We love state park camping. The rates are typically a fraction of resort rates plus the sites tend to be super spacious. Booking state parks can be a challenge since the booking windows vary by state. I really have to be on my A game to get a good site. Other search words that I use might be "COE Camping" or "City Campground". We have had great luck finding some sites that might not come up in a typical search for RV Parks.
So, for those of you who have been asking, here are the details for our 2023 RV road trip (FYI we are in a 43’ long 5th wheel). Also, we love Harvest Hosts and plan on using our membership for a handful of camping nights between TX and Atlanta and on our way back south from MN.
Three Rivers State Park: Located in N Florida. Florida booking is 11 months in advance. This park is very quiet. A few hiking trails. We kayaked along the river/lake and found the area to be very peaceful. The sites are spacious and we had water and electric with a dump station on site.
Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park: Located along the Emerald Coast of Florida, right next to Destin/ Ft. Walton Beach. Again, FL booking is 11 months in advance. Henderson Beach State Park is very difficult to get into and for us, this was a great alternative. There are several hiking trails and some kayaking opportunities. This is also very convenient to shopping. The sites are very spacious and we had no trouble getting in and out. We had water and electric and a dump station on site.
Buccaneer State Park: Located in S. Mississippi along the gulf. Reservations in MS can be made 24 months in advance. This park is great for kids (in season) as there are multiple play areas, a swimming pool and a water park on site. The sites are spacious and we had full hook ups.
Palmetto Island State Park: Located about as far south in Louisiana as you can get. Louisiana State Parks allow bookings 13 months in advance. This park is in the middle of improvements and so we had a spacious site with full hook ups. They have a splash pad on site. We also enjoyed kayaking down the creeks between the ponds.
Sea Rim State Park: Located in south eastern Texas, this park is incredibly hard to get a reservation. We were ready first thing in the morning at the 5 month window and we were still limited in our choices of sites, luckily we got a great one. This park has electricity only. Plenty of hiking and kayaking opportunities available at this park. We were also able to use this park as an opportunity to explore McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge.
McKinney Falls State Park: This park is the closest state park to Austin, TX. Approximately 15 minutes from downtown. Again, the booking window is 5 months in advance. This park offers electricity only at the sites. *Note, we had a breakdown (read about that here) and did not make it to McKinney Falls. I am leaving this on here since we wanted to go and I would still recommend it as an option if you want to visit Austin.
Southern Oaks RV Park: Not a state park, this is a great option to be close to the beach at Corpus Christi and still get a great winter RVing rate. We paid a flat fee of $575 plus electric at .12 per KwH. Electric rates are mostly set by the state and Texas is amongst the lowest you will pay. While at Southern Oaks we enjoyed some beach days as well as a drive to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
Port Isabel RV Park and Marina: Not a state park. This RV park is located just before the bridge to South Padre Island. As it tends to be windy on the island, we prefer to stay on the mainland. We booked our site early to be sure to get one of the few good sites that back up to the marina where we can watch the dolphins swim.
McKinney Campground: This is a COE park in Acworth, GA. The booking window for this park is 6 months in advance. This is one of our favorite parks in N. GA and we like to come here when we are in town visiting family and friends. You can get a really nice site here and most of them are right on Lake Altoona. The sites offer water and electric and a dump station.
Poinsett State Park: This park is located close to Congaree National Park in SC. Reservations can be made 13 months in advance. Our site will have water and electric only.
Babcock State Park: This park is located close to New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. West Virginia State Parks allow bookings up to 1 year in advance. We will have electric only at this park.
Assateague Island National Seashore: Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance through recreation.gov website. There are no hookups at this park. We are excited to be camping amongst the wild horses.
Philly S KOA: We don’t usually love KOA’s but we will have full hookups and I am excited to take some time to tour this historic city.
Ricketts Glen State Park: This park is located in NE Pennsylvania. PA allows reservations up to 11 months in advance. We will have full hookups in this park. We are excited to hike the 7 mile waterfall hike in this park.
Wildwood State Park: This park is located on Long Island, NY. Reservations can be made up to 9 months in advance and we will have full hookups.
Salem Farms Campground: This is a commercial park. We will have water and electric and sewer for our gray water. We hope to use this as a jumping off point to explore some of Connecitut.
