If i owned a campground....

[rp53]

Originally Posted by davel1971

I don't like that at all. No room and a guaranteed mulch fire.

guess i should have clarified all my pads would look like this. that is where she stays in the winter

[OldCoot]

Bottom line, regardless of how & what the campground had, concrete streets, pads, patio's, picnic tables, full hook ups, etc. some folks would bitch and moan about something even if it was only $10/night.

[BeeGee]

I have paid as little as $10 per night and as much as $125 per night. I'm not so much concerned by the cost but rather by the quality of the offering. To me camping days are precious as there are only so many available in a year. It's a shame to have them wasted in a bad campground especially one where the owners have no concern for your overall enjoyment. I can always make more money to replace the money wasted in a crappy campground, but the time spent there is lost forever.

[davel1971]

Originally Posted by BeeGee

I have paid as little as $10 per night and as much as $125 per night. I'm not so much concerned by the cost but rather by the quality of the offering. To me camping days are precious as there are only so many available in a year. It's a shame to have them wasted in a bad campground especially one where the owners have no concern for your overall enjoyment. I can always make more money to replace the money wasted in a crappy campground, but the time spent there is lost forever.

I completely agree. We camp 30-50 nights a year, at all types of campgrounds. From our local state park to resort type campgrounds. I have no problem with the cost, as long as I feel the value is worth what I paid.

[kittlecat]

My perfect campground would not have the picnic table, which weighs about 500 pounds sitting in the middle of the pad every time I arrive... by myself... and have to somehow wrestle the picnic table out of the way so I can back into the site... by myself. I am capable of backing my TT into a site but definitely appreciate when I can find a campground with pull-thru sites simply because I often camp alone. I agree with many of the other things people have mentioned, such as level, cement sites, power that works on site that isn't 50+ feet from the coach when parked, reliable wifi would be fantastic, vegetation between sites would be super fantastic. But like a couple of other people said, I don't have the luxury of camping year-round so every night I can camp, I make the best of it and treasure the memories. Period. Nuisances are everywhere in life. I really do try to DWI (deal with it) when it comes to campgrounds and have the option of not returning to a campground that does not meet my needs/expectations.

[BeeGee]

Another example. We're in this campground that provides cable TV. Cool I thought, I can watch Monday Night Football. Haha forget it chump. It's basic cable and no ESPN

[Briorick]

Our local campground that we stayed at this past weekend, and over the past several ( 12+ ) years, would be a campground like I would like to have. A very primitive and woodsy nature appeal.

Approx. 50 electrical sites, no water or sewer hook-ups, with an area for dry campers and tents. Primitive bathrooms and accessible water stations spaced accordingly to the layout of the grounds for convenience. Very family oriented with nature trails and a playground for the kiddos. And pet friendly. Fishing on site for those fishing folk.

No Wi-Fi, as people these days tend to have data packages on their phones, just as I have. Television ( cable ) not provided by the campground. If wanted, or needed, would consist of campers personal Satellite Stations or rooftop antennas. I did see 3 Satellite Stations set up in the CG.

Black top or concrete pads with double lot spacing in between campers would be a must. With large fire rings and adjustable grills on each site. And of course all picnic tables would have the extended table ends for those disabled folk.

Now, before anyone would say this would not be suitable for many.... last weekend this CG was at 80% capacity with 5-5ers, 2 class C, 1 tent, 3 Pop-Ups, 2 HTT's, and the remainder were TT's.

A lot of Happy Campers consisting of families, couples, friends, and pets. So I suppose even though all the extra "perks" would be nice, this just goes to show that they are not an essential part to getting people out to enjoy themselves. People adapt to what they have at their disposal wherever they are camping.

This CG is never lacking for campers as it is usually near full every time we camp there. Just a quaint little CG with a good atmosphere.

**BUT, on a side note, I would not want to own, nor be tied down to a CG. I didn't buy my TT not to be able to travel. It would defeat my purpose.

Just my 2 cents!

[asquared]

Interesting thread to read.... you can really see how many different styles of camping every one does. That is the beauty of camping, we all have our own desires and are able to find them and accept each other's differences of perfect camping ideas when shared around the fire.

Currently, I like a campground with a nice playground that will keep a child entertained for more than five minutes. Minimum 30 Amp but prefer 50 Amp. Water within a 50 ft reach. Nice view of either a lake, pond, mountains, beach or woods/trees. An off-leash dog park would be great! No breed or size restrictions, just reasonable expectations for normal dog behavior (ie not aggressive, not excessive barking).

