last season, quote for same site same week $1200) merely from being out of state. All while getting no extra amenities, for the extra cost.
Taxachusetts! Glad I moved out of New England years ago..
We are on our way back from Yellowstone and Glaciar NP;s among others as well. We have been traveling for 50 days and have made all of our reservations in advance back in Feb./March. We could only get 3-4 days of reservations at each park though we wanted to stay a week or more at each. No can do they said, they were booked up. Yes, when we arrived, we found the parks mostly empty. In glacier we stayed at the West Glacier RV Park, which holds over 100 pull through sites, plus cabins and more. I counted on a good day that there were 35 RV’s parked there.
In Yellowstone we strayed att the Holliday RV and Marina, about 10 miles north of West Yellowstone. This park was a great place to stay but most nights we were only 50% occupancy. I chalk this up as well to prices that have gone sky high. We stayed at a state park in Colorado that charged us $40/night plus a $10/day entry fee. This was a park who had power only, no water at site and no power.
Camping has become ridiculously expensive. People are using state parks vs resort style camping. I now have to plan 6 months to a year ahead to get a spot in parks that were easy to get into in 2019. Looking forward to the bottom to drop out and People go back to hotel’s.
Hotels have gotten stupid expensive too. I’m paying twice as much for a mid-level hotel than I was just 2 years ago.
It’s disappointing that, along with high fuel prices, RV park owners have joined the fray of cashing in by gouging people during the high season. When we can afford to travel we do so during the off season. It doesn’t offer as many opportunities in the northern parts of the country, but what else is one to do?
I had mixed experiences over the Memorial Day holiday. There was one park of many (Goose Bay Montana) that we stayed at for a few days that would rather collect 100% of nothing than discount $5.00 to encourage additional income. Literally on the other side of the fence were free BLM 14 day campsites. We went to the BLM sites and stayed 7 more days while staring at the ~60% empty park. Sadly, I was questioning why I even bothered to stay at the first park as we used no more resources there than the BLM site. It was just lazy research on my behalf.
Park pricing is definitely disproportionate to demand else parks wouldn’t be at low occupancy but high profit margin. At the risk of sounding conflicted, I’ll pay $5 more to an empty park than $15 less to get packed in like a sardine though.
We are seasonal members of a national chain in upstate NY. We are strongly considering selling our park model because of rising seasonal costs. Several seasonal campers are already selling for the same reason.
Amazing how people are still reacting to the various indicators across the country, but they haven’t tied it all together yet. We are heading for financial collapse, and sticking ones head into the sand won’t make it go away. This is the new “normal” with worse to come.
I agree. You can just feel this house of cards shaking in the wind.
I look for quality state parks! Ga, SC, Fla, and some in NC are awesome and I pay less than $40 a night in all of them! Beautiful large sites, many on lakes and or rivers!
Make sure you are checking websites frequently. I checked Myrtle Beach State Park two days ago for a site. A month ago, all sites were $40. Now they are $60 and even $75 for the few pull through sites they have. Still cheaper than the commerical parks in the area who, for the most part, do not allow tents any longer but in one month, the price jumped $20
I bike at a rec area with three campgrounds. It’s amazing how few sites are occupied. I have never seen the park so empty. Another indication is the lack of rv’s on the highway. I travel I-75 nearly every weekend. There is a lot of traffic but few rv’s. I know the price of camping is quite high. Couple that with higher costs due to inflation and camping seems to be losing its appeal.
Come sit in the parking lot at the Breen grange on hwy 140 in Hesperus Colorado. You won’t believe the number of EV’s going by – many of them 30 footers and bigger – 3, 4, 5 in a row!
EVs or RVs, Anne? Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
For Canadian RVers the excitement to get going south again post-covid has been a real sticker-price shock. Even basic town/city owned & operated campgrounds ($35.00-55.00+) are expensive without factoring in the high foreign exchange component. The very high cost of fuel at the pumps may be the biggest deterrent for travelling very far. At today’s fuel prices, our gas RV costs $65.00/hr to roll down the highway, so even a short distance 3 day weekend adds up very quickly travelling in the U.S.
