Campgrounds, what's a good price..

[TXBobcat]

I have seen a lot of suggestions about nice campgrounds where people here are staying. When I look them up, some of them to me, are very expensive. KOA's are referred to Keep On Adding. I stayed at a park that advertised $22 per night. When asked if I was going to use the A/C they added $2 per day.

We like COE, Passport America, Camp Club USA, State Parks, National Parks and such. We don't boondock.

I like to stay at parks that I can pay $10 (COE with Golden Passport), $18 (Passport and Camp Club USA half price normally for week days) $18 -28 (State Parks and National Parks with Golden Passport). I am also interested if you use RV Park Reviews.

For this discussion don't consider boondocking. Include weekly or monthly but indicate them separately, but I am really interested in the parks that are being recommended that are showing daily fees.

I read campground recommendations in this forum and others and the fees were $35, 40 and 45 per day. I don’t know about the rest of you but I can’t afford that high of daily fee.

Hope this is intresting to others..
BC

 

[jmgratz]

Hey Bob,
After you have joined Thousand Trails the daily fee to camp there is zero dollars for a 30 amp site. Most TT parks are upgrading to 50amp and those upgraded sites cost $3.00 a day. Depending on your level of membership you can stay either 14 or 21 days before you have to move on. Some are also offering extended stay sites for a flat fee such as $1500 for 6 months.

Also there is Coast to Coast where you can stay for free (after your initial membership fee) at a Coast to Coast park or for $10-$15 a night at a Coast to Coast good neighbor park.

Membership camping is inexpensive after the initial fee for someone who camps alot such as full-timers or any-timers like us. We have figured that we will break even in about 2 years on our Thousand Trails membership. After that we will be really camping for free.

 

[mrcomer]

Jim is right. We to have a Thousand Trails membership. We have ours paid for and even with the yearly dues we are still ahead of the game. I based all of my figures on $28 per night and after a few years TT is paying us to camp, theoretically. We use ours just about every weekend so I can get my money's worth.

I also agree with Bob, we don't like paying the $45 per night to camp but we will do it sometimes. Maybe a weekend or two during the year. For the most part we try to camp at TT.

 

[lmcclure]

We have some CG's (KOA) that charge between 30 and 45 in this area, but for the most part we use CG's that are in the 22-28 range. I can afford 40 a few times during the year, but not all of the time. We are looking at TT memberships as we are planning on fulltiming it after the first of the year.

 

[Del600]

We stay at County, State and Corp parks.
They are $18 with full hookups, $16 with electric and water.

 

[SmokeyBare]

Bob,

I look for the same type of campgrounds as you are in search of...

One other source we often use is a club called Escapee's RV Club. Link: http://www.escapees.com/index2.asp they are a membership based club as well but their membership is more in tune with what Good Sam's RV Club costs are. The annual membership costs are $ 60.00 but for those who have not yet joined... they have an additional $ 10.00 enrollment fee.

Their camping costs at their 8 Rainbow parks runs daily from $12.00 to 15.00 plus electric - they also have weekly & monthly rates. Each Rainbow park sets their own rates. The Club also is served by several other private and public parks with many rates discounted at up to 50% off their daily rate. But as with passport America... they have restrictions on the times they offer their discounts.

You might also take a look at this Site>> http://www.freecampgrounds.com/ They have several locations for low cost camping... although not all are as they post.. $ 10.00 or less. This site also allows people to post additional campgrounds they find that are low costs locations.

Last suggestion I have is to look for Fairgrounds that offer camping. Many have designated locations they allow camping... many have a full hook up camping sites.

Last... although you suggested your not looking for boondocking sites... others might want to consider these type of locations... so here is a link I found that has a pretty good list of locations in many parts of the USA.
Link>> http://www.eugenecarsey.com/camp/default.htm

Hope you find some of these locations helpful.

Marv

 

[TXBobcat]

I have thought of the club campgrounds, TT, Coast to Coast, and I do agree that you can do well over a longer period of time. I talked to Pultab and Kathy& Ken Adams about the clubs.