Basically, I want somewhere I can take a deep breath and relax while my 9 yr old plays with other kids her age. I know when she is a teenager my needs/wants will change some and then things will change again when she us grown. My needs are also dependant on length of my stay. We are fortunate to have several such campgrounds within a reasonable driving distance from home (less than 2 hours).

[Briorick]

Originally Posted by asquared

We are fortunate to have several such campgrounds within a reasonable driving distance from home (less than 2 hours).

Same here. In our Southern Illinois area we have approx. 20 CG's within a 2 hour drive....and depending on what type of adventure, outing, sight-seeing we are opting for, takes us to specific CG's. Nice to have the choices within a reasonable driving distance to change up the scenery.

[dieselbobcat]

Originally Posted by mjones12

I would add 3 pm or 4 pm checkout on Sundays to accommodate weekend campers.

X2

When close enough to home and the cost is low enough, we have booked Sunday night as well in order to stay late enough to have a early dinner and roll out before dark...

[lugoismad]

Originally Posted by nomad297

Because in so many campgrounds, seasonal campers tend to make the place look like a low-rent trailer park. I dont think the weekenders should have to put up with this.

I have a seasonal site in the middle of a bunch of transient sites. I keep my site looking like I just got there and am ready to leave in a moment's notice. However, on the other side of our campground, the whole section is seasonal campers and the area looks like hell - like a low-rent trailer park. Some of the sites are nice, but most are cluttered with every kind of yard decoration and light that can be bought at the dollar store and Home Depot. There are other seasonal sites such as mine scattered around the transient section of the campground and most of these people seem to keep their sites like I do mine, but there are a few that are over the top that most people wouldn't want to be camping next to.

Bruce

Agreed. There is a campground about 10 miles from my house. Mineral Springs, near Peebles, Ohio. Beautiful spring fed lake. Really nice area. But it looks like heck. The place is full of campers people leave there 24/7/365. Most have decks built around them. Junk strewn all around. I really don't see the appeal.

We drove through, just to check it out and scout out potential campsites. Nope. I'll drive 4 times further to a state park, to not camp there.

Beyond that, I read some of their reviews online, and a lot of weekenders were complaining that the full-time people were very rude to short-term people, going so far as to harass, drive through their campsites, etc, because they didn't want them there.

[lugoismad]

I was actually just talking to my wife about this, this weekend.

1. Water hookup at site, but not sewer, to discourage long-term stays.

2. As an IT professional, I can tell you it would be relatively easy to provide a stable and reliable wifi mesh network at a campground.

3. Privacy. Trees between every site. Birchs are narrow and fast growing and would provide privacy between sites.

4. Pull through sites in a figure 8 configuration, so you can still have a privacy barrier behind your campsite.

5. Stocked catch and release fishing lake with a couple monster catfish to keep things interesting

6. Preferably built into a hillside. Flat campgrounds are boring.

7. Reasonable firewood rates. I think a lot of people would be happy to pay $50 to have a 1/4 cord of wood delivered and stacked at their campsite for a 3 day weekend. Closer to the city, $200 is a reasonable rate for a cord of wood delivered and stacked. So $50 for a 1/4 isn't unreasonable.

8. Splash park / mini golf / other stuff for the kids so I'm not constantly hearing "I'm boooooored".

9. A redbox or something similar on the grounds, for those rainy weekends.

10. Offer site setup. My parents went to a campground up in Michigan a few years ago where they were inside paying for the site, and when they came out, the camper was gone! The staff had unhooked it from the truck, and used a tractor to deliver it to the campsite, leveled it, and hooked it up. There are so many people that are afraid of backing up their camper. I think if you charged $15 for this, you'd make a killing and have a lot of happy customers.

[lugoismad]

Originally Posted by asquared

An off-leash dog park would be great! No breed or size restrictions, just reasonable expectations for normal dog behavior (ie not aggressive, not excessive barking).

To add to this - I wish campgrounds enforced noise violations more. I spent ALL weekend last weekend listening to some yappy little dog bark non-stop. I'm not exaggerating, it was all day, every day.

I really wish the park would have told them either they go or the dog goes, but either way, it needs to stop.

I've put a lot of work into training my mutt to be well behaved. I don't want to have to listen to someone else's lack of training all weekend.