Commercial parks are… expensive and in general the sites are WAY too close together. “The money” saw a boom in the RV industry and decided there was money to be made, and so we now have an infrastructure that I think will result in a lot of closed entities. Add to this the lash-back from those that jumped into the RV lifestyle, and are now on the exit path in a market that will not allow them good resale prices.
Gasoline prices have also not stayed down and are not too far from where they were last year. 6 to 8 mpg eats up a ton of cash in a hurry, especially in more vertically challenged terrain.
Then there are the usurious fees for booking some campgrounds by that third party entity!…
The reality is that an RV vacation is not necessarily relaxing and while the sales brochure presents a nice pitch, the reality is vastly different.
(the regular tent-style campgrounds in the system are close to full every weekend lately)
My husband and I have been “RVers” for about four yrs. We thought WA state was the most expensive, then we traveled through WY… RV parks anywhere “near” Yellowstone charged upwards of $1200/month for electric, water, and sewage. No cable.
While we enjoy a week or so over the summer with our camper, I think the price of campgrounds has become almost comparable to renting an Airbnb. It’s just not as easy to find pet friendly house rentals as it is to camp, though.
People thought it would be relaxing to do the camping thing. It is a lot of planning and work. And they now understand the reality of being ripped off by these RV parks. Just like the RV sales have died also due to people realizing they were being shafted. Now it is the car dealers who are going to eat it big time. So be it. What goes around comes around. Happy trails.
Campgrounds are going to continue to lose customers due to inflated prices not only for the campground but for food fuel and other travel related expenses.
When you do the arithmetic and figure you can stay at a hotel with a swimming pool and the rooms will have a mini fridge and microwave, coffee maker and tea plus a hot breakfast in the morning versus having to park your RV, hook it up, set up the area outside, pay the fees which are typically half of a hotel cost and all the money spent on fuel ( mine gets 9 mpg ) plus the wear and tear on the vehicle, insurance and the maintenance I’m going to sell my motor coach. Hotels have certainly gone up in price but if you’re driving a vehicle that gets anything over 30 miles a gallon coupled with the freedom to leave your hotel room to go to a restaurant / bar whether it’s walking or short driving distance I think that RV campgrounds will continue to see a decline in revenue.
I wish the slow down was happening where I live, Oregon. Nearly every campground or RV “resort” is completely booked out at least 6 months. As a kid I enjoyed camping and I am trying to get back into it. I recently purchased a very small camper but every chance my work schedule clears up or I take time off for the purpose of camping, I have to search far and wide to find something available. Some places have full time RVers which take many spots. I am hoping that I don’t have to try to sell my new camper and give up on camping altogether.
Go to Klamath fallls…. Youll find a spot. They are full because the economy in Oregon is so awful majority of them are living in them. I loved Oregon but moved east as I was tired of dealing with the people. Hard enough fixing these RV’s even harder when majority are some 1990’s – 2008 never been Maintained owned by a red neck vagabond who doesn’t want to pay anything. Every Park I went to didn’t have RVers it had people living in RV’s.
That seems to be our problem finding a place, and I don’t know what the solution is for that.
I think people are rebelling against the high prices for RV sites and just boon docking with the occasional night in a motel. The prices are as much as some motels that even give you a free breakfast!
We just returned to Kansas from our 2 full weeks going as far south as Georgia and up to see our granddaughter in Wilmington NC. Just like many others I booked these reservations months ago. Each campground had many open spots. One in SC , closest campground to Charleston , had nothing available on Reserve America website so I called the campground and they got us in. Upon arrival we noticed a lot of open spots. This was true for the 3 days we were there. Then we traveled to Wilmington to stay at the only good campground in the area- KOA, charged us on average $100 a night. It was $40 2yrs ago- $60 last year and now the $100. Told them how disappointed I was but they were indeed busy so I’m sure they didn’t hear me.
Have you forgotten the meaning of camping? It’s family time. What many have worked for. Maybe, being what we are suppose to be.(helpful to your neighbor) you could have politely offered assistance. I remember a long time ago. Campers helped each other. It was a motto earned to be campers. Not complain about each other. What’s wrong with this country, is people don’t care about anyone else any more. I still stop to help a fellow on the side of the road change a tire. Offer a meal to someone in need. Just listen and think of ways to help those in need. Doesn’t have to be money. But a service instead.
