By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Traveling the back country of Idaho, we were bereft of where to stay. We had no great desire to spend big bucks for an RV park where we’d use hardly any of the amenities. The distaff side wasn’t inclined to hitting the boonies. Where to go?
At a fuel station in Bonner’s Ferry we inquired about the whereabouts of a county fairgrounds. “Just up the road in downtown.” A classic case of double-taking, but OK, down the road to downtown we went.
Despite a prevaricating GPS unit, we eventually found the county fairgrounds. And sure enough, fairgrounds camping was allowed—and, to top it off, allowed for free. We figured there may have been a bit of divine guidance in all this. Had we arrived a couple of hours earlier we would have tried rolling the trailer into a lot crowded with Gatlin Brothers fans.
As it was, the Gatlin Brothers followers had cleared the lot and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Parked right next to the baseball diamond, we had the scent of fresh-cut grass drifting in the window. The parking was fairly level, and down the parking lot a fair piece was a free dump station.
County fairgrounds make an excellent camping backup plan
This is not the first time we’ve been “rescued” by county fairgrounds. Traveling through the Southern states a few years back, we couldn’t find a suitable place to stay. We telephoned the visitor center in the county seat, made an inquiry and, lo and behold, the red carpet treatment was ours. Yes, we could stay at the fairgrounds which, although closed at the time, were miraculously opened to us.
During the stay of a few days, the local police contingent rolled past our site to discreetly make sure all was well with us.
Many county fairgrounds are set up to accommodate RVers; after all, folks tending livestock during the fair like to stay near Miss Piggy, or whoever.
Some outfits have elaborate sites with partial- to full-utility hookups. Others are a bit more on the primitive side, like our experience there in Bonner’s Ferry. Some are free, some charge a very fair price for what you receive.
Plug “fairgrounds” in your GPS unit and you may find a surprising place to put up overnight—or for a few days.
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I found a lot of county fairgrounds that allow camping by reading this book: Camping in America’s County Parks: Discover 2,068 RV, Van and Tent Camping Areas at 1,408 Parks in 42 States Paperback – June 29, 2023 by Ultimate Campgrounds
Ultimate Campgrounds also has a City and Town Parks book with some great campgrounds, and some of them are free or only $10 a night with FULL HOOKUPS! It’s a clever way for small towns to encourage travelers to stay long enough to shop at town stores and eat at local restaurants.
The other Ultimate Campgrounds books are also great: Bureau of Land Management, Corps of Engineers, Nat’l Forest, and Free RV and Van Camping on State Lands.
We tried to stay there once, a few years ago. We had to leave because it was being used as a staging area to fight a wildfire. We ended up at the Casino nearby—great place for dinner BTW. Highly recommend fairgrounds and small town city parks in the midwest as budget places to spend nights.
A few years ago we stayed at the fairgrounds in Aberdeen, SD. As I recall it was $20.00 with hookups and a dump station too. Also next to a railroad display and the race track which had stock car races – reasonable and fun too! Also, don’t miss the city park with story book land! Great experience especially if you have kids or grands along. Lot of memories for old(er) folks too!
One “app” I use is “RV Parky”. We have found Fairgrounds also included on the map.
Right-On! I’ve found and stayed at three so far and totally happy.
They had FHU’s and free WIFI for around $20.00.
The last one a couple of weeks ago sadly went from $20. to $40. Still a great deal.
To top it off all stays just had myself and from zero to three other campers among 125+- sites.
Thank you for the reminder to not overlook this potential source of overnight camping, Russ and Tina! we stayed in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho at the Kootenai County fairground campground for two nights recently. The sites were beautifully landscaped, had full utilities including 50-amp service, level and paved pads. It was a thoroughly great experience. Charge? Sorry no idea. 50s? Have a great day and safe travels!