What to do when parks are your thing?

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RevDen

RevDen

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Posts
54
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I?m not much on offending people, but I don?t know how to say this without running the risk.  So, here goes---with no intention to offend.

I?m a new guy to RVing and bought a truck and trailer.  My idea was to retire, pull the RV to Phoenix, and visit my kids.  We flew to Phoenix this week to visit relatives before I retire and I?ve made a significant discovery; I don?t seem to like RV parks.  The whole idea of organized activities and parking 6? from the next trailer kind of creeps me out.  I?m afraid my introversion is coming out!

Are there any other people like me who have found an alternative?  I love to travel and discover, but I sure don?t like what I see here in parks or ?resorts.? 

Again, I mean no harm to the vast majority of folks who love parks.  It just isn?t me. 
 
Yes there are Parks that have more room between rigs. Not familiar with the Phoenix area, but I know there are Parks in the YUMA area that have Large Sites. Kind of a mini lot, kinda thing. I'm sure someone will Chime in Soon.. with more info ?
 
  You need to find state/county/city parks. They'll generally have so much space between sites that  you'll never see your neighbors. The downside is that they tend to be day-rate only which can get rather expensive.
 
Generally we stay away from anything labeled "resort". We also don't go for any organized activities. We're you looking at long-term snowbird places? Those tend to have people who come back every year; they develop a sense of community with each other. Those are the only places I have seen organized activities except for places specializing in families/kids.

Look at boondocking,state parks, and county parks. Much more relaxed.
 
"Again, I mean no harm to the vast majority of folks who love parks.  It just isn?t me."

No need to apologise. There are lots of conflicting opinions on any forum. There are plenty of places you can go and camp and there will be no one for miles and no organized activities. Try Malaquite Beach at Padre Island National Seashore. 40 miles of beach and you can camp anywhere. And it is free.

 
If you are an introvert (I'm somewhat of a semi-introvert myself) and if your kids live in Phoenix, you might check out Quartzsite, Arizona.  Search for it on this forum and you will get lots of information.  You can be as close to people or as far away as you wish to be.  Some of the BLM land is free and some requires a yearly permit which lets you dump and take on water.

We've hung up our keys, so can't remember what the permit fee is, but someone here can supply that information.  The permit also covers sites in the Yuma area as well if you need to stock up on supplies at major shopping centers.  There is an RV Forum rally in Quartzsite in January, so watch for messages posted regarding that.  Great opportunity to meet some people with good tips on boondocking and boondocking sites.  Added bonus to the Sonoran Desert in AZ -- killer sunsets!
 
We have stayed in a lot of State Parks and some were not too close.  National Forests also seem to have lots of spots too.  I guess you need to do some investigating of the places you plan to visit and see what you can find about boondocking.  Please let us know how you get on.

Also try checking the place out on the satellite image as you may have more space than you think in some parks.
 
RevDen said:
Are there any other people like me who have found an alternative?  I love to travel and discover, but I sure don?t like what I see here in parks or ?resorts.? 
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As noted, there are many of us like that.  However; still the minority and it is sometimes hard to "communicate" with the "normal" folks as their approach is so much different.

Check out this thread I started yesterday - might be the type of camping you are looking for!!
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=98966.0;topicseen
 
We live in the Phoenix area. McDowell Mt park has wide open sites with great views.
 
Hello RevDen,

RevDen said:
Again, I mean no harm to the vast majority of folks who love parks.  It just isn?t me.
Click to expand...

Certainly it's not just you, and we don't think anyone has reason to feel offended, so relax ;-)

We too would rather camp away from too many people. And as per the other answers you got above, all excellent, you can see that many other folks also share this same preference.

In the Phoenix/AZ area, we can recommend two places we've personally stayed at:

1) Buckeye Hills Regional Park: despite the "Park" in the name, it's dry camping (boondocking) and free (no camping fees).  We've stayed there for a few days in December 2014, and liked it a lot: sites are very well spaced, and the desert around the campground provides lots of hiking opportunities. The latest reviews posted at the above URL (from folks that stayed there during Spring) report a lot of bugs and snakes, so perhaps you should consider it only during the cold months).

2) McDowell Mountain Regional Park: we stayed there for almost a week during December 2012 and again found large inter-site spacing and lots of hiking opportunities around, so we liked it a lot. You can choose between water+electric sites for $30/night or dry camping (no hookups) for $12/night.

There are more spots to camp around Phoenix, these two are the ones we personally stayed at; we've also heard good things (but never stayed) at the Saddle Mountain BLM area  (outside Phoenix, to the East).

You can have a look at many other spots around Phoenix by consulting either FreeCampSites.Net or Campendium.Com; these are our main resources to research campsites in an area.

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.







 
Hi RevDen,

If you don't like RV campgrounds/parks, I'd suggest combining other hobbies with your RV travel. Boondocking is a good idea and there are places on the web that are dedicated to this. You can also use the search features here to find prior topics on places to boondock or go to the boondocking area on this forum. I guess we all have our likes and dislikes and I can understand why you might have problems with campgrounds in certain cases. You might want to search for 55+ campgrounds to avoid some problems associated with some younger campers. I know our state parks tend to keep things orderly as they can. Wishing you success in your search for the perfect camping and RV lifestyle!
 
Howdy,

Marsha/CA said:
There is another great park in the Phoenix area:  Usery Regional Park.  Here is their website.  http://www.maricopacountyparks.net/park-locator/usery-mountain-regional-park/
The spaces are spread out and it's a hidden gem.
Marsha~
Click to expand...
Sun2Retire said:
Another nice park in the Phoenix area: Lost Dutchman
Click to expand...

+1 for both Lost Dutchman and Usery Mountain, we visited  both and liked them, only we didn't sleep at either so we didn't get to know the campsites.

Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.
 
just about everyone wants to retire in a state or national park .........until the black tank keeps getting full, over and over again.

people that like full hook-ups end up living in 'RV parks'.
 
Tony, four of the state/county parks in SC and FL we'll be in this coming winter have full hookup sites. And we spent last week at the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area Campground in the Pisgah National Forest in NC on a full hookup site. They're out there if you look around a bit.
 
NY_Dutch said:
Tony, four of the state/county parks in SC and FL we'll be in this coming winter have full hookup sites. And we spent last week at the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area Campground in the Pisgah National Forest in NC on a full hookup site. They're out there if you look around a bit.
Click to expand...

that's where I'd be living then, out here in CA it seems most state or fed parks are very limited when it comes to hook-ups.

if that was the case here,  I'd be living 6 months at Yosimite and 6 months at Doheny.... :)
 
Most state/national parks has limits on the number of days you can stay there, so they don't work for long term stays. We travel instead of staying in one place, and most public parks have a dump facility you can use. If not, the campground host knows where the nearest one is. It is a bit of a pain to take a vehicle to a dump station instead of doing it at your sites, but well worth it if you like more natural settings.
 
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