You’re talking about decent behavior as something of the past, but the truth is most people out there, especially in the camping community, still exhibit the virtues you mentioned. The person you reply to is an outlier, fortunately they’re still far and few between.
I just concluded a 3,200 mile trip across 7 states over 29 nights and 19 stops, and never booked sooner than the day before I was to arrive at a destination city. And, was never turned away. I do believe that if you call to book on a Sunday afternoon through Thursday, you stand the best chance of getting a site, anywhere. Calling on a Friday or Saturday doesn’t work! I didn’t see “overcrowding”. Camps were sometimes full on weekends, but I was already parked in a site, having called on Thursday morning for a Friday arrival … So, that’s my secret!
And, yes, I agree prices are outrageous! $35 sites are asking $45; $45’s are asking $55 or more … and they haven’t done a single thing to warrant the higher fee. Some have gotten worse, like bad roads or mud, and still asked for a higher fee. Wake up owners; some fee is better than no campers and no fee.
Sorry, but another of the empty spaces are due to the covid campers are bailing out. i’m a seasonal camper in oh. Quite a few of the shutdown campers who bought campers are not camping as much
The higher costs might be due to higher costs of electricity and water for the parks. This isn’t 1980. The cost of everything goes up all of the time Moreno in the last few yrs. We are on our normal 5 month summer trip with specific places to land. We booked our stays 3 months before we left our winter spot. We only have maybe 5 travel days with no nightly spots booked. Plan ahead. Book early and enjoy the ride.
I mostly utilize dispersed camping on Forest Service or BLM grounds. However the USFS has gone rogue and closed off more and more dispersed camping spots by falling trees or placing boulders. Each year I see more of this. If you do find a dispersed spot the USFS acts like the Nazi Gestapo and hassle you.
Love how they avoid the real reason there pricing out poor and homeless people That’s why
Yes….still silence from all regarding this. Now where do they go.
We started camping in 2017. Pre-covid. Almost every weekend from may-sept. Prices have doubled in Florida. Still over crowded in most places. We have run across alot of campgrounds with no improvements whatsoever since 2017. I see another year or 2 for us then probably done. We are not going to continue to pay these prices. The last 2 years we have been getting monthly sites because it is cheaper.
“GREEDFLATION” has now set in. Fear of missing out…”FOMO”. Everyone wants in on the act…to get their share while the getting is good. It feeds on itself. Very typical behavior as long as human history. Eventually, this snowball collapses because it becomes economically unsustainable and a big “hangover” follows in the opposite direction. We’re still in the “Greed” phase at this point…but the cycle will eventually invert.
I watch a lot of online videos by RVers and a trend I see is many are buying new rigs with solar panels on them. Given the price of private campgrounds, many RVers are trying to boon dock as much as they can to save money. That is much easier and more comfortable with solar power. I would be curious to see if organizations like Harvest Host that offer free dry camping have increased business in recent years as prices have increased in RV parks.
As a Boondockers Welcome / Harvest Host host the answer is most definitely YES. With over 50 stays at our place I have had to block out time for us just to have the serenity we bought the place for. Don’t get me wrong we love to give back to the camping community but every week during the Spring and Fall?…
Omg how traumatizing to hear a crying baby. Truly awful neighbors who didn’t stay home so that you could get that good night’s sleep you are entitled to.
I heard bears are attracted to crying babies. Gonna eat your baby. Lol. Stop camping…..you give it a bad image.
Have noticed that in Federal and State campgrounds they are adding all these hidden fees or fees that were not there 5 years ago. Electricity, water, utility, reservation, etc. It use to be just campsite fee and nothing else. While actual rates may not have gone up when you add all these hidden fees campsites have gone up a lot; 25% to 50% or more. We only camp at state and Federal campgrounds.
I’ve noticed this, too. I’m camping in St. Augustine at a very nice (and popular) state park. I’m finding available sites by searching and making reservations for a day or 2 at a time. However, I have to pay a reservation fee each time, along with a utility fee and tax. It adds up fast.
