(Fun topic)...The worst RV park you have visited.

This may be a good way to vent... story must be full of humor...not libelous. Perhaps not to mention the name of the establishment may be proper. Instead describe the location in a bit of detail: State/County/City/Rural area etc.

 A personal description of your experience may be fun to read.

 I have a few in mind but will wait to see if our members are game.

 Things are a little dull these days, let's hear from you.

Maybe this post is best for the Shade Tree?

carson FL

Carson,,

We have a board dedicated to Campground reviews.

Yeah, Tom I forgot about that one.. Wanna move it? ok by me.

carson

Yea, but this is a fun thing.....let's do it.  I'll move it to the Shade Tree.

Marsha~

Worst I remember was one that we didn't stay in, just drove right on by. It was in Green River (or Wellington) Utah, next to a motel. The RVs that were already in there looked like they'd been there a very, very, very long time and there was no way to open your awnings because the "neighbors" were too close. I'm not sure we could have even put out the slide !! It was over 100 degrees at 3 pm, but we just kept on driving until we found a dirt road off to a nice little stand of pinyon pine trees and stopped there.....much nicer and free.

Wendy

Many light years ago, when Tim and I were younger, spryer (or is that sprier?), had less time and had just bought a slide in truck camper; we took the truck/camper out for its and our maiden voyage.  Knowing nothing about campgrounds other than tenting, and being from Southern California, we didn't know we needed a reservation on a summer Saturday night.  So up the mountain we went, from Orange County up to Palomar Mountain....winding around and around on the 2-lane road.  We pulled into the campground and found to our horror that they were booked solid and had no place for us.  The camp host mentioned something about a private campground a few miles away and off we went to check it out. 

Our first clue should have been the log swing gate that was across the lane going into the campground.  Now those of you who do not know what a log swing gate is, just need to imagine a small log set upright in the ground on the edge of the road.  Then there is another log placed horizontally at the middle of the upright log.  To keep the horizontal log secure and remaining in the correct position there is a cable attached to end opposite the upright log (following all of this?) and allows the horizontal log to pivot.  Now these log swing gates are not unique; however this one had a cowboy boot as a stopper for the horizontal log so it would stay put and block the road.  That should have been our first clue.

I got out, swung the gate open and in Tim drove.....onto a road that was loaded with ruts, tree stubs and very big tire eating holes.  There were old rusty cars everywhere, grass nearly up to my waist, and little mowed areas the owner called campsites.  No hookups, no dump station, just little mowed areas called campsites.  Of course we were desperate, didn't want to go home without trying everything out and there was no where else to go.  So we stayed.  We played with everything, figured stuff out, and probably slept like logs.  To this day, I can't remember the name of the place and couldn't find it if my life depended on it.  But it was the beginning of our RVing.  On a scale of 1-10 it was probably a -10; but it didn't deter us, we kept on RVing.

Marsha~

Back awhile ago, we found a place in CT.  Had a nice name, right on the river, reasonable price, we had a free weekend.  Off we went, at the time we were trying out different places all the time.  Stopped in, didn't l;ook too bad, a bit 'rural-ish', but we were camping.  Got directions to the site, on the river.  We followed the ever narrowing dirt road, to our site, or sight I guess.  Wide spot, with a dropoff, mud, barely enough room to park rig, and then we had a small truck camper!  Managed to turnaoround, find our way back to the office, and got refund.  Told Jolene, if he won't give us our fee back, I am leaving anyway!

Mile up the road we went to Charlie Browns, and then hosted a mini NE Rally there.  Same river, no mud, and big sites.

We love the NC State Park at Lake Jordan but one year we pulled into the campground with our Pop--up behind one pick-up and our boat behind the other.  There was a noise so loud that I thought something was terrible wrong with either the truck or the boat.  Got out of the truck and my husband got out of his.  Everything was fine but the noise was still there.  One of the Rangers pulled up laughing.  It was the 13 yr. Cicadas and was so loud it sounded like a big engine.  We stayed anyway.  At night the floor in the campground facilities were 3 inches deep in these bugs but by 9am they had them all cleaned out.

That was about 12=14 years ago.  Better check before next visit on their next visit.  Cashion

We have only been RV'ing for about three or four years now, and from the start I've relied on RVParkReviews.com.  I am what Jeanne Robertson would refer to as a ?left brain,? obsessed with perfecting every detail including making sure I have reservations, confirmation numbers, GPS coordinates, mileage to, and closest diesel for every campground we intend to stay at.  I even hit the satellite view of the campground on Google Maps to make sure I know as much about our site as possible before we leave.  Don?t ridicule me, it keeps me happy.  Just be thankful you don?t have to live with me.

The one variable that I cannot predict is people.  We?ve never had a bad stay at a campground, but we have had some bad neighbors. Once, when camping in Massachusetts, our site was surrounded by four families on four different sites that all new each other.  As I recall, they all worked together as cement contractors.  Including children and dogs, there were probably thirty of them.  They drank, cussed, and yelled across our campsite to each other.  They let their dogs wander through our campsite. Our dog wasn?t really thrilled about it.  The park was full, and I would have complained, but these were some physically big and drunk people so we rode it out.  I think it was only for one day, but it felt like a lot more.

-Dave

Just be thankful you don?t have to live with me.

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Oh, Couger, I am, I am, I am.  I thought I was kind of obsessive in preparing until I read this.  Thanks for a good laugh!

ArdraF

Cougar, you would have turned inside out on some of our trips, a tour from RI to South Carolina and back, no reservations, no specific plans, middle of summer.  One of the best trips we ever had.''

PancakeBill said:

Cougar, you would have turned inside out on some of our trips, a tour from RI to South Carolina and back, no reservations, no specific plans, middle of summer.  One of the best trips we ever had.''

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Oh, I'm sure I'm missing out on some wonderful opportunities, but I would have an aneurysm during the drive, and since my wife refuses to drive the truck towing the 5'er, y'all would be seeing an F-350 hooked up to a Keystone 5'er parked on the side of the highway with a woman, a boy, and a dog looking very lost.    I cannot begin to describe the awe with which I read some of the posts here that say things like, "We drove for a while then found a Walmart to spend the night in," or, "We just decided this afternoon to head out and see where the road would take us." You might as well give me my frontal lobotomy now.

Let's not even talk about my packing list!

-Dave

I think the worst I remeber was a free Forest Service camp near where we now live.  Trying to save $$ and visit our kids before we moved to Kernville we stayed along Lake Isabella and were the only folks camped near large rocks forming a bulkhead.  Apparently with the summer season just passed large rats had been attracted to the park and were living on the rocks that we parked next too.  Our first evening we heard what I though was a mouse under our sink.  Upon investigation I found myself staring at two very large rat eyes.  Thinking cats are good for something I grabbed both of ours and put them under the sink.  Boy can they bail fast.  The next morning I was off to the hardware and bought a large ratr trap.  This time using peanut butter and cheese baited trap and in less than 10 minutes..bam..caught the first rat which was 6-7" not counting tail.  Thinking I was done I reset trap for insurance sake and shortly caught another one just as large.  This went on for as long as I cared to set trap.  We eventually got smart and moved on never to return....tim

Worst campground I choose not to stay in was the Covered Wagon, on Bolder Hwy in either Las Vegas or Henderson (Close to the line dividing)

They are a "no rig over 10 years" park and pack 'em in like sardines. They wanted to charge me additional for my cat too.  I later spoke with folks who were parked there and they made it sound even worse.  The park is kind of junky, not what I'd expect from an "Elitist" park.

I wound up spending the night (it was only 1 or 2 nights) at the Oasis

This was my favorite worst stop over in many years of traveling.

 On our way back from Tucson AZ to home in Florida, we stopped over night in Houma, LA, on SR 316.
We found it in Trailer Life, a good Sam Park.... Goody goody, we thought...

  When we entered the little place we thought we were in the wrong place. I guess the word would be "dilapidated". A few relics of trailers (permanents) and a couple of RVs were visible. Not a soul in sight. The office was closed and almost seemed boarded up. A little sign said to see a trailer a few lots up... nobody home.

 Well, we drove in and selected a spot for the RV and Jeep. Soon found out there was no power nor water even though a power pole was there and a tap.  Found another space...same thing.  grrrr
Got out my voltmeter and checked several more spaces.  No luck.   Finally found one that would do. No power on the 30 amp, but there was a 20 a outlet that would do. Water also worked... hurray.

 The clubhouse also seemed to not have been used in years. Where I first wanted to park was at the end near a black water bayou with a small dock to walk out on...it was broken and I didn't dare step on it. Besides there was a sign reading...Beware of Alligators...no swimming...flooding can occur at any moment.. or something like that.

  Finally found the caretaker, gave him my 20 bucks, never got a receipt. He was amazed that I couldn't find any power; they had just had the system repaired, he said....Yea sure..

 The Good Sam ad read pretty good. Even in the 2008 book they have a nice listing. Went to look at the google satellite view today, sure looks good or reasonable. Now I don't know if those images are after they have revamped the place or they could be very, very old (in their hey days).  We were there in January 2005.

  Come to think of it, on our long trip, that one stood out above the rest. We are still laughing about... can't let something like that spoil your day. A night to remember.

  Since they have a nice ad the the guide, I'll give them a plug... Capri Court Campground.

carson FL  94.6?

Carson, we stayed there last November and it's not much better.  The office was open and we did get 50A electric, but had to back down the street to get parked.  Since it was Passport America, it only cost us $13.75.

Ned, how do you explain the satellite images? A fully packed park...

See at bottom of page here

All I see is pictures of motels.  No satellite images.

Ok, turned off my ad blocker and I can see it.  We were parked behind the building about a fourth of the way down the street on the north side.  We had to back down on the southwest side of the building to get into the corner site.  There was no room to maneuver.  Nearly everything else there was park models.

Carson,
the Google Earth picture of that region was taken at 07/23 2007.

Thanks Mike, guess they have removed all the relics and put in Park Models. Makes sense.