RV LIFE Podcast

How to Choose the Best RV Campground: Expert Tips & Must-Know Factors

• Dan & Patti Hunt • Season 4 • Episode 120

Share episode

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!

RV LIFE Mochdocking Article 

Mortons on the Move 7 Best campgrounds in PA 

RV Miles Podcast 

Sam & Travis Always take the Detour 

Shane & Sarah Adventure Boyds 

Melissa Bond Rivet Supply Co 

Dean & Gertie Dean and Gertie Explore the World

James & Kelly Road Rabers 

Josh & Cassie Wild Thornbaileys    

Char & Shy Dash of Adventure 

Sharon & Warren Happy RV Couple and Thousand Trails Membership Specialist call or text 804-366-0798 for information 


Special Discount Codes: Click Link & Use Code
* RV LIFE Pro Click the link for 25% off
* Thousand Trails Membership Specialist Journey Membership
Call/Text Warren & Sharon Lewis 804-366-0798
* KoolRV
* Harvest Hosts: Code: HUNT20 % Off
* Open Roads Fuel Card save on Diesel Fuel
* Open Roads Innovative Tolling Solutions All 48 states
* Open Road Resorts Mention RV LIFE Podcast
* CLEAR2O Save 10% w/ Code: RVLIFEPODCAST
* National Vehicle Buy or Sell Your RV
* Music City Motorhome Expo Event * AirSkirts $200 off kit order Discount Code RVPOD
* Motorhome Tires: $50 discount ...

Speaker 1:

What are the favorite campgrounds in the US? The answers will surprise you. I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. If you're planning your trips for 2025, you don't want to miss this episode. I'm going to share some of the best camp spots out there. I'm going to talk about what the difference is between campgrounds, rv parks, rv resorts, city state national parks. All of that will be covered on today's episode, including interviews from some RVers that I met at the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa that will share their favorite camp spots, including some kids I was able to get on.

Speaker 1:

The RV Life podcast was created to educate, entertain, explore the RV lifestyle, with the mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest. This week, what you need to know is brought to you by Open Road Resorts. Let's talk about some favorite campgrounds. They have campgrounds in Idaho, nebraska, new Mexico and Texas, and if you're looking to go to Yellowstone National Park, Red Rock RV Park in Idaho is a great place to stay. They are 22 miles from the west entrance to Yellowstone, two hours to Jackson Hole, wyoming and Boisman, montana, and it is one of the highest rated parks in the area. What you need to know? Rving includes camping, but you can camp without an RV. So if you have an RV, obviously you're still going camping. Camping is considered an outdoor activity that involves staying overnight in a temporary shelter, according to the definition I found, but you could also be camping in your RV, which means your shelter may not be so temporary. The point here is words are very interchangeable, so stick with me on this episode. Openroadresortscom sponsored the what you Need to Know. Check them out by going to OpenRoadResortscom, now my guest today.

Speaker 1:

As I said, I interviewed people at the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa and they shared their favorite campgrounds and we will get to that coming up after we talk about some of the words that we need to know before we get started. So when we talk about the top, the favorite, the best campgrounds, I'm going to say it depends. I know people laugh when I say that. People would ask me all the time what my top campground was, my favorite, the best campgrounds 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 the park or outside of the park, what I'm looking for in an area. Sometimes I pull into a campground and I just want to sit outside by the water drinking my cappuccino and relax, and I don't care what activities there are. Sometimes I want activities that are in the area or things to do in the campground. So that's why it's kind of hard to give an exact place.

Speaker 1:

I am going to give you some suggestions of places that I've stayed that I really love, and some suggestions from other people, but let's break it down first. First of all, what's a campground? The definition says it's an area or a place for camping. That's pretty simple. What is an RV resort is a little more complicated, and the definition said it has the most comfort, entertainment and luxury compared to an RV park, which has the essentials that are needed but not necessarily luxury. And this is where I'm going to caution that a place could call themselves a park or a resort or a campground. There's no real, you know, nobody's monitoring what they're calling themselves, and the reason I'm saying this is, if you are looking for a certain type of campground, park, resort, make sure you're really exploring that particular place and not just believing the fact that it's called an RV resort. That's my caution here.

