What type campground would you prefer?

[Rotorhead]

So, a good number of the campgrounds we’ve been to are packed in close together. They are ok but not completely relaxing. I would prefer a place that is a lot more spread out.

How about you all?

1. Typical sites close together?

Or

2. A more private place with sites spread out where you can relax?

[Randyretired]

We rarely go to campgrounds.   We prefer it to be less or not crowded at all.  We typically boondock or stay on private property.

[sheldons65]

We prefer not to be crowded in like sardines. Boondocking doesn’t really work for us as I’m still working a few more years.

We are ok with being sardined a week or two as long as the area is interesting.

[TXiceman]

More rustic with sites spread apart, trees and full hook ip.

Ken

[bruce t]

Boondock.

[sandsys]

I can cope with almost anything except required reservations. How am I supposed to know in advance what wonderful eating/site-seeing place I am going to stumble across while traveling?

Linda

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Tend to Boondock/dry camp as don't like to have to get to any reservations - plus like having space around us in the ideal world if staying more than an overnight as would be typical on travel days.

If we are say headed to NYC, we have no problem with being packed like a sardine (as long quiet for sleeping!) as we spend zero time at the rig and all our time exploring with so much to see and do.

We are like Linda - we have a plan of our trip and stops but we also like to have built in down days to allow for stopping at a whim for something we might have not known about before arriving in an area and learned from a local as a must see/do.

For sure if there are paid Cgs available at a very reasonable price (mostly unheard of nowadays!) we have no problem pulling in if earlier in the day and enjoying walking/fishing/kayaking the area found.

We are serendipity travellers to a large degree.

[2gypsies]

.... same for us ..... public campgrounds or boondocking on public lands.  We like space!

[trailertraveler]

Tank size limits the number of days we can stay without dumping. I don't like using the tote for blackwater so 5 days is about our limit for dry camping. We do prefer larger sites and stay at a lot of State, County, Corps of Engineers, BLM and Forest Service campgrounds. While we much prefer to travel without reservations, that has become much more difficult in recent years. I have heard some reports that that situation is easing and that a lot of RVs purchased during the pandemic are up for sale

[Deezl Smoke]

9 hours ago, sandsys said:

I can cope with almost anything except required reservations. How am I supposed to know in advance what wonderful eating/site-seeing place I am going to stumble across while traveling?

Linda

 I second the motion.

[LindaH]

12 hours ago, Rotorhead said:

So, a good number of the campgrounds we’ve been to are packed in close together. They are ok but not completely relaxing. 

Exactly why we spent most of our time boondocking, only rarely going to RV parks.

[Deezl Smoke]

 If the mods wish to delete this reply, I understand. However since we are on the topic of type of campground, the space and reservation topic is brought up, I wish to give a shout out to "Secret camp and RV park" just off 101 in southern Oregon at the Rogue river. In may I was caught out short in the evening and all of the parks I called went to voicemail except Secret. I told him the situation, and he said come on back, I have a spot for you. Met me at the driveway, pointed to the spot with power and water. I paid cash, and had a great time. Quiet. Unloaded the XR, went to town for a few groceries, and slept well. Next morning rode to the beach for a few minutes, loaded up and went to the office to say thank you. Told the manager thank you so much for the last minute stay. He is a humorous old sailor that left me with a quick bit of wisdom.

 He said" and remember, it's always better to have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy". Said with a sailor slur, you can find the humor.

 

[Rotorhead]

4 minutes ago, Deezl Smoke said:

 If the mods wish to delete this reply, I understand. However since we are on the topic of type of campground, the space and reservation topic is brought up, I wish to give a shout out to "Secret camp and RV park" just off 101 in southern Oregon at the Rogue river. In may I was caught out short in the evening and all of the parks I called went to voicemail except Secret. I told him the situation, and he said come on back, I have a spot for you. Met me at the driveway, pointed to the spot with power and water. I paid cash, and had a great time. Quiet. Unloaded the XR, went to town for a few groceries, and slept well. Next morning rode to the beach for a few minutes, loaded up and went to the office to say thank you. Told the manager thank you so much for the last minute stay. He is a humorous old sailor that left me with a quick bit of wisdom.

