Truth in Campgrounds...

[gelswick]

Since I am still licking my wounds from the expensive damages done by the people at Red Rock CG in Idaho, I am wondering why none of the CG raters, Good Sam, etc. ever state how many sites will fit a 40' 5er or coach. A local cg gave us a pull through that had plenty of access room until we were leaving and I noticed the tree that was blocking the exit turning radius, the only way out was to pull into the drive across the street and over the grass strip between the lots and back onto the road. Luckily there was no one camping there at the time and I had room to do that (and it was dry). Backing it out was not an option, by this time the lots behind us were full and I was not risking backing into another unit. This is at the top rated park in this area.

Come to think of it I have never seen a really bad rated CG, if it is rated poorly by anyone than someone else (probably the owner) posts and says they will spend every summer there they love it so much....

A previous thread stated they liked the variation in CG's, I do to but I would like a guarranty that I have room to get in and out with out damageing the very expensive RV and TV. Lot size standards would be greatly appreciated.

[Champ_49]

Woodalls CG book gives a lot of the info you are looking for. Also RV Park Reviews on the internet gives reviews from campers and a lot of info on the park. Yes you have one saying this the other saying that, but you can tell after using the reviews pretty much where your at before you get there. Theres also sattelite feeds you can go to and get right down close to the camping sites and look it over also. Lots of options out there really. I'm sure more will come along with some good ideas also.

Dave

[Sky]

I have notice more then enough CG's will have an intersection of almost 90 degrees and there is some pole or huge rock(s)or large tree right on the corner which make it almost impossible to make the turn w/o stricking one of them. I was making a 90 degree turn and watching the pile of rocks at the base of the road in my mirror trying to keep the 5er from stricking them that I totally missed seeing how low a tree limb was sticking out into the intersection and I ended up taking out my awning. Some hint of low limbs and tight turns would be helpful in those RV Park Reviews that we all buy.

[mhs4771]

Our first stop (Stoney Creek Resort, Greenville, VA) on the way South this year was a real trip, nothing but pot holes getting there, very unhelpful staff (had to break up their BS session and smoke break), site we had to get crosswise on to fit, restrooms from hell. Wrote up a report for one of the on-line reviewers and it was shot down because we were the only post for that CG and were considered a one time incident, yet on another reviewer site there we almost carbon copies of our post. So it seems that some reviewing sites will not post negative posts. Just my nickols worth.

[DQDick]

When you look at the national jobs looking for work campers some of them are selling advertising to campgrounds. Makes you wonder who owns what and would a company that took advertising money for one publication allow a bad review of the same RV park in another publication they own.

[CamillaMichael]

quote:Originally posted by mhs4771

Our first stop (Stoney Creek Resort, Greenville, VA) on the way South this year was a real trip, nothing but pot holes getting there, very unhelpful staff (had to break up their BS session and smoke break), site we had to get crosswise on to fit, restrooms from hell. Wrote up a report for one of the on-line reviewers and it was shot down because we were the only post for that CG and were considered a one time incident, yet on another reviewer site there we almost carbon copies of our post. So it seems that some reviewing sites will not post negative posts. Just my nickols worth.

Good way for campgrounds to keep their image up...NO COMPLAINTS PERMITTED!

[gelswick]

Champ,

I don't have my woodalls with me but don't remember seeing that kind of info in there. Also being a land surveyor I work with aerial photographs frequently and have not seen any available to the general public, Google Earth and MS EarthLink, etc. that would show the kind of detail necessary.

[gelswick]

CamillaMichael:

You won't find any complaints on Red Rocks web site, they promptly removed mine and never would reply to the very pointed questions I asked the owner.

[1retired06]

We often wonder at the ratings. Have been to campgrounds with max ratings, and wonder why, almost dumps. Have been to campgrounds with ratings in the 7 and 8s, and thought the parks were super. An owner in South Carolina mentioned that because he did not buy adverizing in the Trailer Life Book, his rating was impacted. True, untrue, I do not know. Ratings seem good as guides, but we are often surprized by what we find.

[gelswick]

Similar to what I discovered with the BBB. In case you don't know you have to buy a membership to be "acredited". That is unless you have some kind of pull with the local BBB, then you can get an A+ rating by lying to them. After this happend I cancelled my membership with them, took months to get my refund back. They are just another company trying to max their profits, bogus business "ratings" is how they do it. They have NOTHING whatever to do with government regulation....

