How would you rate the State Parks in your state for popup camping?
We are in Arkansas and we love our State Parks. The Ouchita mountains and the Ozark Mountains run through the state. Plus we have Mt. Magazine State Park which is the highest point between the rockies and the smokies.
Tell us a little about your state parks.
The state parks in Minnesota (I've only camped in 4-5) are great. Clean restrooms, decent campground roads, large sites (with significant shade as appropriate), and at least 30% of the sites are not reservable (first-come, first-serve).
But the best part is that Minnesota uses it's own reservation system, not Re$erveAmerica! :-()
Austin
I love Georgia State Parks, but there only downfall is that they are first come first serve, meaning you cant reserve a particular site, you can only reserve a spot and pick from whats open when you arrive.
I have a agree with dcampbell1969 about the state parks in Georgia being great.
You can go to a different one each weekend. A good way to spend a year
The state has done a lot of work improving them. There are 39 for camping
In Minnesota we are spoilt with State Parks. I've camped in approx 15 of them and have yet to find a bad one. Sure the bath houses can be a little on the old side, but they are well maintained and free to use. They upgraded the reservation this year and its an improvement. The sites are large and well spaced with plenty of shade from snowfalls :D
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/map.html
Maine has always been dry camping at the state parks. No WES but they do have warm showers and bathrooms plus a dump station.
That has finally changed as of 2007. We now have some EW sites at Camden Hills State Park and Sebago Lake State Park. This will probably get them a little fuller than they have been in the past.
This was a bit of a tough vote for me. The parks themselves are excellent! However, the people who run them tend to be way too permissive for my taste. It is common to have campers who have loud music playing, and it is not unusual to find young people having big beer-drinking parties on weekends. The management seems to be OK with this behavior. I've camped all over the country, and I've never experienced this anywhere else.
-Speak
You should try NJ parks, They are well maintained and there is NO ALCOHOL. The rangers are very strict about this and will ticket you and/or ask you to leave. This cuts down on the Beer parties. The only downside is in some there are no pets allowed. Other than that, the State Park system in Jersey is very nice.
This is a tuff one. California State Parks run the gambit. It seems to depend on local management.
In my opinion, most of the parks that I have been to suffer varying degrees of neglect. I'm sure that it has to do with budget but it certainly doesn't get cheaper to repair by waiting. The main complaint that I have is that whenever a campsite gets damaged from flooding or anything else, it takes years for them to reopen that site. The electricity and water (which is not suppied to campsites) got wiped out at Pt Mugu and it took about 3 years before they restored the water. To me, that's just simply irresponsible management.
We haved stayed in quite a few Missouri state parks. They are very nice and the cost is way lower than private campgrounds.
We have only used New York parks a few times the last several years - plan to use them much more this year with the Bayside. My experience so far has been very good. For $16 you can't complain too much. At least once, sometimes twice, a day a crew of 4 workewrs show up in a pickup and do a pretty good job of cleaning out and basically hosing down the bathrooms. This means everything to the Boss of our site. We stayed at a private campground a couple of years ago that ran out of water on 4th of July wknd - toilets got full - very, very FULL. In my experience the State Parks is one of the few things NY does right and an actual example of tax $$ at work.
On the other hand, I talked to someone last week that boycotts the NY Parks because not only does the State allow people on public assistance to use them free, those same people are notorious for reserving sites and then not showing up - which causes a real problem with the ReserveAmerica system. I am not real comfortable with his statement or its implications - and do not even know if there is a grain of truth in it, but for the purposes of this poll I thought I would throw it out there as it is apparently an existing perception with some in our state. Again, I mention this reluctantly and possibly completely inaccurately - no offense intended.
The Michigan State Parks are fantastic. Most (if not all) of the bathhouses have been renewed and are simply fantastic. Many of the parks in Northern Michigan have had some of the sites removed to help increase privacy between camp sites. Our favorite parks are up in the UP.
I have always been pleased with the ones here in Colorado..... Always cleans and well cared for......
Quote from: FunroverI have always been pleased with the ones here in Colorado..... Always cleans and well cared for......
Have you ever stayed in Mueller? That is supposed to be one of the best in the country. I'm in Arkansas but I know about a dozen people here who have reccomended Mueller.
Quote from: rjh8115The Michigan State Parks are fantastic. Most (if not all) of the bathhouses have been renewed and are simply fantastic. Many of the parks in Northern Michigan have had some of the sites removed to help increase privacy between camp sites. Our favorite parks are up in the UP.
AMEN! :) We love the state parks here in Michigan too. ESPECIALLY in the U.P.!
Quote from: AustinBostonThe state parks in Minnesota (I've only camped in 4-5) are great. Clean restrooms, decent campground roads, large sites (with significant shade as appropriate), and at least 30% of the sites are not reservable (first-come, first-serve).
