Chickery's Travels

Chickery's Travels logo. A blue-green Earth globe with continents surrounded by dots with an arrow denoting movement or travel and "Chickery's Travels" as part of the dotted circle. Next to this is a photo of their blue and white Arctic Fox 5th Wheel with the awning out.
  • Home
  • Campground Reviews
    • Alternatives To National Park Campgrounds
    • Best Luxury RV Resorts For All RV Types
    • Best Waterfront Campgrounds For Every Budget
    • Alabama
      • Gunter Hill Campground (Montgomery, Alabama)
    • Arizona
      • Best Campgrounds in Arizona
      • Aspen Campground (Payson, Arizona)
      • LazyDays KOA (Tucson, Arizona)
      • Lost Dutchman State Park (Phoenix, AZ)
    • Arkansas
      • Catherine’s Landing (Hot Springs, Arkansas)
      • Downtown Riverside RV Park (Little Rock, Arkansas)
    • California
      • Best Campgrounds in California
      • Crescent City Redwoods KOA (Crescent City, California)
      • Sea Breeze RV Park (Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station)
    • Delaware
      • Cape Henlopen State Park (Lewes, Delaware)
    • Florida
      • Best Campgrounds in Florida
      • Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area (Pensacola, FL)
      • Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Southeast FL)
      • LazyDays RV Resort (Tampa, FL)
      • MacDill AFB FamCamp (Tampa, FL)
      • Military Camping in Key West
      • Patrick AFB FamCamp (Cocoa Beach, FL)
      • Rainbow Springs State Park & Campground (Ocala, FL)
      • Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness (Orlando, FL)
        • Halloween at Disney’s Fort Wilderness
        • Chickery’s Travels Podcast Episode 5: Fort Wilderness Campground Review
    • Maryland
      • Cherry Hill Park (College Park, Maryland)
    • Michigan
      • Port Huron KOA (Kimball, Michigan)
    • Nevada
      • Las Vegas RV Campgrounds: Nellis Air Force Base and Lake Mead RV Village
      • Boondocking Near Las Vegas
    • New Hampshire
      • Lincoln / Woodstock KOA (New Hampshire)
    • New York
      • Round Pond Recreation Area (West Point, NY)
    • North Carolina
      • Outer Banks West / Currituck Sound KOA (Coinjock, North Carolina)
    • Oklahoma
      • Oklahoma City East KOA (Choctaw, Oklahoma)
    • Texas
      • Best Campgrounds in Texas
      • Alsatian RV Resort (Castroville, Texas)
      • Maverick Ranch (Lajitas, Texas)
      • Texas Wine Country Jellystone (Fredericksburg, Texas)
    • Tennessee
      • Camp Margaritaville (Pigeon Forge, TN)
      • Crossville I-40 KOA (Crossville, TN)
      • Midway RV Park (Memphis, TN)
    • Virginia
      • Fort Belvoir Travel Camp (Alexandria, VA)
      • Harrisonburg / Shenandoah Valley KOA (Broadway, Virginia)
      • Luray KOA (Luray, Virginia)
      • Lynchburg / Blue Ridge Parkway KOA (Monroe, Virginia)
      • Shenandoah River State Park (Bentonville, Virginia)
    • Washington
      • Crescent Bar RV Resort (Quincy, Washington)
    • West Virginia
      • Harper’s Ferry KOA (Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia)
  • USA
    • Arizona
      • Apache Trail: A Crazy, Scary, Beautiful Drive
      • Lost Dutchman State Park (Phoenix, Arizona)
      • Phoenix Faves
    • District of Columbia
      • Budget Friendly Fun in Washington D.C.
      • Favorite Hikes near Washington DC
      • Indoor Skydiving and TopGolf: Just Another Day of Family Fun!
    • Florida
      • Best Walt Disney World Festivals For Adults
      • Blowing Rocks Preserve – Jupiter Island, Florida
      • Bok Tower Gardens
      • Daytona Beach – The World’s Most Famous Beach
      • Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
      • Gasparilla – Tampa’s Pirate Invasion
      • 3 Days on the Nature Coast 
      • Florida Freshwater Springs on the Nature Coast
      • Halloween at Disney’s Fort Wilderness
      • Kennedy Space Center – Cape Canaveral
      • Island Hopping at Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island State Parks
      • Must See Sights in St. Augustine, FL – America’s Oldest City
      • Rainbow Springs State Park & Campground (Ocala, Florida)
      • Sunny Sarasota
      • Tampa
        • Get Back to Nature in Tampa Bay
        • Take Me Out to the Ball Game – Spring Training in Tampa, FL
        • The 5 Best Beaches in the Tampa Bay Area
        • Why We Love Tampa
      • Tarpon Springs – The Gulf Coast Town with Greek Flavor
      • Top 5 Things to Do on Florida’s Space Coast
      • What Not to Do When Kayaking on the Weeki Wachee River
      • Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
    • Georgia
      • Visiting Atlanta? Don’t Miss These Civil Rights Museums
    • Illinois
      • One Day In The Windy City – Chicago Itinerary
    • Maine
      • Coastal Maine Vacation
      • Monhegan Island Maine
      • Two Days in Acadia National Park
    • Nevada
      • Planning an RV Trip to Nevada
      • Las Vegas RV Campgrounds: Nellis Air Force Base and Lake Mead RV Village
    • Tennessee
      • Burgess Falls: 3 For 1 Waterfall Special
      • National Civil Rights Museum – Memphis, TN