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

As is frequently the case, I probably am misreading something here, but, Google maps can have really good visuals of campsites, NOT always, but, here is an example. This happens to be one of our favorite state campgrounds in Michigan, near Jackson. You can even see the firepits!



As you can see, you can see quite a bit. What you cannot see is how LOW the trees might be growing.

From reading the blog of a campground owner I can tell you some of the stuff she puts up with is astounding and befuddling, like people driving on the lawns, backwards on one way streets, and more, I will NOT repeat what they do in her bathrooms. All that, I hate, hate, hate, big rocks and low trees.

Now, ya, all, carry on.

And, oh, Happy Thanksgiving.

[DonandJudy_12]

Most campgrounds were laid out 20 or more years ago when trailers were much shorter and very few had "tipouts" [ predecessor to our current "slideouts" ]- Also it was an economic consideration to make as many sites as possible on the property- I can remember a "campground" located in the backyard of a home- I can also remember a "campground" without a "pad"- I can also remember paying $5.00 a night- In perspective, "campground" owners have come a long way and I am grateful for the "improvements" made- JMHO- Don

[CamillaMichael]

OK, I love low tree limbs ripping off my a/c's and tearing my rubber roof, and adore rock piles placed at turning points, and trees left in positions that it may be impossible for longer rigs to move around...these are just a few of my favorite things....

[gelswick]

Carol,

Not disagreeing with you, there are some areas were there are adequate coverage at an adequate scale but not all areas are covered at such high resolution as you show. Some areas are very blurry when you zoom in to the scale you have. In your aerial photo what about the sites you can't see, under the trees.
My opinion is coming from traveling and OK now we know how far we will go today so lets hunt for a campground. Out comes the Woodalls and we pretty much judge from those ratings. The on line CG review sites I do not trust at all and don't waste time with them. Since I assume that if you are not happy with a CG you are much more likely to file a report online than if you have nothing to complain about. The glowing I want to stay here forever reports are most likely the owner or their friends, not actual reports.

[Flymutt]

I always use campgroundreviews.com because they have reviews from campers going way back in time so you get a real "feel" for what you are about to experience. They automatically show three recent reviews for each campground but then you can click at the bottom of that campground section and it opens up more info than you probably want to know. I don't stay anywhere without checking there first. I also make sure to rate the parks that I stay at so as to help those who might follow.

[HamRad]

We look at the Woodalls / Trailer Life books. We also look at the RVParks online site. We also ask friends here on the MOC. We've found the RVParks online site to be very good. What we like about it is that you get the good and the bad. Over the years we've sort of gotten a handle on how to "read" the various reports. Using the above resources we've never been surprised by what we see when we arrive at a CG.

We also use the various online mapping programs to take a "look" at the CG..... We love the satellite views that show the CG! The views give us enough detail to generally see the access roads as well as the the individual sites. Not ideal but certainly enough detail to let us know whether or not we would have trouble getting in or out. We love it. Good luck, Dennis

[Art-n-Marge]

I'm afraid HamRad is right and he might not realize HOW right. We must use every tool or reference available and it still varies from site to site, campground to campground that there is no such thing as perfect positive planning unless you are THERE after many weeks of planning and miles of driving! For this reason I try to avoid night time arrivals and try to be as rested as possible! It's no wonder that the simplicity of arriving and setting up at the destination will wear someone out and much of this is mental.

I have been surprised many times and I'm not out there with anywhere near the frequency as many of you.

[old turbo]

Parks have trees its nice for shade the problem is they grow and spread both trunk and branches. Rocks are nice to look at but park owners should pull a large trailer through their own park to see what is in the way. The trees have grown over the years,signs in the wrong places and just don't ride around on a golf cart. I am a cc member and a park close to me is a premiere park. It is a huge park set up nice but on one of the main roads it has pine trees that have branches live and dead that catch roof tops and the top edge of the side of your rig if you do not move to the center of the road, hard to do with the amount of traffic. RV owners just take for granted that the branches are clearing their rig.

[hookman]

I use RV Parks Review website. I usually throw out the top and bottom ratings and use the middle of the road ones which usually give you a good idea of the park. We usually use reciprocal parks and most of the time they are in there to.
http://www.campgroundreviews.com/

[pineranch]

Parked next to a Woodals campground evaluator a couple of yrs ago. They noticed some of their lower ratings came out higher when published. The comment was "money talks" as Woodals is paid for the advertisements.
Mike