Packed Campgrounds & Parks Impede RV Freedom - Page 3

bdreinv · 10-22-2018, 04:03 PM

Still lots of room on BLM land in Arizona!

TxLoser · 10-22-2018, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E_Benson

My family has only been camping in RV for ~1.5, but tent camped before that. Living in the Bay Area in CA, anything within 2 hours drive must be booked about 6 months out if you want a weekend site. Also, if it is a popular site, I am lucky to get anything when they go online 6 months out. Now, I just try to book a lot of weekends when I can in advance, and just know I will have to spend some money to cancel, but at least I have a spot when we can go (4 kids, baseball schedules, work travel, etc) make it very hard to know what summer weekends are like.

The downside, it takes away from the spontaneous, hey lets go camping this weekend. Trying to get friends together is very hard, because no one wants to commit 3-6 months in advance. We do a mixture of state parks, national parks, RV parks.

I hope you cancel well in advance so others can book. That's a sore spot with me when people shotgun book, and don't follow up. Part of the problem. We considered doing that, as my schedule is pretty sporadic, but ultimately decided against it. So often I have a site reserved in a "booked" campground and there's always no shows. Good for those who drive up. Bad for those trying to plan a trip a few weeks out.

E_Benson · 10-22-2018, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TxLoser

I hope you cancel well in advance so others can book. That's a sore spot with me when people shotgun book, and don't follow up. Part of the problem. We considered doing that, as my schedule is pretty sporadic, but ultimately decided against it. So often I have a site reserved in a "booked" campground and there's always no shows. Good for those who drive up. Bad for those trying to plan a trip a few weeks out.

Of course we do our best to cancel as far out as we can, but as you mentioned, if things were available more often I wouldn't have to go to such extreme measures. With 4 kids + work sometimes I don't get as much notice as I would like. If folks camping it much longer than us have ideas on how to find weekend spots I am open to trying new ideas. But with all my kids under the age of 9, just hopping a spot will be available and not having a really good plan does not work well for us.

Eric

PlayersZ28 · 10-23-2018, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdreinv

Still lots of room on BLM land in Arizona!

Where is that? I figured either Lk Mead or Col Rvr but I can't find a ramp that looks like that on satellite view

WinnieView · 10-23-2018, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayersZ28

Where is that? I figured either Lk Mead or Col Rvr but I can't find a ramp that looks like that on satellite view

That is the 10-lane ramp at Lake Pleasant. But just to clarify that is not BLM land, which there is plenty nearby. It is County land.

PlayersZ28 · 10-23-2018, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

That is the 10-lane ramp at Lake Pleasant. But just to clarify that is not BLM land, which there is plenty nearby. It is County land.

Thanks. We've been by there on 74 a few times but never stopped and stayed. Maybe next winter.

bdreinv · 10-23-2018, 10:49 AM

Exactly how could I forget county shore camping 15 bucks a night ! BLM free LOL, free is better.Thanks

Hog3loves · 10-24-2018, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

A lot of it is trial and error and word of mouth. Start talking with people who travel to the areas that you are interested in and you may get ideas of where you can boondock either on public or private land.

I try to stay away from trial and error method...by definition you fail half the time. Word of mouth is best. Getting info from those who have experienced campsites you're interested in can be beneficial. But be careful. Remember the old saying as it pertains to camping, "one man's treasure can be another man's trash" or something like that.
Do your own research. Like someone said above, I use Google maps and their satellite view a lot. And the RVers on this forum are more than willing to share their insights. Start a new thread concerning the location/area you're interested in. I think you'll get good information here. To quote CCR, the people on this river are happy to give.

RetiredLEO · 11-01-2018, 05:21 PM

When we finally buy our new Class C Odyssey or Grehawk it will be set up with solar panels and either one or two lithium batteries so we can boondock to our little hearts desire. The thought of staying in even a "half way" full CG is the ultimate turn-off. It would feel like living in a apartment building............no thanks! We will probably hit a State Park or nice private CG once every seven to ten days just to use the laundry, empty black tank etc. I love nature............mankind at times............not so much. Unless we would get to have a group of friends to run with.........that would be a different story of course (I love to cook and share) or if we have Grandkids with us we would CG a little more often for them to have a swimming pool etc.

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