February 12, 2025 • 29 mins
How to Choose the Best RV Campground: Expert Tips & Must-Know Factors
In this episode of the RV LIFE Podcast, I’m diving into the ultimate guide to RV camping in 2025! I’ll break down the differences between campgrounds, RV parks, and resorts, so you can find the perfect spot for your travels. You’ll also hear from fellow RVers as they share their favorite destinations—from the Florida Keys to the scenic landscapes of Maine and Michigan. Plus, I’ll give you insider tips on boondocking, moochdocking, and uncovering hidden gems across the country. Whether you're a seasoned RVer or just starting out, this episode is your roadmap to unforgettable RV adventures!
Mortons on the Move 7 Best campgrounds in PA
Sam & Travis Always take the Detour
Shane & Sarah Adventure Boyds
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Dean & Gertie Dean and Gertie Explore the World
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Josh & Cassie Wild Thornbaileys
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Sharon & Warren Happy RV Couple and Thousand Trails Membership Specialist call or text 804-366-0798 for information
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What are the favorite campgrounds in the US?
The answers will surprise you.
I'm Patti Hunt and you'relistening to the RV Life Podcast
.
If you're planning your tripsfor 2025, you don't want to miss
(00:21):
this episode.
I'm going to share some of thebest camp spots out there.
I'm going to talk about whatthe difference is between
campgrounds, rv parks, rvresorts, city state national
parks.
All of that will be covered ontoday's episode, including
interviews from some RVers thatI met at the Florida RV Super
(00:44):
Show in Tampa that will sharetheir favorite camp spots,
including some kids I was ableto get on.
The RV Life podcast was createdto educate, entertain, explore
the RV lifestyle, with themission to inspire you to live
life to the fullest.
This week, what you need toknow is brought to you by Open
(01:05):
Road Resorts.
Let's talk about some favoritecampgrounds.
They have campgrounds in Idaho,nebraska, new Mexico and Texas,
and if you're looking to go toYellowstone National Park, Red
Rock RV Park in Idaho is a greatplace to stay.
They are 22 miles from the westentrance to Yellowstone, two
(01:29):
hours to Jackson Hole, wyomingand Boisman, montana, and it is
one of the highest rated parksin the area.
What you need to know?
Rving includes camping, but youcan camp without an RV.
So if you have an RV, obviouslyyou're still going camping.
(01:51):
Camping is considered anoutdoor activity that involves
staying overnight in a temporaryshelter, according to the
definition I found, but youcould also be camping in your RV
, which means your shelter maynot be so temporary.
The point here is words arevery interchangeable, so stick
(02:16):
with me on this episode.
Openroadresortscom sponsoredthe what you Need to Know.
Check them out by going toOpenRoadResortscom, now my guest
today.
As I said, I interviewed peopleat the Florida RV Super Show in
Tampa and they shared theirfavorite campgrounds and we will
(02:40):
get to that coming up after wetalk about some of the words
that we need to know before weget started.
So when we talk about the top,the favorite, the best
campgrounds, I'm going to say itdepends.
I know people laugh when I saythat.
(03:01):
People would ask me all thetime what my top campground was,
my favorite, the bestcampgrounds to go to, and it
just depends.
It depends on where I'm going,who I'm going to be with, what
activities I want to do in thepark or outside of the park,
what I'm looking for in an area.
(03:23):
Sometimes I pull into acampground and I just want to
sit outside by the waterdrinking my cappuccino and relax
, and I don't care whatactivities there are.
Sometimes I want activitiesthat are in the area or things
to do in the campground.
So that's why it's kind of hardto give an exact place.
(03:46):
I am going to give you somesuggestions of places that I've
stayed that I really love, andsome suggestions from other
people, but let's break it downfirst.
First of all, what's acampground?
The definition says it's anarea or a place for camping.
That's pretty simple.
What is an RV resort is alittle more complicated, and the
(04:10):
definition said it has the mostcomfort, entertainment and
luxury compared to an RV park,which has the essentials that
are needed but not necessarilyluxury.
And this is where I'm going tocaution that a place could call
themselves a park or a resort ora campground.
(04:31):
There's no real, you know,nobody's monitoring what they're
calling themselves, and thereason I'm saying this is, if
you are looking for a certaintype of campground, park, resort
, make sure you're reallyexploring that particular place
and not just believing the factthat it's called an RV resort.
(04:53):
That's my caution here.
Then we could talk about city,state and national parks, and
they are just that.
Many areas have city parks,state parks, national parks.
You could usually go to thearea and they will describe
their type of camping, theirtype of parks, what they offer
(05:15):
and the cost of that.
It's a great option.
There are a lot of these typeof parks in Florida.
There are a ton of them, andthere is a website that talks
about all of them.
Let's talk about BLM land, andthat is Bureau of Land
Management, and that is.
(05:36):
It ranges from developed withfacilities such as bathrooms and
showers, to places that youcould just put a tent up or take
your RV and camp with nothingthere, so it really just depends
.
You could go to blmorg to findout all about a BLM land in the
(05:58):
area.
You're going to Keep in mindthat there are permits, rules
and restrictions for each area,so check that out as well by
going to blmorg to find out allabout it.
Boondocking is another way to gocamping or RVing, and that
(06:18):
definition is usually boondocking is usually just defined
as camping without hookups, sono electric, no sewer, no water,
no hookups at all.
It's often just an area thatyou can just drive into an open
area.
Boon docking, though, again canhave different meanings to
(06:40):
different people, where it couldjust simply be going somewhere
where you don't have the hookups.
So people would considerthemselves boondocking.
Not to make matters tooconfusing, but again the word is
defined differently bydifferent people.
Some people just want to getout.
Defined differently bydifferent people.
