How to Find a Campground That Suits Your Family

How to Find a Campground that Suits Your Family

If you are travelling cross-country, you are constantly wondering what the next camping surprise may be. Occasionally, you will land at a campground that is so beautiful, quiet, and serene that you would make the 500 mile journey again just to spend the weekend there. These hidden jewels somehow are the best kept camping secrets. How do you find such a place? How can you be sure you don’t end up at the other end of the spectrum and end up camping amongst a cult in some town that barely made the map? Spooooooky!!!!!!!!

First, you need to ask yourself, “self, what am I looking for in a campground? Do I want to be near the mountains, lakes, or the ocean? What amenities are important to me: a swimming pool, a playground for the toddlers, or an arcade for the teens? Do I want privacy and seclusion, or do I want to be where the action is? Am I looking for sunshine and open spaces, or do I want to be deep in the woods?”

This sounds like a lot to think about, but these are all valid considerations. If you are making a reservation for the one and only camping vacation of the year, you want to be happy with your accommodations.

Once you have come to terms with your personal list of demands, there are a number of resources available containing an endless amount of information.
Call me old-fashioned, but I still like my Woodall’s Campground Directory, the “BIG BOOK” as we like to call it. The directory continues to grow with every edition. If you can’t find a suitable campground listed here, then you should just stay home or head to the Marriot.

The Woodall’s Directory utilizes a rating system similar to that of hotels. The more stars, the higher the rating. The results are based upon the opinion of our camping peers. The “BIG BOOK” also describes each campground in great detail from the maximum allowable RV length to the size of the electrical outlets.

They even have a complete listing of amenities in the park: a camping store, swimming pool, fishing, etc. Once you have stayed at one park, you will have a good baseline for the rating system and how it may affect your likes and dislikes. Get the current edition of Woodall’s North American Directory for half off!

If you are a little more computer savvy, as most campers are today, you can find countless sites to point you in the right direction.  Even Woodall’s has a site www.Woodalls.com. The Woodall’s web site allows you to search by location and provides links to campgrounds and online reservation desks.

The beauty of searching online is that most of the campgrounds will post photos of their facility on their site. This will give you a sneak peek before you make your reservation. Ah yes, you better make a reservation in advance. Camping has become so popular today that the majority of campgrounds completely sell out on a regular basis, in particular on weekends and holidays.

Be sure to check back here at the Forum for the latest tips. Your fellow campers will share their campground stories here.

If you are just looking for a place to crash for the night (and by crash, I mean a place to sleep, not bumping into things with your new RV), you can’t go wrong with the camping chains like KOA. There was a time back in the 80’s that some of the KOAs were old and rundown. It seems today, however, that the KOA chain has had a resurgence of sorts. The campgrounds are clean, they are conveniently located adjacent to the interstate, and they have easy access pull-through sites. This will come in handy if you arrive late at night.

If you are trying to be frugal while in transit, I understand that Wal-Mart will allow overnight stays in their parking lots. I have never done this myself although I do see several campers spending the night at Wal-Mart on a regular basis. You will not be alone.
Or as Granny said, “there will be liviards.” Nope it’s not in the dictionary.