Once upon a time RVers had only bulky directories to use to find campgrounds where they could spend vacation time. Not only do these bulky directories take up a lot of space, but even ‘hot off the press’ some of the information they contain is already out-of-date. After all, RV Park and Campground owners provided that information months earlier. Someone had to take time to compile or update it in a database, then import it to a typesetting program, design the layout, get it to the printer who had to schedule printing and binding, packaging and distribution.
So, by the time you get a printed directory, it is outdated, possibly incorrect, and may be missing newer information.
But this story has a happy, almost fairy-tale ending for most RVers and campers. The Internet and portable GPS systems magically come to the rescue. With just a wave of a wand (that would be your finger over a mouse or touchscreen) you can locate RV Parks and current information. The downside is that with so many electronic options, it’s just hard to decide which one to settle on. Let’s start with Internet options.
Internet RV Park and Campground Locators
More and more RV and Camping websites are adding park and campground locating features. Many allow you to add campground or RV park reviews. This nice feature gives you some idea of how other RVers experienced their stays. Some have RV forums, sell RV and camping products, post articles and other sources of information, blogs, and more. While there’s not room here to list every site that offers park search capabilities, here are a few to give you an idea or to get you started on planning your trip.
- TRAILER LIFE DIRECTORY: Trailer Life Directory is the official directory of the Good Sam Club that has been around for many years. This site should provide accurate information about RV parks, campgrounds, routing a trip and the location of Good Sam member parks. If you are a Good Sam member this means you get a discount at those parks. You don’t have to be a Good Sam member to register and use this locator. All you do is enter your starting point and ending point and size of your rig and it calculates a route and all known parks within 16 miles either side of that route.
- RVPARKING.COM This site allows searches by city, state, park name, or near a city or landmark. It returns a list that appears complete for the areas I searched, along with a list of nearby towns and the number of parks in those locations, as well. It includes reviews, blog posts and a downloadable iPhone App (see below.)
- RV PARK SUPER PAGES This site serves both the US and Canada, and lets you enter your destination state or province, and optionally the city or park name (or both). It returns a map showing a list of parks, though one city I entered flagged a location in a different state. When I scrolled the map over to the right geographic location, it showed a flag in the correct area. Clicking on any of the parks listed gives more accurate location information and park details.
- CAMPINGROADTRIP.COM is one of the newer RVer websites (established in 2009,) but is loaded with information. Search for a campsite or RV park online or download their new Camp Finder app (see below.) In addition to search capabilities, CampingRoadTrip.com has a monthly newsletter and an RV forum and Tips & Articles sections.
GPS RV Park Locators
There are a number of new GPS devices on the market that target truckers’ needs. While RVers have many needs in common with truckers, and these GPSs would be very useful, newer ones specific to RVers needs include far more details on RV parks and other specific destinations that wouldn’t be of interest to truckers.
- RAND MCNALLY RV GPS RVND5510 is a GPS designed primarily for RVers by one of the country’s foremost mapmakers. It lists RV campgrounds, dump stations, dealers, parking, rest areas, travel centers, pet-friendly locations, festivals, national and state parks, places of interest, bridge heights, weight limits, one-way road designations, warnings for speed changes, sharp curves, detailed exit information, and even suggests left and right hand turn directions based upon the RV you are driving or pulling. Check out the very long list of features at Road Trucker.com.
RV Park Locator Apps
There seems to be a surge in available RV Park and Campground locator apps. Many are free downloads, and others are as little as $1.99 downloadable from iTunes. If you already have a compatible device, the cost of an app is negligible.
- CAMP FINDER is a downloadable app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and Android from Camping Road Trip, LLC. Get access to 14,000 campgrounds and RV Parks, including directions, stored on your device for fast access. Rated “Best of the paid camping apps” by the NY Times, it’s downloadable from iTunes for $1.99. Preview Camp Finder on YouTube.
- RV PARKS APP is a free iPhone app from RVParking.com that gives you instant access to 19,855 RV parks across the U.S. Compatible with iPhone, IPod Touch,and iPad, you can download RV PARKS from iTunes.
RV Park Locator DVDs
2011 Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator is a directory on DVD that contains all the information in the printed Trailer Life Directory, including Good Sam Club discount locations, lets you zoom close enough to see which side of the street your destination is on, includes campground details and amenities and additional information for a distance you specify around any location.
Other Useful RVer Travel Gadgets and URLs
Every RVer is unique. What are necessities to some are useless to others. Here’s a list of links to articles about travel gadgets, electronics and accessories. You decide their worth.
Want to find WiFi hotspots?
- JIWIRE lists free and pay hotspots in 143 countries
- Wi•Fi Free Spot lists both US and European hotspots
- WiFiHotSpotList.com™ lets you search dozens of countries
- BOINGO search plans and connects you to the nearest hotspot automatically.
- Need to FAX along the way? EFAX.com is, virtually, the place to go.
All this should make it much easier to get where you want to go. Happy travels!