(07:00):
Some people just want to getout, get away.
I met actually a family of fiveand they just wanted to go out
where there was nowhere and justlet their kids run free and
they really enjoyed boondocking.
I was boondocking when I firststarted RVing.
We stayed in Lake Mead.
I would consider thatboondocking.
There was noondocking.
When I first started RVing, westayed in Lake Mead.
I would consider thatboondocking.
(07:21):
There was no hookups.
You could get water.
There was a dump not far.
There was no electricity.
I consider it boondocking.
It was beautiful.
It was on Lake Mead.
I highly recommend peopletrying that.
I did.
Fine for me, I prefer hookupsin all honesty.
There's also moochdocking, whichI also love, and moochdocking
(07:44):
is doing just that You'remooching off family or friends
on their property and that couldbe on their land or just in
their driveway and sometimesthey could provide some
electricity or water orwhatever's provided.
Sometimes they could providesome electricity or water or
whatever's provided.
I suggest, if you'remoochdocking and again the
(08:06):
definition will say camping,usually for free that you offer
something to your host, whetheryou pay them, whether you take
them to dinner.
I moochdocked at a friend'sfarm for a period of time when I
was in Pennsylvania and I tookthe host to dinner.
We did some things around thefarm.
We tried to be very helpful andsupportive, because it's great
to have a place to just pull theRV in and stay for a while.
(08:29):
There is a great article by RVLife about moochdocking and I'll
put that in the show notes foryou.
So let's talk about you knowyou're a family now you want to
go RVing.
How do you decide what types ofplaces you want to stay?
Let me break it down a littlebit.
The first thing that I highlysuggest is that everybody that's
(08:54):
traveling makes a list.
So everybody separately makestheir list of what they're
interested in doing, the typesof places they'd like to stay,
the experiences they'd like tohave, types of activities,
whether they want to be part ofevents Maybe there's an event
you've heard about across thecountry that you want to be part
(09:16):
of.
Everybody in the family createsthis list.
And even for kids, it's greatto encourage them to create a
list.
Do they like the water?
Do you like the mountains?
Do they want you know theplayground in the park or
activities or ways to meet otherkids?
And even for really little kids, you could kind of encourage
(09:37):
them and ask them and write thelist down for them.
But once these lists arecompiled, everybody coming
together talking about thingslike how fast do you want to
move?
Are you trying to crameverything in in a two or three
month period of time?
How fast do you want to move?
Everybody contributing to theconversation, I feel, makes
(10:00):
travel way easier, and then youcould start thinking about the
kinds of campgrounds that youwant to stay at.
Creating a bucket list, I think, is a great idea, and my whole
thing is don't just create thebucket list, but how are you
going to start checking thosethings off, accomplishing some
(10:21):
of those?
The other thing I'm going tocaution here is when deciding
how fast you want to move acrossthe country or in your area.
Remember that enjoying thejourney is important.
I know when I first started outRVing I hear this a lot from
RVers they wanted to go, go, go.
(10:41):
Do everything really quick, asif there were some major time
constraint, and for most people,they've realized they're not
enjoying getting from point A topoint B, being present where
they are.
They're just thinking about thenext spot because they're
moving so quickly.
So keep that in mind as youplan your trips Before I
(11:04):
continue on and give you some ofthe best places and the ways to
find the best places to camp.
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(11:24):
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(11:47):
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(12:15):
my listeners, $200 off.
So this episode is about findingthe best places to camp, and
there are a number of ways to doit.
First of all, looking atarticles.
So if you like to read articles, there are a lot of articles
out there about the bestcampgrounds.
(12:36):
My friends Morton's on the movedid an article of the seven
best campgrounds in PA.
So if you're looking to go toPennsylvania, this would be a
great article to read.
I know some of thosecampgrounds are in the Poconos,
which is an amazing place to goin the summer months.
Well, unless you like thewinter and then going in the
(12:58):
winter, some of thosecampgrounds will close during
the winter months.
So check that out as well.
I'll put the article in theshow notes.
You could also listen topodcasts, like you are now.
The RV Life podcast loves toshare favorite people, places,
things to do, and there areothers.
(13:19):
Rv Miles' podcast is a greatpodcast and he just did an
episode about travel and placesto go and I'll put that in the
show notes.
There are many YouTube channelsso you could go to YouTube and
see campground reviews.
On my YouTube channel,exploring Through Our Lens,
there are a number of campgroundreviews.
(13:39):
On my YouTube channel,exploring Through Our Lens.
There are a number ofcampground reviews there.
I'm also going to encourage youto check out my new YouTube
channel, which I am gettingready to put content on, and
that is called Inspire Travelswith Patti.
I'll put that in the show notesas well, and I will be posting
(14:00):
campground reviews and anythingthat inspires you to travel.
The best place for all thingscampgrounds is
campgroundsrvlifecom.
When I first started RVing, Igot the RV Life app and that is
(14:20):
a suite of products that is myRV planning, rv safe, gps and
the campgrounds.
I've tried all of the otherapps and websites and things out
there.
Campgrounds at RV Life is thebest, and for a couple reasons.
On Sun, rv Life is the best,and for a couple reasons.
(14:42):
Number one it is the mostcomprehensive source of
campgrounds city, state andnational parks, resorts, places
to stop, points of interest.
It is the most comprehensivesource.
And the second best reason isall of the reviews on this site
is authentic.
They are for RVers, by RVers.
Every review is an authenticreview.
(15:05):
So I'd love that you could goto campgroundsrvlifecom.
If you're not an RV Life member, you can see some of the
reviews.
If you want to be a member, itcosts $65 for the year and
there's a 25% discount in theshow notes.
It is well worth it.
