Most common cost for hooking up at a campsite

I did a search and could not find anything on what a typical cost for hooking up at a campsite is.  What does "hooking up" include?  Electric, water?

Thanks!

Lisa

Maybe I'm a little confused and just don't understand your question, but I'll give it a whir.

When you pull into a campsite, you can either rent a tent site which will be pretty primitive and only include water, a pop up type site which will also include electric, a larger site which will also include sewer and cable. All of these go up in price as you go along. There are no "set" prices. Every campground charges different rates for each.

Now then if you were to go seasonal where you rent a site for the entire season, you'll get all of the above at a set rate however you'll more than likely be billed for the electric each month.

Hope that helps. 

itself said:

I did a search and could not find anything on what a typical cost for hooking up at a campsite is.  What does "hooking up" include?  Electric, water?

Thanks!

Lisa

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Howdy, Lisa.
Hookups can be: full hookups = water, electric, sewer, cable tv. OR just electric and water. It all depends upon the individual RV park or campground.  Dry camping = no hookups.

Typical cost also depends upon the individual park or campground. Costs can range from $50/night to $7/night.

Hope this helps. 

Regards,
Liz

We've come across an RV park that charged an additional fee based on metered electric usage. Given that the park fee was only $10/night, including water and sewer, I had no issue paying the small incremental cost of electricity we used.

You could look at the web sites of a few campgrounds in areas that you would like to visit. Most seem to post their rates.

Campground rates vary widely with the region, the season, and amenities. I'd say the range is $10-$90, with the heavy concentration around $25-$38 for a campsite with "hook-ups". Tent or "primitive" sites are often much less, but not always if in a high demand area.

Hook-ups are typically electric and water and will include sewer in many places. Electric may be 20A, 30A or 50A. You specify what you want and get a price quote. Nicer (and higher priced) places may add telephone, internet wifi and cable tv to the "hook-ups".

County, state and federal parks are less expensive than private parks, typically running $10 or so less per night than private enterprise for similar amenities in a given area.

If you rent longer term, e.g. monthly or seasonally, substantial discounts are usually available. 50% is not uncommon.

    There are also some half off "clubs" where for a subscription fee you get a discount for your campsite fee.  For example many from this forum use "Passport America" and I am planning on registering before we leave for AZ

Tom said:

We've come across an RV park that charged an additional fee based on metered electric usage. Given that the park fee was only $10/night, including water and sewer, I had no issue paying the small incremental cost of electricity we used.

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More parks may do that on daily or weekly rates. I may have mentioned in another post some time ago that a park I worked with in Lake Havasu metered a whole row of overnighters for a week or so to see how much electric was being used - and the difference between types of RVs. At that time Electric was costing him a bundle to provide to each row. His dilemma was setting his overnight rates and staying within the prices set by his competition -- and still making a profit.

He gave me one example of the difference between a small TT and a 40' pusher. It was staggering! OTOH, sometimes it was reversed. He was also in the return path of returnees from Quartzsite. The first night out of that area, they would stop for one night -- wash cloths in their on board machines, fill tanks, drain tanks, press cloths after washing, and so forth.

Unfortunately, he was not able to make it work -- and finally sold the park. When he first purchased the park he expected to stay open year round, but soon learned that because of the high rate the local utility charged for electric vs. what he could charge the RVer summers in that hot climate just wouldn't work for him.

So the reason we may see this in some areas is probably for these reasons. If they meter the nightly electric -- they can keep their advertised nightly rates in line with the competion -- or lower. The downside for the park is the cost of reading the meter, getting the charge to the bill, and collecting it. This charge must be collected prior to the customer leaving the park the following AM -- so they run the risk of the customer leaving without paying. And that is why most parks won't meter nightly or monthly rentals.

As indicated previously the 25-38 dollar range for e/w/s is rather common.

We have been using Passport America for several years and have been satisfied.  The range has been $9-22 per night.  We have run into a few CG's that were not the prettiest but we have never felt unsafe.