Speaker 1:

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 the area and they will describe their type of camping, their type of parks, what they offer and the cost of that. It's a great option. There are a lot of these type of parks in Florida. There are a ton of them, and there is a website that talks about all of them. Let's talk about BLM land, and that is Bureau of Land Management, and that is. It ranges from developed with facilities such as bathrooms and showers, to places that you could just put a tent up or take your RV and camp with nothing there, so it really just depends. You could go to blmorg to find out all about a BLM land in the area. You're going to Keep in mind that there are permits, rules and restrictions for each area, so check that out as well by going to blmorg to find out all about it.

Speaker 1:

Boondocking is another way to go camping or RVing, and that definition is usually boon docking is usually just defined as camping without hookups, so no electric, no sewer, no water, no hookups at all. It's often just an area that you can just drive into an open area. Boon docking, though, again can have different meanings to different people, where it could just simply be going somewhere where you don't have the hookups. So people would consider themselves boondocking. Not to make matters too confusing, but again the word is defined differently by different people. Some people just want to get out. Defined differently by different people. Some people just want to get out, get away.

Speaker 1:

I met actually a family of five and they just wanted to go out where there was nowhere and just let their kids run free and they really enjoyed boondocking. I was boondocking when I first started RVing. We stayed in Lake Mead. I would consider that boondocking. There was noondocking. When I first started RVing, we stayed in Lake Mead. I would consider that boondocking. 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 people trying that. I did. Fine for me, I prefer hookups in all honesty.

Speaker 1:

There's also moochdocking, which I also love, and moochdocking is doing just that You're mooching off family or friends on their property and that could be on their land or just in their driveway and sometimes they could provide some electricity or water or whatever's provided. Sometimes they could provide some electricity or water or whatever's provided. I suggest, if you're moochdocking and again the definition will say camping, usually for free that you offer something to your host, whether you pay them, whether you take them to dinner. I moochdocked at a friend's farm for a period of time when I was in Pennsylvania and I took the host to dinner. We did some things around the farm. We tried to be very helpful and supportive, because it's great to have a place to just pull the RV in and stay for a while. There is a great article by RV Life about moochdocking and I'll put that in the show notes for you.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about you know you're a family now you want to go RVing. How do you decide what types of places you want to stay? Let me break it down a little bit. The first thing that I highly suggest is that everybody that's traveling makes a list. So everybody separately makes their list of what they're interested in doing, the types of places they'd like to stay, the experiences they'd like to have, types of activities, whether they want to be part of events Maybe there's an event you've heard about across the country that you want to be part of. Everybody in the family creates this list. And even for kids, it's great to encourage them to create a list. Do they like the water? Do you like the mountains? Do they want you know the playground in the park or activities or ways to meet other kids? And even for really little kids, you could kind of encourage them and ask them and write the list down for them.

Speaker 1:

But once these lists are compiled, everybody coming together talking about things like how fast do you want to move? Are you trying to cram everything in in a two or three month period of time? How fast do you want to move? Everybody contributing to the conversation, I feel, makes travel way easier, and then you could start thinking about the kinds of campgrounds that you want to stay at. Creating a bucket list, I think, is a great idea, and my whole thing is don't just create the bucket list, but how are you going to start checking those things off, accomplishing some of those? The other thing I'm going to caution here is when deciding how fast you want to move across the country or in your area. Remember that enjoying the journey is important. I know when I first started out RVing I hear this a lot from RVers they wanted to go, go, go. Do everything really quick, as if there were some major time constraint, and for most people, they've realized they're not enjoying getting from point A to point B, being present where they are. They're just thinking about the next spot because they're moving so quickly. So keep that in mind as you plan your trips Before I continue on and give you some of the best places and the ways to find the best places to camp.

Speaker 1:

It is still cold in most of the US. We are still looking at snowstorms and cold weather, and that's why I highly recommend hassle-free RV skirting that inflates, and it is by AirSkirts. It is RV skirting that goes around the perimeter of your RV to prevent warm air from escaping, which helps trap in the air, which causes a natural insulator. It protects your pipes from freezing and causing damage, and it saves on heating costs. The heavy-duty PVC, military-grade PVC-coated canvas is incredible, and the best part is it sets up in minutes, it inflates with a pump that comes with it, and then, when you're done, it deflates quickly and it stores compactly. So, even if you're traveling every couple of weeks, it is easy to set up and take down, and Airskirts is offering you, my listeners, $200 off.

