Man, finding campsites in places that are worth going, unless you want to pay a fortune is just getting nuts. I was looking for reservations at Myrtle Beach yesterday and once the summer season hits, the prices are like $70+ a night. States parks are now up into the $40+ a night and that is only with water and electric, no dump. If I wanted one of the few sites with dump, the next opening is in October.

When we were in Florida, we looked about at buying a site some place we actually wanted to be as opposed to in the middle of nowhere and prices were often near six figures (and in one park near Naples they were north of 100K). My wife and I have even discussed owning a campground and it is hard to see how investing in a good campground can lose money. We actually stayed for one night in a campground where, if you got right on the line on the driver's side with your slide-out, your awning was maybe 12" from the side of the camper next to us.

Maybe it is better west of the Mississippi. Around here choices seem to be, pay a fortune per night, stay in campgrounds in the middle of nowhere, camp in the winter, or book months and months in advance.

I am sure some of you can remember when you use to roll in early on a Friday night and still get a decent place for a price that didn't break the bank.

Steve

 

Absolutely. I know some folks that reserve a year in advance. Me, I don't know what I'll be doing a year from now. Heck, I may not even still be alive!
I used to have an advantage by using military campgrounds. Not so much there anymore either. We'll be going to an Air Force base in North Carolina next month because South Carolina has gone nuts. We used to stay in Murrell's Inlet, but like you say, they've nearly doubled their rates and don't even offer sewer.
If this trend continues, I'll be limited to camping in the driveways of relatives!

 

In SD you can still do it with the exception of the holidays.

That's fine by me as I don't particularly enjoy camping / fishing on the holidays any way.

I would also venture a guess that what you guys might be experiencing a concentration of more individuals full timing it vs us weekend warrior types.

 

We have been doing it for close to 20 years and things have changed. We do all our vacations in the 5th wheel so we do sometimes book a year in advance. If we want to go to Disney, we make a reservation as soon as they open up the schedule. We are staying on the beach in Destin again this summer. It is the most expensive site, $149 for holidays, I have ever stayed in. But compare that to $400 or $500 per night for a room on the beach and it is still better. I think online reservations have a lot to do with it. You can book a particular site and cancel 7 days prior and get most of your money back. I don't think anything will change and it will only get worse.

 

The RV industry is having their best year in the past 40 years or so. Everybody can afford an RV now a days. Last year, they were building so many trailers that they couldn't get delivery drivers to haul them to dealers.


More people are living in RV's now. The federal government just stuck it's nose into the business and said that RV's are "not suitable for long-term occupancy", but it will remain up to the state and local governments to place limits on campgrounds, telling them that they can only allow a camper to stay for two weeks or a month or whatever. I only know of one campground that the owner said the county limits stays to two weeks or less.


I agree with Wrvond on the military campgrounds. I'm at Oceana in Virginia Beach, but I made this reservation last October. This place has 84% of the spaces "on extension" which means they are here for more than 60 days. Some have been here for years.

 

The lack of drivers resulted in a push by the industry to exempt the drivers from needing CDL licenses, though I am not sure how it came out.

Boomers are prime customers for RV sales and it's no secret our population is aging.

Cheap fuel also has more folks buying trucks rather than Priuses, so they are able to tow something larger than a shopping cart.

Folks have more money as the economy recovers so again more potential owners. (At the repo auctions that used to have have 40 units there are now less than ten. At the large auctions where there were 100s, there now are less than 100).

Just a lot of reasons why the RV industry is about to have its best year in a very long time. It has surpassed the numbers it sold before the 08 recession. Of course, that means there has to be some place to camp in all those new RVs.

Steve

 

Yes it is very hard to just hop in the Rv and find a campground, especially if you have a large Rv.

 

Boondock but not many places out east to do that. Campground are getting pricey but hell look at these RVs with all the fancy gizmos that suck electric like no tomorrow.

 

Availability for boondocking is more limited, I believe, in these parts versus those parts, but we do stay in primitive campgrounds and a couple with just partial hookups. Better be mid-week though. In general, rural land is posted and not welcoming to campers (or anyone else).

Steve

 

What has happened is growth of the standard RV. Now a days the RV's have gotten bigger and lighter so you don't need the diesel to haul most of the campers at the shows, and being easy makes it more appealing to the average family. As seen in the amount of sales in the RV industry. Also the fact that most of us have gone through the progression from tent to 5th wheel. Finding a tent spot on a weekend has mostly been easy, but 5th wheels are long and need room for the slide outs, plus 50 amps. The majority of campgrounds have not been able to catch up with the site size and amps. Pull through and site size are not easily attainable in a lot of campgrounds. Last the shear number of campers is mind boggling. I remember going to Skyline drive and the yearly total of people visiting was 10,000, and now that isn't even an hour worth of people.

 

A few summers ago I walked into Apache campground in Myrtle Beach to see what it was like. I couldn't believe the way campers were wedged together. Two rows of campers back to back no more than two or three feet apart with barely enough room side to side to deploy an awning. It reminded me more of a refugee camp than a vacation get away.
Contrast that with Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell's Inlet, where some sites are arranged so that you can't even see your nearest neighbor. The closest sites I remember seeing were at least 25 feet apart.

 

When we lived out west we could camp just about anywhere we wanted. Most of the BLM areas were free.

 

One thing that has become a lot more restrictive is the "ban" on certain dog breeds. When we started camping over 20 years ago we had a Doberman Pinscher. We now have a different doberman Pinscher. Back then I don't remember private parks listing them as aggressive breeds and not allowing them. Now if you have a Pinscher, Rottweiler, Pit Bull, or even German Sheppard, you may find yourself unwelcome in a lot of places. Most all Jellystone Parks, a great deal of KOAs, and several others do not allow these breeds. So, if you have one of these I suggest asking before you book it. If you are thinking about getting one of these breeds you may want to re-think it if you don't wan to experience K-9 discrimination.

 

we spent December at Myrtle Beach State Park .. Full on the weekends... and was chilly... but half of the park was closed.. and was Tight quarters.

we spent January at Huntington Beach State Park ... LOTS of room.. but they were doing major tree trimming then.. took over a week. and Few full service sites.

I agree many campgrounds are Packed like sardines and PRICY.


been checking at South Texas for next winter... MAN,, Sardines, and 1 or 2 showers/restrooms for 500 sites.


I have been RV camping for 2 years. but tent camping most of my life

 

We camp a lot in state parks and learned use one of these...




it opens up several more options... although I'll always opt for a full hookup when I can get it.