Passport has a number of restrictions, such as no weekends usually, some are Sunday to Wednesday, others are one night, and one we found was unlimited time.  After you sign up for membership you receive a directory and periodic updates.  You can match the CG to other publications for additional information.  All Ohio State park cg's are Passport America Sunday-Wednesday.

We have found the discounted PA membership for $35/yr.  Don't leave home without it.

Russ, WB3FQI/6

The Escapee parks meter the electric, even for nightly stays.  The member is given a slip with the current meter reading and you fill out the final reading when leaving, stop at the office and pay the bill.

I don't recall a supplemental electricity charge on the occasions we've stayed at an Escapees park. Maybe they only charge Escapees members for electricity  ???

Someone mentioned the discounted membership parks.  There also are the other discounts such as those given by Good Sam or AARP.  Good Sam's is 10 percent.  The Trailer Life Campground & RV Park Directory and Woodall's provide each campground's "last year's" price.  No one could possibly keep up with all the campground prices, so this is the best you'll find.  When you look at these directories you'll see what the others mean by "more amenities, highter cost."

ArdraF

[quote author=Bob Buchanan]He was also in the return path of returnees from Quartzsite.[/quote]

Bob, I've often wondered about the parks in the path of an exodus from QZ, for the reasons you gave.

The only time we've seen a metered electric charge was at a small, but nice campground out in the boonies in NM. I don't recall any nearby competition, but their nightly rate was only $10, and we'd gladly stay there again.

Tom said:

I don't recall a supplemental electricity charge on the occasions we've stayed at an Escapees park. Maybe they only charge Escapees members for electricity  ???

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You may have stayed at SKP discount parks, but those are privately owned and not part of the Escapee park system.  Every Rainbow and coop SKP park we've ever stayed at charged for electricity.  Rainbow and ERPU parks are restricted to Escapee members, I believe.  Some coop parks may allow non-Escapees but that would be on a park to park basis.

I had a c.g charge me 1.50 per night for each Dog I had Two small Dogs.
They also charged 6.00 per night "Resort" fee.
What did I get for 6 a night each I got to use the pool and all the put put  golf I wanted .
I won't go back and this was a K.O.A  .
some c.g will charge a cable fee about 1.50 a night had that in N.Y.

[quote author=Ned]You may have stayed at SKP discount parks, but those are privately owned and not part of the Escapee park system.[/quote]

Didn't know there was a difference. First time we visited, the signs and the office folks gave me the distinct impression they were an SKP park. Second time around, it was like a completely different park, and I recall commenting on the makeover. I just checked their web site, and they don't mention SKP anywhere on the site. Pulled out a 2004 copy of Woodall's, and it says "operated by xxx family". So, who knows.

Roy said:

I won't go back and this was a K.O.A  .

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I remember landing in Laramie, WY years ago after a weary day on the road. From the freeway, I saw a sign advertising $19.95 per night for an RV park stay. That sounded within my budget so I located the park and asked for one of those sites.

The lady in charge said that would be fine -- then asked if I wanted water? Then asked if I wanted electric? Then asked if I wanted sewer? I stopped her there because my overnight spot was suddenly $32.95.  

Anyway, that was my first KOA stay. Now, I call ahead and ask just what the real price is going to be . . .

I prefer paying for the things I use but when the campsite price starts at $20....

What amazes me is how much more campgrounds charge for sewer hookups. Many of them are $5 extra for the sewer connection, usually more than the extra charge for electricity.

Wendy

You can stay at most any Walmart for free, just ask Tom ;D

The lady in charge said that would be fine -- then asked if I wanted water? Then asked if I wanted electric? Then asked if I wanted sewer? I stopped her there because my overnight spot was suddenly $32.95

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But Bob, that's what the KOA stands for.  Keep On Adding (to the price).

I rarely stay at one unless there's no nearby alternative.  KOA prices are either higher than the competition or you get less for your money (because there's less going to the campground after they pay the franchise fees).