Speaker 1:

So this episode is about finding the best places to camp, and there are a number of ways to do it. First of all, looking at articles. So if you like to read articles, there are a lot of articles out there about the best campgrounds. My friends Morton's on the move did an article of the seven best campgrounds in PA. So if you're looking to go to Pennsylvania, this would be a great article to read. I know some of those campgrounds are in the Poconos, which is an amazing place to go in the summer months. Well, unless you like the winter and then going in the winter, some of those campgrounds will close during the winter months. So check that out as well. I'll put the article in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

You could also listen to podcasts, like you are now. The RV Life podcast loves to share favorite people, places, things to do, and there are others. Rv Miles' podcast is a great podcast and he just did an episode about travel and places to go and I'll put that in the show notes. There are many YouTube channels so you could go to YouTube and see campground reviews. On my YouTube channel, exploring Through Our Lens, there are a number of campground reviews. On my YouTube channel, exploring Through Our Lens. There are a number of campground reviews there. I'm also going to encourage you to check out my new YouTube channel, which I am getting ready to put content on, and that is called Inspire Travels with Patti. I'll put that in the show notes as well, and I will be posting campground reviews and anything that inspires you to travel.

Speaker 1:

The best place for all things campgrounds is campgroundsrvlifecom. When I first started RVing, I got the RV Life app and that is a suite of products that is my RV planning, rv safe, gps and the campgrounds. I've tried all of the other apps and websites and things out there. Campgrounds at RV Life is the best, and for a couple reasons. On Sun, rv Life is the best, and for a couple reasons. Number one it is the most comprehensive source of campgrounds city, state and national parks, resorts, places to stop, points of interest. It is the most comprehensive source. And the second best reason is all of the reviews on this site is authentic. They are for RVers, by RVers. Every review is an authentic review. So I'd love that you could go to campgroundsrvlifecom. If you're not an RV Life member, you can see some of the reviews. If you want to be a member, it costs $65 for the year and there's a 25% discount in the show notes. It is well worth it.

Speaker 1:

Now, before I get to the interviews where people talk about their favorite campgrounds, I want to mention a way to save you money on diesel fuel. On February 5th, I had two guests on from Open Roads Fuel Card that talked all about the Open Roads Diesel Fuel Savings Card, as well as the Innovative Toll Pass. The Innovative Toll Pass covers all 48 states. No more figuring out what transponder you need in your window when you're going through a toll. This Innovative Toll Pass will cover all 48 states.

Speaker 1:

That episode will give you all the details, as well as 12 people who have actually used OpenRoads and the innovative toll solutions for the last year, and tells you how much money they saved. So I interviewed 12 different people and found out how much money they saved using this fuel car. So you want to check that episode out? Now let's get to the people I interviewed at the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa. Keep in mind that a lot of the people talked about their favorite campgrounds being in and around Florida. That's where we happen to be and that's where they happen to be spending time, and we did hear from some kids. So what I encourage you listen to these interviews, do your research on the places they suggested and please let me know what you think in the show notes or on social media at RV Life Podcast, instagram or Facebook. I'm here with Adventure Boyds. This is Shane and.

Speaker 3:

And.

Speaker 4:

Presley and Cash and Joby in the back, joby.

Speaker 3:

Joby a little shy.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what is your favorite campground and why?

Speaker 3:

That's a hard one, I would say, for me. I love Sunshine Key, I love the Florida Keys. Good weather all the time, love to fish, paddleboard it's just beautiful.

Speaker 1:

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:

campground.

Speaker 5:

Probably has to be.

Speaker 4:

what was it? What was the campground in Florida? It's not Sunshine Key, tropical Palms, tropical Palms yes, tropical Palms.

Speaker 1:

Tropical Palms, I've been there, so did you get to go to Disney when you were there? Yes, tropical palms tropical palms.

Speaker 3:

I've been there, so did you get to?

