We have a methodology for rating campgrounds based on staying in over 200 campgrounds in the last four years since we went on the road pretty much full-time or, as we call ourselves, “Most Timers.” We still own a home in Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri, but travel 8 to 9 months out of the year.
Since hitting the road in February 2019, we’ve been posting reviews on the more popular campground review sites such as RV Life, Campendium, The Dyrt, and RVParky. We apply our system to the campground reviews we do in this blog. The following information will hopefully give you a feel for how we rate campgrounds.
Not All Campgrounds are the Same
Our subjective ratings take into account that there are different types of campgrounds you’ll stay in when you travel. We will not rate a “destination” campground where we stay for a week or more the same as an overnighter right off the interstate. At a destination campground, you can experience operations and associated amenities, plus activities such as hiking or kayaking or sights such as national monuments. At the overnighter, requirements are likely easy access, RV parking, and safety.
What Excites Us May Not Excite You
Our campground musts, or nice to have, may not be the same for you. For example, we have friends that must have full hookups (FHUs) and be close to restaurants to receive a high rating. Not us; we usually would not rate a campground lower just because they did not have FHUs or aren’t close to town. For a higher rating, we would factor in elements such as space between campsites, a large dog area, hiking/biking trails, and locations near water to launch our kayak. We would not expect a site to be spacious for an overnighter, but we would be less than excited about our awning touching the next site’s rig. What are the key elements we consider?
Key Elements of Our Ratings
The chart below illustrates our campground likes, dislikes, and what we’re neutral about.
Likes
- Spacious/private sites
- Fire pit
- Dump station and potable water
- Water, mountain or golf course views
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Sites near the water for kayak launching
- Large dog areas
- Nearby walking or biking trails
- Uncrowded during weekdays
- Not a lot of small kid attractions i.e. pool & playground
- Mail/packages can be sent for longer stays
Neutral
- No Full Hookups
- Activities such as pickleball or social events
- Lack of nearby amenities such as restaurants or grocery stores
- Lack of wifi, cell phone service or OTA TV channels
- Trees that disrupt satellite service
Dislikes
- Tight turns and/or obstacles to get to your site
- Sites on top of each other
- Extremely unlevel sites
- Utilities don’t properly work
- Poorly managed & unkept grounds
- Campers who let the campground babysit kids
Rating Examples
Only a handful of campgrounds receive The Best rating, and it’s doubtful an overnight stop would receive this rating. Our best campground to date is Madison RV and Golf Resort in Madison, FL. There’s a lot to be excited about. So much, that the first time we stayed for a month and the second for two months. Key exciters were the price and what we received. For a very reasonable price, we got a spacious site that’s easy to get into with a water view. Included in the price were golf and a dedicated golf cart to use during our stay. There’s a two-acre off-leash dog park, laundry, no problems with satellite dish placement (we stay there during football season), and many OTA channels. The campground is well-managed, and the staff treats you like family. Garbage is picked up daily from your sight, and if you set your propane tank out, they pick it up and bring it back with fills at a very reasonable price. Permanent parties are not allowed, and there’s not much for small kids to do, so there are not many there—both are a plus for us. Madison has a swimming pool, pickleball courts, and plenty of group food events, but these activities were not factored into our rating.
A Very Good campground will please you in many ways. For example, Casey’s Riverside RV Park in scenic Westfir OR is a very good campground as it’s well run, not obnoxiously expensive, the campsite was easy to get into, decently spaced with a river view, rushing water sounds, and has easy river access for fishing or kayak launching. There were plenty of hiking trails and sights, such as covered bridges and waterfalls. The campground also had decent Wifi and decent shots toward the southern sky for our satellite, but those items are not rating killers for us. There was a grocery store not too far away and multiple hiking trails and sights to see. We’ve been to this campground twice, and Casey’s pleased us both times.
A Good rating will decently cover our likes with minimal dislikes, if any. For example, most of the Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and state parks we’ve stayed at have received this rating. Check in is easy with a personal touch, sites are well spaced, and we may or may not have full hookups but generally at least electric. The settings are consistently rustic, with many COEs having water views or direct water access to launch a kayak and state parks hiking or biking trails. You often have to drive a ways from the campground for amenities (restaurants, grocery stores, big box stores, etc.), but as stated before, we are neutral in this area. This type of campground was clean and well-managed.
An It’ll Work rating is pretty much just that, a place to stay that was not an exciter but met basic requirements. Most overnighters or staying a few days will fall under this category. When we give this rating, the sites are closer together and offend a parking lot type of RV park. For a longer stay, the rating would be for a campground that is not very rustic (often with permeant or seasonal residents who give it that “trailer trash” appearance), lacks walking/biking/dog walking areas, and maybe a draw people who let their kids run wild and don’t pick up after their dogs. However, the campground would be decently managed, and we would feel safe.
A Not Impressed rating is for a campground or trailer park that, for better words, sucked. We’ve prided ourselves on not picking these types of campgrounds. The few times we have not been impressed were due to rerouting off our planned route due to family emergencies or inability to get into the scheduled campground because of flooding etc. Along with many things we don’t like, not being able to put your awning or even slides out because the rig next to you was so close is huge.
We hope you now understand our simple but subjective rating system, including gaining some insight into what we are looking for in a campground. We’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out using the form below.