      • Window Cliffs, TN – I’m Not Afraid of Heights, But I am Afraid of Falling!
      • WWII History in Tennessee
    • Texas
      • Best Eats in Fredericksburg
      • Enjoy a Bird’s Eye View of Texas Hill Country
  • RV Resources
    • 3 Simple Steps to Find the Best RV Campgrounds
    • 5 Years Full-Time RV: Lessons Learned & Biggest Regret
    • Boondocking – What We Learned From Our First Dry Camping Experience
    • Tips for Boondocking Success
    • Essential RV Gear
      • Essential RV Gear Guide
      • DIY RV Power & Solar Upgrade
      • RV Must Have: Tire Pressure Monitoring System
      • RV SnapPads Product Review
      • RVLOCK Keyless Entry Door Handle Installation and Review
      • Shop “RV Local” With TechnoRV
      • Top RV Gadgets & Accessories
      • WeBoost Cellular Booster Review
    • Living in an RV
      • 9 Lessons From 2 1/2 Years on the Road
      • Biggest Regret Full-Time RV Living
      • Dealing with my Biggest Full-Time Travel Struggle, Missing Family While Traveling
      • Downsizing: 3 Areas That Make The Biggest Impact
      • Full-Time RV: 2019 Year in Review
      • Full-Time RV: 2018 Year in Review
      • Full-Time RV Travel – 2017 Year In Review
      • How Full-Time RVers Celebrate the Holidays
      • How to Prepare for Full-Time RV Travel
      • Internet Solutions for RV Travelers
      • Learn How to RV Full-Time
      • Living in a Tiny, Traveling Home
      • Making Friends (and reconnecting with old friends) While Traveling Full-Time
      • Pros & Cons of Full-Time RV Travel
      • RV Organization & Storage Ideas
      • Short-Term RV Storage: Leaving The RV Behind
      • Top 3 Lessons Learned & Biggest Regret: 3 Years Full-Time RV Living
      • What We Wish We Knew Before Full-Time RVing
      • What You Need To Know Before Selling Everything And Moving To An RV
      • Why We Are Traveling Full-Time In Our RV
    • Maintenance Tips
      • DIY Power Upgrade – “Solar Ready” Arctic Fox Fifth Wheel
      • DIY RV Power & Solar Upgrade
      • Easy DIY Project to Protect Your RV Water System
      • An Easy Way to Protect Your RV Water Heater
      • How to Reduce the Likelihood of Tire Blowouts on your RV
      • Odor Free RV Black Tank Tips
      • RV Condensation: What It Is, What It Does, and How To Stop It
      • RV Roofs – What You Need to Know
    • Must Read Books Before Becoming A Full-time RVer
    • RV Organization & Storage Ideas
    • RV Remodel
      • Planning an RV Remodel
      • RV Kitchen Cooking Videos
      • Painting Your RV Interior
      • Update the RV Kitchen – Backsplashes & More
      • Updating Your RV Window Treatments
      • RV Bedroom Makeover
      • RV Remodel Costs with Before & After Photos
      • Vintage Camper Renovation
    • RV Holiday Tour – Decorating Our Small Space
    • RV Hurricane Evacuation
    • RV Misery Can Be Overcome By The Generosity Of Others
    • RV Travelers: How to Read Books While Saving Space and Weight in Your RV
    • Slow Travel
    • Small Kitchen Cooking
      • Cooking Videos
      • Eating Healthy on Travel Days
    • Staying Healthy
      • Traveling with Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, and Other Chronic Pain Conditions
    • Trip Planning
    • Traveling with Pets
      • RVing with Your Cat
      • Traveling with Restricted Breed Dogs
    • Why I Prefer RV Travel Over Flying
    • Your Guide To Planning The Best Family Vacation This Summer
  • Travel Finance
    • 5 Tips to Save on RV Travel
    • 5 Ways to Fund Full-Time Travel
    • Full-Time RV Expenses
      • Annual Full-Time RV Expenses – The Big Three
    • Five Credit Card Strategies To Improve Travel
    • How Much Do Campgrounds Cost?
    • How Much Does it Cost to RV Full-Time?
    • How to Camp for Free
    • How to Start a Profitable Blog
    • How to Save Money on RV Fuel Costs
    • How to Save on Food While Camping
    • How We Earn A Living While Traveling Full-Time (And How You Can Too)
    • How We Paid $139,000 of Debt in 2 Years While Full-Time RVing
    • Learn How to Finance Your Dreams
    • The Top 7 Ways to Save Money While Traveling Full-Time
    • Roadmap to Financial Freedom
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report April 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report May 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report June 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report July 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report August 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report September/October 2018
    • RV Purchasing
      • RV Purchasing: Understanding RV Types
      • Benefits of Renting an RV
      • Should I Buy A New or Used RV?
      • The Costs of RV Ownership
      • The True Cost of Financing an RV
      • Why You Should Attend An RV Show
    • Save Money Using the Public Library (On More Than Just Books)
  • Military Travel
    • Guide To Using Military Campgrounds
    • Health Care for Retired Military Full-Time RVers
    • Why Military Retirees Should Fly Space-A
  • Videos
  • About Us
    • RV Shows We’re Attending
    • Contact Us
    • Follow Us
    • Why We Are Full-Time RVers

