Picking a Campground & Campsite
There’s a lot of campgrounds around the country. With the sheer number of them, you have to do a little bit of weeding out to find the one that works best for you. This involves a few questions to ask yourself: what amenities do you consider “essential”? How much time do you plan to spend at the campground? What’s the size of the campground? What attractions are nearby? What’s your price point?
First off, I find that government owned campgrounds tend to be cheaper than private campgrounds. The cheaper price usually comes at the cost of amenities; lots of government owned campgrounds don’t have as large of an array of amenities as private campgrounds, and the amenities they do have can be rather old or outdated. While the method used to book a campground varies by campground, my favorite website to use and book a campsite at federally owned campgrounds is Recreation.gov; it’s simple to use, has a large selection of campgrounds, and offers a lot of information about them.
In general, regardless of campground ownership, if you’re reserving a campsite at a campground, many campgrounds have websites with interactive maps and photos. You can use these websites and maps to figure out what site to reserve whether it’s drive-up or walk-in and tent only, electric and water hookups to trailer and RV sites. If you’re camping in a tent and sensitive to noise, see if the campground has an area that is designated “generator free;” it’ll be much quieter during the day. If the campground doesn’t have a website, give them a call! I’ve reserved some wonderful campsites by calling and asking the camp host what sites they recommended for what I wanted. And while it’s not always an option, some campgrounds will let you drive through the campground so you can look at a campsite before you reserve it.
Lastly, no matter what campground you’re looking at, check out online reviews! These can be lifesavers.