Now, before I get to theinterviews where people talk
(15:27):
about their favorite campgrounds, I want to mention a way to
save you money on diesel fuel.
On February 5th, I had twoguests on from Open Roads Fuel
Card that talked all about theOpen Roads Diesel Fuel Savings
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(15:49):
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No more figuring out whattransponder you need in your
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That episode will give you allthe details, as well as 12
(16:10):
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So I interviewed 12 differentpeople and found out how much
money they saved using this fuelcar.
So you want to check thatepisode out?
(16:30):
Now let's get to the people Iinterviewed at the Florida RV
Super Show in Tampa.
Keep in mind that a lot of thepeople talked about their
favorite campgrounds being inand around Florida.
That's where we happen to beand that's where they happen to
be spending time, and we didhear from some kids.
(16:54):
So what I encourage you listento these interviews, do your
research on the places theysuggested and please let me know
what you think in the shownotes or on social media at RV
Life Podcast, instagram orFacebook.
I'm here with Adventure Boyds.
(17:17):
This is Shane and.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Presley and Cash and Joby in the back, joby.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Joby a little shy.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Okay, what is your favorite campground and why?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
That's a hard one, I would say, for me.
I love Sunshine Key, I love theFlorida Keys.
Good weather all the time, loveto fish, paddleboard it's just
beautiful.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Do you guys agree with him or do you have
something else?
Yes, I agree, you do.
What do you have?
What's your favorite?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
campground.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Probably has to be.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
what was it?
What was the campground inFlorida?
It's not Sunshine Key, tropicalPalms, tropical Palms yes,
tropical Palms.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Tropical Palms, I've been there, so did you get to go
to Disney when you were there?
Yes, tropical palms tropicalpalms.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I've been there, so did you get to?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
go to disney when you were there.
Yes, there you go.
How about you, mom?
Do you have a differentfavorite?
Sunshine, sunshine.
Okay, there you have it.
They love the keys.
That's right.
I'm with sam and travis ofalways take the detour.
I love that.
I met them yesterday for thefirst time, so so I know we'll
stay connected.
But the question is, what isone of your favorite campgrounds
(18:25):
?
This is an easy one.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
It has to be Creek Fire in Savannah Georgia, mainly
because of the Lazy River.
If there's a Lazy River, I'm init.
All the time you cried over aLazy River in South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Okay, so Lazy River it is.
How many campgrounds have youbeen to that have Lazy Rivers?
I think that's the only one.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
I think that's the only one I've seen, so that's
why it ranks up there.
It ranks up there.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Okay, so we're giving my listeners some suggestions
for campgrounds.
We're going to give you one Ifyou get to Pennsylvania.
Circle M has a Lazy River.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Oh in Pennsylvania, pennsylvania near.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
Lancaster Circle, circle m she's a pennsylvania
native.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Okay, philadelphia, see there you go awesome there
you have it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Thank you guys so much.
I'm here at the florida rvsuper show and of course I had
to stop by and see my greatfriend sharon and her husband
warren.
That is off talking to somebody.
They're the membershipspecialists and if you are
looking to hear about any of theThousand Trails memberships,
these are the people you need totalk to Now.
(19:32):
Thousand Trails Sharon say hi,I know you probably can't talk
anymore.
You've been bombarded whileyou've been here.
It's been absolutely crazy.
Here at the Tampa RV ShowEverybody's going to talk and
talk about all the membershipsand everything.
Yeah, I bet.
So what's your favoritecampground?
Can I ask and I'm putting heron the spot, I did not tell her
(19:53):
I was going to say this Ask thismy favorite is Sunshine Key.
That has been hands down.
I've been asking people whattheir favorite campground is.
Sunshine Key has been the one.
I'm coming down in March tovisit you.
So anybody interested inThousand Trouts you've heard the
good, the not so good, theconfusing information.
(20:16):
You want to reach out to Sharonand Warren and they will give
you all of the information.
These people are not salesy,they're wonderful people.
So I highly recommend talkingto Sharon and Warren.
Thank you, I'm here withMelissa Baum, the owner of
Ribbit Supply Company.
These are incredible boards.
We're going to talk about that,but I wanted Melissa to tell
(20:38):
you about your favoritecampground.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Okay, hands down.
Now, you know I kind of don'twant to share because then
everyone goes there, right, butI will share.
My favorite campground is LakeMichigan Campground.
It's literally just called LakeMichigan Campground.
It's in Pentwater, michigan.
It's on the beach.
You just walk over a tinylittle dune, not a big dune, a
tiny little dune, straight tothe beach on lake michigan.
(21:02):
It's beautiful.
But so look it up, lakemichigan campground.
It's also close to silver lake,it's close to pentwater, it's
beautiful.
Uh, we love it.
There you go.
That's my favorite be inmichigan.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Okay, I am here with jeff and monica.
What's your channel?
Dean and gertie explore theworld.
Dean and gertie explore theworld.
Dean and gertie explore theworld.
So I grabbed them to tell you,my listeners, what a favorite
campground is and why um, Ithink my favorite campground so
far is, uh, the narrows two upin maine.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
it is right by acadia .
Um, the sunsets and thesunrises there are epic, so so,
so, so beautiful.
I mean sitting there andwatching the purples and the
pinks and the blues is amazing,and the staff there made my life
so much easier.
So definitely go up in Arrowstoo.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Okay, and that's at Thousand Trails.
So are you guys members?
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Yes, we're Thousand Trails members.
We travel pretty exclusivelywithin Thousand Trails.
Being a family of four, we tryto save a little bit of money,
and that is the one place thatwe found that we're able to
navigate the full-time RV lifeand still be able to afford to
go out and do fun things.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
And anybody who listens to the RV Life podcast
knows I am a big fan of ThousandTrails.