May 15, 2017 by Julie 5 Comments

3 Simple Steps to Find the Best RV Campgrounds

880 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Over the years, we’ve stayed in our fair share of RV parks and campgrounds. We’ve found some fantastic places, a few mediocre ones, and everything in between. With each stay, we learned something new, and created this simple 3 step process to find the best RV campgrounds.

  • Step 1: Define Your Needs
  • Step 2: Conduct an Initial Search
  • Step 3: Read Reviews
  • Create Your Own Checklist
  • Related posts:

Step 1: Define Your Needs

Before even beginning your search to find the best RV campgrounds, its important to define your needs. Consider the size of your RV and any tow vehicle. Do you want full, partial or no hookups (water, sewer, electric)? Are there any particular amenities you want? Here’s our list:

  • Size. This was trickier when we had a 44 ½ foot long fifth wheel with slides on both sides, pulled by a dually pick up truck. We’d often book what some campgrounds call “premium” sites, so that we weren’t too boxed in. It is definitely easier now that we have a 29 ½ foot long fifth wheel with slides on one side. However, we still like to find sites where there is plenty of room for our truck. We also prefer campgrounds with plenty of room between sites so we’re not awning to awning or sitting on top of someone’s sewer when we’re at the campground.
  • Hook ups. We like our creature comforts, so we prefer full hookups (water, power, and sewer). We have a residential refrigerator and two air conditioners, so our RV is wired for 50 amp power. However, we can easily use 30 amp power with our adapter. We’ve also selected an RV with rather large holding tanks so that we can stay at partial hookup campsites without sewer if needed.
  • Extras. Wi-Fi, Cable, Laundry. We have a Wi-Fi hotspot and satellite dish, so we don’t need free Wi-Fi or cable, but they are nice as they save us the time of setting up our external stuff. We have a washer/dryer hookup in our RV, but have chosen to use it for storage, so we like staying at places that have a laundromat.
  • Length of Stay. Many commercial RV resorts and campgrounds offer discounts for weekly and monthly stays, and we like to take advantage of these whenever possible. These can be significant. For example, we booked a one-month stay this winter in South Florida. The daily rate is $49, but the monthly rate was $746, which comes out to $25 per night, saving 50%. If we’re only staying for a night or two, we’ll try to use our Passport America membership. It costs $44 a year, but with a 50% discount on a single 2-night stay in a place like Florida pays for itself with one stay.

Step 2: Conduct an Initial Search

When you are trip planning, you can use a free program or a premium (paid one). I’ll share both options below.

A free search tool to find the best RV campgrounds is Campendium. You can use it both from their website or app. Watch the video below to see how I use it.

My favorite tool that I started using this year is RV Trip Wizard. Watch the video below to see how I use it for trip planning starting at the 9-minute mark. Or you can watch the entire video to see what else is included with it.

RV Trip Wizard part of the RV Life family of products, so if you purchase it, you get everything for the price of one. It is more than just a trip planning tool. It also includes an RV GPS app that you can use on your phone or tablet. Sean also likes the Maintain My RV program that comes with it as well. So for $49/year it actually saves us from paying for a bunch of other programs. They have a free 7-day trial you can sign up for. Just click here and select Start Your Free 7 Day Trial Now.

Some things we consider for a stay:

  • We’re usually planning to visit a general area and will first conduct a  search on Campendium to see the RV parks in the general vicinity of our destination. We usually like to find spots outside of the city proper.
  • We look at the size of the available spaces, as well as the size of the park from Google Maps. When reading reviews, we will usually nix a place if folks are complaining about tight interior roads.
  • RV parks can offer a wide range of amenities such as swimming pools, fitness rooms, hiking trails, restaurants, activities for children/adults, and many more. These aren’t as important to us, but they can be the tie breaker.
  • Once we’ve narrowed down some top choices, we move on to reading reviews.

