Mountain Home RV Park – Mountain Home, ID

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April 30, 2009

“Would you like to face east or west?” “Would you like…” Oh my, lots of questions! But these camp hosts just want to make sure you get the spot that is best for you! The thing that tickled me the most was… the camp host was very tactful about saying, “We DO let you wash RV’s here…..” I had come through a snow storm in Wyoming and had a very dirty RV. Other RV’s in this park were very clean and shiny, so I washed my RV!

They probably run a “tight ship” here. I don’t like to give 10’s, but this park deserves a 10! This is a beautiful park! I got a personal escort to my site, and help setting up. The host also had a nice brochure showing what was available around Mountain Home.

Nice paved spaces, with plenty of room for tow cars. The slots have a large spread of grass for “spacing” between RV’s. The water faucets are wrapped and insulated for wintertime use. The park has high water pressure and it is highly suggested that you use a regulator. Restrooms/showers/laundry area was shiny and clean! There are four showers, and each is in a private, code locked room.

The park is a nice, brisk walk down from a very nice Wal-Mart, and there is a good Chinese restaurant next door. This is a good park for full-timers if you can handle Idaho winters. Or, it’s a very nice stop over on your way along Interstate 84.

Willard Bay State Park (Cottonwood Campground) – Willard, UT

By

JJandCP

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April 29, 2009

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Willard Bay State Park has three camping areas. This review is for the Cottonwood Campground, with full hookups. The good news is, the park has free WiFi! The bad news is…. I couldn’t get it from site #36. However, Verizon Aircard worked very well.

This is very fancy for a state park! Each site has got a barbecue grill, fire ring, and a pavilion covered picnic table on a concrete patio! WOW! A “covered” picnic table! At each site! I couldn’t believe it! On the other hand, there were a lot of mosquitoes during my visit, probably because of the proximity of the lake.

At this State Park, you get “convenience to the freeway,” but you put up with road noise. The pads are all asphalt and there is a good deal of spacing between RV slots. The pull-throughs are very wide arcs. There was one thing I didn’t like. The water spout and electric post were located in such a way that you had to cross your water hose and electric cord over the top of the sewer hose. But this may be due to the configuration of my RV and maybe wouldn’t affect other RV’s.

This is a great relaxing place to overnight while traveling through northern Utah.

Western Hills Campground – Rawlins, WY

By

JJandCP

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April 27, 2009

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Western Hills Campground - Rawlins, WY There is a “dearth” of campgrounds along Interstate 80. I stopped at Western Hills Campground to wait out a harsh snow and wind storm. The hosts were very nice and let me have “late” checkout if I needed due to the weather and driving conditions.

No landscaping, just a large gravel lot, with 30 and 50 amp. However, the office and laundry are in two cute little “barn” buildings. This resort is year round and water faucets are insulated against harsh Wyoming weather. If you have a surge protector from Camping World, you can use it here, it will fit.

There are three sections of “back to backs” that the staff told me are being converted to long pull throughs. The spots still have “two” of everything. I was in one of them, and the one thing I didn’t like was that I had to cross my electric and cable cords, as well as my water hose across the sewer hose for the sewer. The other sewer connection was located under the picnic table of the neighboring slot. I’m sure your neighbor will really appreciate it if you use that one. Be sure to have disinfectant wipes to wipe off your hoses and cords.

The showers were clean, but they are only available when the office is open. The very nice and cute laundry area is open later hours and has a change machine, and special washers for extra dirty clothes in addition to other washers and dryers. However, if you are in the “full hookup” sections, it’s a bit of a hike to the laundry area.

There are very nice pet areas, one of them is fenced so you can let your pet run around without a leash. Cable and WiFi were good. You are given a 24 hour code to use for each day you stay. The Wi-Fi can only be used for browsing and email checking, no large files or movies. Park was still charging “winter” rates. Rate was $23 before taxes and discounts.

This park has a very unique way of applying discounts and taxes. The Good Sam discount is $3 a day, which equated to a little more than 13%. Then, the sales/lodging tax is applied to the base rate before the discounts. Bottom line, it was still affordable.

Western Hills Campground is a good stopover while on Interstate 80.

Garden of the Gods Campground – Colorado Springs, CO

By

JJandCP

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April 24, 2009

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The good news is…. this park finally got cable! The bad news is…. that red stuff on the “decorative red gravel” gets all over your RV and it’s hard to keep clean! The red gravel is a nuisance! As for the cable, currently it is installed in rows B and C. The cable is limited, just some networks, Travel, CNN, Discovery, Weather, and some “who cares” channels.

