Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-27-2012, 07:49 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Oakman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Jefferson County, MO
Posts: 5,449
I made the right choice

When we arrived at Elk Meadow RV park in Estes Park I wasn’t happy with the campsites. Almost all of the 50 amp sites and most of the 30 amp sites were way too close together and the roads and sites were a gravelly dirt. After setting up I promised myself I would drive through the other RV parks in the area before leaving Estes Park.

Well, I have finally been through the other parks and as my wife says, we picked the best of the worst. All of the other parks were even worse than Elk Meadow. For anyone visiting Estes Park Colorado, Elk Meadow is your best choice of some of the worst campgrounds I‘ve ever seen.
__________________


Bob and Joyce
2013 CC Silverback 29RL
2010 Ford F250 XL Crew Cab 6.4 liter diesel
ATU Local 788
Oakman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2012, 08:04 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Rugged Brown's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,106
How about some pictures of your worst campground .
__________________
Terry/Bernadette
Lily the Yorkie
2019 Dodge Ram Sport 1500
2019 FR Vibe 28RL
Rugged Brown is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2012, 09:45 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Oakman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Jefferson County, MO
Posts: 5,449
I took a couple of photos when we arrived on Sunday and the park was fairly empty.

Here's a photo of our entry door side. I had to level 2 inches on that side. Notice the angle of our picnic table.



Here's a shot of the other side. Notice all the picnic tables? These are not pull throughs sites, they are back to back sites.



I do have to admit that the views from this park are awesome.
__________________


Bob and Joyce
2013 CC Silverback 29RL
2010 Ford F250 XL Crew Cab 6.4 liter diesel
ATU Local 788
Oakman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2012, 10:58 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 280
A friend of mine is going up to Estes Park for the month of September. Don't know if its the same park or not but seemed like it was pretty pricey.
wayne anthony is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 07:27 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Oakman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Jefferson County, MO
Posts: 5,449
I feel that all of the RV parks in this area are pricey. But that’s expected in a very touristy area, and you don’t have much choice if you want hookups.

Four of the parks that I drove through we so tight that had I made reservations at them I would have asked for my money back and left. Two of those parks, Paradise on the River and Manor RV park had roads and sites so small that I doubt that I could have backed my rig into them. The KOA and Mary’s Lake had sites incredibly close to each other and I doubt that an awning could be extended without hitting you neighbors RV. That is no exaggeration. The only other park in this area that I would have stayed at was Spruce Lake RV park.

If I ever come back to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park I will only stay at Elk Meadow and if I can‘t get a 50 amp pull thru site, then I just won‘t come. This is by no means a recommendation for this park. As I said, we were lucky and picked the best of the worst.
__________________


Bob and Joyce
2013 CC Silverback 29RL
2010 Ford F250 XL Crew Cab 6.4 liter diesel
ATU Local 788
Oakman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 07:49 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,367
Looks like they stuck you at one of the worst sites. The one to the left is fairly level compared to the one you're on. I'd ask for a better site.
Len & Cheri is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 07:58 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Independence, Kansas
Posts: 755
I realize you like hookups but we used to go to Estes/Rocky Mountain every summer and Moraine Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park is the most gorgeous I have ever stayed at. (no hookups and strict rules but worth it) It's about a five minute drive to the Estes Park supermarket.
comfun1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 08:27 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Oakman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Jefferson County, MO
Posts: 5,449
Quote:
Originally Posted by comfun1 View Post
I realize you like hookups but we used to go to Estes/Rocky Mountain every summer and Moraine Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park is the most gorgeous I have ever stayed at. (no hookups and strict rules but worth it) It's about a five minute drive to the Estes Park supermarket.
I completely agree, but like many older national parks it's not exactly big rig friendly. We tent camped in RMNP back in 2002 and had mule deer and coyotes come right past our tent. That was the year I decided I was getting too old and too fat to tent camp.

The scenery in RMNP really is spectacular.