Speaker 1:

go to disney when you were there. Yes, there you go. How about you, mom? Do you have a different favorite? Sunshine, sunshine. Okay, there you have it. They love the keys. That's right. I'm with sam and travis of always take the detour. I love that. I met them yesterday for the first time, so so I know we'll stay connected. But the question is, what is one of your favorite campgrounds? This is an easy one.

Speaker 2:

It has to be Creek Fire in Savannah Georgia, mainly because of the Lazy River. If there's a Lazy River, I'm in it. All the time you cried over a Lazy River in South Dakota.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so Lazy River it is. How many campgrounds have you been to that have Lazy Rivers? I think that's the only one.

Speaker 2:

I think that's the only one I've seen, so that's why it ranks up there. It ranks up there.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we're giving my listeners some suggestions for campgrounds. We're going to give you one If you get to Pennsylvania. Circle M has a Lazy River.

Speaker 2:

Oh in Pennsylvania, pennsylvania near.

Speaker 5:

Lancaster Circle, circle m she's a pennsylvania native.

Speaker 2:

Okay, philadelphia, see there you go awesome there you have it.

Speaker 1:

Thank you guys so much. I'm here at the florida rv super show and of course I had to stop by and see my great friend sharon and her husband warren. That is off talking to somebody. They're the membership specialists and if you are looking to hear about any of the Thousand Trails memberships, these are the people you need to talk to Now. Thousand Trails Sharon say hi, I know you probably can't talk anymore. You've been bombarded while you've been here. It's been absolutely crazy.

Speaker 1:

Here at the Tampa RV Show Everybody's going to talk and talk about all the memberships and everything. Yeah, I bet. So what's your favorite campground? Can I ask and I'm putting her on the spot, I did not tell her I was going to say this Ask this my favorite is Sunshine Key. That has been hands down. I've been asking people what their favorite campground is. Sunshine Key has been the one. I'm coming down in March to visit you. So anybody interested in Thousand Trouts you've heard the good, the not so good, the confusing information. You want to reach out to Sharon and Warren and they will give you all of the information. These people are not salesy, they're wonderful people. So I highly recommend talking to Sharon and Warren. Thank you, I'm here with Melissa Baum, the owner of Ribbit Supply Company. These are incredible boards. We're going to talk about that, but I wanted Melissa to tell you about your favorite campground.

Speaker 5:

Okay, hands down. Now, you know I kind of don't want to share because then everyone goes there, right, but I will share. My favorite campground is Lake Michigan Campground. It's literally just called Lake Michigan Campground. It's in Pentwater, michigan. It's on the beach. You just walk over a tiny little dune, not a big dune, a tiny little dune, straight to the beach on lake michigan. It's beautiful. But so look it up, lake michigan 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 in michigan.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I am here with jeff and monica. What's your channel? Dean and gertie explore the world. Dean and gertie explore the world. Dean and gertie explore the world. So I grabbed them to tell you, my listeners, what a favorite campground is and why um, I think my favorite campground so far is, uh, the narrows two up in maine.

Speaker 4:

it is right by acadia. Um, the sunsets and the sunrises there are epic, so so, so, so beautiful. I mean sitting there and watching 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 Arrows too.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and that's at Thousand Trails. So are you guys members?

Speaker 6:

Yes, we're Thousand Trails members. We travel pretty exclusively within Thousand Trails. Being a family of four, we try to save a little bit of money, and that is the one place that we found that we're able to navigate the full-time RV life and still be able to afford to go out and do fun things.

Speaker 1:

And anybody who listens to the RV Life podcast knows I am a big fan of Thousand Trails. They have two new memberships and I'm going to talk a little bit about that later in this video.

Speaker 7:

Thank you guys, thank you for having us.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm here with the kids so I hear you guys have a favorite campground.

Speaker 3:

What's your favorite? What did you like best about that?

Speaker 1:

Acadia. What did you like best about that? That we got to see the amazing ocean view and we went to see Acadia. Wow, that sounds cool. And how about you? You have a different one Moody Beach. Moody Beach, which is also in Maine, right, yes, and what'd you like best about that?

Speaker 4:

We were parked there next to somebody that was very nice, that had a son, that a lobster boat and we got to eat the lobster boat.