They have two new membershipsand I'm going to talk a little
bit about that later in thisvideo.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
Thank you guys, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Now I'm here with the kids so I hear you guys have a
favorite campground.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
What's your favorite?
What did you like best aboutthat?
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Acadia.
What did you like best aboutthat?
That we got to see the amazingocean view and we went to see
Acadia.
Wow, that sounds cool.
And how about you?
You have a different one MoodyBeach.
Moody Beach, which is also inMaine, right, yes, and what'd
you like best about that?
Speaker 4 (22:54):
We were parked there next to somebody that was very
nice, that had a son, that alobster boat and we got to eat
the lobster boat.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Now you're talking my language, girl.
You've created monsters here.
That sounds like a great planbeing somewhere where you can
eat lobster you love that.
Ready to go back there?
Yeah, Okay.
Well, thank you two for beingon the RV life podcast.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
you're welcome hey guys, I'm Cassie with wild thorn
Bailey's.
I've been living full-time inmy RV for almost six years with
my husband and four kids.
We have traveled all around thecountry and I'm gonna say my
top two favorite campgrounds arethe Florida Keys in RV Resort,
because it feels like you're ina tropical place.
(23:44):
It doesn't even feel likeyou're in this country and it
just feels like a vacation.
And our second favorite isThousand Trails, orlando,
because you're really close toDisney and they have a lot of
really fun things for the kidsto do and there's always
families there.
So we've met a lot of ourfriends there.
But that's our top two favoritedown in Florida because we're
from New York and we try toescape the cold, but we love a
lot of the Thousand Trails allover the country.
(24:06):
We've loved La Conner up inWashington visiting family, and
even Verde Valley down inArizona.
It's absolutely stunning andit's really close to Sedona and
if you love to hike like we do,it is like we almost didn't
leave.
It was just so amazing.
Those are our top favorites.
I love to know what your guys'are, hi guys.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
I'm Kelly.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I'm James.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
And we're the Road Ravers and we wanted to share
with you.
Our favorite campground isStarlight Campground and RV Park
in Mancelona, michigan.
It's a great place close toSleeping Bear Dunes, and it's a
dark sky park.
We were lucky enough to see thenorthern lights there this year
.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
But you can find us on Instagram, facebook, tiktok
or YouTube as the Road Ravers Hiwe are Charity and Shilah and
we are Dash of Adventure, andour favorite campground is
definitely Sunshine Key in theFlorida Keys.
It is our favorite place to be.
We're there as much as wepossibly ever can.
It's home, it is our favoriteplace to be.
We're there as much as wepossibly ever can.
It's home.
(25:05):
It's honestly like home for us.
We always feel the best.
Awesome activities and bingo,oh bingo.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
The best bingo we've ever played.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Bingo is where it's at, at Sunshine Key.
So yeah, paddle boarding, we'reoutside 24-7.
It is, it's our favorite place,we love it.
We're outside 24-7.
It is, it's our favorite place,we love it.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
They were some great suggestions.
I know that the Keys really wasrepeated over and over again.
I did not plan that, but thatwas something.
Sunshine Key was definitely oneof the most recommended places.
I love the kids that loved theplace in Maine and these are all
(25:46):
great places to check out.
They're all going to be oncampgroundsrvlifecom for you to
check out.
I also want you, my listeners,to share your suggestions.
Where are places you recommend?
Let's share with each other.
You know, why do you recommendthat place, what do you like
about it?
(26:06):
And you could share that againin the comment section of any
podcast platform or on socialmedia at RV Life Podcast,
instagram or Facebook Would loveto hear from you.
So, those of you looking for anew RV, the ultimate VIP event
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(26:28):
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I attended this event last yearand I cannot wait to be back
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This is a highly recommendedevent and you could go check it
out at musiccitymotorhomeexpocom.
It's now time for thecampground of the week and it's
(27:12):
brought to you by RV Life.
This week's featured campgroundis Thousand Trails, lake Conroe
in Willis, texas.
It is a Thousand Trailscampground, but you do not need
to be a member to attend.
This RV resort is spacious andvery well kept.
It's great for RVers or tentcamping and, with endless
(27:34):
activities and amenities, thereis always something to do.
They have full hookups, pull-insites, pets are welcome and you
don't have to have an RV.
Or if you have family orfriends that you want to join,
they do rank cabins.
It has a solid 8.4 rating onthe RV Life campgrounds, with
(27:55):
176 reviews.
To see all of the photos, allof the amenities, reviews from
RVers and so much more, you justgo to campgroundsrvlifecom and
type Thousand Trails, lakeConroe.
If you decide you want to bookyour stay at this campground,
(28:15):
there's a great big red book nowbutton, so right from the
campgroundsrvlife site you canbook your stay.
Rv Life Campgrounds is part ofthe RV Life Pro suite of
products and it is, as I've said, the most comprehensive source
of RV parks, campgrounds,resources, as well as city,
state, national parks, corpse ofengineer properties and so much
(28:38):
more.
And again, if you are not amember of RV Life and you want
to be, there is a 25% discountcode.
There's a link and a code.
Actually, there's a link,there's no code.
So if you go to the link andyou go to fill out the
information when you go to thecheckout page, it'll give you
25% off.
(28:58):
I want to thank all of thepeople who were on and, you know
, gave their thoughts oncampgrounds.
I want to thank you, mylisteners, for listening and for
sharing your campgroundfavorites and I want you to
remember life's a journey.
Live each day to the fullest,without regrets.
(29:19):
I'm Pettie Hunt and you'relistening to the RV Life Podcast
.
What are the favorite campgrounds in the US?
The answers will surprise you.
I'm Patti Hunt and you'relistening to the RV Life Podcast
.
