When you pull into a campground after a long day on the road, you want that site to feel right. Maybe it’s the view of a lake through the trees, a quiet corner away from the crowd, or simply a spot that doesn’t require stacking a mountain of leveling blocks. Yep…
Last week, we asked RVtravel.com readers: What are your top two main considerations when choosing a campsite?
Nearly 1,500 RVers weighed in, and two priorities clearly rose to the top.
It’s all about the view—and the price
Location and scenery dominated the results, with 67% of respondents choosing it as one of their top considerations.
That likely won’t surprise many RVers. The chance to wake up beside a river, overlook a canyon, or sit under tall pines is one of the main reasons people travel with an RV.
Coming in second was cost, selected by 43% of respondents. With campground prices climbing in many places, affordability is clearly on RVers’ minds.
After those two, other factors followed closely:
• Privacy or distance from other campers — 40%
• Amenities like showers, pools, hookups, etc. — 24%
• Pet-friendly facilities — 14%
• Other considerations — 6%
But the comments reveal something interesting: Many RVers say the real-world decision often comes down to practical details you might not notice on a reservation website.
Level sites matter more than you might think
One of the most common themes in reader comments was simple: The site has to be level. These are just a few of the many comments about level sites:
“My first priority would be that the site is level.” —David P.
“A level site is my second priority after scenery and location.” —Terry W.
For RVers with large rigs or automatic leveling systems, slope can quickly turn a relaxing evening into a frustrating setup session.
“The two biggest considerations are what utilities are present, and how level is it? The second has grown in importance as the leveling system on RV #2 seems far more likely to respond to ‘excess slope’ and refuse to auto-level than was true with RV #1. This is especially puzzling in that #2 is seven feet shorter than #1. Thus, I would expect the opposite result. In any case, we care much more about how level a site is now than we did three years ago and earlier.” —Neal D.
And sometimes a campsite looks fine on the map… until you actually pull into it.
“For us, it’s two L’s: Level and Length. Our 5th wheel is 46 feet long. Will we fit in that site? And how much of a bank is there? Those stabilizers have to come down and connect solidly to something.
“Last summer, we went to a campground in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. When I got into the site, there was not enough height under the front to put my tripod, and the rear bumper was at eye level! I had to go to the nearby Home Depot and make a small investment in cinder blocks to ‘reach’ the jacks!” —Jef B.
Big rigs bring big considerations
Another major factor mentioned repeatedly was access and size, especially for RVers with longer rigs. These are just a few of the big-rig comments:
“Our ‘other’ is ease of backing into the site with our 41’ toy hauler.” —Karla
“Our ‘other’ is: ease of getting into the site. That is number one. When backing in a huge 5th wheel or any other rig, and ‘backing’ is not your best skill set, it really is nice to not have a big tree or boulder right where the front wheel of your truck needs to be. Having some maneuverability really helps.” —Leslie S.
“My ‘other’ is size and access. We are approx. 75′ hitched. A big site is nice, but if I can’t get to it, it is kinda useless.” —Rob
Some readers pointed out that choosing a campground and choosing a specific campsite can involve very different priorities.
“There is a difference between choosing a campground and a campsite, and I think the question got them confused. I have a different priority when choosing a site. That’s why I clicked on privacy and other. For me, it’s site size, both length and width, and accessibility. By accessibility, I mean ease of getting in and out. When choosing a campground, I want amenities and privacy, but that doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t get into the site.” —Roy D.
Quiet, privacy, and a little breathing room
Even though privacy ranked third overall in the poll, it was clearly important to many readers.
“I look for sites that have some seclusion, either by distance or vegetation. Preferably having a larger distance on the camp side of the site, I also look for a site that has no sites behind me.” —Mike G.
“My dog and I like to camp far out in the woods in a campground with few people and almost no amenities” —Matt
“Quiet site, no trains, and minimal highway noise.” —K M
Many RVers said escaping the chaos of everyday life is exactly why they go camping.
