Pros & Cons on Tent Camping in RV Park
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When campground was full, we liked to tent camping in RV Park during our road trip. It started about 4 years ago when we went on a last-minute summer road trip with a family friend.
At that time, we brought along our tent, in case hotels were full in our destinations. We went to Moab, Utah and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Lucky enough, we could get a room to sleep in though one of them was about an hour and a half drive from our destination.
Anyway. Somewhere between New Mexico and Texas, the day before we arrived home, a little voice from the back seat said, “Let’s go camping. What’s the point of bringing a tent if we’re not using it?” My husband and I turned to each other. He got a point here.
My husband remembered there’s an RV Park across Capulin Volcano National Monument in Capulin, New Mexico. If they let tent camping, we would stay there. If not, we would stay at the first hotel we found on the next city.
Luckily, they did accept tent campers. My only concern was the bathroom. Was it clean or not? Double lucky, they just renewed the ladies bathroom and it’s nice, spacious, and clean. (We pitched a tent again this summer and they already renewed the gents bathroom. My husband and son said it’s nice and clean, and I found the ladies bathroom was still spotless and nice like we stayed before. Nothing’s changed.) When I got back from checking the bathroom, our son was smiling happily to find out they had free WiFi. And they still have it when we stopped there last summer.
So, we pitched our tent for the night there. Not long after we got into the tent, our son fell asleep while my husband and I struggled to have a good sleep. Why? Because the RV Park located by the highway with non-stop traffic, even after midnight! And most of them were 18 wheelers, and somehow they liked to honk after midnight! Argh…
Pros & Cons on Tent Camping in RV Park
After that first experience, we stayed a couple of times at RV Park in Fredericksburg, Texas. First for our camping and hiking trip in the Texas Hill Country during Spring Break, and the second one during Thanksgiving Break. (If you don’t know, Texas Hill Country has beautiful places to see Fall colors, and Pedernales Fall State Park is one of them.) We also stayed in an RV Park in Amarillo during our camping and hiking trip in the Texas Panhandle. Then last summer we stayed in 2 RV parks in New Mexico and 2 in Colorado. Followed by one in Nebraska and one in South Dakota the following year.
We experienced good and bad things from our stays, but mostly were good things. Here I’m going to share with you the pros & cons on tent camping in RV Park.
Pros on Tent Camping in RV Park
- Normally the campground is bigger. They assigned a specific area for tent campers, and most of the time it is separately from the RVs, with water and picnic table on site.
- Bathroom is nice, big, and clean. It comes with hot shower, electric outlet, and there’s always tissue roll available.
- Most RV Parks come with facilities like laundry, convenience store, free WiFi, and pool.
- Most offer free coffee and sometimes with donuts.
- Books, magazines, and games to lend in the office/convenience store.
- Situated not too far from places of interests (or city).
- Some let you stay on electric sites.
- Most of the time, tent sites are never full. You can always use this as your last resort.
- Dogs are welcome at most RV campgrounds. The one we stayed in Nebraska even has a fenced dog park.
Cons on Tent Camping in RV Park
- When it is located by the highway, expect non-stop traffic sound from the road, all night long. Unless you have sound proof tent, it won’t be a problem. 😉
- Sometimes campers arrived after quiet hours. It means not too quiet for you.
- Prices a bit higher than campground.
So far, these are what I found after our several stayed in RV Parks. We experienced more good things during our stay. I know we will always look for RV Parks for our next camping and hiking trips all over the country. They are not just affordable, but I think they are better than cheap hotel or motel room. In case you don’t know, some of the RV Park have air conditioning and non-air conditioning cabins, too! Have you ever stayed in one(s)? Let me know your experiences by dropping your comments below.
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It is fun to weigh the pros and cons of each. we can in a van and don’t use hook ups so we can always use a tent site and, as you said, they are rarely full. Bathroom cleanliness is important for sure! Sometimes staying by the highway is okay, in an RV park, and sometimes it is intolerable. All great points!
Agreed!
I’ve camped at many places that were both RV parks/campgrounds. I find that the amenities are usually nicer than at a regular campground that only allows tents. Although now that I think of it, most places I’ve camped in the US are open to both RV’s and tents!
Yes, from my experiences, RV campgrounds give nicer amenities compare to tents campground only.
I’ve camped in an RV lot before and don’t love it. You’re generally pitching your tent in a big open field, so you have close to no privacy. The only time we camp this way is if we’re camping with my in-laws, who have an RV.
I’m sorry you don’t have a good experience. Maybe next one.
Thank-you for sharing this! We always are on a look out for impromptu places to stay the night on our road trips but would have never thought to camp in a RV Park. Do they just charge you the amount they would charge a normal RV to park in a spot?
They charge cheaper than a normal RV to park, but you get all the amenities.
I am not a camper! But an RV seems glam enough xo, Natalie http://nataliastyleblog.com
Well, it’s good to know that there are way more pros than cons! Hehe. I’ve never been camping! Would love to go one day. It’s not really a big thing here in the Philippines hehe.
Just like in Indonesia. Camping is not big, but it starts to change. But everything is provided, so you just bring your self and clothes.
