Our RV Destination Recommendations

Our RV Destination Recommendations: Budget-Friendly and Family Approved

In this episode of TravelEssary, we explore our top recommendations for RV travel destinations across America. Focusing on affordability and family-friendly environments, we discuss the pros and cons of various types of parks, including Corps of Engineer Parks, state parks, Thousand Trails, KOA, and Passport America destinations. We share personal experiences, highlight the amenities of each park type, and offer advice on choosing the best spots for a memorable RV trip. Join us as we navigate the world of RV travel to help you plan your next adventure.
Thousand Trails 

KOA

Passport America

Transcript

  We're the Essart family and we're exploring America one destination at a time. On this episode of TravelEssary, we are going to share our RV travel destination recommendations. