It’s no secret that campground and RV park rates, like almost everything else in our current world, are increasing… and pretty quickly at that. “Camping” can be pretty darn expensive these days, and it really starts to add up!
Within the last year, if you can remember, have you paid $100 a night for a campsite? If so, have you paid more than $100 more than once? Just a few times? Only once? No?
After you vote please leave a comment and share with us where you’ve paid $100 or more. We’re curious! No judgments at all! Hey, some of these places look pretttttty nice…
I can imagine running a campground is hard. I know there are expenses for amenities… But there are amenities I don’t need! A huge playground with a bouncy bed? Got no kids. I’ll look elsewhere. I am currently spending the night at a small, adults-only campground outside Intercourse, PA. It has what I want, and doesn’t have what I don’t need. I’m paying $50.00 for the night, and I am perfectly fine with it.
We are going to Yellowstone NP this summer. We found all RV parks outside Yellowstone, within 30 miles of an entrance usually have two rates, $75/nite & $100/nite. There are no weekly or monthly discounted rates. Our friends are staying inside Yellowstone for $85/nite for a FH site. Their price in Teton NP for FH is over $100/nite.
When the cost gets to above $50.00 per night, I will quit.
In some parks it has already reached over $50.00 a night. I have seen advertised for up to $75.00 a night.
I belong to an RV club and was looking to book a rally. Two of the five places with tax and a resort fee (really?) wanted slightly over $150 . No thank you! Doesn’t look like our club will be able to camp as a group in January, February, or March in Florida.
Been fulltime for 12 years in a 34ft 5th wheel, & been to every state at least once & Alaska twice. Never paid more than $35 & rarely pay more than $25. The secret is a little creative thinking & an rv set up for boondocking.
Wife and I went to Key West in January, found a campground in Sugarloaf Key, 20 miles from Key west. We paid just over $100. A nite for 6 nites. It was fun but probably will not do it again .
I’m staying at Disney’s Ft. Wilderness this summer with the grand kids. Yup, more than $100 a night but well worth it. You gotta pay to play.
We go to the family’s 2-acre site about 15 miles outside of Pagosa Springs in the mountains on the San Juan River. Six hour drive each way, but so peaceful and quiet. And, other than the fuel, it’s free.
I feel that $100 per night to camp is a ridiculous amount. To keep paying these high fees only encourages that campgrounds to continue charging these rates. Supply and demand
What we’ve noticed is as more of the campgrounds are bought up by big corporations, the prices in them have doubled or tripled in price.
We agree with you. We are full timers and have spent the last 3 years in a Florida campground for 3 months. This year, a year after they had been taken over by the Sun corporation the price went up $500 a month! The campground is not on the beach (10 miles from it) and not in a big city. Very sad😔
Yep at Heritage Motor Coach resort in Orange Beach Alabama, Spent 4 nights there in February. Our lot had views of the gulf, it was so beautiful.
We avoid private campgrounds whenever possible. Public parks work well for us with our smaller motorhome, cost much less than $100/night. With our Senior pass we can stay in our favorite park for 5 nights for $45, with electric.
That said, one place we visit annually we have no choice but to stay at a private park. They charge $65/night. And they are the cheapest on the island. (and quietest, too)
I did have reservations in December last year in Key West for around $100 a night, but we ultimately canceled the trip and flew to Puerto Rico instead.
In New Orleans and now in Nashville.
Neither are “Resort” quality as they are billed. Nice RV Park would be more suitable. Were they worth it? For a few days, yes. For the one and two week stays we had, NO.
At $100 I might as well hotel it. The amount I save on gas will pay for the food.
Not only no, HELL NO!
Any one who stays at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground in Disneyland has done this. Many will say that you might as well stay in a hotel at a hundred dollars or more hasn’t stayed in a high-end hotel. The price reflects the location and features that you have. When paying over a hundred dollars for a site, you expect an asphalt or concrete pad that is level. I don’t worry about getting stuck in the wet grass or deteriorated gravel. You get what you pay for.
No and I will stop rving if I ever have to pay that much!!!!
We’ve only stayed in one campground that charged more than $100 a night but we stayed a month for what worked out to $75 a night because of the great reviews we’d read about it. It was right on the beach in FL which was its only appeal. The campground turned out to be nothing more than a gravel parking lot with utilities. Never again!
DW usually makes our reservations and finds campsites. We may have paid $100/night somewhere, but I’m really not sure. I do think that if we had, then she would have raised eniugh ruckus for me to remember, so I voted, “No.”
Yes, at Liberty Harbor RV Park. With a (partial) view of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty, a 5 minute walk from the quick, cheap ferry to NY to see the 9/11 Memorial, the new tower, several amazing parks, and the NY Museum of Natural History with my grand-daughter and her fiance. We didn’t have enough time for them to go to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, but I definitely would do it again – so convenient, and cheap considering the area. It would have cost me more than that to park my SUV to see these places. It is not an RV park that is a destination – it is a park that conveniently facilitates many destinations that would have otherwise been very costly. Very safe, well guarded, and I never once felt uneasy walking to the “within a block” multiple modes of public transportation.
Liberty Harbor was my special splurge last year. Spent a week visiting New York City.
So glad to hear they are still open. How far in advance did you make reservations
No? How ’bout “Oh, hell, no”? How ’bout “Are you effing kidding?”
Not a chance.
OH NO!!!!!! My budget 3 yrs ago was $25/night on average, now its $35. Give me COE, state and local parks any day.
The most we paid for a night was $87 at Coulter Bay, in 2021. The 2022 season will be over $100 per night.
As far as I’m concerned NO RV park is worth $100.00 a night!
True story! They use Covid or inflation as an excuse to gouge weary travelers.