If you're planning your tripsfor 2025, you don't want to miss
(00:21):
this episode.
I'm going to share some of thebest camp spots out there.
I'm going to talk about whatthe difference is between
campgrounds, rv parks, rvresorts, city state national
parks.
All of that will be covered ontoday's episode, including
interviews from some RVers thatI met at the Florida RV Super
(00:44):
Show in Tampa that will sharetheir favorite camp spots,
including some kids I was ableto get on.
The RV Life podcast was createdto educate, entertain, explore
the RV lifestyle, with themission to inspire you to live
life to the fullest.
This week, what you need toknow is brought to you by Open
(01:05):
Road Resorts.
Let's talk about some favoritecampgrounds.
They have campgrounds in Idaho,nebraska, new Mexico and Texas,
and if you're looking to go toYellowstone National Park, Red
Rock RV Park in Idaho is a greatplace to stay.
They are 22 miles from the westentrance to Yellowstone, two
(01:29):
hours to Jackson Hole, wyomingand Boisman, montana, and it is
one of the highest rated parksin the area.
What you need to know?
Rving includes camping, but youcan camp without an RV.
So if you have an RV, obviouslyyou're still going camping.
(01:51):
Camping is considered anoutdoor activity that involves
staying overnight in a temporaryshelter, according to the
definition I found, but youcould also be camping in your RV
, which means your shelter maynot be so temporary.
The point here is words arevery interchangeable, so stick
(02:16):
with me on this episode.
Openroadresortscom sponsoredthe what you Need to Know.
Check them out by going toOpenRoadResortscom, now my guest
today.
As I said, I interviewed peopleat the Florida RV Super Show in
Tampa and they shared theirfavorite campgrounds and we will
(02:40):
get to that coming up after wetalk about some of the words
that we need to know before weget started.
So when we talk about the top,the favorite, the best
campgrounds, I'm going to say itdepends.
I know people laugh when I saythat.
(03:01):
People would ask me all thetime what my top campground was,
my favorite, the bestcampgrounds to go to, and it
just depends.
It depends on where I'm going,who I'm going to be with, what
activities I want to do in thepark or outside of the park,
what I'm looking for in an area.
(03:23):
Sometimes I pull into acampground and I just want to
sit outside by the waterdrinking my cappuccino and relax
, and I don't care whatactivities there are.
Sometimes I want activitiesthat are in the area or things
to do in the campground.
So that's why it's kind of hardto give an exact place.
(03:46):
I am going to give you somesuggestions of places that I've
stayed that I really love, andsome suggestions from other
people, but let's break it downfirst.
First of all, what's acampground?
The definition says it's anarea or a place for camping.
That's pretty simple.
What is an RV resort is alittle more complicated, and the
(04:10):
definition said it has the mostcomfort, entertainment and
luxury compared to an RV park,which has the essentials that
are needed but not necessarilyluxury.
And this is where I'm going tocaution that a place could call
themselves a park or a resort ora campground.
(04:31):
There's no real, you know,nobody's monitoring what they're
calling themselves, and thereason I'm saying this is, if
you are looking for a certaintype of campground, park, resort
, make sure you're reallyexploring that particular place
and not just believing the factthat it's called an RV resort.
(04:53):
That's my caution here.
Then we could talk about city,state and national parks, and
they are just that.
Many areas have city parks,state parks, national parks.
You could usually go to thearea and they will describe
their type of camping, theirtype of parks, what they offer
(05:15):
and the cost of that.
It's a great option.
There are a lot of these typeof parks in Florida.
There are a ton of them, andthere is a website that talks
about all of them.
Let's talk about BLM land, andthat is Bureau of Land
Management, and that is.
(05:36):
It ranges from developed withfacilities such as bathrooms and
showers, to places that youcould just put a tent up or take
your RV and camp with nothingthere, so it really just depends
.
You could go to blmorg to findout all about a BLM land in the
(05:58):
area.
You're going to Keep in mindthat there are permits, rules
and restrictions for each area,so check that out as well by
going to blmorg to find out allabout it.
Boondocking is another way to gocamping or RVing, and that
(06:18):
definition is usually boondocking is usually just defined
as camping without hookups, sono electric, no sewer, no water,
no hookups at all.
It's often just an area thatyou can just drive into an open
area.
Boon docking, though, again canhave different meanings to
(06:40):
different people, where it couldjust simply be going somewhere
where you don't have the hookups.
So people would considerthemselves boondocking.
Not to make matters tooconfusing, but again the word is
defined differently bydifferent people.
Some people just want to getout.
Defined differently bydifferent people.
(07:00):
Some people just want to getout, get away.
I met actually a family of fiveand they just wanted to go out
where there was nowhere and justlet their kids run free and
they really enjoyed boondocking.
I was boondocking when I firststarted RVing.
We stayed in Lake Mead.
I would consider thatboondocking.
There was noondocking.
When I first started RVing, westayed in Lake Mead.
I would consider thatboondocking.
(07:21):
There was no hookups.
You could get water.
There was a dump not far.
There was no electricity.
I consider it boondocking.
It was beautiful.
It was on Lake Mead.
I highly recommend peopletrying that.
I did.
Fine for me, I prefer hookupsin all honesty.
There's also moochdocking, whichI also love, and moochdocking
(07:44):
is doing just that You'remooching off family or friends
on their property and that couldbe on their land or just in
their driveway and sometimesthey could provide some
electricity or water orwhatever's provided.
Sometimes they could providesome electricity or water or
whatever's provided.
I suggest, if you'remoochdocking and again the
(08:06):
definition will say camping,usually for free that you offer
something to your host, whetheryou pay them, whether you take
them to dinner.
