I keep reading posts that refer to commercial vs State campgrounds. Could someone clarify for me what are the differences, how to recognize one over another and what is the general consensus on preferance? Thanks, Jen.

Jen

Where to start?
Commercial CG's range from 5* resorts with meal delivery and a spa to a a spot in a field with a 20 amp outlet, a water faucet, a bathroom and a place to dump the holding tank.
Federal and state campgrounds range from complete hookups to primitive with limited facilities.
Then there are the Corps of Engineers (COE), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park with campgrounds and unorganized areas that campers use. Reference Quartzsite (sp?)
Peruse a camping directory, Woodalls or Trailer Life to get a background of the type of campground/camping you want. Although the directories concentrate on the commercial campgrounds they do provide a listing of state/federal campgrounds with facilities available.
Does that help? Or did I miss the question completely?
Bill

Commercial=privatly owned all others=owned by a government

Then there are membership parks, open to members only and not the general public.

Bill you spelled Quartzsite the same way the town founders did.

Yep that answers the question. I was hoping that there were some dependable standards that might have to be met by a govenment facility to insure cleanliness and safety in a CG. I guess I had better buy the book and hope that the facilities are accurately represented. Jen

You all forgot the Military Campgrounds available to active duty military personnel and their families - retirees - and others such as DoD employees.

FastEagle

I have never seen military campgrounds listed in the common campground guides, but there is a guide advertised that does list them. since I am only and 8 year veteran and can't use them, while any DoD employee can, I guess I have not kept up on those.

Under the public campgrounds there are a lot of different agencies that have them and what facilities each has varies quite widely. There is a book called "Camping with the Corps of Engineers" that might be quite helpful to you. I don't have one, but am thinking of getting a copy. Not all CoE parks have the same facilities. On the lake where we presently volunteer there are three parks with RV hook-ups. One has 30/50A power, water, level sites, showers and a dump station. Another has some sites with sewer, water, showers and 30A power. Yet another has water, sewer, 30A power with a dump station and there are two more that have primitive canping with a vault toilet, a water hydrant sites with tables.

The age and condition of the shower facilities varies quite widely also. That same thing is true for all public parks with RV sites. There are some county parks in south Texas that rival the nicer commercial RV parks for their facilities. But we have also seen some very run down ones. Frequently both types will be found within the same state or national agency.

National parks are that same way. Most national forest campgrounds are primitive, to partial hook-ups. BLM has a few of both types as does the Bureau of Reclamation. In Kentucky & Tenn. you will find the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that also has some parks on their lakes.

We have found that public parks usually have spaces that are more widely separated than do commercial parks. One reason is the availability of land and the taxes on that land. We generally prefer to stay in public parks, usually with the state or the Corps of Engineers, but they are not as handy to the highways so when traveling we usually stop in commercial parks.

Some of the chain parks tend to have similar facilities, but not all. The group called Trav-el Parks seem to all be pretty decent in quality. KOA is not really a chain but rather a service package that any park can buy into and so they vary quite widely. In the larger cities they also tend to be to the expensive side for what they give you.

Jelleystone parks are very child oriented. They are usually pretty decent parks, but it is just a little like going for pizza at 'Chuckie Cheese." They are great if you have kids, the pits if not.

We tend to think of those that call themselves RV Resorts, as up-scale but there is nothing to set any standard for that name and lately it has become common for some pretty dumpy places to just change the name to resort to get a higher price with no improvement in facilities or amenities.

quote:

I have never seen military campgrounds listed in the common campground guides, but there is a guide advertised that does list them. since I am only and 8 year veteran and can't use them, while any DoD employee can, I guess I have not kept up on those.

My understanding has always been that the individual base Commander decides whether current or retired DOD civilian employees can use the military Fam Camps based on the local demand, availability and other factors. That seems to be supported by the information on this website:

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_...view&id=232&Itemid=2

A listing of the Fam Camps can be found here:

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_jreviews&Itemid=38

The google map function can be a huge help when looking at campgrounds, we have found several that sounded good but had neighbors that made staying there pretty iffy. Dirt race tracks, concert facilities and rodeo grounds aren't usually good neighbors. It is an aspect that many of the camping guides don't cover.

Then there are people like me who would LOVE to stay next to the race track/concert or fairgrounds so that I wouldn't have to drive anywhere after the event. I guess if you were just passing through you wouldn't want the noise but if you participate it gets quiet...eventually.

Dirty Donna

Sorry on this one, Kirk, but in the back of the Trailer Life Directory we have there is a listing by state of military campgrounds. I was amazed when my DW pointed it out to me one day. We were trying to figure out where some retired military friends of ours were staying when they came to Arizona.

Here's some definitions provided by Woodalls of the various types of sites:

http://www.woodalls.com/output.cfm?ID=1150705

I know of at least one U.S. Forest Service campground with full hookups: Serrano Campground at Big Bear Lake, CA. It's beautiful with widely separated campsites.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HB Phil,

quote:

n the back of the Trailer Life Directory we have there is a listing by state of military campgrounds.

I see that we have it in ours too! I guess I don't look as closely at the "whats new" section when it comes, as I had thought that I did. Wonder when they added that and how complete it might be?

Since the only ones that will allow us veterans who didn't stay to retire are those where you have someone to sign you in as their guest, I suppose I haven't kept up on that one.

Editing: We have stayed in the base RV parks many times where our career soldier son is stationed. He has always been able to sign for us, in advance before our arrival. His wife also did that at Ft. Knox when we visited the family while he was in Iraq. I don't know about other bases, but Army campgrounds do allow this at least for parents of the soldier. The grnadkids do occasionally spend a night with us, but the soldier has never stayed in the RV with us and was not ever present when we arrived.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kirk,

quote:

Originally posted by Kirk:
[QUOTE]

Since the only ones that will allow us veterans who didn't stay to retire are those where you have someone to sign you in as their guest, I suppose I haven't kept up on that one.

Kirk,

The ones that I have visited want let anyone sign you in as a guest unless they stay in your RV. Not sure if all of them are this way.

I don't know about all military campgrounds but here in Montana (Air Force) as long as one person in the group has a military ID card (active,retired or DOD civilian) they can sign in their traveling friends with their RVs and they do it all the time.