I seriously would NEVER have thought of this trick! I like the suggestion and idea a lot. Definitely the cons would be sound and being further away from nature … but a great backup if a hotel isn’t available
I love this article, what an interesting topic that is relevant but not enough people write about. I did a lot of tent camping in RV parks in New Zealand when I was roadtripping around and found it certainly saved a lot of money while giving access to a lot of nice amenities. Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome! It’s good to know that you can do it, too in New Zealand since we are thinking about going there in the future.
It is nice to have the luxury of bathroom and shower, but not sure if it beats the luxury of a good night sleep. It is luckily often possible to get both, though 🙂 Happy camping! 🙂
Haha! Thank you!
I love camping, because it´s such a fun experience and so low key, so easy to really disconnect from the busy city life. But I hear you, when you say it can be hard to get a good night´s sleep! If it´s not the cars passing by, it´s the birds waking you at 4 in the morning 😀
Haha… yes, the birds! Or people starting making coffee and breakfast at 6.
I do love a bit of camping but I don’t get to do it nearly as often as I’d like.
I only do it during cooler season. It’s too hot at where I live in the summer. Too bad I can’t do it this fall since all weekends full with activities. 🙁
I’ll take free coffee and donuts! Didnt know campgrounds offer such luxury haha Not much of a camper myself but maybe one day 🙂
Yeah, I don’t think a lot of people heard about the campgrounds’ luxury. Haha…
Ha! That’s a very thoughtful family friend! Good that he suggested camping.
Good to know that they allowed you to camp in a RV park. Yeah, I can imagine how irritating honking can be. A good idea would be to take noise cancelling headphones!
Actually, it was my son who suggested camping. A noise cancelling headphones is a good idea. I just read about it.
Looks like RV Park camping actually fun.To have all the required facilities at your finger tip while camping is according to me a luxury 😀 And, cofffee with donuts is ahem ahem! I am glad that you have covered both the pros and cons of this experience. Waiting to someday explore this option in this part of the world 🙂
Yeah. I hope one day you will make it here.
I haven’t done much camping but I want to do it, that’s why I enjoy reading posts like this one. I learned a lot about the pros and cons of the RV park. It’s something I ought to try one day. I wouldn’t mind the honking either as I’m a really tight sleeper 😀
I hope you will make it one day. We took my sister and her family to camp last summer and it was an unforgettable memory for them.
Such an interesting experience! I’m also thinking about camping at RV park so this post is helpful. I didn’t know that they offer free coffee and sometimes with donuts in most places. It’s good that there’s free Wifi and you can borrow books, magazines, and games. Although it can be a bit noisy, I will still go for tent camping.
A good service will bring back the customers, right?
I’m not much of a camper, but I appreciated reading the pros and cons of the RV park. It does seem that the pros outweigh the cons however, and it’s great there’s free WiFi there too! It’s a shame about all the honking; I’m a light sleeper, so sadly I probably wouldn’t get any sleep!
Glad you enjoyed the post even though you’re not a camper.
Bringing a tent as a back-up plan is actually a great idea! We went on a roadtrip once and we only relied on finding available hotels on our way, which is not a good idea. We haven’t tried tent camping or staying at an RV park before but it sure sounds fun in an out-of-your-comfort-zone kind of way! You definitely pointed out that tent camping in an RV park is better and more convenient. I didn’t know that RV parks come with those perks. Laundry, free wifi, and hot shower, wow! This might convince me to try camping. 🙂
And sometimes RV Park has cabins, too! Equipped with AC and furnace. We tried to stay in one of those, but they were fully booked. I really like the laundry, free wifi, and hot shower facilities! The one we stayed in Amarillo, Texas has an indoor pool.
Tent camping in RV Park sounds fun and glad that you had mostly good experiences. Its nice that RV parks come with the facilities of laundry, convenience store, free WiFi, and pool making it easy to get all what one might need. Great that they are never full and are located close to places of interest! But it can be annoying to be constantly disturbed by the ongoing traffic. But I think is Pros are more than the cons, its worth to try out this unique camping format.
Yes! We found more pros than cons. So, definitely will always put it as a back up plan for our next trips.
Sounds like it was a great experience how ever you decide to do it. I’m not sure I’d ever go camping but it’s good to know the RV parks have free wifi – that makes it slightly more possible. Not too sure about the sounds of the endless traffic, that would be a pretty big one on the con list, i’m a pretty light sleeper!
If you’re a light sleeper, it’s really annoying.
One of our favorite “last minute” tent camping spots is at an RV park. Because it’s known to cater to them and not tents, it’s never ever full. We even stayed there 4th of July and the Sunday of Labor Day weekend and they weren’t full!
That’s what we found about it. RV Parks will always be our “last minute” camping spots in the future.
Wow.. this was an amazing experience for you guys. I have never heard of such camping facilities here in India which provide free wifi and all, need to do some research online. It’s a great idea – both for travelers as well as for business owners i believe. They deserve to charge a premium for well-maintained facilities
I agree with you. Business owners in India have to think about this. I bet more people will spend weekends in the nature. 🙂