I moochdocked at a friend'sfarm for a period of time when I
was in Pennsylvania and I tookthe host to dinner.
We did some things around thefarm.
We tried to be very helpful andsupportive, because it's great
to have a place to just pull theRV in and stay for a while.
(08:29):
There is a great article by RVLife about moochdocking and I'll
put that in the show notes foryou.
So let's talk about you knowyou're a family now you want to
go RVing.
How do you decide what types ofplaces you want to stay?
Let me break it down a littlebit.
The first thing that I highlysuggest is that everybody that's
(08:54):
traveling makes a list.
So everybody separately makestheir list of what they're
interested in doing, the typesof places they'd like to stay,
the experiences they'd like tohave, types of activities,
whether they want to be part ofevents Maybe there's an event
you've heard about across thecountry that you want to be part
(09:16):
of.
Everybody in the family createsthis list.
And even for kids, it's greatto encourage them to create a
list.
Do they like the water?
Do you like the mountains?
Do they want you know theplayground in the park or
activities or ways to meet otherkids?
And even for really little kids, you could kind of encourage
(09:37):
them and ask them and write thelist down for them.
But once these lists arecompiled, everybody coming
together talking about thingslike how fast do you want to
move?
Are you trying to crameverything in in a two or three
month period of time?
How fast do you want to move?
Everybody contributing to theconversation, I feel, makes
(10:00):
travel way easier, and then youcould start thinking about the
kinds of campgrounds that youwant to stay at.
Creating a bucket list, I think, is a great idea, and my whole
thing is don't just create thebucket list, but how are you
going to start checking thosethings off, accomplishing some
(10:21):
of those?
The other thing I'm going tocaution here is when deciding
how fast you want to move acrossthe country or in your area.
Remember that enjoying thejourney is important.
I know when I first started outRVing I hear this a lot from
RVers they wanted to go, go, go.
(10:41):
Do everything really quick, asif there were some major time
constraint, and for most people,they've realized they're not
enjoying getting from point A topoint B, being present where
they are.
They're just thinking about thenext spot because they're
moving so quickly.
So keep that in mind as youplan your trips Before I
(11:04):
continue on and give you some ofthe best places and the ways to
find the best places to camp.
It is still cold in most of theUS.
We are still looking atsnowstorms and cold weather, and
that's why I highly recommendhassle-free RV skirting that
inflates, and it is by AirSkirts.
(11:24):
It is RV skirting that goesaround the perimeter of your RV
to prevent warm air fromescaping, which helps trap in
the air, which causes a naturalinsulator.
It protects your pipes fromfreezing and causing damage, and
it saves on heating costs.
The heavy-duty PVC,military-grade PVC-coated canvas
(11:47):
is incredible, and the bestpart is it sets up in minutes,
it inflates with a pump thatcomes with it, and then, when
you're done, it deflates quicklyand it stores compactly.
So, even if you're travelingevery couple of weeks, it is
easy to set up and take down,and Airskirts is offering you,
(12:15):
my listeners, $200 off.
So this episode is about findingthe best places to camp, and
there are a number of ways to doit.
First of all, looking atarticles.
So if you like to read articles, there are a lot of articles
out there about the bestcampgrounds.
(12:36):
My friends Morton's on the movedid an article of the seven
best campgrounds in PA.
So if you're looking to go toPennsylvania, this would be a
great article to read.
I know some of thosecampgrounds are in the Poconos,
which is an amazing place to goin the summer months.
Well, unless you like thewinter and then going in the
(12:58):
winter, some of thosecampgrounds will close during
the winter months.
So check that out as well.
I'll put the article in theshow notes.
You could also listen topodcasts, like you are now.
The RV Life podcast loves toshare favorite people, places,
things to do, and there areothers.
(13:19):
Rv Miles' podcast is a greatpodcast and he just did an
episode about travel and placesto go and I'll put that in the
show notes.
There are many YouTube channelsso you could go to YouTube and
see campground reviews.
On my YouTube channel,exploring Through Our Lens,
there are a number of campgroundreviews.
(13:39):
On my YouTube channel,exploring Through Our Lens.
There are a number ofcampground reviews there.
I'm also going to encourage youto check out my new YouTube
channel, which I am gettingready to put content on, and
that is called Inspire Travelswith Patti.
I'll put that in the show notesas well, and I will be posting
(14:00):
campground reviews and anythingthat inspires you to travel.
The best place for all thingscampgrounds is
campgroundsrvlifecom.
When I first started RVing, Igot the RV Life app and that is
(14:20):
a suite of products that is myRV planning, rv safe, gps and
the campgrounds.
I've tried all of the otherapps and websites and things out
there.
Campgrounds at RV Life is thebest, and for a couple reasons.
On Sun, rv Life is the best,and for a couple reasons.
(14:42):
Number one it is the mostcomprehensive source of
campgrounds city, state andnational parks, resorts, places
to stop, points of interest.
It is the most comprehensivesource.
And the second best reason isall of the reviews on this site
is authentic.
They are for RVers, by RVers.
Every review is an authenticreview.
(15:05):
So I'd love that you could goto campgroundsrvlifecom.
If you're not an RV Life member, you can see some of the
reviews.
If you want to be a member, itcosts $65 for the year and
there's a 25% discount in theshow notes.
It is well worth it.
Now, before I get to theinterviews where people talk
(15:27):
about their favorite campgrounds, I want to mention a way to
save you money on diesel fuel.
On February 5th, I had twoguests on from Open Roads Fuel
Card that talked all about theOpen Roads Diesel Fuel Savings
Card, as well as the InnovativeToll Pass.
(15:49):
The Innovative Toll Pass coversall 48 states.
No more figuring out whattransponder you need in your
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This Innovative Toll Pass willcover all 48 states.