The point of RVing was to see the country at a discount. Motels used to be more expensive than a camp site. Now its upside down. With high gas prices and campsites over $60/night its no wonder RVers are looking to camp in parking lots, BLM sites and such. Campground owners will outprice themselves soon. Some of us do want a destination Campground but many of us also need a quick day or two stop as we pass through. But elec, water and sewer are not worth $60 + a night. Maybe charge a separate fee for shower/pool use (ala cart fees) to help reduce a nightly stay.
I live in a very touristy area in Colorado on a state highway and it is fascinating how many huge EV’s are being pulled up the road by pickups or are self-powered and pulling a jeep or other vehicle. I have to wonder how they can afford the gas, getting what- 3-5 miles per gallon at $3.68 per gallon? Add the price of the campground and it gets really expensive. Not only that, but campgrounds pack the RV’s in…not a lot of room for privacy. Not for me, but to each his/her own.
Camp site prices have gotten ridiculous and fees for this and that. People need to unite and not use these high price campgrounds
I agree Carol. When I got my zinger 2022 I had high hopes of traveling America again. The first campground I stayed at was $500 monthly, then $550 and now o hear they jacked the price to $650. I paid $650 a month for a two story house. This place Heartland Dr in Campbellsville Ky was infested. Manager getting high and selling and that was the brunt of it. Now I’m at another campsite paying $600 monthly which is high in my opinion but better than where I was. I traveled to Michigan and prices wasn’t as bad except one place charged $500 month. To make matters worse a dealer sold me a bad deal and it cost $4000 to fix my truck leaving me exactly where I don’t want to be. I hoped to travel west again but I look at prices and think these greedy people have taking over the world. My American dream is history so it seems. I agree with others, we stop paying, they will finally return to realty! Also the price of gas, food etc means more American dreams down the drain!
Campground costs have definitely increased. I am in a KOA now and have four nights booked at other. Locations. All are more expensive. But I’ll keep camping so I can have my dogs with me. Otherwise it would be hotels
We travel a lot with our kids for sports and my husband also travels a lot for work. With that being said, we always do the math before we go anywhere. We add fuel (truck vs prius), food (restaurants vs grocery store), lodging (hotel vs camp site). Things have gotten so expensive across the board that every penny counts. With fuel and camp site prices so high, it’s just too expensive. We bought a camper to save money on travel expenses, not play at fancy camp sites. We’d rather stay at a Walmart parking lot than pay fancy lodging rates. It’s ridiculous and completely defeats the purpose. At least for us. We have 4 kids and 4 dogs and all we’re looking for is a water and power hookup. We’re on the verge of selling because it’s simply not cost effective anymore. It’s a big bummer.
I assume you are also aware of Harvest hosts?
4 kids with sports equipment and 4 dogs in a prius…that I wanna see
The prices of campsites has gone wild. I inquired about a tent site at a KOA in Rock Springs WY. $62 before tax to set up a tent!! That’s insane. I actually got a hotel for the same price. The only other campground here has good prices but is booked solid for June with an Air Stream gathering.
If I still had my rv I would boondock rather than pay the high prices.
Maybe we should all start “camping” in hotels until prices become reasonable!
I am in Southern California. We have noticed that the private campgrounds that we regularly stay in with our membership have been noticeably less full. It has made our stays much nicer, but we don’t really know why? The thing is, they were hard to book, and I had to make multiple attempts before getting a reservation? Then we get there and the places were half empty.
We have noticed that while you can’t get a reservation for our state parks, when you drive through to check things out there are unoccupied spots that have the reservation paperwork on the post. It is very frustrating when you want to go camping but can’t because someone has booked camping spots for every weekend with no intention of going but apparently don’t mind wasting their money. I would love to see someone come up with a way to stop the practice so that all can enjoy. I can understand that sometimes things come up and they just can’t make it but it happens way too often for it to be a coincidence.
Florida State is beginning to give state residents a 30 advantage making reservations of non state residents. Plus if a site is not occupied by the end of the next day of a reservation the site is supposed to be placed back on available list.
