Tell me about Campgrounds

[Texasperry]

Folks I am thinking about getting into camping.
I was a boater for many years. There are many simularities between crusining by boat and camping. Things like shore power and water sytems.

While boating, when we arrived at dock. We would tie up, connect shore power, water. On boats, grey water could be pumped overboard. Black water had to be pumped from the holding tank, typically at the fuel dock.

I have looked at a hard side pop up. I was told I would need a gray water tank. They showed me the black water tank on the unit with the shower / toilet cassette. Where do you dump these? Seems like a nasty job.
Do most sites have water and power?
What is average cost to camp per night at a site with power and water?
Do campgrounds segregate different types of campers?

[LKicklight]

Same here, went from a Gibson 44' Cruiser/Houseboat to a Crusader 270RET...similar but different..hard to make a choice which one I would chose...Cost are very similar, except the dock rent can get expensive you have an AC unit running all the time...pumping the black water tank is a real pain...rain or shine it has to be done, and if you have to un-dock, crank up and then go somewhere to have it pumped out, dock and the un-dock again, that can get expensive..think the 5'er cost a lot less on an annual basis..Most campgrounds today have full hookups, none of which is difficult or dirty to do..Cable TV is most always present...and if you don't like your neighbors, as in boating, you can always move..oh yes, no bottom to take care of...

Originally Posted by Texasperry

Folks I am thinking about getting into camping.
I was a boater for many years. There are many simularities between crusining by boat and camping. Things like shore power and water sytems.

While boating, when we arrived at dock. We would tie up, connect shore power, water. On boats, grey water could be pumped overboard. Black water had to be pumped from the holding tank, typically at the fuel dock.

I have looked at a hard side pop up. I was told I would need a gray water tank. They showed me the black water tank on the unit with the shower / toilet cassette. Where do you dump these? Seems like a nasty job.
Do most sites have water and power?
What is average cost to camp per night at a site with power and water?
Do campgrounds segregate different types of campers?

[jeeplj8]

Virtually all campgrounds will not allow you to dump any water, grey or black.

There is an awful lot of debate on cassette vs internal hard tanks. with a cassette you will need to physically remove it and dump the contents in a dump station at the campground of some people claim to use the bathrooms. where as the hard tank you will need to pull through the waste station. for me there was no question, we wanted a hard tank.

campgrounds vary a great deal by region. for example, my state parks typically are all electric, but full hook ups are less common. whereas our county parks are almost all full hook up. most private campgrounds feature full hookups. most federal parks are not.

prices vary tremoundously. at our local county campground full hookup is 24 a night. state parks are about the same. but some private campgrounds are more like 50 a night.

[Herk7769]

Well:

You don't need to worry about drowning or sinking if you run out of gas or the engine breaks down.

While the typical tow truck driver will rape you on the tire change fee, they won't normally claim your camper as salvage.

Parking a boat "may" be easier.

If you can't find a gas station that you can fit the camper under, you can drop the camper and still gas up. Try that with a boat.

Taking your boat to see Mount Rushmore is a challenge.

Forgetting to wait for the glow plug light to go out before cranking the engine is not the same as forgetting to purge the bilge before starting the boat.

[F and E Damp]

We have never stayed at a CG that didn't have either full hook-ups at most sites or a dump station near the exit. They don't have a dump capability, we don't stay there. Many of our Washington State freeway rest area have two or three dump stations and potable water refill capabilites.

We just got back from a 2-week trip down the Oregon Coast. We used KOA twice, state parks five times, one county park and individually owned private CGs the other nights. The most expensive was $45 for one night, but the majority were in the $25 to $35 a night. All were full hook-up sites.

A more significant issue for us was that at some of the state parks, the sites were a tight fit and difficult to get into because of the narrow access roads. It looks like they were built when a "big rig" was 30' and slides hadn't been introduced. At one park, DW was so concerned about getting lined up, I didn't realise I was very close to a rock wall on the passenger side of the rig. Three stow-bin doors now have battle scars!

[LKicklight]

Also, backing the boat is a breeze when compared to a TT or 5'er...also, washing the exterior of the TT/5'er is also much easier...you want get hurt if you all off, except of course the roof....docking the boat can be a real treat when the wind is blowing more than ten knots, whereas the camper only has a problem with wind if about 25 knots...I believe it is almost a toss up at this point...pros and cons could go on forever...I did not cry when I sold my boat and it was not the happiest day of my life...and yes, I made money when I sold my Gibson....still love the sound..
YOUTUBE: Hot Rodding Houseboat

Originally Posted by herk7769

Well:

You don't need to worry about drowning or sinking if you run out of gas or the engine breaks down.

