[mtlakejim]

In very broad terms and certainly not in every situation what we have found is that generally speaking government run campgrounds will have more room between campers while older privately owned campgrounds tend to "pack um in like sardines". This makes perfect sense because private owners are all about getting as many campers in a given area to make more money, while the government is trying to offer an "experience".


I'm not trying to say that one type of campground is better or worse. Nor am I trying to say that long term tenants are always a bad thing.


Government campgrounds are not there to make a profit and as such are usually very economical. They almost all have a limit on how long you can stay to discourage long term tenants and the potential issues that can come from that. Depending on the state and certainly true of most federal parks we have visited, there are certain minimum standards that they are expected to meet and there is usually enough money to ensure they do meet those standards or they shut the park down until it does.


It's not always the case but all to often the privately owned campgrounds turn into something more akin to trailer parks with long term residents and perhaps a few undesirables. Since long term residents are a more stable form of income owners have very little incentive to address issues related to same. Likewise you will often see private owners neglecting even basic maintaince on their facilities. Particularly older parks.


There is however a new trend with private "resort" rv parks opening up that are much more extravagant and cater to higher end rv owners. The kind of folks that drive Class A diesel pushers. They usually cost a lot more to stay at and are generally much better run and cleaner than your typical older park. At these parks you usually have more room between campers (more akin to what you see at government run parks) and there is usually a concerted effort to keep the clientele a little more on the high end as well. In many cases, these parks do not allow any sort of soft sided camping (IE: tents, popups and the like). It is more of a Country Club sort of setting than primitive camping. The term GLAMPING comes to mind.


One last time, let me state, I am not saying that one type of park is better than another. Nor am I saying that any of the above is absolute and there are not exceptions because there certainly are. I am just stating this as generalities and broad brush observations. We have stayed at all three types of parks and some that were the exception to the rules above as well. In the end, research research research is the answer and even then your going to find yourself pulling into something that sounded really nice only to turn out to be, as our President recently used, a sh$#hole. It happens, you learn from it and move on.