Elks Lodges and Military Bases tend to top out at $35.00. There is No Way I’m paying more than that! We boondock as often as possible then go to one of those places for a night or two, to dump, fill, recharge and shop, shower and do laundry. We can stay off grid for nearly 2 weeks before we need to pay that much.
We are currently camping in a COE campground in Southern Illinois. 50 amp, water and sewer for $13 a night. Love COE`s!!!
Stayed at Disney Frontierland last April. We felt it was worth the cost due to free shuttles to the parks plus no additional parking fees. Plus the sites and roads are all paved and easy access.
Not yet, but run the poll again next year and see how much it changes.
Last June, my wife and I stayed at a KOA campsite in Grand Island New York which was close to Niagara Falls. We stayed in a pull thru gravel site with picnic table and fire ring with a grass strip. Prices were cheaper if you wanted no room and higher if you wanted a patio site. I thought I’d ask about the high price and was told cause they could for convience, in other words, close proximetly to the falls. Guess we learnt a hard lesson.
Haven’t paid more than $35- a night in years. We mainly stay in State Parks locally, and Military FamCamps on the road. We alternate them with dry camping at Walmart or rest areas, and occasionally KOAs. Coincidentally, a few years ago we went to the LA area, and stayed in San Jose for a NHL game. The nearby parks were all over $100- a night, but thanks to my wife and her employee discount, we stayed in a Holiday Inn Express with hot breakfast and no need to hook up for much less than that. IMHO, a ‘resort’ RV Park is great when you are in the middle of nowhere, or staying for a week, but overnight they are pointless.
Hang on to your hat. Sugarloaf Key KOA. Went every year from 2006 (got married in Key West) to 2017 when it was wiped out by a hurricane. It was $100/night for RV sites. We loved the Keys (from CA), but so different. Love the weather and especially the food, Cuban, fresh fish. Got a call last Feb, they were calling previous guests to give first shot at booking a site. $200/night for the sites with paver patio and lots of room (unlike the previous sardine can for $100). We reduced our stay so paying about the same as we did previously. They did a beautiful job. The landscaping is fantastic. Pub (entertainment on weekends), small cafe, marina, boat/kayak rentals. Place was packed. Small campers/vans to big Class A’s. We tried to book next year. Nothing available.🤷🏻♀️
Ps…we totally realize we are blessed to be able do that. We only travel 3 to 4 months a year. Pretty boring life at our sticks and bricks. Balances out.
Also paid under $40 at most of the parks on way there & way home.
How do you enjoy the different mindset in the east?
I’ve never even seen a $100 bill. Whose on one of those anyway?
Looks like David Crosby to me…
No, but that’s because I have made it a point to avoid them at all costs. As long as I don’t spend more on gas than the difference in price, I will find another campground on principle alone.
I’m a camper, so a primative site is my style. Once the price gets into the $30-$50 range I start to reassess…
If you want waterfront in FL sometimes it is worth the splurge…. site on the Atlantic 20 miles north of Key West between 2 stilt houses in a resort that is for sale for 500K… was worth every penny (or shall I say DOLLARS) for a week long escape. Definitely NOT our normal camping but a splurge now & then is good
We live in SoCal and mostly travel within a few hours of home as I’m not yet retired and have limited time off. Our rig is too big for state parks. It’s not at all unusual to pay over $100 a night here. We consider ourselves really lucky when we find something in the $60-80 range!
Only once, after driving cross country from New Jersey to Glacier. Stayed at the KOA in west glacier; dumped, showered , charged up and then went into the national park.
Fulltimer, retired. I spend $499.00 a year on a Thousand Trail Camping Pass and get 260 free nights a year. 2 weeks in and 1 week out. I bounce between TT parks and State Parks in Florida where seniors pay 1/2 price. So basically I pay $70.00 every 3 weeks for a site, water, electric and sewer. Now you tell me how you can live any cheaper than that.
We rarely pay over $20 per nite & love our America the beautiful lifetime senior interagency pass. $14.00 is the typical rate we pay at Army Corps Campgrounds using our pass.
Paid $129.00 + Taxes a night for a FHU site at Disney’s Fort Wilderness last May. This was a splurge camping trip. I generally wouldn’t pay anywhere near that.
40′ Prevost Liberty Coach
We enjoyed staying at Polson Motorcoach Resort for a week. Beautiful sites and we enjoy those with nice outdoor furniture, refer, sink and counter. Nice to have outdoor furniture that isn’t folding chairs and tables and is oh so comfortable!
Oops and yes it is expensive depending on site amenities but so worth the splurge.
The most we have paid for an RV space is $70.00 a night. Most places we stay, and we have 3 reservations for this summer is $60.00 a night. The most we’ll pay is $630.00 for 10 days in Montana.
Have paid over $100 a night at Flying Flags in Buellton, Ca. Remember paying $35 a night before they expanded and made the place a giant kiddie park with campsites, cabins, and park models. No activities for adults. Great location to US101 and Solvang.
In 2019, I attended a Dynamax rally at a high end RV park in DE. The DISCOUNTED rate for our group was OVER $100/night! That was the most I’ve EVER spent at an RV “resort”. I haven’t been back since or, have future plans to return.
We paid a little over $100 per night for a week in the Florida Keys the week between Christmas and New Years. We figured it would be a once in our lifetime camping trip so we splurged. Been there, done that… we had fun but have no desire to return.
We paid $752, including tax, for seven nights at French Quarter RV Resort. We were in New Orleans for a convention and FQRV was extremely convenient. Not only was it convenient, the resort is very nice. The only drawback is its CLOSE proximity to I-10. Traffic noise was a bit much.
I’ve never seen a $100 dollar bill. Who’s on one of those anyway.