SKP Co-Op parks

[filthy-beast]

If you were going to get the waiting lists for two or three parks, which ones would you pick?

[Second Chance]

We're on the list at Evergreen Coho in Chimacum, WA, and Jojoba Hills in Aguanga, CA. We've stayed at a number of the other co-op parks, but these parks were the best fit for us. Everyone's needs and tastes are different.

Rob

[Kirk W]

We were at one time on the list for Lone Star Corral but went elsewhere before they had an opening. I would consider Jojoba Hills to be the nicest of the co-op parks that we have visited (there are 2 we have seen.) but it is also the most expensive. We liked Park Sierra also, but wouldn't want to settle in CA. We really liked Evergreen-Coho too. I think that if all eI would probably put Saguaro in Benson, AZ at the top of my list.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Kirk W

[2gypsies]

It just depends what you are willing to pay and what your 'wants' are and where you want to stay long-term in what season. Each park has different fees and when you rent out your lot  when you're not there you'll be getting different returns from the rental fee back to you.  Everyone is certainly different so what we like might not be what you're looking for.  You have to really read the rules of each park and best to stay at the park at least a few weeks  - in the busy season - to get a 'feel' for it. Off-season will be completely different - less activities, less people and the surrounding area may not be conducive to siteseeing at that time.  The popular parks have a wait list of 3 years or more.  The other parks may have lots available immediately or within a year.

There are different rules when you're on the Wait List.  Most state that you have to wait until you're #1 to get a site and then some state you can only turn it down a couple times and then you're put on the bottom of the list again which may mean you'll be waiting years to come to #1 position again.  Saguaro has the best program in that you call in on Saturdays if a lot is available (you can view the upcoming lots online) and the lowest # on the Wait List to call in gets the lot.  Therefore, you only start calling when you're really ready for a lot or one comes up that you really want.  Some have gotten a lot when they were #250 or so on the 'Hot List'. #1 and low numbers on the list may have been on the list for 10 years or more because they're just not interested in a lot yet. They still travel a lot. It's cheap enough to make athe minimal deposit and be on the list and wait until you're ready.  Many take their first lot - whatever it is - and once you're in the park it's easier to move around to another before it goes to those on the 'Hot List'.  Some lots are bare bones and some have very nice casitas. You pay for what you get.

Also, Coop parks expect you to participate in running the park.  The parks are run by volunteers. That is, by being on a committee or two to help out depending on your skills and interests. It's a very little time commitment unless you want to be on the Board. There are committees such as landscaping, maintenance, propane pumping, clubhouse, etc.

We've stayed at all of them and our order of preference would be:

Jojoba has the nicest facilities and is the most expensive.  It has a pool. It's a day trip to San Diego.

Saguaro, Benson AZ is very friendly and has a lot of clubhouse activities and free planned outings for 4-wheeling, birding, hiking, siteseeing. (We like those activities so worked for us.)  No pool.  An easy day trip to Tucson.

Evergreen in Chimacum, WA on the Olympic Peninsula is nice but not as many good clubhouse activities as Saguaro but there's lots to do in the area.  No pool.  

Park Sierra, Coarsegold, CA - nice area near Yosemite but all around is too crowded for us.

Timber Valley, Sutherlin, OR - nice area but activities are terrible - at least when we ever visited.

Florida SKP Coop, we just don't like Florida, nice-enough park

Kofa - Yuma, AZ - not the friendliest when we were there. Not many clubhouse activities. Has a pool.

Alamo, Hondo, TX - in the 'Hill Country' so scenic places to explore

Pair-A-Dice, Pahrump, NV - we didn't like area

Rover's Roost, Casa Grande, AZ - their sites aren't big and it's a farming area so smells may occur. We don't like Casa Grande, in general

The Ranch, New Mexico - this is probably the most welcoming park - even ringing a big bell when you arrive & folks come out of their RV to greet you.  They've had a water problem but I believe this is corrected by supplying reverse osmosis.  It's in a very dry area with drilling all around... not very scenic.

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by 2gypsies

[Customer1]

Depends on a lot of factors and although we have visited many, we haven't visited all.  For us the top two would be Saguaro because of the membership, activities, and is very well run.  The other one in the top two would be the SKP Resort because it is the warmest park and it's green rather than the desert of Arizona.

[rynosback]

Out of all the ones I have been to so far, Jojoba Hills is the one I would choose. 