That episode will give you allthe details, as well as 12
(16:10):
people who have actually usedOpenRoads and the innovative
toll solutions for the last year, and tells you how much money
they saved.
So I interviewed 12 differentpeople and found out how much
money they saved using this fuelcar.
So you want to check thatepisode out?
(16:30):
Now let's get to the people Iinterviewed at the Florida RV
Super Show in Tampa.
Keep in mind that a lot of thepeople talked about their
favorite campgrounds being inand around Florida.
That's where we happen to beand that's where they happen to
be spending time, and we didhear from some kids.
(16:54):
So what I encourage you listento these interviews, do your
research on the places theysuggested and please let me know
what you think in the shownotes or on social media at RV
Life Podcast, instagram orFacebook.
I'm here with Adventure Boyds.
(17:17):
This is Shane and.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Presley and Cash and Joby in the back, joby.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Joby a little shy.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Okay, what is your favorite campground and why?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
That's a hard one, I would say, for me.
I love Sunshine Key, I love theFlorida Keys.
Good weather all the time, loveto fish, paddleboard it's just
beautiful.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Do you guys agree with him or do you have
something else?
Yes, I agree, you do.
What do you have?
What's your favorite?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
campground.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Probably has to be.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
what was it?
What was the campground inFlorida?
It's not Sunshine Key, tropicalPalms, tropical Palms yes,
tropical Palms.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Tropical Palms, I've been there, so did you get to go
to Disney when you were there?
Yes, tropical palms tropicalpalms.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I've been there, so did you get to?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
go to disney when you were there.
Yes, there you go.
How about you, mom?
Do you have a differentfavorite?
Sunshine, sunshine.
Okay, there you have it.
They love the keys.
That's right.
I'm with sam and travis ofalways take the detour.
I love that.
I met them yesterday for thefirst time, so so I know we'll
stay connected.
But the question is, what isone of your favorite campgrounds
(18:25):
?
This is an easy one.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
It has to be Creek Fire in Savannah Georgia, mainly
because of the Lazy River.
If there's a Lazy River, I'm init.
All the time you cried over aLazy River in South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Okay, so Lazy River it is.
How many campgrounds have youbeen to that have Lazy Rivers?
I think that's the only one.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
I think that's the only one I've seen, so that's
why it ranks up there.
It ranks up there.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Okay, so we're giving my listeners some suggestions
for campgrounds.
We're going to give you one Ifyou get to Pennsylvania.
Circle M has a Lazy River.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Oh in Pennsylvania, pennsylvania near.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
Lancaster Circle, circle m she's a pennsylvania
native.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Okay, philadelphia, see there you go awesome there
you have it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Thank you guys so much.
I'm here at the florida rvsuper show and of course I had
to stop by and see my greatfriend sharon and her husband
warren.
That is off talking to somebody.
They're the membershipspecialists and if you are
looking to hear about any of theThousand Trails memberships,
these are the people you need totalk to Now.
(19:32):
Thousand Trails Sharon say hi,I know you probably can't talk
anymore.
You've been bombarded whileyou've been here.
It's been absolutely crazy.
Here at the Tampa RV ShowEverybody's going to talk and
talk about all the membershipsand everything.
Yeah, I bet.
So what's your favoritecampground?
Can I ask and I'm putting heron the spot, I did not tell her
(19:53):
I was going to say this Ask thismy favorite is Sunshine Key.
That has been hands down.
I've been asking people whattheir favorite campground is.
Sunshine Key has been the one.
I'm coming down in March tovisit you.
So anybody interested inThousand Trouts you've heard the
good, the not so good, theconfusing information.
(20:16):
You want to reach out to Sharonand Warren and they will give
you all of the information.
These people are not salesy,they're wonderful people.
So I highly recommend talkingto Sharon and Warren.
Thank you, I'm here withMelissa Baum, the owner of
Ribbit Supply Company.
These are incredible boards.
We're going to talk about that,but I wanted Melissa to tell
(20:38):
you about your favoritecampground.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Okay, hands down.
Now, you know I kind of don'twant to share because then
everyone goes there, right, butI will share.
My favorite campground is LakeMichigan Campground.
It's literally just called LakeMichigan Campground.
It's in Pentwater, michigan.
It's on the beach.
You just walk over a tinylittle dune, not a big dune, a
tiny little dune, straight tothe beach on lake michigan.
(21:02):
It's beautiful.
But so look it up, lakemichigan campground.
It's also close to silver lake,it's close to pentwater, it's
beautiful.
Uh, we love it.
There you go.
That's my favorite be inmichigan.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Okay, I am here with jeff and monica.
What's your channel?
Dean and gertie explore theworld.
Dean and gertie explore theworld.
Dean and gertie explore theworld.
So I grabbed them to tell you,my listeners, what a favorite
campground is and why um, Ithink my favorite campground so
far is, uh, the narrows two upin maine.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
it is right by acadia .
Um, the sunsets and thesunrises there are epic, so so,
so, so beautiful.
I mean sitting there andwatching the purples and the
pinks and the blues is amazing,and the staff there made my life
so much easier.
So definitely go up in Arrowstoo.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Okay, and that's at Thousand Trails.
So are you guys members?
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Yes, we're Thousand Trails members.
We travel pretty exclusivelywithin Thousand Trails.
Being a family of four, we tryto save a little bit of money,
and that is the one place thatwe found that we're able to
navigate the full-time RV lifeand still be able to afford to
go out and do fun things.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
And anybody who listens to the RV Life podcast
knows I am a big fan of ThousandTrails.
They have two new membershipsand I'm going to talk a little
bit about that later in thisvideo.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
Thank you guys, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Now I'm here with the kids so I hear you guys have a
favorite campground.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
What's your favorite?