Absolutely!
Those who charge too much will not get my business. There are alternative places to camp.
I have recently sold my RV & giving tent camping a try & staying at airBnBs. My 2006 Jayco Super C RV became more costly to keep up than it was worth in addition to inflation. I workamped for several yrs & seen that tent campers were just as happy as the people with RVs.
It’s not just the camp sites but also the cost of fuel. With Air B&B’s and Low MPG cars, Camping is becoming too expensive an alternative. It will cost me $400 dollars to pull a ffth wheel when my wife’s car can get there for a little over $100 My brother, an Eagle Scout, has tent camped all his life and loves not being tied to electric or sewer. Fortunatly my Fifth wheel is paid for. For me, boondocking and moochcamping is the only thing keeping us going. That and avoiding any thing north east of Pennsylvania or in Florida.
We try to make reservations at COE’s campgrounds. You can get a card for like $80.00 a year and take advantage of 50% off. They are much nicer, friendlier, cleaner and most of the time the bathrooms have A/C. They also have swimming and some have alot of fun activities. You can go to recreation.gov and find them all over.
I had to cancel our reservations for the weekend before July 4. It turned out we would be able to go after all so I started looking for someplace, anyplace. A little over a week away and I’m finding campsites 100.00 plus per night booked solid, campgrounds full. So, no I don’t think high prices are scaring people away, at least not in the west/southwest.
I have been in camping since May 1978, 8 RV’s from popup to 38’ class A. Over the years camping has always been the cheaper way to travel. Now in the last 2 years it has become exorbitant due to gas prices, food, and inflation. We sold our last RV a 23’ TT and the mid-sized truck that pulled a Nissan Frontier that only got 9.5 mpg pulling it(13-14 empty) because we couldn’t afford them on our pensions. We are selling our home in FL because of the high cost of living their and moved back to TN. We have talked about getting a small class C just for occasional trips close to home but with inflation and interest rates where they are that’s a NO. So we’ll just sit here and see what happens in 2024 elections.
My husband and I are traveling cross country. We started from home state California to Verde Nv for an rv rally. After that we headed to Yellowstone NP via stops in Elko, Nv-Jackpot, Nv-Ft. Hall, Id.-W. Yellowstone. After staying a week in W. Yellowstone ($125/day prem. back in) we are on our way to Sioux Narrows On, Ca to do some fishing. Our 1st stop after Yellowstone was Billings, Mt where we had a difficult time finding a site. We finally got a water/electric only for $75 (KOA) on an unlevel gravel site. After Billings we luckily found a site in Medora, N. Dakota (Red Tail), water/electric only because they were full and have raised their prices. Yes, we are finding that prices have increased, but also we are finding it difficult to find a site in some places. We hate to give up rv traveling but if the prices keep going up we will have to travel by car or fly to a destination.
Can we please move on from the high cost of campgrounds. 😂 How about Groceries PLUS NOW Washington State has the highest cost of fuel surpassing California! What doesn’t cost more nowadays? It cost money to play. It cost money to do just about everything. How about Insurance for an RV? Oh how about the hourly cost of an RV Mechanic… my last bill was $169/hr. Isn’t it time to stop our complaining and move on to what’s enjoyable about RVING, what’s fun, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but about everything that we buy cost more than it used to. But please I and others are tired of hearing about the high costs of camping.😂
Maybe time to opt out of ridiculous rip offs until the greed subsides and the true value of things are realized
The “true value” is determined by people like Denny here. If people are willing to pay the price, that’s what its value is.
People like Denny are the reason for the high price of camping. If there are enough people that pay the price it will stay that way. I think with the pandemic people were willing, but maybe now people will start thinking about it more. Start leaving the campgrounds empty and things will change!
With the higher costs for campgrounds, I have resorted (pun intended) to mostly Cracker Barrel, Walmart, free parking while traveling. Then, Thousand Trails for extended stays. I no longer care what these campgrounds charge, I will not return until rates get under $40 nightly. O, and did I mention Passport America, there are many ways to save. Their rates almost always under $40 with the discount.
