RE: What do you think about YOUR state parks?

[tlhdoc]

 jawilson

 

ORIGINAL:  jawilson
 
 Hot water in the bathrooms. Shower houses all over the place. Even have deep sinks outside at the bathrooms specifically for washing your dishes!
 
 Not all PA state parks have the above, but they are working on updating the parks
 
 
 Checkin is 3pm, which is a little on the late side, but better then NY s 11am.
 
 I agree the 3pm is late for check in, but I do like the late check in time.  If the site is open earlier you can check in earlier.
 
 The reservations system allow you to get sites up to 11 months in advance, which is too long IMHO, but it works well (heck, they even send you a confirmation letter with your reservation number).
 
 I have to pick my vacation at the end of the year for the whole next year, so I like being able to make reservations well in advance.
 

[kimrb266]

 angelsmom10
I began tent camping at CA State parks as a teenager.  I ve seen parks go from well kept to disrepair and back to well kept.  I believe that CA does a good job maintaining their parks considering our ongoing budget woes.  I am almost always pleased with our stay at a state park and prefer them over most private CG.
 
 I believe the system works because there are good people working within the dept of state parks, the rangers are pleasant and helpful.  Use of volunteers also helps out.  Many of the older builings, WWII era have been renovated or replaced and work continues.
 
 I don t mind paying the extra for reservation thru reserveamerica, I like knowing I ve got a site.
 
 I think that park cleanliness depends on what type of people use the park(do they take care while visiting?)
 
 I like State Parks.

[SheBantam]

 angelsmom10
Have been to 2 of the Delaware SPs, Killens Pond, in the Middle of the state and Traps Pond in southern DE.(We are talking about a state that is about 100 miles long and 35 miles wide)
 
 Restrooms are relatively clean, water and electric is on site, not sure about the ones by the beach. Sites are not as large as the Newport News City Park in VA. In fact some of the sites are down right tight at Traps and Killens. Killens has true loops, so backing is always from a circle. making that easier. Traps was more rectangular with signs and trees in the wrong places for easy backing.

[jawilson]

 DiW

Have you stayed at Stokes? I drove through the section with flush toilets/showers and was surprised at how nice the bathhouse seemed. Haven t actually stayed there though. Had originally crossed it off my list because I was told it only had pit toilets... Have you tried Mahlon Dickerson Park? We ve biked there but never camped. I would stay in the trailer section (w/e sites) but Mahlon doesn t allow wood fires there - yet you can have them in the tent section [:@] Just doesn t seem like camping without a fire.

AAMOF, Stokes is the last park we ever camped in. After that we said no more to the NJ parks. It was that bad.
 
 I ve never even heard of Mahlon Dickerson park. Where is that one?

[jawilson]

 tlhdoc

ORIGINAL:  tlhdoc
 Not all PA state parks have the above, but they are working on updating the parks

We ve been to about 6 or 7, and each one has been equipped like I described. Knowing that they re updating those that don t meet their lofty standards makes me smile, because it means I ll probably never run into a bad park. It s nice to know they are aware of how to take care of their parks, isn t it?
 
 

ORIGINAL:  tlhdoc
 I agree the 3pm is late for check in, but I do like the late check in time.  If the site is open earlier you can check in earlier.

I know, it s just that 12 or 1 seems to be a bit more reasonable, for check in and check out.
 
 

ORIGINAL:  tlhdoc
 I have to pick my vacation at the end of the year for the whole next year, so I like being able to make reservations well in advance.

Well, we differ on this one. [] Personally, I can t stand that. I wish it was a whole lot shorter then 11 months. [: (]

[popupcop]

 angelsmom10
Arkansas State Parks were struggling until the mid-90s when a 1/8 percent sales tax went to the Parks, Game and Fish and Arkansas Heritage Foundation.  Many improvements have been made and many are yet to come.  We like Arkansas Parks.  Our favorites are Mt. Magazine, Mt Nebo, Devil s Den and Withrow Springs.  We can t wait for Lake Fort Smith SP to open in a couple of years.  The old park was torn down to expand the dam.  The new park will have a better view of the lake and great amenities.  
 We also use Oklahoma State Parks often and even though maintenance has lessened in the past few years, it is not too bad in the parks we use.  
 
