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Welcome To Our Campground Reviews Main
Page
These reviews are more to give some sort of structure and history to
our travels than anything else. In addition to the journals of our
trips, this page forces us to actually study our location instead of
just parking, sleeping, and moving on. If others get some benefit
from our observations, great!
Our disclaimer is that these are our opinions only and the reviews
are based on what is important to us. Our criteria may be completely
different than yours, so read the reviews with that in mind.
This page simply sets forth some "Review Criteria"
and provides links to the actual reviews below the explanation.
You may link to the reviews by state or by year or by using our
Campground Reviews Map. The state by state listings show the campgrounds
from most recent (and therefore, most relevant) to the oldest. The pages
that are year by year list the campgrounds from top to bottom in exactly
the order we visited them. The Campground Map allows you see all of our
campgrounds, zoom in, zoom out, and link to individual reviews. We hope
you like having three ways to navigate to the reviews.
The following description is taken from
RV-Dreams.com. It is
pretty inclusive and a good framework for choosing and evaluating where
you stay.
Our Criteria
Our review criteria is similar to our selection criteria, so let's
look at how we decide upon a campground.
Location - First and foremost is where the campground is located
in relation to our intended route. We don't mind venturing off our main
route an hour for a campground that meets other criteria, but I doubt
that we will ever make a particular campground our destination.
Setting - We look for campgrounds with more natural settings. We
will always shy away from popular overnight campgrounds along an
interstate and we will try to avoid concrete RV parking lots with no
trees or character. Peace, quiet, natural surroundings, and space
between sites are VERY important to us.
Guidebook Consensus - We have learned to never rely on a single
opinion (and boy, is that ever true in the RV world), so we carry five
reference books and spend a lot of time researching on the internet when
selecting a campground. Since we plan to stay at least 4 days or more in
most spots, we do not want to get somewhere and need to move. As we gain
experience in selecting campgrounds, we rely less and less on
guidebooks. However, we will use them to support a decision or help
choose between a couple of possibilites.
Big Rig Friendly - Out of necessity with our rig being forty feet
long and thirteen feet high with four slideouts, the campground has to
have large enough sites and clearance. Pull-through spaces are nice for
convenience, but often are not the best sites. So the existence of pull-throughs
is a factor (just in case there is not enough room to get the monster
backed in anywhere), but not a requirement by any means.
Hook-Ups - This was a bigger issue for us when we started out
than we originally thought. However, as we have learned our holding tank
capacities, full hook-ups have become less and less a factor. Electric
hook-ups are still very important to us, but water hook-ups are not that
big a deal as long as we can fill our 100 gallon fresh water tank. Sewer
hook-ups are a great convenience, but not necessary either. We will
forgo water hook-ups and sewers when our options of places to stay is
limited or the location and natural beauty are over-riding factors or if
we are staying a week or less. We prefer to not have to use bathhouses,
but we want natural settings so much, we have no problem with
bathhouses. Because we have our own satellite dish for internet access
and TV, cable, Wi-Fi, and other internet hook-ups are non-factors. We do
need a clear view of the southern sky, but that is usually more of a
site selection issue than campground selection (although we do ask when
we call).
Laundry Facilities - Since we do not have a washer/dryer in the
rig and we stay in each location a week or more (usually), laundry
facilities are a factor. A nearby laundry will do, but we much prefer
the convenience within the campground.
Price & Discounts - Since we have included $25 per day in our
budget for campgrounds, we will rarely go over that. If we do, it will
be because there are no other alternatives or because our plans include
a free or half-price stay somewhere else to offset the higher fees. We
look for Good Sam discounts, Escapees discounts, and Passport America
half price rates. We also look for weekly and monthly rates. However, we
will not compromise our other criteria just to take advantage of the
discounts. Price and discounts are simply deciding factors between
multiple options.
Other Deciding Factors - When we are choosing campgrounds and we
are having a tough time choosing, we determine which choice has the more
inviting website or which choice is friendliest when we call. We know
these are not exactly rational deciding factors, but they usually tell
us something about the management of the facility and rarely are we
disappointed when making a final decision this way.
Campground Review Links
Campground Map
Map Of Campgrounds We Have Reviewed
Campgrounds & RV Parks By State
Arizona Campgrounds
Arkansas Campgrounds
California Campgrounds
Colorado Campgrounds
Iowa Campgrounds
Kansas Campgrounds
Missouri Campgrounds
Nebraska Campgrounds
New Mexico Campgrounds
Oklahoma Campgrounds
Oregon Campgrounds
Texas Campgrounds
Utah Campgrounds
Campgrounds & RV Parks By Year Visited
Our 2009 Stays
Additional thoughts
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