passport at ranger stations or some federal office buildings.
When you’re looking for a park, keep in mind some of the code words associated with campsites. “Primitive” or “undeveloped” sites have just a picnic table and a space for a tent; primitive parks have vault outhouses and no showers. They may have a centrally located water tap, or your water may come from a nearby stream. Parks that have “developed” sites have spaces with RV hook-ups that could be “full hook-ups,” with water, electricity, and sewer, or “partial hookups,” with just water and electricity. Many public parks have some combination of developed and undeveloped campsites. Some private RV parks have cable, phone, internet access, and cable TV in addition to the usual hook-up. Ask about charges. Is water and electricity included in the overnight fee, or is there a separate meter for each of those? (For information about locating public campgrounds, see the section on Reservations.)
Private Camping Choices
Private campgrounds have many more amenities than public campgrounds. Their lawns are manicured, and they have flush toilets, showers and laundry facilities. In a KOA campground women’s restroom, I saw a special tub for bathing babies. Private campgrounds usually include special recreational facilities, like a swimming pool or tennis courts, but there are not always natural attractions nearby.
Although they may have a few tent sites, more private campgrounds are set up for RVs. The better parks advertise pull-throughs. Other refinements may include cable TV and phone lines. One park described itself as “modem friendly.” Some RV parks provide more electricity (more amps) than public campgrounds.
CHECKLIST
Questions to Ask
About RV Parks
If I can generalize from the descriptions I have collected, the private campgrounds are more luxurious than public parks, and they seem to provide more social activities, like swimming pools, playgrounds, or a meeting hall with evening movies and parties. The public parks seem less manicured, more natural, creating a greater sense of roughing it, being part of an unspoiled countryside. In public parks, you swim in a lake and attend a ranger’s campfire talk in the evening.
In either kind of park, the campsites may be spacious, with hedges of greenery between one campsite and its next door neighbor, or they may be tiny with no separation between them at all.
Private campgrounds, as you might expect, are a little more expensive than public campgrounds. However, fees vary, with each owner setting his own. I checked the rates at some KOA campgrounds. On the coast of Washington, at Ilwaco, the daily fee ranges from $30 to $40 for an RV, and $26 to $36 for a tent. At a beach in California, the range is $37 to $57 for an RV, and $27 to $38 for a tent. Traveling inland, in Spokane, Washington, the fees range from $29 to $33 for an RV, and $24 to $27 for a tent, while in Needles, California, the rates are $22 to $32 for an RV and $19 to 20 for a tent. All these fees are for two people, and the rate charts say extra fees may apply for more people.
Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Parks, another association of private camps, charges $20 to $40 per day for four people, with $5 per day per extra person over the age of 3.
Many campgrounds are close to natural attractions.
Western Horizons Resorts, a membership organization, offers three or four nights complimentary camping to potential new members; all they ask is that you sit through a 90-minute promotional presentation. And if the campground isn’t full, the manager may allow you to stay on at the regular rate. They have 22 resorts in 13 states.
Three Ways to Find a Private Campground
1. Contact a private campground chain such as KOA Kampgrounds (406-248-7444 or www.koa.com), or an association such as Jellystone Parks (800-558-2954 or www.campjellystone.com) or Western Horizon Resorts (866-453-9305 or www.whresorts.com).
2. Look in publications produced by Woodall’s Publishing Corp.: 805-667-4100, 800-323-9076, or www.woodalls.com.
3. Check out RV shows and RV and camping magazines.
Finding Private Campgrounds
While state publications list some private campgrounds, you can also find campgrounds by looking through the directories of those private campground organizations in this country and Canada that don’t require a membership. (Keep in mind, however, that campers who buy a special card may receive a discount.) Kampgrounds of America, or KOA, with 475 locations, is the largest of these organizations. You can reach KOA by phone at 406-248-7444, or online at www.koa.com. Western Horizon Resorts (866-453-9305 or www.whresorts.com), has 22 camps located in seven western states, two southern states, two midwest states, and two east coast states. Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Camps can be reached at www.campjellystone.com or 800-558-2954. I love their website, which includes a special section called “Just for Kids.” Most of their camps are in the eastern and southern states, with only a few as far west as Colorado and Montana. While all these camps seem to be set up for RVers, they also have tent sites and many have cabins to rent as well.
Some privately owned campgrounds that are part of a membership network are also willing to accept nonmembers. Woodall’s Publishing Corp. produces great directories for finding these campgrounds in the US and Canada. Contact Woodall’s at 805-667-4100 or 800-323-9076, or visit www.woodalls.com. If you’re looking for a camping experience with a minimum of preparation, the first part of one Woodall’s catalogue, appropriately named Go&Rent…Rent&Go, lists private campgrounds that have at least three rental units on site, ready for you to move into (Go&Rent); these units could be RVs, trailers, tents, tepees, or cabins. The second part of that catalog is a directory of RV rental agencies