Step 3: Read Reviews

Before booking a stay I always read the reviews on Trip Advisor and RV Park and Campground Reviews. You can read them for free, but if you have the paid RV Life / RV Trip Wizard package, you’ll get additional details on the reviews. When reading reviews I consider the following:

  • One thing we really like about these particular review sites is that you can see visitors’ photos, not just the park’s official advertising pictures. Obviously a park will want to show the best photos they have. They may even be from when it first opened 20 years ago! We’d rather see a candid photo of folks enjoying the pool, than a glossy ad photo of it.
  • Over time we have learned that some folks just like to complain. In addition, when you’re smoking mad about something, you want to log on to the internet and share it with the world. Therefore, we take emotionally charged reviews with a grain of salt. You can usually tell when reading the review if a person was mad at the time.
  • Reading Between the Lines. While there are those who only review when mad, there are also folks who are reluctant to criticize. With that in mind, sometimes you have to read between the lines. If reviews are terse and simply say, “The park was as described,” chances are it wasn’t that great.
  • Number of reviews. We try to balance this by looking at as many reviews as possible. If something is coming up repeatedly, good or bad, it’s more likely to be true.
  • We tend to put more weight behind a reviewer who has written reviews of more than one park. Unfortunately, some business owners will have friends and family write positive reviews for them. By reading reviews from folks who have posted on several places across a greater geographic distance, you have a better chance of finding an impartial review from someone with experience to compare it to. This is another reason we enjoy reading blogs.

Create Your Own Checklist

I hope this article helped you with strategies to find the best RV campgrounds. Everyone has different expectations for their perfect RV Park, so your checklist may look quite a bit different from ours. The important thing is that you have one so you know how to evaluate one from another. The more you use the RV Park sites, the more you’ll learn about how to pick the right one for you. You may not always find one that meets all your criteria, but if you determine your priorities in advance, you’re more likely to enjoy the stay.

Be sure to sign up for my FREE RV Camping Guide. It has over 30 pages of tips and 4 printable worksheets to help you plan your RV travels whether you are a full-time time traveler or weekend warrior.

Ultimate RV camping guide filled with tips for planning your next trip.

If you want a more deluxe version, click here to see the planner my friends at Streets Wander created to keep track of my reservations, must-see sights, and much more!

Save this image to Pinterest for future reference.

Whether you are planning your next RV camping trip or you are a full-time RV traveler, use these tips and tricks to finding the best campgrounds. These ideas will help you find the best RV parks or campgrounds for your next spring break or summer road trip adventure across America. They apply to all RVs including motorhomes, fifth wheels, and travel trailers.

Related posts:

Small Kitchen Cooking - Fall Apple Recipes
RV Condensation: What It Is, What It Does, and How To Stop It

Filed Under: RV Resources, Trip Planning Tagged With: campground, RV Park, RV Resort, RV travel

Comments

  1. Mark Finch says

    October 26, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    Thank you for sharing your tips. My dad and I recently bought an RV, and we’re very eager to try it out. Since it’s our first time, we want to make sure we avoid the common mistakes committed by newbies. I like your tip on checking reviews on camping grounds. I’ll be sure to check recommendations from someone who has made multiple camping reviews. We’ll surely benefit from that person’s experience and maybe get tips specific to that particular camping ground.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:37 pm

      Congrats on the new RV! Hope you have some great trips in it!

      Reply
  2. Ellie Davis says

    August 6, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    Thank you for pointing out that you are going to need to consider how long you are going to be staying when picking an RV park. My husband and I love camping in our RV and are looking for some new sites. I’ll have to look into finding the best ones possible.

    Reply
  3. Larry Weaver says

    August 31, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    Thanks for the tip to conduct an initial search when finding an RV park. My parents would like to spend their retirement living in an RV park. I’ll recommend to them that they should start looking around to find what will be a good match for what they are looking for.

    Reply
    • Julie Chickery says

      September 1, 2018 at 12:24 pm

      Terrific! If they want to stay in one place and not travel, there are RV resorts that have what are called Park Models. They may be best for full-time stationary living.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Full-time RV Finance is a program designed to help you find the means to the live the life of your dreams.
Learn how to start a blog for free. This simple course will walk you through the steps you need to make money anywhere.
Learn how to camp for free at over 2500 locations worldwide.

Signup to receive weekly updates and exclusive free content only available to subscribers!

Privacy Policy

Travel Schedule

Recently
Cape Henlopen State Park, DE

Currently
Front Royal, VA

Next Stops
See our RV show schedule

Notice

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

top rv blogs
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Email

Free RV camping guide with over 30 pages of tips and worksheets

Download Now

Never see this message again.

880 shares