__________________


Bob and Joyce
2013 CC Silverback 29RL
2010 Ford F250 XL Crew Cab 6.4 liter diesel
ATU Local 788
Oakman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 08:41 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Berlin , MARYLAND
Posts: 134
nice shot of the mountains
SALTY is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 09:07 AM   #10
AKA Bluebird
 
dimurrrw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Posts: 1,060
Send a message via Yahoo to dimurrrw
Seems to me that, in addition to every thing else, the sites are angled in the wrong direction with respect to the road. You either have to back in from you blind (passenger side) or make an extra sharp turn if trying to back in from the driver's side.
__________________
Happy Camping! ///// Richard D.
2006 4x4 Ford 250 SD / 2007 Flagstaff 827 FLS
One very patient wife and one furry child who travels with us. Forty-two years of trailering and camping, and I still have a blast.

dimurrrw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2012, 10:18 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Oakman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Jefferson County, MO
Posts: 5,449
Quote:
Originally Posted by dimurrrw View Post
Seems to me that, in addition to every thing else, the sites are angled in the wrong direction with respect to the road. You either have to back in from you blind (passenger side) or make an extra sharp turn if trying to back in from the driver's side.
Yes, almost all of the back-in sites have you backing in from the passenger side. My wife helps me back into sites like this with our walkie-talkies. The “B” section that we are in seems to have the worst slope and the narrowest sites.



The shame of this campground is that they have great amenities but the RV sites and roads seem to be neglected. This campground is overrun with ground squirrels and the site next to us has so many burrows that you have to watch where you walk for fear of twisting an ankle. I don’t know if anything could be done about the squirrels or not, just saying.
__________________


Bob and Joyce
2013 CC Silverback 29RL
2010 Ford F250 XL Crew Cab 6.4 liter diesel
ATU Local 788
Oakman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2012, 05:36 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Chuckinca's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Summerfield, FL
Posts: 382
Estes Park, CO

We stayed at Carter Lake near Longmont, CO and made the 35 mile, hour drive to Estes Park.

Find Campsites - Carter Lake, CO - ReserveAmerica - [LARC]

.
__________________
2018 Flagstaff 29KSWS
2008 Ram Laramie 3500 Megacab 4x4 Cummins 6.7L Turbo Diesel
Chuckinca is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2012, 06:34 PM   #13
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 47
If you think that site is bad...do not stay at KOA Gothenburg, Ne. We just went to Iowa from Phoenix to visit family and stopped after 500 miles each day. That place was by far the worst place I have ever stayed or camped. We would have been better off at a rest area. No attention was paid to the roads or grassy areas between sites and the amenities were very dirty and unkempt. I would like to stay somewhere near Estes Park sometime though. The site you stayed at looks okay. I am okay with having to level a little bit but backing in would stink though.
__________________
2012 Colorado 4x4 5.3v8 CCSB
2005 Sierra F37SP...soon to be gone
2005 Suzuki Hayabusa....wish someone would buy me...
1971 Camaro restomod in progress...yeah right....
djorgensen3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2012, 07:22 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
2Susan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 459
We camped in one RV park where our slide and the neighbor's slide overlapped by about 3 inches. Fortunately it was a front slide on his side and our rear slide. The view? Disney nightly fireworks were spectacular.
2Susan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2012, 07:31 PM   #15
Moderator Emeritus
 
acadianbob's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Posts: 3,365
Quote:
Originally Posted by comfun1 View Post
I realize you like hookups but we used to go to Estes/Rocky Mountain every summer and Moraine Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park is the most gorgeous I have ever stayed at. (no hookups and strict rules but worth it) It's about a five minute drive to the Estes Park supermarket.
The National Parks are also notoriously unfriendly toward dogs; something else to consider. If you can do without electrical, the National Forest Service campgrounds are much nicer IMO.
__________________
https://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp297/acadianbob/IMG_2757.jpg
2021 F350 Lariat 7.3 4X4 w 4.30s, 2018 Wildcat 29RLX
2012 BMW G650GS, Demco Premiere Slider
1969 John Deere 1020, 1940 Ford 9N, 1948 Ford 8N
Jonsered 535, Can of WD-40, Duct Tape
Red Green coffee mugs
acadianbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:13 PM.