[Seasonal]

Originally Posted by nomad297

Because in so many campgrounds, seasonal campers tend to make the place look like a low-rent trailer park. I dont think the weekenders should have to put up with this.

I have a seasonal site in the middle of a bunch of transient sites. I keep my site looking like I just got there and am ready to leave in a moment's notice. However, on the other side of our campground, the whole section is seasonal campers and the area looks like hell - like a low-rent trailer park. Some of the sites are nice, but most are cluttered with every kind of yard decoration and light that can be bought at the dollar store and Home Depot. There are other seasonal sites such as mine scattered around the transient section of the campground and most of these people seem to keep their sites like I do mine, but there are a few that are over the top that most people wouldn't want to be camping next to.

Bruce

I agree that a few seasonal campers make their sites look really junky at some campgrounds. Makes a person understand the tripadvisor reviews that state, the owner of a campground is difficult or mean. If I owned a campground, I would be firm and clear with rules and the rules would apply to everyone. Many of the etiquette threads here would not exist if the owners of campgrounds were a bit more firm with the rules around dogs, lights, quiet hours, and junk stored on seasonal or temporary sites.

Owning a campground is not a career goal of mine. Dealing with the public on a daily basis would not be fun.

This topic reminds me of a campground we were staying at. We walked into the camp store early one morning to get a free cup of coffee that was available and the owner of the campground was involved in a heated conversation with a seasonal site camper. Seems the seasonal site camper forgot that they did not own the site but were simply renting. The campground owner was asking the seasonal camper to adhere to rules around wood storage on their site. The seasonal camper thought a face cord of wood stored on their site was great but the owner didn't agree. I liked that although difficult, the owner was making the camper adhere to the rules around wood storage. We were told by other seasonal site renters that the owner was really tough. The campground looked great though and I appreciated the owner being tough.

[kittlecat]

Lugoismad: where did your parents camp in Michigan that the park had the camper taken to the site before your parents had even checked in? I am a Michigander and would love to know the park they went to. What an excellent service!

[lugoismad]

Originally Posted by kittlecat

Lugoismad: where did your parents camp in Michigan that the park had the camper taken to the site before your parents had even checked in? I am a Michigander and would love to know the park they went to. What an excellent service!

I don't know. This was about 15 years ago. My dad told me about it (I'd honestly not remembered about it) recently, but he wasn't sure which park it was.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Bottom line, regardless of how & what the campground had, concrete streets, pads, patio's, picnic tables, full hook ups, etc. some folks would bitch and moan about something even if it was only $10/night.

Right on OldCoot !!!

Speaking of picnic tables,,, we camped a couple days @ Camp Dearborn in Milford MI this week,,, they have the Dammest picnic tables I have ever seen,,, they seat 10 maybe 12 people,,, and have back rest,,, they have hundreds of them !!! It takes 2 young men & a boy to move one !!!

It is quite the place,,, 626 acres !!! It has every thing !!!

[MeepMeep]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Bottom line, regardless of how & what the campground had, concrete streets, pads, patio's, picnic tables, full hook ups, etc. some folks would bitch and moan about something even if it was only $10/night.

You left out the free lunch....

[DaGrinch]

Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945

So I guess check in would be about 5:PM ???

Check out at Raystown Lake (CoE campground) is 4pm. Yep, you guessed it, check in is 5pm. Not a problem if the site has been vacated prior to 4pm.

[BamaBob]

So.... the consensus is a "perfect" RV park would have:

• Level sites
• wide and long concrete pads
• full hookups
• Shady private sites
• a free run doggie playground
• playground and activities for the kids
• seasonal swimming pool
• Natatorium close by (this is my add )
• decent pervasive WiFi
• clean and inexpensive ($1/load) Laundromat
• firewood at decent prices

Sounds like the Military FamCamp we stay at (OK we don't have as much shade as we would like but then again, shade interferes with satellite reception )

In fact it sounds like every military FamCamp we have stayed at

So...if you happen to work for DoD, are a DoD retiree, or a Military member/Retiree you really need to check out the FamCamps!

U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks - Home

Oh, and it doesn't hurt about security: FamCamps are the ultimate gated community - nothing like having gate guards armed with M-4 carbines

Disclaimer: there ARE some real stinko FamCamps or some that are just being renovated. The website above will let you know about those camps so you can avoid them