Runaway inflation over the last few years has increased the price of everything. Nothing will return to the prices we were paying just a few years ago.
I’m camping fourth of July weekend two other camper came with only one camper here . price wise $40. extra money for use of dump station. And pool . four camper in camp ground. In Wisconsin. I have been on season site last 8 year’s. And all ways full.
Hello Roger,we stay at a mom and pop campground in Eureka Wi.near Oshkosh, 30 a night 10 to dump and 5 for a burning pot. Where is the campground you stayed at for 40 a night, still a good price. Please let me know where it is. Thanks and happy camping, Ray
We’re in Billings, Montana to visit our kids and grandkids. There’s only two RV parks. The cheaper one cost $3,500 a month. Yes, you read right! This isn’t a high end RV park either.
Wow even here in Florida directly on the ocean is 1500 to 2000 a month. It’s disgusting how in the last 3 to 4 yrs these campgrounds have raised their prices. Camping was about being fun and inexpensive…not any more… greedy people. I live in an RV park 7 min to the beach that the people that have owned for years keep the prices the same as in yrs past. Thank goodness for people like him !
Yes, prices have sky rocketed and when you include gasoline and amenities, it is much cheaper to book a hotel than an RV site.
Literally everything is significantly more expensive than it was just a few years ago. But I guess we get what we ask for…
Supply and demand, everyone went crazy for RVs and campgrounds. They keep raising the prices and people still kept coming! Let the campgrounds sit empty for a couple of years and make sure you let them know why. It is supposed to be a affordable family activity and greed took over like it does with everything!
Exactly.
Of course campgrounds and RV storage lots are empty, since trailers and 5th wheel sales are down 45% from last year.Class A units are down 20%.
Outside of basic inflation I just assumed it was to try and detour the homeless wanderers from renting sites. Here in Seattle we have a huge problem. People come right up to your site begging for food or potentially steal your stuff when you’re gone for a hike, etc. And when anyone sets out (Even in an upper class RV) you are looked at and treated like a homeless person in the NW. I know we’ve stopped camping for awhile for these two reasons.
Why are so many campers not camping? Ask them! Do a survey. My opinion: #1-Years of inflation resulted in families cutting discretionary expenses. #2-Campers experienced crowded conditions and inflated costs and reacted appropriately. We tour in a Winnebago Journey and cut back due to exorbitant site costs.
I understand people, last year I drove from Virginia to Yellowstone and back (family of 4), and I thought prices where ridiculous! I managed to boondock most of the time instead of staying in campgrounds.
This year, I wanted to go to the west again, and I quickly realized that flying and spending 2 weeks in Europe would be about the same budget… Guess what, I’m in Europe!
Those greedy campgrounds are killing RVing.
Its insanity. And I imagine the people that just retired must feel stupid rich if they have thought of inflation because they spend a quarter for a spit shined trailer on wheels, so of course the parks notice and think lets bash these idiots heads in too! Now I love an RV especially low mile used ones. But Im thinking why should i drive my RV @ $100 for a 2.5hr trip then pay more to park it then a hotel room costs, and they clean up too. Its a cool lifestyle that consumers have let get out of hand. Now , I know the only way i can accept it is fitting an offgrid power system if it can be feasible to do and go primitive. That or keep on driving til we expat
After 15 great years of full time travel we are selling the motorhome, just not sustainable anymore on our retirement income. People now should consider off grid camping occasionally in the woods like the old days.
The great RV crowd of years past is getting older and traveling less or taking shorter trips. I know I fall into this catagory. Ten years ago we traveled cross country several times. Now it’s short in-state three day day trips every other month. That’s my opinion.
Commercial campgrounds are last on our list when reserving sites.
As retirees, we are still in the exploration stage, not destination stage of travel. 1-2 overnight stays in transit, or a place to park while exploring an area does not need an overpriced amenities stay, no more than a hotel- just a place to sleep for the night.
As these Destination CC’s continue to increase prices, I think there will be even more travelers steering away to alternatives, within or outside of the RV community.
Overall though, I think the COVID crush has subsided somewhat. Even this past year we were able to get several National Park sites as a same day first come first serve.