Each RV spot has a picnic table and fire ring. The spots in Row A are against the fence which backs up to a busy road. Those spots appeared quite narrow and small. I was in Row B (a “Deluxe” site, also “back in”), and I could still hear some road noise, but not bad. At the time I checked in, I was told that the “pull throughs” were not available. That would be Rows D, N, and M. Those sites are “Premium” and are extra long. At the time I was there, it appeared to me that their “Premium” sites were being converted to “back to back” sites because there was evidence of “recent ground disturbance” down the center of Rows D, N, and M, dividing the rows in half. In those rows, the electrical poles had two sides with two connections, same with the water spout. A contractor was there doing some “sewer work” on Row D. Who knows.

There are two laundry/rest room areas, but at the time I was there, only the one near the office was being used, and it required a code. The one on the other end was locked, did not appear to require a “code”, and appeared to not be in use at this time (off season). The washers in the office area have three different prices, depending on whether you want cold ($1.25), warm ($1.75), or hot ($2.25) water. However, the washers were those great front loaders! The dryers were those huge commercial type ones. The sign says you get 5 minutes for each quarter, but that wasn’t true. It was actually 5 minutes for the FIRST quarter. Subsequent quarters added 10 minutes. $1.25 gets you 45 minutes and I dried three washer loads on that. However, some of my clothing got a bit “fried” when I used the “hot” setting on the dryer.

The park has a pay phone if you need. I was told WiFi is free if you come in the office, if you want it at your site, it’s through Tengo and you pay. However, from my site in the upper part of Row B, I was able to detect an unsecured wireless on a sporadic basis. I’m not sure if this unsecured wireless belonged to the park. When I couldn’t get that signal, Verizon Aircard worked fine.

There is a public transit stop with frequent service right outside the gate for those that don’t tow a car. Also, the campground staff told me that Enterprise delivers rental cars there for those who need that option. During “off season,” I paid $28 (plus taxes, and they don’t honor any discounts) for the “Deluxe” site. I believe it’s almost double during “high” season. Good value for the money during “off season.” Don’t think I’d want to be here during “high season.”

Coloma Resort – Coloma, CA

By

ChiMom

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April 23, 2009

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This beautiful campground is located adjacent to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in the Sierra foothills. Most campsites are along the South Fork of the American River. There is a narrow bridge to cross to get to the campsite, but it is easy to cross (once you’ve done it once).

The resort is walking distance from Sutters Mill. There is river rafting, gold panning and just plain relaxing. It is beautiful to sit by the river with your campfire crackling and the river sounds blending in. There is a gate to open and close behind you, but not a big deal. The caretakers are very friendly & helpful. They also sell fishing license at the general store.

Their web site gives easy directions to the campground. http://www.colomaresort.com/

Cedar Rail Campground & RV Park – Raton, NM

By

JJandCP

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April 21, 2009

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Cedar Rail Campground & RV Park - Raton, New Mexico Wow, what a view! Even my cat loved it, he wouldn’t budge from the windows! But one caveat, chock your tires, as you will be backed up against a very steep embankment! Also, this park is 8 miles north of Raton (about 6300 feet elevation), but those 8 miles are a very steep grade up to about 7,000 feet in elevation. If you don’t get a “running start” when you drive through Raton on I-25, you will drive the 8 miles chugging at 45 mph while the RV’s with Colorado plates just speed past you (probably laughing!).

Cedar Rail Campground & RV Park - Raton, New Mexico This is a great overnight stop on your way up or down I-25. Sites are all on gravel. The laundry room was clean, and the women’s rest room was clean, except only one shower was in use. The other showers had “stuff” stored in them. Wi-Fi was a bit slow, but it operates from a satellite. To use the Wi-Fi, you have to register, and you get a “coupon” code good for one day. TV reception via antenna was ok, some channels good, some spotty. Cell phone service was spotty, had to walk around to find a signal. My Verizon air card wouldn’t even connect. The water here is excellent!

The only negative I would say about this park is that I would try to avoid spots 1 & 2 and spots 22-24 as those spots, although they are “pull through,” are located parallel along the driving area. Lastly, if you are one of those people who bought the expensive surge protector from Camping World, you can use it here. The electric poles are long enough to allow you to plug in the surge protector.

Bar S RV Park – Grants, NM

By

JJandCP

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April 18, 2009

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Bar S RV Park has full hookups, showers, laundry, free wi-fi, great cable (even if all analog), and all for the low, low price of $15 as of this writing (rate before Good Sam discount and taxes)! Such a bargain! At these prices, if you ask for the Good Sam rate, you should go out and spend that $1.50 somewhere (the amount of the discount) just to provide economic stimulus! I casually asked the desk person how they could have all of this for just $15! She kind of looked at me like…. “what do you mean, this is normal!”

The sites are gravel. The only landscaping is that most of the sites have a large pine tree. I was put into a back-in because I wasn’t towing a car. The back in was against a fence. I have a 32 foot motorhome with a bike carrier on the back, and my front stuck out an itsy bitsy bit into the driving area, but not bad.

