Yet another question from a newbie, here.
In the past, I ve been happy with the AAA campground guides. Since getting the pop-up, I ve noticed that there are several other campground guides on the market.
Which campground guides do you use?
madroneWe use Trailer Life and The Unofficial Guide to the Best RV and Tent Camprounds in the USA. The Unofficial Guide is easiest to read but has several errors. We also rely on the recommendations found here on the board. That being said: we take all recommendations with a grain of salt. Campgrounds change, they may have been reviewed during the busiest time of year which had an effect on cleanliness, they may have been reviewed with children in mind, they may have been reviewed on a good day (the campground s or the reviewer s). In the end, we decide the area we want to be in, start looking for campgrounds, read all the reviews available, then make up our own mind about trying a particular one. We haven t found one we wouldn t return to yet.
Hope this helps,
Susan
madroneMy Favorite for New England is New England Camping, by Carol Connare & Stephen Gorman, published by Foghorn Outdoors. It rates campgrounds in New England by scenery, which is what we want. For a less regionalized guide, my favorite would be " The unofficial Guide to the Best RV & Tent Campgrounds" although as Susan says, it does contain mistakes, such as in the front sections under their campground awards, they list Horseneck Beach in Westport as one of Maine s Most Beautiful Campgrounds. The only problem is it is in Massachusetts and it is in a beautiful spot, but the grounds and the bathrooms are very dirty! My LEAST favorites are any that take advertising dollars! I mean really, are you going to write a bad review of a campground that is buying an ad from you? I doubt it!
madroneHeather - You don t say where you re from and that can make a difference as there are many localized guides that are head and shoulders above the national ones.
For me, the two I use most heavily are California Camping and Pacific Northwest Camping both published by Foghorn Press. Their descriptions are the most objective I have come across and used in conjunction with the AAA Campbooks provide a very complete picture.
I have the Woodall s from a few years ago but don t use it much. Too much work for too little info....
madroneAny book by Mickey Little. She has books on just about every state and it s State Parks, campgrounds, Forests, etc.
madroneHello Heather,
Like Abbear said, it s nice to know what State everyone is from,
but looking at your home page, I see you are from California, same as us.
The book we use is CALIFORNIA CAMPING, by Tom Stienstra, and you can find it in most major bookstores. It lists over 1,500 campgrounds in California.
Lately we have been camping with a few other people from this message board, and have visited many different campgrounds that we otherwise would not have chosen.
Pay a visit to our section of this boards in the camping club section NICK-NEFF-COUGH, or else visit our website http://www.nick-neff-cough.org/ and see where we have camped, and some future rallies we are planning.
We have about 10 families going camping this weekend, July 17,18,19 & 20 to Mount Madonna, on Highway 152 near Watsonville, and you would be more than wekcome to join us, or else on a future Rally.
There is usually plenty of children around, so the kids have plenty of fun. Our 4 kids do.[;)]
I see you have only recently joined Popup Times, so welcome.
madroneWe just ordered Wheeler s camping guide http://www.wheelersguides.com as it seems to have quite a comprehensive list of camping services. It s available from Amazon.com, and you can even order used I believe.
T
[;)]
madroneI ve only ever used Woodalls. How do they compare to the others that folks have been mentioning here? What makes them better or worse?
Keith
madroneWell the best one we have is the Woodalls 2003 Eastern America and I ll tell you why- we got it for free!
We were camping this weekend and two Woodall s reps were at the campground. When I went to the camp store they were in there and I said, " Hey, is you have any " extra" directories you aren t using, just drop one at my site!"
When my sis and I went out of the satore to her car, there was a Woodall s directory! [:D]
They have nice reps...[8D]