[filthy-beast]

thanks to all for the response, plenty to think about. @2gypsies thanks for the detailed response

[travelinbob]

We had our heart set on Jojoba Hills until they said they have a two dog limit. We ended up buying a house in a gated 55+ community that has a clubhouse, pool, activities, billiard room and a $25 month secure RV storage. They also had a two dog limit but was willing to make an exception.

[hdrider]

 We liked Jojoba but don't like California and would not settle in that state. Evergreen Coho is nice but no physical activities which means we would be driving someplace every day so that's out. The Escapee's North Ranch Ranch had some very nice sites but again no physical activities. In fact other than Jojoba we have not ran across any with things like Pickleball or a real nice gym, both very important to us.

 We are however on the Saguaro list only because in is vey inexpensive to get in and fee's are low. I figured if we ever became broke for some crazy reason we could buy in there and exist at least. In fact we are far enough down the list that we could get a site very easily but again physical activities are pretty much not to be found and no Pickleball at all in the area.   

[LindaH]

3 minutes ago, hdrider said:

 The Escapee's North Ranch Ranch had some very nice sites but again no physical activities. 

North Ranch is a Rainbow park, not a co-op.

We had our name on the list for a spot at the co-op in Sutherlin, OR, until we finally decided we didn't want the structure and rules of that type of setup. 

We've been to all of the co-ops from Texas westward except for Jojoba and they each have their pluses and minuses.  We're not interested in activities provided by a park, so that was never on our radar.  However, if that's important to you, it would go a long way in helping you make your choice.

I agree with 2gypsies...visit all of the parks and stay for at least a month in each to get a feel of the park.  

[Kirk W]

5 minutes ago, LindaH said:

North Ranch is a Rainbow park, not a co-op.

He is probably intending to reference "The Ranch" at Lakewood, NM.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Kirk W

[filthy-beast]

Thanks again, the thought is to get on a couple of "popular" lists now as a head start. Then as we visit them over the next couple of years we can always change.

 

[Twotoes]

With the Escapees club growing in membership it may be time to begin thinking about adding more parks and co-ops to the system. It is getting more difficult to make a reservation with the limited number of sites now available especially in the co-ops. 

[2gypsies]

3 hours ago, hdrider said:

 The Escapee's North Ranch Ranch had some very nice sites but again no physical activities.

North Ranch, although a Rainbow Park, used to have pickleball play in the pole barn with a very good group of players.

The closest pickleball for Benson is the new Kino Sports complex on I-10 - 20 new courts.   Sierra Vista also has pickleball.

Saguaro in Benson used to have a group playing by the propane area but disbanded.  The net is probably still stored in the barn!

[rynosback]

17 hours ago, hdrider said:

 We liked Jojoba but don't like California and would not settle in that state. Evergreen Coho is nice but no physical activities which means we would be driving someplace every day so that's out. The Escapee's North Ranch Ranch had some very nice sites but again no physical activities. In fact other than Jojoba we have not ran across any with things like Pickleball or a real nice gym, both very important to us.

 We are however on the Saguaro list only because in is vey inexpensive to get in and fee's are low. I figured if we ever became broke for some crazy reason we could buy in there and exist at least. In fact we are far enough down the list that we could get a site very easily but again physical activities are pretty much not to be found and no Pickleball at all in the area.   

I agree, the activities at Jojoba Hills is what really sets them apart. The people at every park have been friendly but they even seem more out going at Jojoba Hills. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by rynosback

[trostberg]

7 hours ago, Twotoes said:

With the Escapees club growing in membership it may be time to begin thinking about adding more parks and co-ops to the system. It is getting more difficult to make a reservation with the limited number of sites now available especially in the co-ops. 

I have heard they are looking for land in Colorado but zoning has been a problem.   It is something that might be geared toward folks that are still working and may still have children.

[trostberg]

I have a lot that is often rented out at Evergreen Coho. I picked this area because I feel I could live here year round if I needed to since I am not a fan of hot weather.  I am usually there in the winter and feel like they have enough activities to suit my taste even in the winter.  The area has a wealth of music options as well and I love riding the ferry system.

Did not consider Sutherlin because they have no shower facilities option in the clubhouse.

[hdrider]

20 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

North Ranch, although a Rainbow Park, used to have pickleball play in the pole barn with a very good group of players.

The closest pickleball for Benson is the new Kino Sports complex on I-10 - 20 new courts.   Sierra Vista also has pickleball.

Saguaro in Benson used to have a group playing by the propane area but disbanded.  The net is probably still stored in the barn!

 We have heard that Wickenburg has Pickleball which is just 12 miles so that would be doable but we play almost every day when sitting for any length of time so that drive might get old but sill an option.