“Take your barking kids and your screaming dogs to a KOA, or a place similar. Let us enjoy the peace and quiet. Level is always a great thing.” —David
“Regarding what we look for, we definitely want campgrounds that prohibit political signs, political flags, or any other display, regardless of party. We go camping to get away from all that crap. We also appreciate property managers who actually enforce rules like quiet times.” —Sheila
The little details can make a big difference
Beyond the main poll choices, readers shared plenty of smaller details that matter once you’re actually parked.
“For us, the ‘other’ important campground/site considerations include: Pull though sites, level sites, paved or concrete sites with well drained solid grassy areas between sites, easy off and on interstate highways, clean grassy areas for our Labs to do their business, clear view of the sky for good connection to Starlink.” —John R. W.
“A site with SHADE! Clean restroom and shower! SPACE!!!!!” —Chuck
“We always make sure the site is LEVEL and long enough to accommodate our truck and trailer. Then we check the pictures of the site, plus its location on the map, and what is adjacent. In addition, we try not to book sites by the main entrance of the campground to avoid all the incoming and outgoing traffic.” —Barb S.
The takeaway
While RVers clearly love beautiful locations, the comments show that practical considerations—like level ground, access, and space—often end up deciding whether a campsite works or not.
A stunning view is great. But if the rig won’t fit, the jacks won’t reach the ground, or the site slopes like a ski hill, that view can lose some of its charm pretty quickly.
And if the site happens to have both a beautiful view and a level pad? Well, that might just be the perfect campsite. Because they do exist, right?
Please feel free to continue the conversation in the comments below.
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RVT1252
We canoe and hike and like privacy so getting away from others and being on the water and not stuck in “RV Row” is important to us. We camp mostly in the Northeast (NY and PA) in the State campgrounds. We try to avoid RV parks and commercial campgrounds where you’re on top of everyone. There’s a great site that shows lots of pictures (entrance, water’s edge, etc.) and site information of most sites in NY State Parks Adirondack Campgrounds that makes choosing a site on the water easy. Scrambling for the reservation six months in advance at 9:00am is another story. The site is: campadk.com
My question is are their other sites like this for other States?
Decent space between sites is a big one for me. Nothing worse than having your dinner table right next to your neighbor’s sewer connection.
With all the “scumbag money interests” coming in and buying all the independent parks up and packing even more rigs in to the same space forget getting what many RVers want and need. We have a 40′ MH so we can go to a specific venue- dog trials- and dry camp for 4 to 5 days and come home.
Being able to get into the site, and being able to level are absolute necessities. We’ve stayed at several BLM areas that were lovely with lake and mountain views, but we wouldn’t have been able to unless the first 2 requirements were met.
If I took the poll, my answer might’ve been “all of the above”. The big thing for my wife and I is the overall campground, nice, very nice, dump, old and neglected, etc. Often that is associated with price. We try to stay under $70, don’t patronize KOA or chains and look for roomy sites with good utilities. However, as is life itself, it is a lifestyle of hit or miss which in a funny way makes it so enjoyable.
We mainly camp in state parks, where most of them have electricity as the only hookup – not a dealbreaker, as we always take a folding wagon we can transport water jugs to the outdoor spigot in, and a portable waste tank we can tow to the dump station if the grey/black tanks get too full. But we prefer sites that are easy for me to back our 20 foot camper into (I’m really not great at backing trailers…), and that are big enough or laid out well enough that we can set our 10X10 easy-up canopy over the picnic table, extend the awning on the camper, and still have an area where we can use the fire-pit without worrying about setting everything else on fire. Peace and quiet is also a plus.
One of the reasons that we went with a smaller rig is the wider selection of desirable places that we can go that our friends with their >40 foot rigs cannot even consider. We avoid places that look like parking lots, which is frequently the only choice for larger rigs. We love back-in spots on the edge, which are usually more quiet and scenic.
With me its ease of backing into a site. Too many national and state parks have too narrow drives and trees or rocks blocking my turn radius. I have a long bed truck with 4WD and its hard to back into a site that has trees or boulders blocking the Turning area.