Recreational
Vehicle Camping
United
States
National Parks and Monuments
The
National Park Service - NPS has over 400 parks and monuments, and some
of the nicest campgrounds available on public land. Millions
of visitors travel every year to see the natural beauty the National
Parks have to offer. Because of this popularity, campgrounds
can be a busy place for the RV traveler.
The
USA
Map on our home page has links to each individual states NPS
website.
The NPS
website has links to all parks and their
campgrounds. There is a lot of information here, so take your
time looking around. You will find all the RV
camping information you will need to plan your trip.
RV
Camping Reservations
The
fact these campgrounds are located near such beautiful places makes
them extremely popular, with some requiring reservations at least 5 days in
advance. You can get lucky getting a non reserved RV camping
site, but you have to be at the campground early, and expect to wait to
find out if there might be an open campsite. If no site
becomes available, you are out of luck, so we don't recommend trying to
find a campsite at popular National Parks at the last
minute. As you research the NPS campgrounds, you will soon
notice that many have a combination of reserved and first come first
served campsites.
Most
National Park campgrounds offer some first come first served campsite
placement. During peak travel times, you should try and check
in as early as possible. Often 12 noon is too late for some
campgrounds, so plan your trip to allow for early campground
registration if you don't have reservations.
RV
Camping - The Campground
Once
you get to the NPS campground, there is usually a registration hut to
stop at. Here you can get your assigned RV camping site if
you have a reservation, or you will be assigned a site based on
availability. You can get campground rules and map, and get
any questions you may have answered by the Ranger inside.
Most,
but not all NPS campgrounds are set up in a loop. One way traffic only
is allowed in these loops. You need to
watch yourself in corners especially when meeting another vehicle
as trees seem to jump out of nowhere to try and tag the side
of your RV. Low hanging branches can be a hazard, so just
try and remember to be especially careful of roadside hazards.
There
are very few pull-thru RV camping sites available in NPS
campgrounds. Be prepared to back into your assigned
campsite. Most spaces are quite level, but you will be well
advised to take some old boards to help level your RV. Your
campsite will usually have a picnic table and campfire ring. It may
have a cooking grill as well.
Restrooms
are conveniently located throughout the campground. Trash
bins are also conveniently placed in the campground. Be sure to carry
jugs or buckets for trips to the water spigot as
carrying water in pans isn't my idea of fun. Often restrooms have a
dish washing facility made up of a large sink and counter
top. It makes it easy to wash a pan full of dinner dishes
without filling up your RV holding tanks.
You
will also find a centrally located RV dump station in the
campground. Here's a tip - If you need to dump your RVs
holding tanks, get to the dump station early. Waiting even a
little while may cost you an hours wait in line. There is
usually a fresh water RV fill spigot at the dump
station.
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