But the best part is that Minnesota uses it's own reservation system, not Re$erveAmerica! :-()
Austin
Gotta agree with AB here.. Minnesota State Park are great places.. I camped out at Crow Wing State park two years back when they just had the worst storms with trees blown over and etc. On the day I went up there, I found the State workers working their asses off to clear out every site they possibly could with tree debris before the big NHRA weekend in Brainerd.
Awesome state park with open sites that are first come, first serve. Love their reservation system.... 90 day window. Cheap too!!
Love the Penna. State Parks, they run the gambit of old, but maintained to new and clean.
Rich
I think this was a great topic for a poll! I'm enjoying reading the responses.
Up to now, if I've not missed anything, we have responses from eleven states:
AR
CA
CO
GA
ME
MI
MN
MO
NJ
NY
PA
What about the rest? Can we get responses from all 50 states???
-Speak
Quote from: SpeakEasyThis was a bit of a tough vote for me. The parks themselves are excellent! However, the people who run them tend to be way too permissive for my taste. It is common to have campers who have loud music playing, and it is not unusual to find young people having big beer-drinking parties on weekends. The management seems to be OK with this behavior. I've camped all over the country, and I've never experienced this anywhere else.
-Speak
I agree with this statement about new yorks parks. We go to Luzerne quite a bit and every year they seem to get louder. When you complain to the staff they act like they have no idea what you are talking about.
The 7 Vermont State Campgrounds that I've stayed in have all been very well run and clean. Even though some of these campgrounds were built by the CCC in the 30's!
I responded with TN parks, so add that one to your list!
Larry
Quote from: brainpauseI responded with TN parks, so add that one to your list!
Larry
Well, Larry; I'm really puzzled. I've looked the posts over from top to bottom a few times, and I can't find a post from you about TN parks. Whassup?
-Speak
Quote from: SpeakEasyWell, Larry; I'm really puzzled. I've looked the posts over from top to bottom a few times, and I can't find a post from you about TN parks. Whassup?
-Speak
Maybe, like several others, he only voted, not posted. As of this post, there are 42 votes, and only 23 posts.
Austin
As stated before, the Colorado parks are VERY nice. Clean, well spaced sites, great facilities. BUT my complaint is that some of them are completely reservable, meaning we can't spontaniously go up on a Wed or Thurs to get an empty site making for a 3-4 day weekend. Golden Gate Canyon is this way. Some parks have a couple first come first serve sites but not many.
My only complaint.
Matt
I live in Indiana and I rate our parks good as far as cleanliness, stuff to do, etc. But the price, OUCH! We just paid $28 a night for Memorial weekend. PLUS we had to pay the $5 fee to drive thru the gate! I think that is too much. I have checked other states and they are sometimes almost half of that. I think on non holiday periods, weekend or not, it is still $24 here. So how much is it in your state?
We've only stayed in two of the state parks here in Idaho so far, but they've both been very enjoyable experiences. On holiday weekends, the park seem to put on extra activities to help keep kids interested. Memorial Day weekend, we stayed at Bruneau Dunes State Park, and they had opportunities for the kids to catch pond critters and look at planets in the observatory.
Our first big trip in the pop-up (more than three nights) will also be to a state park - for a week, and I expect that will be enjoyable as well.
How many states are we up to now?
I'll reply about TN state parks - for the most part, excellent camping! Some are better than others, of course. Most have w/e in all but the "rustic sites". The bathrooms are generally in decent shape. Some need updating, but they are clean. I have visited a couple of parks I would not want to camp in, but only because the cg was really outdated and looked like it would very difficult to level. I think we have camped in 12 state parks here; and I would return to all of them. (and have, in many cases). There are many more on my list to try. The downside is that they still do not accept reservations, except for a handful of the parks.
Quote from: SpeakEasyThis was a bit of a tough vote for me. The parks themselves are excellent! However, the people who run them tend to be way too permissive for my taste. It is common to have campers who have loud music playing, and it is not unusual to find young people having big beer-drinking parties on weekends. The management seems to be OK with this behavior. I've camped all over the country, and I've never experienced this anywhere else.
-Speak
I've only stayed at about 1/2 dozen different Ohio State Parks and we've visited a few more. They are usually well maintained but the amenities vary greatly from one park to another. Some parks have semi-secluded sites and some parks have them stacked one right next to the other without any trees. I
We've camped in several state parks here in GA and they've all been great. As dcampbell says, the only problem is not being able to choose your site until you get to the park. We've also stayed in several in FL and really like them. I also like reserving a particular site (maybe GA will take a hint from it's southern neighbors!)
Another vote for Michigan State Parks being great. Some we like more than others, mostly due to personal preferences (e.g. does it have a beach, what's close by, etc.)
We've stayed at a couple of Minnesota State Parks. They were all top notch. Ditto with West Virgina.
Mike
I voted OK, but like the parks in a another state.
Illinois has some excellent parks, Starved Rock, White Pines for example.
But, we live next to Wisconsin. We have camped in almost all of the parks in south end of the state, plus a few farther north. With one exception, all excellent.