Speaker 1:

Now you're talking my language, girl. You've created monsters here. That sounds like a great plan being somewhere where you can eat lobster you love that. Ready to go back there? Yeah, Okay. Well, thank you two for being on the RV life podcast.

Speaker 3:

you're welcome hey guys, I'm Cassie with wild thorn Bailey's. I've been living full-time in my RV for almost six years with my husband and four kids. We have traveled all around the country and I'm gonna say my top two favorite campgrounds are the Florida Keys in RV Resort, because it feels like you're in a tropical place. It doesn't even feel like you're in this country and it just feels like a vacation. And our second favorite is Thousand Trails, orlando, because you're really close to Disney and they have a lot of really fun things for the kids to do and there's always families there. So we've met a lot of our friends there.

Speaker 3:

But that's our top two favorite down in Florida because we're from New York and we try to escape the cold, but we love a lot of the Thousand Trails all over the country. We've loved La Conner up in Washington visiting family, and even Verde Valley down in Arizona. It's absolutely stunning and it'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:

I'm Kelly.

Speaker 3:

I'm James.

Speaker 7:

And we're the Road Ravers and we wanted to share with you. Our favorite campground is Starlight Campground and RV Park in Mancelona, michigan. It's a great place close to Sleeping Bear Dunes, and it's a dark sky park. We were lucky enough to see the northern lights there this year.

Speaker 2:

But you can find us on Instagram, facebook, tiktok or YouTube as the Road Ravers Hi we are Charity and Shilah and we are Dash of Adventure, and our favorite campground is definitely Sunshine Key in the Florida Keys. It is our favorite place to be. We're there as much as we possibly ever can. It's home, it is our favorite place to be. We're there as much as we possibly ever can. It's home. It's honestly like home for us. We always feel the best. Awesome activities and bingo, oh bingo.

Speaker 4:

The best bingo we've ever played.

Speaker 2:

Bingo is where it's at, at Sunshine Key. So yeah, paddle boarding, we're outside 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:

They were some great suggestions. I know that the Keys really was repeated over and over again. I did not plan that, but that was something. Sunshine Key was definitely one of the most recommended places. I love the kids that loved the place in Maine and these are all great places to check out. They're all going to be on campgroundsrvlifecom 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 recommend that place, what do you like about it? And you could share that again in the comment section of any podcast platform or on social media at RV Life Podcast, instagram or Facebook Would love to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

So, those of you looking for a new RV, the ultimate VIP event for RV buyers is Music City Motorhome Expo. It takes place May 31st to June 4th and you can be the first to see the 2026 model year coaches from all the major manufacturers. With limited attendance, you could test drive all you want, chat with the manufacturers, product developers and engineers. Not only that, they have seminars. They give you three meals a day and incredible entertainment. I attended this event last year and I cannot wait to be back this year. This is a highly recommended event and you could go check it out at musiccitymotorhomeexpocom. It's now time for the campground of the week and it's brought to you by RV Life. This week's featured campground is Thousand Trails, lake Conroe in Willis, texas. It is a Thousand Trails campground, but you do not need to be a member to attend.

Speaker 1:

This RV resort is spacious and very well kept. It's great for RVers or tent camping and, with endless activities and amenities, there is always something to do. They have full hookups, pull-in sites, pets are welcome and you don't have to have an RV. Or if you have family or friends that you want to join, they do rank cabins. It has a solid 8.4 rating on the RV Life campgrounds, with 176 reviews. To see all of the photos, all of the amenities, reviews from RVers and so much more, you just go to campgroundsrvlifecom and type Thousand Trails, lake Conroe. If you decide you want to book your stay at this campground, there's a great big red book now button, so right from the campgroundsrvlife site you can book your stay.

Speaker 1:

Rv Life Campgrounds is part of the 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 of engineer properties and so much more. And again, if you are not a member of RV Life and you want to be, there is a 25% discount code. There's a link and a code. Actually, there's a link, there's no code. So if you go to the link and you go to fill out the information when you go to the checkout page, it'll give you 25% off. I want to thank all of the people who were on and, you know, gave their thoughts on campgrounds. I want to thank you, my listeners, for listening and for sharing your campground favorites and I want you to remember life's a journey. Live each day to the fullest, without regrets. I'm Pettie Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast.