Planning a camping road trip? Save gas with our tips!
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Welcome back to AllCampgrounds! Camping season has begun, and you might think the biggest question on everyone’s mind is which great park or camp grounds to visit.

Sad to say, though, gas prices are making a big impact on whether your local camp grounds are seeing a boom or a bust!

Now, RV campers have known for a long time that fuel prices make a difference, but for those more used to tent camping, $4-a-gallon gas makes for a tricky balancing act.

Here are some tips on saving gas on camping trips!

Compare gas prices: If you’re planning a camping road trip, you can save a pretty penny by knowing good spots to refuel. Thanks to competition, prices can fluctuate in a big way even between stations that are relatively close together. If you own a smartphone, try a free gas price monitor application like GasBuddy. Users participate to update the prices on these apps, and you can search your local stations to find the best deal. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can check Gas Price Watch from your computer before leaving.

Try your local camp grounds: It might sound strange to hear this on a camping blog, but the fact is that many local campgrounds – which, naturally, you can get to the easiest – don’t have extensive websites. In fact, the closest privately owned camp grounds might be difficult to impossible to find online! These smaller camp grounds tend to be seasonal and rely on a smaller community of tent campers who spread word of mouth. So, break out the ol’ telephone directory before you feel confident there’s nothing close by. You may have to call on the phone or visit to get a good idea of the grounds.

Camp during the week: During camping seasons, medium and large-sized camp grounds can see a run on their spaces over the weekends. Plus, if your preferred park is a blended tent camping and RV camping area, then traffic can actually turn pretty fierce as convoys move in and out around the camp. As you know, start-and-stop traffic can wreak havoc on your gas mileage. For a smoother ride to and from your camping vacation, reserve early and aim for mid-week. Monday through Thursday tend to be the slowest times at most camp grounds, even during the season.

Check out Kampgrounds of America: As you can see from the official KOA campground directory, there are A LOT of KOA franchise camp grounds around the United States. In states including Washington, Utah, Montana, Texas, and New York, you might find that a KOA campground is your closest bet. KOA welcomes tent campers or RVers, and often includes fully-stocked cabins for rent as well. Plus, with a 10% off KOA Value Kard, you can easily offset the price of gas and earn points that stack up to even deeper savings. To top things off, the Value Kard makes reservations even easier than before.

Nice campers!
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In today’s economy, budgeting is more important than ever; but nobody wants to give up on camping fun in the great outdoors. Enter AllCampgrounds, devoted to helping you feed your passion for nature, come rain or shine!

Not all campsites offer discounts, but there’s an increasingly large and diverse number of discount organizations that can help you get your RV camping on at a great price. We covered a few of these in an earlier post, but there are a few more we just have to mention.

Enjoy America: Enjoy America is especially for RV camping grounds. Member camp grounds are all privately owned parks open to the public without a membership, but having one means 50% discounts on overnight fees. Bear in mind that the duration of the discount isn’t standardized: it could apply for your entire stay or only the first night, depending on rules set by your local park. But the selection is top quality, as only camp grounds with a high Woodall’s or Trailer Life rating are allowed to participate. Member parks also have a convenient Central Reservation System through Enjoy America.

Escapades: Escapees RV Club: This RV club organizes great events to enlighten RV owners about getting the most from the RV life in a lively group setting. Escapades run 5-7 days or so and include great seminars as well as an RVers’ market, workshops, demonstrations, and plenty of fun evening activities. In addition to the events, there are member parks scattered around the country that offer benefits to Escapees: one of the most useful is that Escapees members can use short-term parking at all Escapees parks free of charge. “Home base parks” with even more features are found all over the place!

Happy Camper Half Price Camping Club: Another great club with over 1,000 RV camp parks to choose from across the United States, including dense coverage throughout the eastern seaboard and a particularly good selection in Florida. There’s even an RV trip planner that can show you all of the club camp grounds along your route. Unlike some alternatives, you can actually download your membership card as soon as you get started, so you don’t have to wait for the whole packet to show up in the mail – convenient if you’re tuning in from your RV right now! There are no reservations required to use any of the camps, and few restrictions on your discount except at the most popular parks.

Gold Camp Road, outside Colorado Springs
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Thanks for “tuning in” to today’s AllCampgrounds blog. We’ve not seen hide nor hair of our “Camping for Everyone” series for a while now, but that’s about to change as we discuss camp grounds catering to a growing demographic: campers who need wheelchairs, walkers, or other assisting equipment, but still want to be active and enjoy the outdoors. Luckily, with more and more awareness of access rights, there are plenty of places where visitors of all ability can enjoy nature in a serene and beautiful environment.

Wheelchair Visitors in the National Park System

The best place to start for accessible camp grounds is in the national park system. The great National Park Service bulletin “National Parks: Accessible to Everyone” focuses on parks that have the best facilities for visitors with limited mobility or other impairments. There’s also listings of trails and terrific vistas that are considered especially easy to access: level, safe, and accommodating to wheelchair users.

Campers with permanent disabilities qualify for a Free Access Pass for national parks and recreation lands administered by the federal government. The Pass allows you to waive Access Fees and Standard Amenity charges for all federal parks and lands. It’s easy to obtain, and lasts a lifetime, with no frustrating bureaucracy or time-consuming renewals. You can get the Pass in person at any federal recreational area.

Recreation.gov is where you can go to reserve your space at national parks around the country. You can also find tent camping and RV parks and campgrounds using the search function, which provides info on wheelchair-friendly facilities that may be present.

Picking the Right Camp Grounds and Equipment

Wilderness camping can be tough on your wheelchair, so if you plan to camp regularly, consider a model that’s built for multiple terrains, but still accommodates your basic travel needs. One choice is Renegade Wheelchairs. Designed to stand tough for users who regularly hunt, fish, and adventure in nature, it’s got some real “cherry” features that can turn accessibility up a notch outdoors. This includes eight gears to handle snow, slush, sand, and mud, with high gears for paved, level surfaces.

Not all campsites have comprehensive plans in mind for accessibility – but if you’re dealing with privately-owned or family camp grounds, you can find out more about how easy or difficult the sites will be for you by asking the right questions. Be sure that your campsite is level and lacks obstacles like stumps and stones that might make it tough to navigate. Paved hiking trails are always preferable, and those with railing are even better. Check out Eureka Tents for specially designed, quality tents that wheelchair users can set up independently for the total tent camping experience.

Everyone will be joining in the camping fun with these deals!
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Howdy, all!

Today’s AllCampgrounds is a quick note to make everyone aware of a phenomenon even I didn’t know about until I started writing for the blog: discount camping consortiums.

While not all campsites are associated with a discount organization, there are actually several membership groups throughout the U.S. and Canada that can offer welcome benefits to frequent campers at thousands of premium camp grounds for both tent camping and RV camping.

Good Sam Club: Billing itself as the world’s largest RV owners’ community, it offers a variety of great benefits to members, acting as a sort of “AAA for RVs.” In addition to discounts on RV service, it maintains a network of RV parks and tourist attractions around the United States. Non-members can visit the site to benefit from an extensive question-and-answer format database of information on all things related to owning, maintaining, and enjoying an RV. The Good Sam network includes hundreds of camp grounds across the 50 states, including several that have been featured on the blog.

Passport America Discount Camping: This organization caters more to the tent camping enthusiasts among us. Calling itself “The original 50% discount camping club”, it has affiliated camp grounds in the United States, Canada, and even Mexico. Searching the Passport America website offers easy entry to a database of discounted campsites, including RV and tent, and you can even download the complete directory of sites in .pdf format. Passport America is a little bit ahead of the technology curve, even offering a free iPhone app, available to members and non-members alike, that pegs your camping search to your current location and offers other enhanced features.

Camp Club USA: “50% off, 100% quality” is the creed of this camping group boasting affiliation with over 1,000 sites throughout the U.S. and Canada. Members also enjoy a collection of other fun benefits, including a value-packed newsletter, specialized trip routing software, and a monthly prize giveaway. The Camp Club directory covers all of North America and includes plenty of options for RV owners and tent campers alike.

A number of discounts are also available within the national park system. Deep discounts of 50% or more are available to seniors, those with permanent disabilities, and volunteers who have accumulated 500 service hours or more. There are also annual subscription passes available to the general public that confer discounts on entry fees and “expanded amenities” sites throughout the national park system. As of the time of this writing, none of the passes include discounts or priority service on backcountry camping permits, but they’re still a great value on a subscription basis, and free to other categories of visitors.