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RV Resort or RV Campground or Trailer Park?


FL-JOE

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Yep, they are National Forest CGs, my mistake.  I met another camper a few weeks ago that suggested the Terry Bison.  I looked at the reviews and initially discounted it, however he had insisted it was a great place to stay.  We were going to run up there yesterday if any of the CGs we were checking down around the Loveland/Ft Collins area didn't look good.

We visited the St. Vrain State Park campground.  They have some full hook up sites which are long, a few small lakes, view of the mountains, and a ton of hiking trails.  The only negative is that it is around $42 or $43 a night plus a $7 park pass fee per day, so you would pay around $50 a day.  They do have a veterans discount but only if you are a CO resident.  However, based on the huge size of each site and what the place has to offer it is a bargain for this area.

Next visit we will either book at Vrain State Park or the Cheyenne KOA in advance. 

 

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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21 hours ago, FL-JOE said:

If it wasn't for our son moving to the Ft Collins area and a grandson starting college at the University of Wyoming this spring we probably wouldn't return to the area for years, but this may become a regular stop for us.

You might want to check out the possibilities in the Cheyenne area as it would be in easy distance of either one. Also a possibility is Curt Gowdy State Park between Laramie and Cheyenne. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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33 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

You might want to check out the possibilities in the Cheyenne area as it would be in easy distance of either one. Also a possibility is Curt Gowdy State Park between Laramie and Cheyenne. 

To be honest when we were at the Cheyenne KOA a couple weeks ago we considered a run over there to check it out.  Our son and his boys then told us they had tent camped there and rode their mountain bikes around that area.  Looked a little too primitive for a 2 week stay.  Price was great though.

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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On 7/18/2019 at 5:04 PM, FL-JOE said:

The point was, and still is, in this area it doesn't leave many sites for RV travelers who are just visiting the area.

Yes, that's the problem that people are overlooking in their zeal to infer insults.  I don't care if people want to live in an RV because it's cheaper than alternative housing, but they're taking up spaces that were traditionally for travelers, and this practice has exploded over the last few years. 

Of course it's an RV park's right to rent spaces to them on a monthly basis instead of holding sites open for people visiting for a day or seven--nobody disputes that.  But it does create a hardship for those looking for a place to park their RV for a short stay.  And it has turned what used to be RV parks (places for travelers to stay) into places that more closely resemble trailer parks (places where people park trailers for more extended periods), with no one rushing in to fill the void created.

It used to be that finding places to stay wasn't an ordeal except on holiday summer weekends, or in some areas like New England, during the summer in general.  But in the over 15 years I've been fulltiming, the landscape has definitely changed and it's become vexatious even during less popular travel periods.

 

On 7/19/2019 at 8:42 AM, FL-JOE said:

If it wasn't for our son moving to the Ft Collins area and a grandson starting college at the University of Wyoming this spring we probably wouldn't return to the area for years, but this may become a regular stop for us.

It's a tough area, and it certainly doesn't get any better as you go south to Denver.

 

On 7/19/2019 at 10:38 AM, Twotoes said:

I have a friend who lives in Ft Collins. I am lucky that I can boondock at his house.

You hit the jackpot.  We can stay at a friend's property in Denver.  It's fairly squalid, but it exists.  For other people wanting to visit Denver over a period in the summer that includes a weekend, good luck.

 

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There is a KOA in Ft Collins and one in Chyanne as well as one on I-25 between them. I think any one of the three could fit a big rig. I have never stayed in any of them but KOAs usually are clean and family friendly. 

I've stayed at the Fort Collins KOA in a 40-foot motorhome with toad.  Not a bad place at all.  When I was there, they had a guard at the gate, and we had to pay a fee for any visitors.  The nightly rate is like $60 now. 

 

On 7/20/2019 at 6:43 AM, Kirk W said:

You might want to check out the possibilities in the Cheyenne area as it would be in easy distance of either one. Also a possibility is Curt Gowdy State Park between Laramie and Cheyenne. 

Curt Gowdy is out in the middle of nowhere.  I've boondocked there, in a nice open area that would have been lovely if somebody with a generator hadn't decided he wanted to be in that area, too.  There are only a very few sites with electricity, and no sewer hookups or dump station.  It's great for on-site mountainbiking, but not great for visiting Fort Collins. 

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Blues, you hit the nail on the head.  We must have checked out 10 different RV parks between Cheyenne and Loveland.  The choices are not good for a rig our size, especially if you are looking for a FHU site to stay in for a week or more.  

