- Have you ever stayed at a state park campground?
You just might want to consider these campgrounds
after we share with you the differences
between state park campgrounds and private campgrounds.
So, stayed tuned.
(groovy pop music)
Hello, everyone, welcome back to the channel.
If you are new here, my name is Charity.
- And I'm Ben.
- And in 2018, Ben left his full-time job
and we took the show on the road, working remotely
and traveling the United States with our two kids.
Today, we're gonna talk about the differences
between private or commercial campgrounds
and campgrounds that you find
in state parks or national parks.
We've stayed at both
and we've noticed what some of the differences are,
and there's some pros and there's some cons.
So, we're gonna go over those with you today
so that as you are planning your travels,
you have a good idea of where you might want to stay,
whether in a state park if there's one in the area
or in more of a private RV park.
- The number one reason is that state parks
are typically cheaper.
- They are.
And part of the reason for that
is because they're usually receiving some sort of subsidy.
So, whether that is from the state that they're located in
in the form of tax dollars
or whether it's from the daily use fees
that they're collecting for people that come
and use the state park for recreation,
the costs for staying in a state park
are usually lower than private campgrounds,
just because they have other subsidies
to be able to offset the costs of the operation.
- Number two is the amenities.
There's typically not as many amenities
at a state park than a regular campground.
- That's true.
And so, a lotta state parks,
while they do have a bath house or a shower house
and a lotta state parks do at least have laundry facilities,
you don't find some of the other amenities
that you find in a private campground,
things like a swimming pool
or maybe like a playground area for the kids
or mini golf or some of the things
that you find in a private RV park.
The other different between state parks and private RV parks
is with the facilities that they do have,
they're not always in the best repair.
So, while all the state parks that we've stayed in
have had at least clean bathrooms and clean showers,
they're not always the most updated
or aesthetically pleasing like you would find
in some of the private or more commercial RV parks.
So, if you choose to stay in a state park,
just remember that,
yes, it's going to be cheaper on average,
but you also are maybe not going to have
the nicest amenities like you would have
if you stay at more of a private RV park
or a commercial RV park.
- Another reason is that most RV parks
will have the option for full hookups,
but not all state parks will have that option.
A lotta state parks will just have just electric only.
- Or electric and water without maybe the sewer.
And while most of them will have a dump station
so that you can at least dump your tanks
and things like that, you wouldn't have the full hookups
like that you would find
and pretty much every single private RV park's
gonna have those full hookups.
So, that's something to be aware of
and to ask those questions
and make sure that you're looking really well
when you go to book that reservation
as far as if you're staying in a state park.
Does the site that you're booking have full hookups?
Is it electric?
Is it electric and water?
And just to be aware of what sort of hookups that you have
when you're going to stay there.
- The other difference is that state parks
are typically a nature park atmosphere.
- Exactly.
And a lot of the private RV parks are set up as an RV park,
versus when you stay in a state park,
you typically have more of just kind of that nature
or woodsy type of feel.
When we stayed at Meaher State Park,
which we'll put a link in the description below
to that state park in the Mobile, Alabama area,
it was just a beautiful state park
where it was on a very large lake and we had lots of trees
and we set up the hammock for the kids
and they could just relax in the hammock amongst the trees
and it was just a beautiful nature type of area,
versus when you're staying in a private RV park,
you don't always have that option.
You don't have trees
that you can just rig up your hammock to
or things of that nature.
So, staying in a state park is definitely the way to go
if you're looking for more of kind of that camping feeling
with having the glamping aspect.
- Or without boondocking.
So, and that's another thing with state parks
is that state parks also can be a really good alternative
to people that maybe want to boondock
but just don't feel quite confident in doing so
or don't feel safe in doing so.
So, utilizing a state park is a great option
to be able to still feel like that you're out
and you're enjoying nature, but you've got your amenities
and you've got usually a safety aspect.
Most state parks are patrolled by rangers
that are either employed by state law enforcement
or the Department of Wildlife in that particular area,
but there is essentially a security-type presence
in most state parks with the rangers that patrol the areas.
- The next thing is the reservation process.
Sometimes state parks actually are first-come-first-serve,
so you can't really plan ahead
to book a reservation at a state park.
- Right.
And some of them you can book reservations for,
and a lot of those get booked up way in advance.
When we were planning to visit the Destin, Florida area,
there is a great state park that's in the Destin area,
and I thought I was pretty on-the-ball
making reservations and making plans well in advance
when we were planning our trip to Destin.
- She's a planner.
- I'm a chronic planner.
However, making reservations six months in advance,
which is where I started the booking process,
that state park was already filled up.
And what I was informed of
is that particular state park usually books up
nine to 10 months in advance,
just because it's a very popular area.
So, if you're wanting to utilize a state park
and the area that you're planning to visit
is a little bit more of a popular destination,
you want to plan on making those reservations
well in advance.
Now, we were able to make reservations for a private RV park
in the Destin area which was a gorgeous park.
It was not too far away from the beach,
and we were able to do that in that six-month window.
However, we also paid a little bit more
to stay at that particular private park than we would have
if we had been able to utilize the state park.
So, something to consider
as you're looking at your travel plans
and making reservations
is that if you want to utilize state parks,
make sure that you do it well in advance
or also have some flexibility,
as some state parks are on a first-come-first-serve basis.
So, out of the state parks that we've stayed at,
what do you think has been your favorite state park?
- I would say my favorite is the Myrtle Beach State Park,
just the fact that you feel like you're in the woods
and it's surrounded by trees and the cicadas.
- I would have to agree that Myrtle Beach State Park
was probably one of my favorites too.
And one of the things
that I like about state parks in general as well
with just the kids is that we try to make every experience
that we have on the road as educational as possible.
And we are really firm believers
in kind of the road school mentality
of learning as we're doing.
And so, a lot of state parks
will have ranger-led nature programs
that teach the kids about the ecology
that is going on in that state park,
whether it's marine life or biological material
or plant life or things of that kind of nature,
no pun intended.
Things of that nature. (laughing)
But it's great experience for the kids
when you stay in a state park
and you have those ranger-led-type programs.
So, thank you so much for watching this video
on the differences between state parks and private RV parks.
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