Are most campgrounds this tightly packed?

FTWingRiders · 08-03-2014, 07:02 AM

Hello all,
My wife and I pulled into Harpers a ferry koa last night... Wow! I sprung for deluxe FH pull thru, and I can't believe how small these sites are. I can just barely put my mat out without touching the site in front of me, and I need to tuck the bed of my truck under the nose of my 5'er to get off the road! And it wasn't cheap either..

This is out first trip with the 325srx this far from home. We go to 3 campgrounds in the northeast regularly with good luck so far, however now I know why some people avoid koa.. I had read the reviews here that said it was tight, guess I didn't realize how small they could make rv sites...lol

Is this the normal out there? I'd be tempted to move to a different campground if anyone could recommend one in the vicinity..

Thanks, Forrest

Festus2 · 08-03-2014, 07:12 AM

It's not uncommon to find "tightly packed" campgrounds - no matter where you go camping. I think you will find that the sites found in privately-owned RV campgrounds are closer together than those in state or federal parks.

There are some private ones that do have spacious sites and it would be wrong to say that they are all packed in like sardines. Obviously, the more sites they have in a given area, the more income is generated and what campground isn't out to make $$$?

Your experience is not unique and camping in close quarters in some private parks is "the norm".

bsmith0404 · 08-03-2014, 07:18 AM

Some parks are frustrating. We stayed at Jellystone in Estes Park, CO a few years back, payed BIG $$ for a deluxe/premium site. The site was very narrow and had a drop off on the edge down to the next site. I had a heck of a time trying to get a 35' 5er backed into it. positioned it as close as possible to the drop off without actually dropping over the bank. Had to use two 2x8's as well as leveling blocks to get side to side level, had it backed in so far the back overhung another drop off behind the camper which made it almost impossible to use the stabilizers (had to back up that far to open the slides around the water and electric stubs. I still couldn't put the awning out because of a tree. Barely had enough room to put the truck in front, pulled up under the nose of the 5er. It would have been a great site and a great park if I had a 25' or smaller unit.

We also stayed at a park up in Yellowstone that hard large sites, but so many trees it was difficult to position the RV to get the slides open. Most of these parks were not built with slides in mind, and definitely not built for 3-4 slides.

Dhuhn · 08-03-2014, 08:00 AM

one thing you have to realize is most of the RV parks where built before the bigger RVs came out and smaller. I know most of the state parks campgrounds here in Washington state are too small for my 5er and mine is 36 ft. We have stayed a quite a few KOA out west most out here will accommodate the bigger rigs and your not right on top of your neighbor.

Javi · 08-03-2014, 08:57 AM

It's a problem in many older camps and parks, they were designed when a 24 foot trailer was a "BIG" trailer and have never been updated. We see this a lot down here especially with the State Parks many of which were built in the depression era by the WPA and converted from tent camping to trailer in the 70's.

Bluewater · 08-03-2014, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhuhn

one thing you have to realize is most of the RV parks where built before the bigger RVs came out and smaller. I know most of the state parks campgrounds here in Washington state are too small for my 5er and mine is 36 ft. We have stayed a quite a few KOA out west most out here will accommodate the bigger rigs and your not right on top of your neighbor.

Most all the parks on the esat side have plenty of room...come try some out.

bmach · 08-03-2014, 12:24 PM

I look at campgrounds on google earth to get an idea what they are like.

Jim & DJ · 08-03-2014, 01:02 PM

Brent, next time go to Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. It is big and well maintained.

bsmith0404 · 08-03-2014, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim & DJ

Brent, next time go to Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. It is big and well maintained.

Yeah I honestly can't remember the name of the one we went to, it was about a mile outside the gate. It was nice, just a bit tight with all of the trees

cabinfever · 08-03-2014, 04:02 PM

We camped a month ago at a campground in Wellsville NY, Trout Run. It is being converted from a mobile home park to a CG. It is in its infant days of conversion. The sites are very large. All sites are full hook up with 50amp service. The property is 100 acres and borders the Genesee River. Was a nice stay. Once this CG matures I believe it will be a popular spot for seasonal and weekenders alike. https://www.facebook.com/troutrun.campresort?fref=ts

howard · 08-04-2014, 12:53 PM

Forrest,
Maybe it's the KOA's we've stayed at, but I agree with you the KOA sites seem tighter than most others. With that said however we stayed at the KOA near the Badlands in SD a week or so ago and the campground was a "10" in my opinion, nonetheless we had to back out of our space because of a tree. I think the moral of the story is to arrive at 2 or 3 in the afternoon (not at 7 pm as I did at a non-KOA campground near Mt. Rushmore where I had to get the owner of the campground to help us back out of our pull through site) and ask for a different site if you don't fit in the one they proposed to give you.
Howard

86GT2r · 08-04-2014, 03:21 PM

We stayed at the KOA in Custer, very tight spot. Only reason I didn't go somewhere else, is we were gone all day & came back to sleep. Probably would stay somewhere else ig I am in the area again.

bsmith0404 · 08-04-2014, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 86GT2r

We stayed at the KOA in Custer, very tight spot. Only reason I didn't go somewhere else, is we were gone all day & came back to sleep. Probably would stay somewhere else ig I am in the area again.

Custer definitely has some nicer options. We stayed at big pine and loved it. The campground we were at near Yellowstone was Flagg Ranch. It was very nice, but tight do to the number of trees they try to keep.

gurlcruza67 · 08-05-2014, 07:08 PM

We purchased our first travel trailer in June, and we have visited 2 campgrounds so far. The first one was at Pocohantas state park Virginia. Water&electric only, had 139 sites and was very spacious. The second trip was at American Heritage RV park at Williamsburg, Virginia and they have 138 sites, full hook ups. What I see so far, is the older section is for smaller trailers and it's a bit crowded, but the back section is for larger trailers and it's a bit more spacious. This is a private own campground. Our trailer is 25ft so we're in the back. I paid $30 a night at the state park and $ 49.25 a night at Heritage minus a 10% discount for being a good sam's member.

Festus2 · 08-05-2014, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurlcruza67

I paid $30 a night at the state park and $ 49.25 a night at Heritage minus a 10% discount for being a good sam's member.

Has anyone ever been asked to show proof that they are a Good Sam member and therefore qualify for a 10% discount. In the few Good Sam affiliated parks that I have camped at, I can't think of one time when I was asked during check in to show my Good Sam membership card.

I wonder if they give everyone who registers the 10% discount and don't bother with the GS membership requirement ????

bsmith0404 · 08-06-2014, 03:05 AM

I've been asked, but then they told me they don't give a double discount and the Good Sam and military discount were both the same amount....so why did they ask????

gurlcruza67 · 08-07-2014, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Festus2

Has anyone ever been asked to show proof that they are a Good Sam member and therefore qualify for a 10% discount. In the few Good Sam affiliated parks that I have camped at, I can't think of one time when I was asked during check in to show my Good Sam membership card.

I wonder if they give everyone who registers the 10% discount and don't bother with the GS membership requirement ????

I just showed him the card. He didn't examined it to see if it belonged to me.

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