When you go “camping” (or when you sit inside your multi-bathroom RV next to your fireplace and HD TV…) where do you most like to camp? Do you prefer a full-hookup RV park most? A state park? A Forest Service campground? Boondocking? Or do you prefer just pavement camping at a place like Walmart as you go from location to location?
Tell us in the poll below, and if you feel like being specific and sharing, please leave a comment!
We do it all, love the State parks tho. They’re usually more scenic, bigger spaces and lower cost. When traveling we tend to use lower cost options like Harvest Host or $30-$50 fhu parks. We have never stayed at Wal-Mart or cracker barrel. Although we would consider that. We have also never stayed on blm land although we would consider that, mostly put off those free options due to safety concerns, seems everyone is carrying guns and a lot of unhinged people these days, sad.
We like harvest Host the best. Very personal and fun. Meeting new people all the time. Seeing things that we would not have seen at an RV park.
We are blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest, and much prefer our state park system to any private RV parks. On the west side of the Cascades, we don’t fit in the FS areas, but love the BLM options and Boondocking available on the desert side. We also like municipal and county parks, and do use Wally while in transit.
It wasn’t an option but I prefer state parks with full hookups. I did choose state parks with water and electric tho.
The BLM Long Term Visitor Areas in the Southwest could be considered as either “primitive campgrounds” or “dispersed camping” in your survey. Some offer water & dump service, but have no designated camp sites. You just pick a spot in the desert within a few miles of the dump station, & the cost can be under a dollar a day.
Love the NP’s and prefer no-hook ups and no generators.
We prefer Forest Service or Boondocking.
Our choices are limited by our size but I love COE parks and state parks that can accommodate a 45 ft MH. We also will stay in fairgrounds as well, when on route. Many others have their choices limited by finances and simply can’t afford to pay the $$$ a night. If money wasn’t a issue, many more RVers may choose FHU sites. Private park/resort prices are getting ridiculous, some costing more than a 4-5 star hotel. We will switch back and forth depending upon the available in a specific area.
Lack of money is not the reason many rvers shun full service rv parks. Things like noise (barking dogs & loud music), crowding, lack of scenery, like sunsets, & numerous rules & regulations are what turn off many rvers. Even though we enjoy people, there is nothing as spirit lifting as a remote spot in the desert, the mountains, or deep in the woods, next to a flowing stream. Most of our most memorable nights in our 13 years of fulltiming so far are from nights in these remote settings.
We always choose public campgrounds if located along our route or near our destination. Our order of preference would be COE cgs, free city or county park cgs with 30A hookups, NM state parks (the best bargain in the nation), free Federal cgs (BLM, NWR, NRA dry camping), fairground RV parks, Federal pay cgs (half-price pass) with or without hookups, boondocking, state parks, and casinos with 30A hookups, We stay in as few private RV parks as possible except when snowbirding. And we haven’t used a Walmart, rest area, or truck stop in years–too noisy!
We just returned from an RV trip using one pay FHU and one free 30A hookup city park cg plus four COE cgs with hookups. We also were invited to spend the night at a museum’s free, no-hookup Harvest Host parking lot, despite not being Harvest Host members (we were the only RV at the museum that Saturday!). Counting 3 free nights in a church parking lot while visiting my sister, our total camping cost was $85!
As we are travelers more than campers, we are very partial to what ever Boondockers Welcome can provide. The only battle there is finding a place that is not far off our intended track. But, that is what Flatspotting is for.
While traveling we prefer overnight stops at Walmarts, truck stops and the like so as to avoid the cost of RV parks just to get a few hours sleep. Of course, if we need electricity for A/C due to extremely hot weather – which is becoming more common – we go to full hook-up parks for the night. (Fortunately, there are many reasonably priced non-resort type parks along the interstates that are reasonably priced.)
Once at our destination we stay in a place available and appropriate (e.g., in urban areas at full hook-up parks, etc.)
While we still mostly dry camp in public CGs (USFS, state and national parks), having the popups and now a travel trailer has expanded the # of places we will stay. We don’t camp at large nor in parking lots, rest areas, etc. We use FHU CGs for transition days, and sometimes as a base for visiting an area. If it’s going to be very hot or cold, we try to at least have power. For us, it’s about flexibility. Being able to move into Trailer Village from dry camping at Grand Canyon last year when an early snowstorm hit was great; we could use our oil-filled radiator to supplement the furnace.
It really depends on weather. With our dogs, we can’t let things get too hot. In cooler weather we like USFS type campground. Lucky for us we have a few within a 20 mile radius.
It’s really a toss up between state parks, primitive, or dispersed. If weather is extremely hot or cold, electric hookup is nice. Basically if name of park ( or pictures) says resort, we avoid it. If having a pool, dog park, or club house is featured, we move it to the bottom of the list for when we are terribly desperate.
State or COE campgrounds with FHUs! When we go, we go for at least 2 weeks!
I feel there should be a category between RV park and state campground. When someone says RV park I think of those along the highway that I use for one night passing through. But there are many private owned full hookup campgrounds that are beautiful like a state park and have activities etc that kids and adults enjoy.
same feeling
I checked full hookups, because of age I no longer do the hiking of the state parks like I did 20-40 years ago. Back then I didn’t know what a full hookup site looked like.
Bob…40 years ago a Full Hook Up was when the ball hitch was fully secured and the safety chains connected with the four flat connector plugged in for towing your small camper to it’s next destination!!! 🙂
While we prefer a RV park with plenty of foliage vs a pasture that sort of resembles a drive-in theater from the 60’s, the bottom answer is we no longer truly ‘camp’. We either use the RV park as an overnight stay when in ‘forced march’ mode, or as a base to tour the surrounding area during the day – and that might include day trips to state parks because they lack full hookups. Either way, it sure is nice to be able to live in and service our ‘hotel room on wheels’ without jockeying around waiting in line to do a tank dump in a rush or in some cases to take on internal water. It is also fun (usually) to meet new people during an evening stroll around the park.
We recognize there are many reasons people travel with RVs and have no animosity toward other goals. However if you read between the lines, you will figure out that we also avoid resort type parks stuffed with amenities and entertainment. Those features aren’t free, but if we aren’t going to use them, why pay for them?
Some of the prettiest campgrounds we have stayed at was state parks. Tennessee has some great state parks. Our favorite is Natchez Trace State Park. Two others we enjoyed was Reelfoot Lake and Harrison Bay.. Just gorgeous.
Never stay at COE campgrounds Please: I like them best and if you don’t stay there will be room for our RV