 He said" and remember, it's always better to have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy". Said with a sailor slur, you can find the humor.

 

That looks like a nice site.

[JGWALES]

We play it by ear mostly. Pull in a place for first time about 330 pm ond day only, then jf we like it we stay another or return . Sometimes we just stay at a truck stop for the might and then move on.  Make the best of the experience of whereever you are and demand no expectations of amyone .  

[Dutch_12078]

We prefer state and national park campgrounds in part for the usually larger sites and more foliage. We do put up with tighter sites when needed for en-route overnight stops though.

 

 

[sandsys]

I liked Cracker Barrel for free overnight stops while traveling from one place to another. I like their food and I was often the only one there overnight.

Linda

[kb0zke]

It depends on why we're there. One campground we frequent is just a big parking lot with electric and water - and one dump station for 200 sites. Why do we go there? It is very close to family. Another is also a parking lot, but with FHU for the six sites. Why there? It is free (donations accepted) and about a day's drive from our winter base. COE parks are generally our first choice, followed by State parks. City and county campgrounds are often good finds, but require more work to find. We generally avoid commercial campgrounds, but we do have a lifetime Passport America membership, and we've already saved far more than it cost, even with using it only once or twice a year. KOA is pretty far down on the list for us, as we're not interested in swimming pools or miniature golf. On the other hand, we've been to two that were pretty much the only game in town.

If we're moving fairly quickly we're only going to stay one night, so as long as it is fairly quiet we're find. I do keep a log of where we stay each night, and more than once we've found a place that was so nice we decided to go back for a longer stay some other time.

[rickeieio]

The older we get, the more we place a premium on campgrounds with no pools or playgrounds, no golf carts allowed, no kids or dogs unless leashed........

These type campgrounds also tend to be cheaper, though not always.  COE is good, state parks tend to not have long enough sites, in the eastern part of the country.  We recently signed on with Allstays so as to be able to find city parks, fairgrounds, etc.

[justRich]

Not too crowed.  Quiet.  Dark at night.  Level.  Spacious.
Free.
 

Edited July 23, 2023 by justRich
omission

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

5 hours ago, rickeieio said:

The older we get, the more we place a premium on campgrounds with no pools or playgrounds, no golf carts allowed, no kids or dogs unless leashed........

 

I absolutely agree with you, they should keep these kids on leashes 🤣

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, FULLTIMEWANABE said:

I absolutely agree with you, they should keep these kids on leashes 🤣

That actually used to be a thing. They were called "leading strings" and they were used to keep toddlers from running loose. In this day and age, when there are so many laws intended to keep kids safe, I wonder why leading strings have not come back into fashion?

Linda

[2gypsies]

48 minutes ago, sandsys said:

That actually used to be a thing. They were called "leading strings" and they were used to keep toddlers from running loose. In this day and age, when there are so many laws intended to keep kids safe, I wonder why leading strings have not come back into fashion?

Linda

I absolutely hated seeing children with a harness on them!  I once witnessed a crying toddler being pulled down the grocery aisle.  

[Pat & Pete]

6 hours ago, FULLTIMEWANABE said:

I absolutely agree with you, they should keep these kids on leashes 🤣

I recall being one of those toddlers .

I guess my mom got tired of having to find me somewhere other than where she thought she left me . 

Namely , at the neighbors house or somewhere down the street . 

She quickly figured out that fastening the rope to my chest area was futile .

And , I couldn't untie it when she fastened it at my back , dang it . LOL

Hmm ., maybe the wandering soul started early in me . 

 

 

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

I absolutely hated seeing children with a harness on them!  I once witnessed a crying toddler being pulled down the grocery aisle.  

Any tool can be misused.

Linda

[rickeieio]

5 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

I absolutely hated seeing children with a harness on them!  I once witnessed a crying toddler being pulled down the grocery aisle.  

I hated going on life squad runs where kids had slipped away and got severely hurt or killed.  Yes, it happens, and will cause you to keep a tight rein on your own kids.