Now that we have been in the southern Utah area for over a week we have found that it is totally different.  I think the difference is that there are no huge metro areas around so therefore you don't have folks buying older RVs and having them placed in RV parks on monthly rates to live in.  There are seasonal campers here that are on monthly rates, who may stay for several months, but in the park we are in at least they have means to actually move their RV and end up doing so at the end of the season.

It all makes me wonder if TV shows like "going RVing" have given the idea to a lot of people that by buying an RV and putting it in a local RV lot is just a cheaper way to live, rather than renting an apartment or buying a sticknbrick?

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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11 hours ago, Blues said:

Curt Gowdy is out in the middle of nowhere. 

Really! I suppose it all depends on each person's definition of "nowhere." We lived in Cheyenne for 18 years and have stayed at Curt Gowdy SP many times, most recently in 2014. We happen to love where it is and have spent a week there on several occasions. It has easy access to I-25, and to both Cheyenne(25 mi.) & Laramie(25 mi.). It isn't in any city, which is much of the reason we like it. 

 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Our Son and family visited Curt Gowdy last year for several days of tent camping and mountain biking.  It is a pretty rustic, bare bones area that just would not work for us.

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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11 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Really! I suppose it all depends on each person's definition of "nowhere." We lived in Cheyenne for 18 years and have stayed at Curt Gowdy SP many times, most recently in 2014. We happen to love where it is and have spent a week there on several occasions. It has easy access to I-25, and to both Cheyenne(25 mi.) & Laramie(25 mi.). It isn't in any city, which is much of the reason we like it.

It's 25 miles from I-25.  Easy miles, but a lot of them.  And the OP is in the area only because of family in Fort Collins, which is 70 miles from Curt Gowdy.  Places like that are great for getting away from it all (well, except generator noise), but that's not what the OP is seeking.

 

19 hours ago, FL-JOE said:

It all makes me wonder if TV shows like "going RVing" have given the idea to a lot of people that by buying an RV and putting it in a local RV lot is just a cheaper way to live, rather than renting an apartment or buying a sticknbrick?

I don't know where they're getting the idea to do it (probably the internet), but I do agree that people are doing it in lieu of living in an apartment or house, and it's bound to be more common in places where housing costs are already high or skyrocketing to get there.  You don't see as much of it in California, even though you'd expect it, but I think that's because they have landlord/tenant laws that provide a disincentive to RV parks to rent to people for more than 30 days, plus the demand by travelers is such that they probably don't need to cater to the long-term crowd. 

 

 

 

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It was probably around 2011 or 2012 when we toured parts of California, and we didn't hit it all.  Probably stayed in five different RV parks before going into Oregon.  Never really noticed anything close to what we observed in and around Ft. Collins and Loveland, so you may be on to something there.

We will be doing the upper eastern U.S. next year and of course hitting most of the large metro areas as we go.  We will be staying out at least 75 to 100 miles if possible and either using public transportation to go in and tour in our vehicles.  

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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55 minutes ago, Blues said:

It's 25 miles from I-25.  Easy miles, but a lot of them.  And the OP is in the area only because of family in Fort Collins, which is 70 miles from Curt Gowdy.  Places like that are great for getting away from it all (well, except generator noise), but that's not what the OP is seeking.

I don't know where they're getting the idea to do it (probably the internet), but I do agree that people are doing it in lieu of living in an apartment or house, and it's bound to be more common in places where housing costs are already high or skyrocketing to get there.  You don't see as much of it in California, even though you'd expect it, but I think that's because they have landlord/tenant laws that provide a disincentive to RV parks to rent to people for more than 30 days, plus the demand by travelers is such that they probably don't need to cater to the long-term crowd. 

 

Lots of parks in California have year round residents, despite their lease laws.  Some keep a certain percentage of sites available for traveling public, and that is their 'profit', while long term residents pay the ongoing bills.  Not sure why you don't see it - - we see it all over.  In fact it is getting harder and harder to find some place to stop coming down I-5 because so many now are full of annual renters.  Red Bluff RV Park was a stop for us every year - - this spring we got the last spot and I'm not even to try this fall.  I know a lot of those are because of all the people who lost homes do to fire last year, but we have found that all over California as we travel.

Edited by Barbaraok

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
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I can say with absolute certainty, that any areas I travel to and I can't find a decent RV environment to stay in, I won't return to that area in my RV.  When our son gets settled in the Ft. Collins area if the State Park we are trying next doesn't work out then we will be camped up in Cheyenne when we visit him.  If next year as we visit the eastern seaboard we are as disappointed as we were in and around Denver then our RV won't return to that area.

We dry camp when we want to dry camp but when we want to rent an RV site we won't be staying in a park that is 90% permanent run down never-move RVs and 10% traveling RVers.  No thank you.

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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