The pull-throughs can accommodate big rigs. Try to avoid getting put into spaces 60, 61 and 62. Those spaces are at the top of the driving loop, and require “parallel parking.” Let’s just say, when the RV’s come around the driving loop, I wouldn’t want to be in those particular spaces.

The WiFi worked on and off, sometimes it would work fine, and then it would “hang.” But at these prices, you can’t complain! When it hung, I got out my Verizon air card, and no problem.

In addition to the “standard” rules, the park had a rule about “no alcohol outside your RV.” I’m sure there was a good reason for this. Because I was racing to stay ahead of a snow storm, I didn’t get to check out the laundry and showers. Temperatures were dropping as I checked in, and the next morning, I got out as soon as I could to stay ahead of the storm.

If you are in this area and need an inexpensive place to overnight, this is a good choice!

Sleeping Ute Mountain RV Park – Towaoc, CO

By

JJandCP

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April 16, 2009

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Wow, each site at Sleeping Ute Mountain RV Park has it’s own garbage can! I’m impressed! Free Wifi, great cable (although all channels were analog), and a swimming pool and sauna, and all for the low, low price of $23 (as of this writing)!

The sites here are gravel and most of the sites have one tree. There are picnic table at each site. A casino right across the way if you enjoy that. There is also a shuttle that leaves hourly for Cortez if you need to go there.

The women’s rest room had three showers, and you had to check out a key. Shower #2 had a very dirty floor (which I reported to the check in person), the other two were clean. The pool is less than four feet, but enough that you could do some swimming. The only downer was that the night I stayed there had a 50 mph wind, but what can you say?

Riverside Oasis Campground and RV Park – Moab, UT

By

JJandCP

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April 16, 2009

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Campground and RV Park Reviews | RVBuddy.com

Riverside Oasis is 1.5 miles from the Arches National Park. Good location, you can easily ride your bike to the Arches if you are energetic. However, this RV park is best suited for campers, travel trailers, popups, and smaller Class C’s (in addition to tents). Although I saw a few larger Class A’s here, it’s a tight fit for them.

The “back-ins” are best for campers. I have a 32 foot Class C with a carrier on the back for my scooter, and the “pull-through” I had was… well… let’s just say, I PRAYED that no one would “clip” my front end or back end while they were driving in the driving area… and I also prayed that I could exit my space without “clipping” the truck parked cross-wise in front of the travel trailer next to me!

Road noise wasn’t bad, but there was “construction noise” early in the morning from a crane that is working on a construction project nearby. There is about five feet width of grass between each space. Enough room for the picnic table that each site had. Cable was great, 70 channels (all analog). Wi-Fi worked ok, was a little slow at times. It was free, but it was from Tengo, and you had to work around the initial “sign up for a Tengo account” screen. A little misleading.

There is a pay phone in case your cell phone doesn’t work. The laundry room is open only between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM. Restrooms/showers were clean. On the outside of the main building is a stainless steel “deep sink” if you need. There was a sign that said “Pets, $5 fee.” I mentioned that I had a cat. I was told, “Cats don’t count.” Well, then the sign should say “Dog fee” not “Pet Fee.”

This is a good place to stay if you want to visit the Arches National Park.

TraveLand RV Park – Logan, UT

By

JJandCP

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April 12, 2009

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TraveLand RV Park is behind a motel that apparently changes their name a lot. The current name of the motel you are supposed to look for is “M-6 Inn.” Whatever… However, there is a clearly marked sign indicating that there is an RV park behind the motel. I was following a Good Sam Trip Routing that I had made (headed to New Mexico), and I assumed (silly me) that this was somewhere near Interstates 84 or 15. Wrong, Logan is 20 miles away from the freeway. Oh well.

During the winter months, the office is not open on weekends. If you need to stay on a weekend, phone ahead and the manager will tell you what spot to pull into. I arrived around 5:00 PM on a Saturday and planned to stay two nights. The manager was very helpful but didn’t want to take payment until the next morning. The next morning, the manager didn’t seem too concerned about coming after me for my payment, as I sort of had to “hunt them down.” But it didn’t take long, and I made my payment for the two nights.

By the way, all the spots are pull-through! There is decent spacing between RV’s except for the “side by side” slots, where two RV’s share a post. Fortunately, at the time I was there, “side by side” wasn’t a problem as the park wasn’t full. Beautiful view of the mountains that surround the area!

The park is located in the more “rural” part of Logan, there is a horse farm next door. Laundry and showers were clean. Little bit of road noise at night, but not bad. Cable has only the networks and one C-Span channel. Couldn’t get WiFi to work the first night, but it could have been due to the electrical storm that came through. WiFi worked great the next day!

This is a good overnight stop on your way to somewhere, if you don’t mind being 20 miles from the freeway.