Campgrounds open year round - how to find them?

[offroad]

Anyone have good tips on finding campgrounds open year round?  Had asked this question a month ago, but now that October 31 is fast approaching (the witching hour-day) we need to know which campgrounds are open still in the northern tier of states.  The ALLSTAYS app and online has a false flag setting, as it does not show the open campgrounds.  Seems no one else tool has that either?  Should we just resolve to use KOA searches as they are accurate about all year open campgrounds?

 

 

[offroad]

am seeing this for KOA listings.  Which helps. 

https://koa.com/blog/koa-campgrounds-that-are-open-all-year/

 

[Kirk W]

I do not know of any listing that specifically states which RV parks and campgrounds are open all year. Do you have ind to be able to travel around in the northern part of the country in winter, or do you have specific areas in mind? Even most state and federal parks turn off the water in the park campgrounds in winter because there are so few visitors and frozen pipes become a problem.

[SWharton]

i just checked Allstays for Idaho and it works fine. Most northern cgs close down due to lack of business, snow and freezing temps. You can probably boondock or stay at truck stops. If you have a specific location I would start calling or checking websites(but many websites don't mention if they close or not). Pretty much there will be no water even if open.

[offroad]

9 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

I do not know of any listing that specifically states which RV parks and campgrounds are open all year. Do you have ind to be able to travel around in the northern part of the country in winter, or do you have specific areas in mind? Even most state and federal parks turn off the water in the park campgrounds in winter because there are so few visitors and frozen pipes become a problem.

right.  but I also know that many campgrounds have electric only sites, that are fine, or they can turn electric only.  The previous link I had is for northeast including New York.  But am trying to find Pennsylvania and Ohio too.

 

http://www.snowbirdrvtrails.com/offseason.htm

also notice on that web page all the Jellystone parks open year round as a list.  which does help some for Pennsylvania. 

 

[ms60ocb]

I asked this question several years ago and  from the results I use https://www.allstays.com/

You can search for many things but Allstays is not a rating system. Read the reviews

Clay

 

[offroad]

4 minutes ago, ms60ocb said:

I asked this question several years ago and  from the results I use https://www.allstays.com/

You can search for many things but Allstays is not a rating system. Read the reviews

Clay

 

as mentioned I tried to search with all stays, and it ends up listing all parks in the state, and is not accurate at all.  Maybe I need to turn off all state parks and national parks, as it flags those as open year round, but they are not.

 

[SWharton]

I just checked PA in Allstays and ever CG I clicked on, after checking "Open all Year" said in their description that they were open all year. Whether the description is correct or not is not an Allstays problem.

[offroad]

2 minutes ago, SWharton said:

I just checked PA in Allstays and ever CG I clicked on, after checking "Open all Year" said in their description that they were open all year. Whether the description is correct or not is not an Allstays problem.

yes thinking did not give this ALLSTAYS enough chance.  Maybe allstays will work as a search tool.  somehow got some false listings and they threw me off.  now searching in states I know better and it is showing correct information.   Thanks for insisting it does work.

[sandsys]

The only one I know fur sure is open all year in Minnesota is at a casino. Maybe you can search for casinos to see what they say.

Linda

[offroad]

23 hours ago, sandsys said:

The only one I know fur sure is open all year in Minnesota is at a casino. Maybe you can search for casinos to see what they say.

Linda

thanks Linda.  Am focusing on Casino locations also as a possibility.  There are a few around the area.

[offroad]

got this note back from GOOD SAMS as I do have a membership with them.  Tried it for the example state I was double checking and the tool seems to work as stated below. ---

 

Sign in to your Good Sam Club membership at www.goodsamclub.com
Next, click on the Plan a Trip drop down arrow and select find a campground.
Enter the city and state you are searching for a park.
Next you will see filter options on the right side of your screen.
Check the box that states Open all year and search again.

 

[FL-JOE]

I think more and more CG's, especially in the "rust belt" are closing in the winter.  The one we are in currently used to keep about 20 sites open all winter with full hookups.  However, what they found, after doing this for years and years, was that all the sites stayed occupied by full time "trailer court" people that never moved their rigs.   The Park Board decided to completely close the park each winter and since then only a couple of those permanent folks have returned, making more room for local family campers and travelers. 

[offroad]

during actual planning it is much more difficult.  Campgrounds that say YEAR ROUND may only be for on site cabins, and not the camp sites.  Calling each place is the only way to know.  What a PITA. 

[Barbaraok]

Why would park owners in areas with harsh winters want to stay open when revenues will be so low?  They know that RVs have wheels and that most people will use those wheels to get them to places with mild winters.   

[2gypsies]

Are you staying in a northern park in winter or are you a snowbird heading south?  If heading south you really don't need a RV park.

[offroad]

2 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Why would park owners in areas with harsh winters want to stay open when revenues will be so low?  They know that RVs have wheels and that most people will use those wheels to get them to places with mild winters.   

because the park owners have cabins, and park models, and heated pavilions, etc.  Oh and they also have a few camp sites that they have electric only, no water.  people travel through.

[offroad]

4 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

Are you staying in a northern park in winter or are you a snowbird heading south?  If heading south you really don't need a RV park.

If I was driving 24 hours then sure.  But some like to take a slower snowbird path, after visiting relatives on the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 

[SWharton]

Some CGs are open even if they are closed. If you call and they are around, no snow on the ground, they will say OK, come on in. This has happened to us several times at different campgrounds.

[2gypsies]

I've heard of some folks spending the night at a motel mid-travel.

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, offroad said:

If I was driving 24 hours then sure.  But some like to take a slower snowbird path, after visiting relatives on the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

When I was snowbirding I would head south from Minneapolis on I-35. The first night I would blacktop camp with no hookups using my diesel furnace for heat. The second night I would be far enough south to get an electrical hookup if I wanted it which I usually did and stayed two nights. The next night I would be at Rainbow's End. That's three 4-hour days of driving.

Maybe you don't have as easy a route as I-35 but most rigs can blacktop camp for two nights without the need for hookups. By then you should be far enough south from wherever you started to get them.

Linda Sand