 I actually went to the Kino Sports Park and played in a tournament this season while staying in Casa Grande, very nice complex but that's  45 mile drive. That's not going to happen every day LOL!!!

 I'm play pretty competitive for the most part when it comes to Pickleball (even though some casual play is fun as well) so I look for areas with very active play.   

[kb0zke]

I believe that many, if not most, co-ops require you to visit BEFORE getting on the waiting list. The listing by 2gypsies, above, is interesting, but reflects THEIR priorities, which may or may not match yours. You can, however, use the information there to put the list in an order that reflects your interests. We're not interested in swimming pools, so we'd probably put those places at the bottom of our interest list.

We had visited two co-ops before we put our names on a waiting list. Both were interesting to us, so we chose the one that we thought would be the best fit. We had a wait of several years before we got to the top of the list, so even though we expressed interest in certain lots, we were too far down the list to get one. As we were waiting we started looking at actual driving mileage from each co-op to family. It turned out that the place where we were on the waiting list was FARTHER away than the other place (we thought it was the other way around, but that was just guessing). As it turned out, a lot that was pretty much what we wanted was available at the other co-op, so we asked for our deposit back from the first co-op and signed the papers at the one that was actually our first choice - The Ranch.

BTW, some people have lots at more than one co-op. It may be that one of the southern ones would be a good winter headquarters for you, and one of the northern ones might be a good summer headquarters. I'd suggest that you look at each one's website and plan a visit to those that look interesting to you.

Edited May 12, 2020 by kb0zke

[filthy-beast]

Thanks, After reading everything in this thread, studying the websites and using Google earth I did send in the paperwork to put our names on two lists. We will be visiting them next year, I hope.🤪  If I guessed wrong we can always change. If I guessed right we gained a year the lists.

 

 

 

[hdrider]

9 hours ago, filthy-beast said:

Thanks, After reading everything in this thread, studying the websites and using Google earth I did send in the paperwork to put our names on two lists. We will be visiting them next year, I hope.🤪  If I guessed wrong we can always change. If I guessed right we gained a year the lists.

 "Saying with a grin on my face" Come on now Filthy-Beast, we all spill our guts about what parks we like or are members of to you and then you just say you sent paperwork in to two parks without telling us which ones!!!! LOL,, come on man, spill YOUR guts. 

 

 

 

 

[filthy-beast]

Ok, Ok (said in a Joe Pesci voice, from Lethal Weapon)

Co-ops, Saguaro and Florida. we also got on a ERPU list for Rainbow Plantation. Plan to visit Rainbow plantation and Florida co-op this winter and AZ next winter.

For work we lived in Clearwater FL for about 7 years before moving back to Chicago, Daughters fiancé comes from Mobile and they are probably going to move down there, AZ is a dry heat🤪

 

[DanZemke]

Quote

I believe that many, if not most, co-ops require you to visit BEFORE getting on the waiting list.

I decided to seriously look into SKP co-ops in the early summer of 2018.  After a fair bit of research, I decided I was most interested in Evergreen (WA), Park of the Sierras (CA), and Saguaro (AZ).  Park of the Sierras required me to stay there before, they would accept my deposit.  That attitude was a non-starter for me (echos of excessively bureaucratic home-owners associations).

So I signed up for the Evergreen and Saguaro waiting lists. It appears to me that it will be another 1 to 2 years before I will be able to become a member of either community.

[hdrider]

43 minutes ago, DanZemke said:

I decided to seriously look into SKP co-ops in the early summer of 2018.  After a fair bit of research, I decided I was most interested in Evergreen (WA), Park of the Sierras (CA), and Saguaro (AZ).  Park of the Sierras required me to stay there before, they would accept my deposit.  That attitude was a non-starter for me (echos of excessively bureaucratic home-owners associations).

So I signed up for the Evergreen and Saguaro waiting lists. It appears to me that it will be another 1 to 2 years before I will be able to become a member of either community.

 We got on the list at Saguaro in early 2015 and are now below 70 on the list. It seems that most people that get in have been in the low 100's lately so we could probably jump in whenever but we are not ready yet. 

[rpsinc]

I was pleased to experience Saguaro back when my parents bought a lot there and I helped them build their casita.  It was an experience that stays with me to this day and is a large part of why we are SKPs.  I was also able to meet the then current owner of their lot and got some nice compliments on the construction and satisfaction of design.  My Dad did spend some time on the architectural committee there too.  He really enjoyed it and spoke fondly of his home base there.  Sadly, I lost him some years ago.