Winter Island Park: This city park is located just outside of Boston, MA. My understanding is that the sites are a bit tight but I am excited to be near the ocean. Reservations can be made 6 months in advance through the reserveamerica website. We will have water and electric only.
Wild Duck Campground: This campground is located in Scarborough, Maine. It was featured on a Changing Lanes YouTube video and it was recommended to me by a friend. We have heard that the roads can be a little tight but we took the advice given and reserved with a lock in fee a campsite that backs up to the marshland. I am hoping to kayak and use this time to explore some of the coastal Maine towns. We have reserved full hook ups.
Acadia Seashore Camping and Cabins: This is a private campground in N Maine near Acadia National Park. This park was recommended by a friend. It is not on Bar Harbor which is ok with us. We would prefer to only drive our truck to Acadia National Park and leave our camper on the mainland. We will have water and electric and a honey pot service.
Timberland Campground: This campground was a recommendation. It is located in New Hampshire in the White Mountains. We will have full hookups at this private campground. We are excited to do a lot of waterfall hiking in this area.
Apple Island Resort: This campground is in western Vermont along Lake Champlain. This is the first of our “resort” style campgrounds. We will have full hookups.
Lake Placid/ Whiteface Mountain KOA: This will be our stop in the Adirondacks Region of New York. We will have water and electric but no sewer hookups. I am super excited to do some hiking in the area.
Clute Memorial Campground: This is a city park with full hookups in Watkins Glen, NY. We tried to get into Watkins Glen State Park but I was too late to book anything that would accommodate our size RV. I was thrilled to find this city park which took our reservation by mail with a check on January 1st. This is the finger lakes area of NY.
Letchworth State Park: Located in NW New York. NY state parks can be booked 9 months in advance. We will have electric only at this park.
West Branch State Park: This park is located outside Cleveland Ohio near Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Ohio allows bookings up to 6 months in advance. We will have full hookups at this park.
Interlachen State Park: Located about 40 minutes from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore and 27 minutes from Traverse City. We are excited to use this park as a jumping off point for some day trips to see the west coast of Michigan. We will have electric only at this park.
Straits State Park: This park is minutes from Mackinac Island. We will have electic only at this park.
Brimley State Park: This park is close to Sault Saint Marie, MI and near the border to Canada. We hope to take some day trips into Canada to see Lake Superior Provincial Park and the Canadian shoreline.
Pictured Rocks RV Park: This is a commercial park located in the UP of Michigan. We will have full hookups at this park.
Wilderness Resort: This campground is near Copper Harbor, MI where we will be departing for our trip to Isle Royale. Our site will be electric only.
Rock Harbor Lodge: We are going to ferry over from Copper Harbor, MI and stay on Isle Royale. From here we can hike and kayak. I feel lucky I got my reservation since they are already almost completely booked up.
Apostle Islands Campground: This is a commercial park located in N. Wisconsin along the famous Apostle Islands National Seashore on Lake Superior. We will have full hook ups at this park.
Tettegouche State Park: Minnesota State Parks can be booked 4 months ahead of time so I have marked my calendar and hope to get a spot in this park along the west coast of Lake Superior.
Voyageurs Sunrise Resort. Located on the banks of Kabetogama Lake, we will use this full hook ups park as a way to see Voyageurs National Park. We have reserved a houseboat to use for a few days while we are there since this is the best way to explore Voyageurs.
We will do several days of Harvest Hosts or Cracker Barrels as we make our way to St. Louis.
St. Louis/ Granite City KOA: We will have full hookups and some time to see the Gateway Arch National Park and tour St. Louis.
We hope to add a stop in here to see Land Between The Lakes Recreational Area.
2 River Campground: This is a Nashville area commercial campground. We will have full hookups at this campground and my understanding is that there is a shuttle to downtown.
Anchor Down RV Resort: This is one of the nicest RV resorts that we have ever stayed at. There is a water park on site and everyone is very friendly. This is our splurging resort but we feel it is worth the extra money. It is located in TN in a central location to Knoxville, Smoky Mountains National Park, Johnson City, and Gatlinburg.
Another stop in GA at McKinney Campground. Again, we love this park on Lake Altoona and how it puts us close to family and friends.
From here we will head back to our home base in Florida, the land of eternal sunshine.
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