What did you like best aboutthat?
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Acadia.
What did you like best aboutthat?
That we got to see the amazingocean view and we went to see
Acadia.
Wow, that sounds cool.
And how about you?
You have a different one MoodyBeach.
Moody Beach, which is also inMaine, right, yes, and what'd
you like best about that?
Speaker 4 (22:54):
We were parked there next to somebody that was very
nice, that had a son, that alobster boat and we got to eat
the lobster boat.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Now you're talking my language, girl.
You've created monsters here.
That sounds like a great planbeing somewhere where you can
eat lobster you love that.
Ready to go back there?
Yeah, Okay.
Well, thank you two for beingon the RV life podcast.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
you're welcome hey guys, I'm Cassie with wild thorn
Bailey's.
I've been living full-time inmy RV for almost six years with
my husband and four kids.
We have traveled all around thecountry and I'm gonna say my
top two favorite campgrounds arethe Florida Keys in RV Resort,
because it feels like you're ina tropical place.
(23:44):
It doesn't even feel likeyou're in this country and it
just feels like a vacation.
And our second favorite isThousand Trails, orlando,
because you're really close toDisney and they have a lot of
really fun things for the kidsto do and there's always
families there.
So we've met a lot of ourfriends there.
But that's our top two favoritedown in Florida because we're
from New York and we try toescape the cold, but we love a
lot of the Thousand Trails allover the country.
(24:06):
We've loved La Conner up inWashington visiting family, and
even Verde Valley down inArizona.
It's absolutely stunning andit's really close to Sedona and
if you love to hike like we do,it is like we almost didn't
leave.
It was just so amazing.
Those are our top favorites.
I love to know what your guys'are, hi guys.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
I'm Kelly.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I'm James.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
And we're the Road Ravers and we wanted to share
with you.
Our favorite campground isStarlight Campground and RV Park
in Mancelona, michigan.
It's a great place close toSleeping Bear Dunes, and it's a
dark sky park.
We were lucky enough to see thenorthern lights there this year
.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
But you can find us on Instagram, facebook, tiktok
or YouTube as the Road Ravers Hiwe are Charity and Shilah and
we are Dash of Adventure, andour favorite campground is
definitely Sunshine Key in theFlorida Keys.
It is our favorite place to be.
We're there as much as wepossibly ever can.
It's home, it is our favoriteplace to be.
We're there as much as wepossibly ever can.
It's home.
(25:05):
It's honestly like home for us.
We always feel the best.
Awesome activities and bingo,oh bingo.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
The best bingo we've ever played.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Bingo is where it's at, at Sunshine Key.
So yeah, paddle boarding, we'reoutside 24-7.
It is, it's our favorite place,we love it.
We're outside 24-7.
It is, it's our favorite place,we love it.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
They were some great suggestions.
I know that the Keys really wasrepeated over and over again.
I did not plan that, but thatwas something.
Sunshine Key was definitely oneof the most recommended places.
I love the kids that loved theplace in Maine and these are all
(25:46):
great places to check out.
They're all going to be oncampgroundsrvlifecom for you to
check out.
I also want you, my listeners,to share your suggestions.
Where are places you recommend?
Let's share with each other.
You know, why do you recommendthat place, what do you like
about it?
(26:06):
And you could share that againin the comment section of any
podcast platform or on socialmedia at RV Life Podcast,
instagram or Facebook Would loveto hear from you.
So, those of you looking for anew RV, the ultimate VIP event
for RV buyers is Music CityMotorhome Expo.
(26:28):
It takes place May 31st to June4th and you can be the first to
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With limited attendance, youcould test drive all you want,
chat with the manufacturers,product developers and engineers
(26:49):
.
Not only that, they haveseminars.
They give you three meals a dayand incredible entertainment.
I attended this event last yearand I cannot wait to be back
this year.
This is a highly recommendedevent and you could go check it
out at musiccitymotorhomeexpocom.
It's now time for thecampground of the week and it's
(27:12):
brought to you by RV Life.
This week's featured campgroundis Thousand Trails, lake Conroe
in Willis, texas.
It is a Thousand Trailscampground, but you do not need
to be a member to attend.
This RV resort is spacious andvery well kept.
It's great for RVers or tentcamping and, with endless
(27:34):
activities and amenities, thereis always something to do.
They have full hookups, pull-insites, pets are welcome and you
don't have to have an RV.
Or if you have family orfriends that you want to join,
they do rank cabins.
It has a solid 8.4 rating onthe RV Life campgrounds, with
(27:55):
176 reviews.
To see all of the photos, allof the amenities, reviews from
RVers and so much more, you justgo to campgroundsrvlifecom and
type Thousand Trails, lakeConroe.
If you decide you want to bookyour stay at this campground,
(28:15):
there's a great big red book nowbutton, so right from the
campgroundsrvlife site you canbook your stay.
Rv Life Campgrounds is part ofthe RV Life Pro suite of
products and it is, as I've said, the most comprehensive source
of RV parks, campgrounds,resources, as well as city,
state, national parks, corpse ofengineer properties and so much
(28:38):
more.
And again, if you are not amember of RV Life and you want
to be, there is a 25% discountcode.
There's a link and a code.
Actually, there's a link,there's no code.
So if you go to the link andyou go to fill out the
information when you go to thecheckout page, it'll give you
25% off.
(28:58):
I want to thank all of thepeople who were on and, you know
, gave their thoughts oncampgrounds.
I want to thank you, mylisteners, for listening and for
sharing your campgroundfavorites and I want you to
remember life's a journey.
Live each day to the fullest,without regrets.
(29:19):
I'm Pettie Hunt and you'relistening to the RV Life Podcast
.
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