While the typical tow truck driver will rape you on the tire change fee, they won't normally claim your camper as salvage.

Parking a boat "may" be easier.

If you can't find a gas station that you can fit the camper under, you can drop the camper and still gas up. Try that with a boat.

Taking your boat to see Mount Rushmore is a challenge.

Forgetting to wait for the glow plug light to go out before cranking the engine is not the same as forgetting to purge the bilge before starting the boat.

[Arefbee]

No risk of being pillaged by pirates when camping.
You never have to say "red - right - returning" when camping.
A campfire at the CG is relaxing. On a boat it is not relaxing.

[ependydad]

Never saying "No port wine LEFT" to remember which the heck port and starboard mean!

[arlee453]

There are some popups (the HW tent popups, for one) that do have full black and grey tanks on board, and not the cassette toilet. Do your homework and check out the floor plans available to see what works for you. When we bought our popup, having an actual (albeit very small) shower and 'real' toilet with a black tank was a deciding factor over the ones that only had the cassette toilet.

Most campgrounds have septic hookups at each site that you can connect directly to. Occasionally you'll find a place that doesn't have hookups at the site, but they almost always at least have a dump station where you can empty your tanks on the way out. At least with at TT, you are usually above the septic system so there is no need for 'pumping' out the tanks - gravity does the trick for you. And you cannot generally dump your grey water on the ground - it should be dumped at the dump station or site hookup.

The septic options at a campground is usually a deciding factor if we plan to stay more than a couple nights as we don't want to fill our tanks faster than we plan to stay. Although, there are portable waste containers you can buy to dump into, then roll to the dump station as opposed to moving the entire trailer/RV to go to the dump stations. We usually stay no more than 2-3 nights if we don't have site hookups. Of course we have 6 people so we fill our grey tank pretty quickly.

As far as prices... I find that private campgrounds with full hookups generally are in the $35 and up range. At popular tourist locations (ie Myrtle Beach) it can be closer to $70-80/night at peak season. Of course, a hotel that would sleep 6 people would run us at least 2-3 times that much for a decent place. We have a long trip planned this summer out west. I've pre-booked the entire 5 weeks and prices ranged from a low of $35 in Grand Canyon and Idaho, averages around $50/night and a high of $70 at a private CG just outside Yellowstone.

Good luck with your decision! I would give one more piece of advice... depending on your needs, and how 'luxurious' you want your traveling to be, go bigger rather than thinking you will get a pop-up as a starter. The average RV owner upgrades at least 2-3 times over their lifetime. We wish we would have just jumped right in to a full sized TT rather than starting with the popup. It's a huge difference in comfort and convenience.

On the other hand if you are more of a sportsman/outdoors type person who will mostly be camping in state parks and more remote campgrounds, then a A-frame or popup can be just perfect for their size and ease of towing, etc. The good thing is that there are styles and floorplans that work for most anyone!

[Arefbee]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Never saying "No port wine LEFT" to remember which the heck port and starboard mean!

I usually remember port and left are both 4 letter words.

What was tricky to remember is that it is NOT red light on right.

[B47]

Originally Posted by Arefbee

I usually remember port and left are both 4 letter words.

What was tricky to remember is that it is NOT red light on right.

That's how I remember them when I have to - same with aircraft - red is on the left and green is on the right.

[dkb74]

Originally Posted by Texasperry

Do campgrounds segregate different types of campers?

Some do, some don't. They might simply based on the site size or limit the length, or if there are hookups. For instance, a site may have a limit of a 24' camper. Or they may have tent-only sites (which only has W/E) and then rv/trailer sites which any camper can sit on (which will have sewer hookups added).

Originally Posted by Arefbee

No risk of being pillaged by pirates when camping.
You never have to say "red - right - returning" when camping.
A campfire at the CG is relaxing. On a boat it is not relaxing.

[SuwanneeDave]

Originally Posted by F and E Damp

A more significant issue for us was that at some of the state parks, the sites were a tight fit and difficult to get into because of the narrow access roads. It looks like they were built when a "big rig" was 30' and slides hadn't been introduced. At one park, DW was so concerned about getting lined up, I didn't realise I was very close to a rock wall on the passenger side of the rig. Three stow-bin doors now have battle scars!