 We also camp in Missouri State Parks (Roaring River and Table Rock) on occasion and find them to be in good shape.
 
 We stayed in two Mississippi State Parks in the late 90s (Waveland and Grenada) and found them to be good too.  We were impressed with the friendliness at Grenada SP

[Watchman]

 CampG
I have been to a couple state parks in north central florida(where I now live)and they have been excellant, new bath houses that are extremely well maintained, good staff, real nice parks,  overall.
 I recently traveled to Ohio (my native Home) and camped for a week at the Kelleys island state park.  It was early in the season (June) and the park was about half full.  The sites were very nice, shady, Paved trailer spots.  new office, well maintained overall....  except the bath houses.  They were bad!   Cleaning was done by a couple of teenage boys who hosed the place down and left it wet, so it was wet and muddy all day long.  It was dirty and poorly maintained.  I can see why people get pop-ups with the shower/poti. Why have a real nice park in every area and drop the ball in one of the most important areas. Thought about writing the parks dept about it.....  then I realize what a waste of time that would be!

[scottw]

 angelsmom10
Kentucky s state park system is wonderful. Absolutely beautiful surroundings at many of them. Rates are completely reasonable. Kentucky takes great pride in its S.P. system, and it shows.
 
 -S

[CajunCamper]

This is a good post.

CajunCamper

[AZsix]

Here in AZ all the parks we have been to have been fantastic. They are well maintained, have clean restrooms large spots and dump stations. They also have a lot of activities planned for both kids and adults. Some have hook ups while others don't. We have been very impressed with the AZ State Park system.

Sadly I have heard that they may be closing some due to budget cuts. If they do my guess is that they will be some of the more remote parks that may not get the number of visitors as some of the others.

If you are close enough to AZ I say come on over and camp!

[4Campers]

In Hamilton County (Cincinnati area) there are two nice county parks with camping. Winton Woods and Little Miami parks are nice, basic, close to the big city places to camp. Winton was upgraded this winter to add more pull thru sites and a new camp office/store. Only drawback is they only take reservations by phone.
The northern Kentucky State Parks are very nice. Good sized sites, online reservation system, and easy searching for campgrounds in a specific area. The Kentucky web sites have real pictures of each park, and site specifics including size, pad size, etc. We've camped Big Bone Lick and Lake Kincaid and found both to have many activities, clean shower houses, friendly staff, and more.

[spicyville1]

I personally like our Texas State Parks. Yes, some are old and in need of repairs and others are newer or have been updated. With the economy the way it is there is only so much money put in place to operate the parks. I love Cleburne State Park. It is only an hour or so from home and is one of the nicest local state parks in the DFW area. The raccoons there give us a laugh every night. Another park that I enjoy is in Grand Prairie at Lloyds Park. Is it an older park that the city has made a lot of updates to. Nice campsites and about 20 minutes from home are a plus here. One park I will miss for a long time will be Galveston State Park. Sure it was outdated when hit by the hurricane but improvements were being made with the addition of new restroom and showers. We were there just 1 week before the storm hit. I saw the pictures of the park after it passed. I was so sad to see it destroyed. I do believe it will be a better place once the State decides to rebuild.

[ronerjones]

Not sure how many Florida campers we have out there, but I for one will say that Florida has a great set of State Parks. We have only been to a few, but they seem to have great things to offer the campers. Facilities are generally about a 4 in a scale of 1 - 5. Park rangers are excellent and every single park has something different to offer. My wife kids and I hope to hit all Florida's state parks in our life time. We tend to stay close to home and camp long weekends so we are limited to how far we will travel at this point. Anyone coming down south please let me know if you need any recommendations on places to stay.