Copyright Janet Groene 2026. To ask about rates to reprint this content email janetgroene@yahoo.com
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On the Road Again?
How to Choose an RV Base Camp
Copyright Janet Groene
One of my favorite campsites was a sooty, stinking, trackside patch of gravel in New Jersey. Trains roared through all night. Our neighbors were shady looking characters in shabby travel trailers. Yet it was perfect when I needed a base camp for business trips into Manhattan.
It was cheap, It had full hookups. It was on a a bus route that served the city from very early to late nights after the shows closed. For me as a full-time RV-er and a professional writer and author who had editors to visit and contracts to sign, it was ideal. I could spend hundreds of dollars nightly for a hotel and meals in the city or come home to my own bed-on-wheels base camp for a fraction of the cost.
As RV-er travelers we can be “at home” in any season for any reason. One RV trip may be a splurge vacation in a swanky RV resort with swim-up bar, concierge, spa and golf pro. It could be a family weekend with a water park and food trucks. When we want to cover a lot of miles we need only a safe spot to sleep overnight at a truck stop.
Then there are times when we want to visit a major attraction for many days at a time but without spending a fortune to stay within the attraction itself.
Destinations that come to mind include national parks, Colonial Williamsburg, beaches and beach communities such as Virginia Beach, major theme parks, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn , the Smithsonian in Washington. D.C. and Mystic Seaport. All these and many more are worth lengthy, multi-day visits.
How can you find the right base camp for your next RV adventure?
+ Location, location, location. How handy is the campsite to the place you plan to go each day? Many parks advertise “just outside the national park” but is it “just outside” the park entrance you actually need? However, you may also want to spend time in the many attractions in the surrounding area.
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| Staying outside a national park means long waits to enter each time |
+. Getting there from your base camp. Some RV parks offer free or low-cost shuttles to major attractions. Others are on city bus lines. Know how you will get to and into the destination each day. I like the “Rails to the Rim” package at Grand Canyon National Park, where a trail runs from a campground to the heart of the park while drive-in visitors wait in long lines at entrances.
+ Package deals. Check both the campground and local tourism websites to see if package deals and tours might include, say, a Gray Line tour or a multi-day campsite plus admission tickets to the attraction.
+ Driving in. Getting there is one thing. Parking there is another. Is parking available for your car? Motorhome? Big rig? Is parking t free or fee? At Walt Disney World , for one, you’ll pay a hefty parking fee, then have to take a shuttle to the entrance.
+ Access. Does the RV park allow 24-our access? In and out privileges?
+ Bottom line: Carefully look at total costs for a base camp handy to all the area attractions versus a campsite within one destination.
We full-timed for 10 great years. We describe it, warts and all, from early beginning to a happy RV ending when we became part-timers again.
Do you dream of living and traveling in a complete home on wheels? Living Aboard Your RV, 4th Edition by Janet Groene & Gordon Groene is a total guide to the full-time life on wheels. Should you sell the house or rent it out? Downsize possessions or put them in storage? Too young to retire? See our chapter on ways to make a living anywhere. Kids on board? We cover home schooling and also an exit strategy if and when the time comes. Order at any book store or let Amazon gift wrap and ship it for you. https://amzn.to/29XFEkq
RV PARKS & CAMPGROUNDS
GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS
Here's what's new or going to be new, just in from our local sources. The news may be incomplete for travel planning but is presented here to give you a heads- up on campground happenings soon and sooner. Verify and update all details for yourself.
Dates are in red. Locations are in boldface type. There is no charge to be listed here when you have news, real news. No endorsement of any place is event is implied.
NEW AND FUTURE RV PARKS & CAMPGROUNDS
Newly open In Fergus Falls, Minnesota is a totally rebuilt and upgraded campground in DeLagoon Park. The city-owned campground now has new hookups (10 sites with full hookups and 32 with water and electric), a modern shower/bath house and an RV dump station. Several of the new RV sites are on the shore of Pebble Lake. The public park offers softball, archery, hiking and a BMX track. Reserve at campspot.com/book/DeLagoon-Campground/
SCUTTLEBUTT
Keep an eye peeled for sneaky new or higher camping fees everywhere. Oregon just added 22 state parks to its list of parks that charge a parking fee. For now it's $10. The state’s dump stations now charge a fee. Cancellation fees and rules are changing. A Midwestern city just added campgrounds to its list of accommodations, such as hotels and B&B's that impose a city tourism "bed" tax on top of state and local sales taxes. In some states this adds up to 20 to 27% on top of basic campground rates. The money goes to governments, not the campground.
We thought the 28-site Sandy Pines Campground in Kennebunkport, Maine had new owners but the deal snarled. Now we hear it’s on the market again. Stay alert for news.
CHANGES, NEW OWNERS, UPGRADES
Now under the KOA flag is the Shelby/Broad River KOA Holiday in Mooresboro, North Carolina. The park has Wi-Fi, a dog park, firewood, seasonal swimming pool, a hot tub/sauna and back-in sites that can accommodate rigs to 44 feet. (828) 338 9598.
An old hotel and campground site in Manistique, Michigan is being turned Campfire Shores, a combination campground, glamping park and event venue. The new look will include a bathhouse, hiking trails, yard games a picnic area, outdoor bar and the renovated hotel. See campfireshores.com or call (906) 254-1384.
The new data center in Abilene, Texas, is building another RV park with 40 RV sites. It should be open by mid-August. The center welcomes its work force with an on-site dining room, gym, and RV campgrounds.
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Jellystone Camp Resort News
Formerly Camp Cedar in Cincinnati, Ohio, this campground near Kings Island is now a Jellystone park.
In Fremont, Indiana, the Yogi Bear-themed park will get a new splashground, water slides, laser tag and sports courts. In Plymouth, Indiana, the new splashpad , mini-golf paddle boats and other fun at the Jellystone resort are expected to open by Memorial Day.
The Ogemaw County, Michigan Jellystone will let kids dig for dinosaur bones June 5-7 while the Dino Dig at the South Haven, Michigan park is scheduled for May 29-June 4. In Bath, New York the Jellystone resort plans to have its mega slide going by July 4 and there’s a new swimming pool and future archery tag at the park in Endicott, New York.
The Jellystone resort in Nelsonville, Ohio also has a new swimming pool and snowless tubing slide is being added to the park in Brandon, South Dakota and Burleson, Texas.
Reserve any at CampJellystone.com/
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EVENTS
Also see some dated events at Jellystone resorts above.
Learn more yoga moves at the Yoga Festival on June 6 at Letchworth State Park, Castile, New York. The website reports that a family-friendly Dragon Festival, also on June 6, will be all about dragonflies. The campground is open mid-May to mid-October and all sites have 30/50 amp hookups. (585) 493-3600
Tickets are on sale now for the rousing Rockin’ the Island rock festival June 26-27 at the Treasure Island Resort & Casino, Welch, Minnesota. Single day tickets start at $59 (camping requires a two-day concert ticket) and the Platinum Package with a long list of perks is $4.950. Get the fulll story at rockintheisland.com
Since 1979 the June Jam has been a community tradition in Houston, Delaware. The music and food festival to be held June 20 benefits local charities. It’s kid friendly and run by volunteers. It’s held at the G&R Campground but tickets and campsite reservations must be made at (www.) JuneJam.com/
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