As one who worked for a state park system at one time, there are reasons that state park campgrounds are space limited:
1) state parks do not want to be seen as competing with private campgrounds and RV parks
2) the philosophy of most state park systems is to emphasize appreciation of the outdoors, thus catering more to small campers and tents.

[Capt. Mike]

We, too, were long-time boaters - more than 23 years - and I hold a 100 ton USCG Master's License, but I do not regret selling the Carver. We had planned to make the Great Circle cruise, but with twin Crusaders burning 1 gallon per engine per mile, and gas at $4.50+ on the water, it was looking cost-prohibitive. Exit the boat, enter our first travel trailer, and we're loving it. We're now on the second tt (just like with boats, you do get two-foot-ites). There is so much to see and do in this great country, and while we still love the water (we were just in the Charleston / Savannah area), we really just enjoy getting out on the back roads exploring places we've never seen before. And as others have said, you can go a lot more places in an RV than in a boat.

Some of our favorite campgrounds are Corps of Engineers' campgrounds. Nice facilities, usually near lakes, and very reasonably prices, especially if you get the National Parks "official old guy" card.

[cstover]

Being stationed on a ship for the last 7 of 11 years and running boats for 2600 hours the other four years, I have no want to own a boat. As much as I love being on the water, it is my job. Therefore camping is my way to turn it all off.

[LKicklight]

Of all the camping facilities I have visited in my camping career, trust me there have many, so many I cannot begin to count.. By far the State Parks like, the one at Desoto Falls in Ala., along with Skidaway State Park in Savannah or two I would consider exceptional. We have never had any parking problems at any we have stayed at. The only place where we suffered damage to our rig was up in Townsend Tn., and it was a local private facility. The roof on our Sunnybrook still has damage from numerous walnuts falling on it while we were there. The owner would not allow us to move to another site, giving the reason that they were all reserved, even though no one showed up that day, also the day we left. Will always choose a State Park over a private owned campground...

[asquared]

Never been a boater so I can't compare that but I can tell you that camping is very very addictive. You will meet all kinds of wonderful friendly people who respect each other and their belongings, just don't bring a loud barking dog or they might just turn their screaming kids loose on your site.. No, really if you are respectful you will find many new friends.

The campgrounds really vary in price and amenities. There is boondocking which is free and has no amenities, not even a set site and probably no neighbors. There are sites with water only, there are sites that share utilities with other sites, there are sites with water/electric only and there are full hook up sites. You can have no amenities all the way up to pools, lakes, beaches, hot tubs (one in sc has hot tub for each site), horseback riding, playgrounds, minigolf, arcades, and even places to eat. Cost varies as widely as type of site and amenities. I have seen $15 all the way up to over $100 per night. I would say in my area average w/e site is $25-35 and average fhu site is $40-65 per night. An idea of what state we are talking about would be helpful in better understanding expenses. With camping you have to budget for fuel and food expenses plus any sight seeing or local activities.

They have mentioned above how rvers tend to continuously upgrade rigs for bigger and better things. You need to think about how you will use your trailer and what you will be towing with as well as what area you will be towing in. As stated above, campgrounds don't allow grey to be dumped onto the site (ok to dump it into fhu septic though). This is because it smells bad and it tends to attract unwanted critters. Nowhere allows black tank dumping anywhere other than into the sewer hook up at site, dump station or whatever jerry-rigged homemade macerator setup you have tapped into home septic. If you are gonna boondock then you will want larger Tanks for both grey and black tanks plus a larger fresh water tank. If w/e site then you can conserve., use bath houses and go o dmp as needed. If fhu no worries, just keep some water in tank to prevent the dreaded stone mountain build-up.

Finally realize that an rv will have a heavier tongue weight than a boat limiting your rig size to something much lighter than anticipated (do a search on Here for how to determine weight you can tow or ask and many will help). Most importantly, don't forget to kick back by the campfire with a beer watching the stars while the kids roast marshmallows.

[wfmdfm]

I still enjoy both. With boating there are many additional safety factors compared to Rving. Tides, weather, current, navigation, sun protection and many idiots are all things that you need to be very aware of. But the love of the ocean and fishing keep me coming back. Both require maintenance but the boat around salt will always require more than a camper on a interstate. For me there is a sweet spot for both but I need to find just where it lye's.
Wally
30 ft 5th wheel, 26 ft power boat on Cape Cod