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As an avid tent camper, I look for campgrounds that provide what I need without too much of what I don't need or want. I've found that most of the published campground guides tend to favor private campgrounds (e.g. KOA) as opposed to public campgrounds (e.g. USFS, BLM, etc.). When they list public campgrounds, these guides don't offer much in the way of detail about the campgrounds they list.
While staying in Utah last week, I stopped at a Barnes and Noble and found a couple of wonderful guides to campgrounds there. One of them, by Falcon Guides, listed every public campground in Utah and gave some good information about each of them.
Does anyone here have some other books they've found useful for tent camping in public campgrounds in other areas? I know there are Falcon guides for other states besides Utah, but I'm curious about other types of guides, as well. USFS maps provide some good info, but you need a different map for each forest, and in some cases several maps per forest. They also don't show or list BLM or State Park sites. I'd like to get a few more books for other western states in addition to the Utah book I found.
I'd like to know more about the guides that others have experience with. I know there must be some good guides I haven't yet seen.
While staying in Utah last week, I stopped at a Barnes and Noble and found a couple of wonderful guides to campgrounds there. One of them, by Falcon Guides, listed every public campground in Utah and gave some good information about each of them.
I forgot to mention (and it's too late to edit the earlier post) that there are a couple things I didn't like about this guide, mainly that the way it's divided up, it's a little difficult to navigate. The book is also lacking maps to most of these sites, so it could be improved in that area. Those are a couple of the reasons I want to know about other guides that are available.
I've found that most of the published campground guides tend to favor private campgrounds (e.g. KOA) as opposed to public campgrounds (e.g. USFS, BLM, etc.). When they list public campgrounds, these guides don't offer much in the way of detail about the campgrounds they list.
Private publications such as Woodalls concentrate their efforts of privately owned facilities for a very simple reason: money.
Those publications sell advertising to various private operators. The guides usually have roving crews which "inspect" private RV parks on a yearly basis. While doing the inspection, most reps also happen to mention that a small, complimentary listing is given if the RV park meets standards, but that larger colour ads are more effective.
Private publications such as Woodalls concentrate their efforts of privately owned facilities for a very simple reason: money.
Those publications sell advertising to various private operators. The guides usually have roving crews which "inspect" private RV parks on a yearly basis. While doing the inspection, most reps also happen to mention that a small, complimentary listing is given if the RV park meets standards, but that larger colour ads are more effective.
Those add can also be very deceiving. Best bet is to go look at one if you can. Sometimes those adds hide the fact that your camping practically on top of each other and they're party centrals. I know some folks that tried to use the KOA's and they couldn't even use their slid outs, because they were to close. In fact the could hear everything going on in the next camper . YOU GO GIRLFRIEND, GET SOME!!!!!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Being a 'shoestringer'
I use this (almost exclusively) Free Campgrounds for RVs (don't let the RV tag sway you, many have great tent sites.
For tent and backcountry I use national forest and regional (state / county) maps. Lots of places I found in books and directories are much different than they appear. County parks in Western USA are pretty good. Have had good luck on east coast in County Parks as well (Near Boston, NYC, and DC)
Canada may take the cake for nice campgrounds, I need a source to search there.
They go into the campgrounds and actually pick out the numbers of sites which are best for tents.
There are similar books in the same series for New England and many other areas in the U.S. These are written by people who actually camp regularly in each area.
We don't tent camp; we have a van camper. But we find the website RV Park Reviews :: Campground Search to be more helpful than any of the printed guides. The problem with those is that the folks who rate the campgrounds are the ones who sell the ads. We've found so many disparities between the reviews in the guides and the actual conditions that we've learned not to trust them much anymore. The reviews on the website above are written by actual campers and tend to more accurate, at least in our experience.
Places to consider that few folks stay at are Federal and State Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's). Most states allow primitive camping in their wildlife areas, and many US Fish & Wildlife Refuges allow camping in the western US. Try RV Camping to find links to each individual states public camping resources.
Forest Camping is another site dedicated to US Forest Service Campgrounds online.
i'll look at my collection, i have some good books on California that even have Evans and cedar creek, I just bought another at costco's, I'll look when I get home tonight.
The book I have for California is The complete guide
California camping by Tom Stienstra
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. YOU GO GIRLFRIEND, GET SOME!!!!!
