Based on our latest trip we want to pass along our experiences in three .
1. Tom Sawyer Mississippi River in West Memphis Arkansas (US 40/55). Best of the lot! Quiet, clean, camp on the Mississippi River. Full services with both concrete and gravel pull throughs. $33 per night based on Good Sam and a 32 foot regency pusher. 5 stars
2. Arkadelphia Rv Park on IH-30 Arkansas. Nice folks but the park has no sewers. Water in larger spaces and all sites are gravel. Trees block satellites and WIFI is erratic. Difficult to level the coach because sites are not consistent (one side higher than the other. 3 stars.
3. Ballards Rv Park, Hamburg New York. It is very difficult to find any campgrounds in the Buffalo area. This one has 30 and 50 amp sites, water and a converted trailer for a bath house. Trees block the satellite and no WIFI. One real plus is they are a dealer and repair company so service is right there and they are very good. No sites are pull throughs and all are gravel. 3 Stars
4. Walnut Ridge RV Campground in New Castle Indiana (IH-70). This has lots of advertising and a very nice entry. Restaurant, game rooms, nice showers and bath rooms but they are catering almost exclusively to season ticket holders! No sewers(they do have a central dump station) but the sites are very uneven and drives are nominally 10 feet wide. Once off the pavement you are on gravel to the transient area. Once again trees block the satellite and no WIFI. It was just about impossible to level the coach without raising the rear wheels off the ground (don't do that!). This is a 2 star camp.
Hope this is of use.

Good info and good reading, but it brings up a question I've asked many times before. Why are so many people adverse to using State Parks? I realize some are imperfect in many ways, but the great majority of the ones we've tried were great.
Alabama has many great parks, Georgia shines, and of course Florida has a ton, MOSTLY great. The prices almost always beat the private parks, and there's always a lot to do.

The biggest reason is likely that the parks aren't convenient to the route, if just passin' through.

I stay at Lake Lurleen SP, just west of Tuscaloosa, AL when going to the Mid South Star Gaze, and at A H Stephens SP in Crawfordsville, GA, headed for the Peach State Star Gaze. Both have electric and nothing else.

THANX TOM!

being very new to the camping world,this kind of
info is very valuable both in time and dollars. i myself would like to see a section in here of who's campgrounds are good or who's isn't worth what's in my black tank. to me that's real savings. i know i will visit state parks as i have recently read in here that they are bargains for the most part. i know the camping experience is suppose to be memories, good or bad, but when diesel is 5 bucks a gallon,id think most would prefer to listen to the good souls who are capable of rating the campgrounds they visit. so thank you for a very valuable thread.

ZIM

quote:

Originally posted by ZIM:
... i myself would like to see a section in here of who's campgrounds are good or who's isn't worth what's in my black tank.

This is the place for all campground reports.

Barth Journeys
Tell us about your Barth Coach journeys, campground pros and cons, eateries, sight seeing and places we should visit.

You're right ZIM, at 5 backs a gallon, I hope more people report back to us in this section of Barthmobile.

OK...thanx bill n.y.!

to tell u the truth i myself didnt even think about to look in that section for any comments of various campgrounds.your saying its underused, maybe
it needs a different heading? just a thought. but thanx again bill n.y.

ZIM

With a name like Lake Lurleen where else could it be but Alabama? . I've never stayed at a SP that didn't have water, and I always wait till Wind Creek SP in Alabama to fill the FW tank because it's the finest softest water anywhere. Speaking of water, there is some falling out of the sky right now. What was that called? Rin? Ran? Oh yeah, RAIN!!! First in over 4 weeks, and it's coming down good. Gonna go run around in it! Later.

Some at Lake Lurleen have full hookups, some elctric and water, some electric only. Scenic, but the pads are deteriorated asphalt, and few are level. Dumping station.

Stephens is under the trees, water and dump available.

I use Trailer Life Campground Navigator on the laptop to locate parks. One issue I have is that when I go to my sister's N of KCMO in December, few parks in KY or IL are open. I stay first night at KOA Manchester, TN. Nice, but overpriced (as are all KOA). Second night I stay at a dump, Quality Times in Mt. Vernon, IL. Potholes in the gravel roads, but a very nice owner, and full hookups for $20.

I-80 Grand Island, NE. When I go to the Nebraska Star Party (also by way of my sister's), I RON at Mormon Island Rec. Area, NE both ways. Very nice little park, but right alongside I-80. Have to have a NE State Park Sticker, which I need anyway for the star party.

SR 97, 30 miles SW of Valentine, NE, Merritt Lake Reservoir area. Several NE SP campgrounds, mostly boondocking, but with toilets and showers nearby. Free water/dumping station about 1.5 mi. S of Merrit Lake Resort, which also has a small RV park, cabins, and general store. There's also a restaurant and lounge, but it was closed last year due to "staffing issues" (locals said no one wanted to work for the owners). I always got very well treated there (occasionally stayed at the RV park during the day). The restaurant and lounge were excellent, when open.

I-95 Walterboro, SC, New Green Acres is very nice. Easy Wi-fi, full hookups.

I-95 Emporia, VA, Yogi Bear's Jellystone Campground; decent, shaded - new owner. Wi-Fi hookup was a pain, but I called the outside vendor and connected. Full hookups. Away from highway noise.

I-95 Selma, NC, RVacation Campground. Shaded, nice, nothing spectacular, electric and water, dump station. Easy wi-fi.

I-77 Ripley, WV, Cedar Lakes Drive Trailer Court. Water, electric. Open, unimpressive, but located in the right place for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:
Good info and good reading, but it brings up a question I've asked many times before. Why are so many people adverse to using State Parks? I realize some are imperfect in many ways, but the great majority of the ones we've tried were great.
Alabama has many great parks, Georgia shines, and of course Florida has a ton, MOSTLY great. The prices almost always beat the private parks, and there's always a lot to do.

Donna and I are big fans of the state parks. We stayed in nothing but state parks on our last trip to Panama City. We are very lucky that we live very close to Lake Thurmund (Clarks Hill to the locals) and there are a number of state parks on the lake. Mistletoe, Elijah Clark, Bobby Brown, & Richard B. Russell are all state parks on the lake. Rates for seniors are $20.00 a night or less. Annual passes for seniors cost $25.00 a year for the family and that includes one free night of camping. With the cost of fuel, we have learned to really enjoy these parks. Mistletoe is actually only about eight miles from my house. Grab two bottles of wine, jump in the Barth and go watch the sunset over the lake and spend the night. Can't get much better or cheaper. Unless of course, I could talk her into cheaper wine but that's not going to happen.

About the only time we do not use state parks is as someone pointed out, we are in route from point A to Point B and they are just too far out of the way.