Woodall's

[traveljunkie]

Just got the 2007 Woodall's delivered today. We are using it to plan our rving schedule for next year. How many of you use Woodall's to find campgrounds where you are going? Is it pretty accurate? How do you long timers and full timers get campground recommendations?

I thought we'd use it to at least identify campgrounds in an area, then search the web for additional information, pictures, etc. Any comments?

[ols1932]

In the beginning of our full timing in 2000 we used Woodall's, Trailer Life, and others to locate campgrounds on our route. But we soon found out that there were sufficient campgrounds available that we didn't need the books. On our Delorme Street Atlas software, a lot of the campgrounds as well as local businesses are shown.

Orv

[JimF]

I use the good sam planner then supplement it with some web searches for the areas we will be in. Good Sam is "pretty good" during the trip. We also take advantage of the Military Campground Directory, for those of you that are eligible. And it all else fails we look for camping signs on the interstates, etc. We have never really had any problem. Unless we do something stupid like deciding to go winter camping up the east coast in New England during high winter when it's 10 below. And believe it or not we found a cg then too, was a bit dicey for a while though. Spent one night backed up to a snow bank and ran the generator.

[Montana Rog]

I mostly use my laptop. Where ever we want to go, I look it up on the internet for campgrounds, and I find anything I want to know about the campground facilities in that area. I always get places with Wi-Fi, so I am able to find the next place. Right now I am in Cut and Shoot Texas. Found it on the internet. it's a great place! Not many places honor Good Sam for more than a few days. If you stay a month, everybody seems to pay the same price, not matter what club or organization you belong to. Sometimes, the internet photos look really nice. You get to a place and it's a dump, with lots of permanent campers that are pretty delapitated, and the owners go to work every morning, or just sit around and stare at you. I think they take the pictures when it's all nice and green and all the trash is covered with grass. We are starting to get smarter, and only rent a site for one or two days, and look the area over, and sometimes there are better places close by. I guess I went on long enough about the "Book". Although I do own one also! Rog

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

We are old fashioned and use the books quite heavily. As much time as we both spend on the computers and the internet, we rarely campground hunt with the internet. Go figure!

[DONnANNIE]

I'm a newby since last July. I have MS Streets & Trips. It is a pretty good program. I mappedout our first trip to the Oregon coast. I didn't have any books at that time. I have since obtained Trailer Life Directory, CampUSA Directory and the Military Directory.

With MS Streets & Trip it shows you where to stop for the night. I use either the Internet or the Directories to find a CG nearby. I could probably do it all on the Internet, but I'm glad that I have the Directories to refer to also.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Probably 99% of the time I use this lap top for our CG searches. We had the Trailer Life and Woodall's but found they were less help than the Internet. Many many times we have found CGs on the net that were not listed in either book AND quite often, upon arrival, the CG I found in either book was nothing close to it's rating. Actually many were absolute dumps. I would like to meet the folks that rate some of these places as somebody is getting paid off for some of these ratings.
If I know the area I want to be in I always check PassPort America FIRST to see if they have any CGs close by. If not, I'll Google the area and go from there.
Yes, just because it's listed in PassPort America doesn't make it any less of a dump but at least at the PPA dump I'll get a 50% discount. If it's just one night and depending on how bad it is I'll put up with it and move out first thing in the morning.

[adelmoll]

We always use Woodalls or Trailer Life for an overnite spot. We never are sure where we are stopping until it is time and the book comes in real handy to tell us where a spot is. For longer stays I use the computer.

Helen

[Joyce H]

We also use Trailer Life for overnight when traveling right after lunch we calculate where we will be in 3 or 4 hours and I research that area in the TL while Tom is driving. Then we call ahead so we are sure the park can accomodate us, request a pull through if possible, and make a reservation. When planning a trip, we start with TL and then research the possible campgrounds online and also check to see if any of the MOC members are familiar with a particular campground or area. Works for us. Our 2007 TL arrived yesterday and is always fun to browse through and see what has changed from year to year.

[TheCoachPotatoes]

We also like the Good Sam Atlas. Most campgrounds are marked. We look for ones along the route and then look in the Woodall's for other info. Usually, if we are just looking for an overnight, the Atlas is helpful because you can tell how close to your route it is. The atlas doesn't just show Good Sam member campgrounds, it shows others also. We look for something, that's easy off and on. Our destination campground is a different story. We usually research that before leaving home, and know where we are going.

[Mudchief]

Being we never know where we are going to stop we just use Woodalls.

[refocused]

We use Escapees parks first, then Passport America, then Good Sam - so far, so good!

[Illini Trekker]

First I'll look at Woodalls to see what around where we will stop. Then open up PPA to see if there is a discount in the close area. Then if I was able to plan well enough ahead I'll Google satellite the CG we will stay at. I try the plan most stops ahead of time. SeeYa

[sreigle]

I use Passport America first, then Escapees, then Trailer Life. I have an older Woodall's I'll sometimes consult. I like TL's info and ratings best so usually cross reference from PA and SKP.

I use Streets and Trips for routing and seeing what CG's are in the area or for locating one I selected from one of the directories. I used to use Street Atlas. It is also good.

As for recommendations, I save info I find about CG's from this forum, for reference. Or, if we'll be in an area awhile I will post a question on this forum, asking for recommendations.

I also use the web to get up-to-date info, particularly when I'm unsure whether they have wifi.

[Parrothead]

We use the internet, Trailer Life and Passport America. Usually we plan on the CG ahead of time. Sometimes we see one along the way and change our minds. Last summer we stayed in Flagstaff at a CG that sounded really good on the internet. It was an older CG and some of the first customers were still there. The park had 20 amp service to give you an idea of the age. We had seen a really nice CG on the way to Flagstaff near Williams, so we went there for the remainder of our month.
Happy trails..................

[sreigle]

If you use Streets and Trips, Street Atlas, or CoPilot Live, you can download files from http://www.discoveryowners.com/cginfolinks.htm
that will show you at a glance if there is a PA or SKP park near any site.

For streets and trips, and maybe street atlas, if you edit the text file and add a first line with the column titles then you can just click your way through when importing the file. You won't need to add titles. That first line should look exactly like this..

Latitude, Longitude, Name

They're text files. Open with notepad or any text editor and add that line. It makes the import process much faster and easier.