I am very leary of these because of the never ending contract you have to sign. Once you pay the entry fee, the yearly fee and the camping fee, I have a problem that you have to try to sell the membership. I guess you could give it away if you can get someone to take it. For me if I call and say thanks but we don’t need the service, it should be like a cell phone agreement. Cancel it and be done with it.
I am thinking about Coast to Coast but still apprehensions to get into it.
Thanks for the ideas and comments. I am looking to see what many others have to say.

BTW Marv.. If you check my Sig.. I am an Escapee.. 96030.. I try to find the Escapees parks when I can.

BC

 

[mrcomer]

bobcat,
With the 1000trails membership you have your initial membership costs then yearly dues. There is no cost to camp after that. We come down here to the Wilmington 1000trails every Thursday - Sunday all season long. No money out of pocket. It is like that for all 1000trails campgrounds. Now if you look at RPI (Resort Parks International) you have the initial membership fee, yearly dues and per night cost to camp.

Mark

 

[jmgratz]

Western Horizons is another membership camping organization. They have a number of parks, mostly in the northwestern United States. You can camp with them for free or for a nominal ($3) electrical surcharge. They also have an annual dues and other restrictions. We belong to both Thousand Trails and Western Horizons and find TT to be much more to our liking.

 

[jpjulian]

There are differences between campgrounds, RV parks, and RV resorts. Our local campground, Illinois Beach State Park, is a really nice place to go, as long as one stays away from holiday weekends, but $22.00 per for electric only is a bit rich for me. We are currently at a KOA at $36 per with a 50 amp full hook pull-through. Far better amenities for not much more. We have recently stayed at a resort in New Orleans which was ~$65.00 per and walking distance to the French Quarter. Rich yes, worth it yes. We also stayed at a 5W/5W, 10-10-10 resort outside of Zion NP in the same dollar range. Worth every cent. We do get what we pay for, generally. It all depends what you are looking for. It also depends on what you are willing to pay for. That is why there are so many choices for us in the RV community..

Joe

 

[buckeyebob]

campground prices

we are coast to coast members,and pay 10 a nite unless its your home park.i live in ohio and my home park is in north carolina.if it was in ohio i couldnt camp at a c to c park within 200 miles of my home park.we pay 27.50 a nite at state park campground in hocking hills.last year almost 1,000 bucks.at state park.if you are over 60 its 1/2 off sun_thurs.most of the camp club usa have so many months days etc that you cant use discount.however florida had a lot without restrictions or max stay amounts.ohio has 2 in mohican area ,but most are one or 2 days,no weekend etc.we bought our coast to coast used for 600 bucks,and my friend paid 4000 if you dont camp a lot none of them pay for themselves.im 56 so 4 more years till 1/2 off at state parks.(i can wait!!!) buckeyebob

 

[jmgratz]

In the March-April edition of the Gypsy Journal there is an article about fairgound campground and free campgrounds.

 

[dbylinski]

Wow, I can't wait to retire and camp outside NJ. Most full service private campgrounds (which are your only real choices as most of the State Parks cannot handle big rigs) are now around $55.00 per night! With the beaches and Atlantic City, we are a huge tourist destination and the locals don't get "resident discounts". We have to work OT Monday - Thursday to afford our weekend habit! But that's just the Jersey way of life. I would gladly pay $25 to $35 per night and feel like I was getting the deal of the century.

 

[jpmorgan37]

Don't overlook city parks. I have found some beautiful city parks, some with full hook-ups from free to $20 per night. Most of these I have located in either the East or West, Don Wright's Guide to Free Campgrounds, or the website that Marv mentioned above.

John

 

[slick42]

prices

I agree with you BC. I am not a full timer and so when I do get away I don't want to spend all my vacation cash on fee's. I have found that in Texas where I live we go to the Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds. They are always Super Clean !!!!!! well maintained and only $ 20.00 a nite for water&electric sites. We love em. In fact we are heading out to Lake Sommerville this coming weekend. The anual Kolache festival is in caldwell tx this weekend about 20 miles from Lake sommerville. We go every year its a blast

Tom