The real problem with Illinois parks is thou shalt not have a frosty beverage around the campfire, or a glass of wine with dinner, or a splash of Bailey's in the coffee. Wisconsin allows alcohol; but they will not tollerate rowdy people.
Wisconsin uses Reserve America for its reservation system. IMHO, a vast improvement over the days when we had to post mark are reservations on Jan 2.
The last time I looked at Indiania, you mailed the reservations and everthing they got from Jan2 through April 1 was opened on April one and awarded lottery style.
Some Illinois parks have reservations, some don't, and not the same ones every year. They don't use a common reservation form either.
The state employees running both the Wisconsin and Illinois state parks are uniformly excellent.
Bob
We currently live in SC and the parks have a lot of nice things but they need some improvements. We haven't lived here but two years and have only camped at two but have looked at many more.
We camped at Table Rock in the White Oak section, don't like the other loops as I feel like a sardine in a can. Way too close for my comfort. The bathhouses are okay, clean enough, but old.
We also have stayed at Hamilton Branch State Park. The sites are much better there, much more spacious and picture perfect views; however, I was so glad we had our 'outhouse' with the porti potti and solar showers. The toilets themselves were clean, but the showers were gross. Mold and mildew and soap scum everywhere! Not enough bathhouses for that size campground either. We had at least 20 to 30 sites using one bathhouse and there were only two commodes and ONE shower!!!!!
Never saw a ranger except right after we checked in, they came to see if we were checking in or leaving and once while we were packing up to leave. We were the only ones on our loop, but I felt there wasn't enough security there.
I can also give a thumbs up to one state park in NC, where we lived before we moved to SC. Morrow Mountain State Park near Charlotte. Large, spacious sites. Four person crew came to empty trash (there is a trash can at each site) once a day and to clean the bathhouses twice a day. The bathhouses are old but in excellent condition.
We love state parks. Have stayed at a variety, mountain to oceans. Unfortunately in CA getting a reservation @ A beach campground is nearly impossible from May thru Sept. Other campgrounds vary in availability. We too use Reserve America.
Some of our campgrounds need much improvement, but others show very recent upgrades. About 2/3's of state parks are dry camping, the other vary between FHU and just WE, most have a dump station.
The cost is usually B/T $16 and $30, much better deal than private campgrounds. The rangers patrol regularly and we haven't had any problems with unruly folks.
I tent camped all over CA as a kid with my folks, so I have a specal place for state parks. Besides it seems so much more like camping that many of those "resort" places.
FL state parks are great, Next to Fort Wilderness Disney they are the best the state has to offer. Federal parks in Florida are excellent as well.
NYS campgrounds are quite good in my opinion. In regards to comments from the other NYers' postings - I have never heard that people on public assistance can camp for free. I do know that disabled veterans are able to obtain a state park pass which allows them free access to day use, camping and historical sites in NYS. As far as the noise goes that is poor management of the specific campsite and not a philosophy of NYS.
There are two governing agencies for NYS parks - The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks and Recreation. Back in the 1980's I used to work as security for the Office of Parks and Rec. I know back then noise and underage drinking were not allowed. If I had problems with either I would call the Park Police to come to the campground. They patrolled between two parks about 15 miles apart. Most of the police were either active or retired city police and had the same jurisdiction as a city police officer. If the park police were not available the state police would respond. I can recall watching quite a few people packing up camp at 1 am. The DEC campgrounds are patrolled by rangers who call DEC officers which have the same authority of a state trooper plus can enforce environmental laws.
A NY responder mentioned ReserveAmerica. I am not real fond of that booking system. I live near two state parks now and often see empty sites that if checked online come up as reserved.
My husband and I spent this weekend in private campground in central NY. Thankfully we had some family activities in the area to attend and were not at the campground much. The campers were packed right in with no privacy at all. Living in the Adirondacks I may be spoiled but parking a PU with a camper 10' away on either side of me is not my idea of camping.
Quote from: currypA NY responder mentioned ReserveAmerica. I am not real fond of that booking system. I live near two state parks now and often see empty sites that if checked online come up as reserved.
None of us are fond of ReserveAmerica, but they are not to blame for the empty campsites, no-shows are responsible for them. A few states will cite & fine you for reserving and not using a campsite. They never have reserved sites that go empty.
Austin
Quote from: AustinBostonNone of us are fond of ReserveAmerica, but they are not to blame for the empty campsites, no-shows are responsible for them. A few states will cite & fine you for reserving and not using a campsite. They never have reserved sites that go empty.
Austin
I agree. I was not against ReserveAmerica per se but more against the whole idea of booking campsites. Not sure if this is national policy, but in NY reservations can be done nine months prior to the first day of arrival. I think a lot of people make reservations and then something comes up and they can't honor the reservation. I am not sure what the alternative is. One of the campgrounds near me has sites along the highway that are right on the lake. These used to be first come first serve and now they are reserve as well. This takes away the possibility of getting a decent site at the last minute.
Fining is a good idea for not canceling a reservation. What is the policy if the person(s) who reserved the site don't show up? Can the campground rent it out after a grace period?