Campground Suggestions

[sherman12]

Being a frequent reader of the travel threads, especially the East Coast, I am some what surprised how many travelers pick a destination of where they are going, then simple say I'm going to Tim Buck Too, does anyone have a campground to stay at? There are great campground review websites with perhaps the best being campgroundreviews.com that it seems many campers are not aware of. Generally, where ever the DW and I are headed we will check out that site, possibly TripAdvisor, or Google Reviews also to narrow down where we might stay. We love using RV Parky on our Android Phones while on the road to find a place to stay for a night, sometimes finding places so nice we'll change our plans and stay 2-3 nights. They too will have reviews that I have found to be pretty accurrate describing a particular campground. To a lessor extent we will consult again on our phone RV Park Advisor. There a dozens of resources out there to really do some easy research on the type of camping facilities that will best suit your particular wishes. I would suggest after a couple of places are picked at your destination you then check with "The Forum" to find out more exact information.

[JohnD10]

I use both of those as well...

I generally provide a review if I can.

One time, however, when I was staying at an RV park near the Royal Gorge (Colorado) and I saw another park that I wanted to check out for a future trip there in a couple of months, when I drove in I was met in the drive by two people (the owners) and they asked what I wanted.

I told them that I was staying just down the road and was planning another trip through there in a couple of months so I wanted to have a look at the park before I booked.

They were rude to me, wouldn't let me look at the park and made (no...forced) me turn around and leave.

The guy even slapped my tailgate as I turned around!

Considering this was a fairly new RV park (been to the Royal Gorge many times and had never seen this park before), I would think they would be interested in anyone that wanted to book there!

So when I got home I wrote a review about what had happened there on RVParkReviews...and they refused to post it because I didn't actually stay in that park.



And I NEVER will!

Things that make you think twice about reviews.

[Electra glide]

Well using campgroundreviews.com I found another campground a few blocks away from the one I had initially found. Both look decent but the one not listed on the site has some nice discounts that I would qualify for. I'll still keep that site in mind though.

[67L48]

Regarding USFS and State Parks ...

I find that good campground reviews are pretty hard to come by. Way too many generalities. I literally read things like, "Half of the sites were rocky and unlevel, but some are quite good." Umm, which ones? Which ones are terrible? Which ones are good? Then, there are random 6-7 pictures, but no detail about which sites those pictures depict. Or, "Our site was one of the four best in the park." Great, what site was that/where did you actually stay? Which were the other 3? And, so on. It's infuriating that people take the time to give so much information, but then fail on basic details that anchors the reviews to anything usable or actionable.

I've also been on forums that had campground review sections. But, these review sections just turn into "where should I go" discussions. Before long, it's just a mess of random discussions without true reviews ... granted, that speaks more to moderator discipline.

Still other review type sites allow for discussion, but then require a Facebook account to do so. I don't do Facebook, so I guess I can't donate my time to help make those sites even better.

I really like campsitephotos.com due to the site-by-site photos ... though there isn't much written description of the sites. Reserveamerica/reservation.gov have some site-by-site photos. Sometimes the campground itself has photos and descriptions (e.g., State Parks).

Googlemaps sometimes has 3D interactive views of the campgrounds and, at least, has good aerial views of the terrain and sites.

Youtube is getting much better, as people are recording drive-throughs of the campgrounds, complete with annotations about site numbers.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by sherman12

[...] going to Tim Buck Too [...]

Is that near Timbuktu, or is Tim Buck Too a person?

[fanrgs]

I combine Good Sam Trip Planner for routes with info from campgroundreviews.com when I am initially planning one of our long trips. IMHO the reviews by RVers on the Good Sam "Find a Campground" site are few and worthless and I don't always agree with the GS ratings either. If we then make changes to our route or overnight destination during the trip, we check campgroundreviews.com on the phone to pick a new campground.

I also write reviews on that Website for many of the campgrounds and RV parks we actually use on each trip. I don't always review all of them, but try to include all the best, worst, and unique ones.

I have also added a few new campgrounds to the Website when we have stayed in a place no one else has reviewed. In those cases, it is interesting to go back months/years later to see if anyone else has added another review. With the RV industry and RV park owners associations predicting a huge shortage of available peak-season campsites in the next few years, it is beneficial for all of us to discover and review new and off-the-beaten-path campgrounds.

Happy camping!

[fanrgs]

Sorry to get off topic here, but I love your "Every time you use an apostrophe to make a word plural, a puppy dies" and "Grammar pedant." An indication that you teach English somewhere in the north metro Denver area?