Let me begin by telling you about Fishermen’s Bend. We were driving from Seattle to Southern California and were passing through the Sacramento area. We were just staying one night. Before the days of Yelp and Google reviews, one had to rely on RV Park Guides. They were kind of like the motel guides you can get from AAA, but without the diamonds to tell you nice the place is. My husband picked it because it had a pool and he thought it would be nice for the kids to go for a swim after a long day in the car.
The RV park was eight miles off the road. That should have been our first clue. We drove into the RV park and it had a very strange, kind of creepy vibe. Being newbies, we tried to ignore it. As we drove through, people who were sitting outside of their trailers stared at us. We began to notice that most of the rigs in the place were pretty run down and some had flower pots and add on porches. Having pretty much only stayed in State Parks, we found this odd, but weren’t really sure why. Then, we drove past the pool. There were kids in it, but the water was a funky color. That’s when I said, “This is too weird.” My husband responded with, “Yeah, it reminds me of that Stephen King book ‘Deliverance.’ Let’s get out of here.” We bailed and found another place down the road right off of the with newer looking rigs and decided to stop there. We took the kids to the pool where they lasted about 5 minutes because it wasn’t heated and the water was icy cold. The rest of the evening we kept to ourselves inside the trailer and we left first thing in the morning.
What we learned later was, Fishermen’s Bend was full of migrant farm workers. There’s nothing wrong with people actually living in an RV park. With all the live ins, it made us look like aliens because no one else ever stayed there. Hence the stares. To make matters worse, it was a poorly kept, very run-down park. This park taught us a lot about how not to choose an RV park.
Luckily, choosing an RV park has become much easier since the Fishermen’s Bend days thanks to advances in the internet and RV parks finding it important to have websites. Yelp and Google reviews are a help too but, they can be deceiving. You never know who writes these things! Here are a few pointers that we use that have served us well.
First, you need to figure out how it is you want to use the RV park. Will it be a destination spot? For instance, will you be staying for a week near a National Park? Will you just be staying a night and not even need to un-hitch. Will you be bringing kids that will drive you nuts if you don’t dump them in a pool for an hour or so? Do you have a dog with you (some RV parks have dog parks)? Will you need to do laundry? Do you need full hook-ups? Are you like my brother and prefer a boon-doggle on a fire service road someplace? Do you need a bunch of trees to block the view of the neighbors? These are things to take into consideration.
We do a lot of one night stays on the way to someplace else. In those cases, I find us a nice big pull-through and we don’t un-hitch so that our get-away is faster in the morning. When we are on a trip, I usually pony up the extra $20 or so to upgrade the site. In most cases this gives you a little more room. Sometimes it gets you something really cool like a fire pit and a gilder swing. Sometimes, you wonder what you just paid for until you go for a walk and see what the little sites are like.
For destination places (and by “destination” I mean places you’re going to stay for longer than a night or two because you’ll be exploring the area around the RV park). I go on the website map and look at all of the “premium” sites. Then, I call and ask, “What one of the sites available for my dates would you choose if you were going to stay in your park?” I’ve gotten some great help this way. People at the parks will ask more questions like if I’ll be traveling with pets. Maybe then I’d like a spot on an end with more grass. Is the park on a lake or near water? I always try to get a waterfront site. In some of my favorite places, I’ve had to learn to call 375 days in advance so I can get one of my favorite sites.
Here are my rules of thumb for choosing an RV Park when you’re going someplace new and you don’t have any recommendations from someone who has already been.
- Figure out where you want to go and Google “RV Parks Near _____” – see what comes up. Begin your search with what comes up.
- Always look at the RV park’s website– If they don’t have a website move on to the next place on the list. It might be Fishermen’s Bend!
- Check it out on the map – If it’s too far off the road, it might be creepy.
- Check the amenities – Do they have the things you’ll need like hook-ups, laundry, etc?
- Once you’re on the website, look at the photo gallery – if they don’t have a photo gallery, what are they trying to hide? If they do have a photo gallery, look at the park. Is it well kept? Do they have a picture of the restroom and showers? Not that you’ll ever use them if you have your own. But, if they’re not clean in the photos, move on. Are there big rigs in the photos? Newer and bigger rigs often mean that more people are using the park for vacation purposes. It changes the vibe of the park and it’s fun to visit with people in the park who are traveling like you are.
- Read the reviews – I always read a few of reviews with the most stars and one or two of the worst reviews. Most of the time, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
- Call to make your reservation – When possible, call. You’ll get help finding a good site and you’ll get an idea of the customer service you’ll receive at the park. The exception – KOA’s do most of their reservations online. The cool thing about KOA’s is you get picture examples of the sites and a really nice list of the amenities of each site.
- Check the website for things to do in the area – One of our most fun trips was a serendipitous trip to Auburn, California. This was our Gold Country trip we took that we had to plan in a hurry because Whistler, BC was on fire. Everywhere was booked. I clicked the “things to do” button and found out about white water rafting in the area. It was an awesome rafting trip! We had a fantastic time exploring the area, rafting, etc. If the RV park doesn’t have a button for this, check websites like TripAdvisor or the local Chamber of Commerce website for things to do.
When you’re staying in a State or National Park, things get a little trickier. In Washington, many of the state parks have photos of the sites. It’s very helpful because they are persnickety about how long your rig can be in each site. Also, you can see if you’re going to have an issue with low hanging trees. Depending on the size of your rig, you may want to avoid state park type sites that aren’t for RVs as you can run into problems with trees getting in your way.
Another fun thing we’ve discovered while RVing is many RV parks have cabins for people to stay in who don’t have an RV. We like traveling with our neighbors and they don’t have a trailer (yet). They have stayed in the cabins or at a close by hotel. It might be something to think about when you’re working on your travel plans.
Recently, vintage trailers have become a thing. Some parks are now putting renovated vintage trailers in the parks and you can stay in the trailer. There’s a park with lots of vintage trailers in it that is on my bucket list! I need to stay there and go for a walk through the vintage section, but stay in my own trailer with all of my modern creature comforts!
Using these rules of thumb, we have found some great RV parks. We’ve met some really great people and we’ve also learned about new places we want to visit by hearing about other people’s experiences. I love RV parks! I love going for walks and looking at other people’s rigs. I love chatting with people who are on trips. I love hanging outside of my trailer in my camping chair. I love the experience! I hope these tips help you have a better RV park experience.
Next Trailer Girl Blog – Parking the Trailer and Staying Married
Trailer Girl's Guide to Happy Camping 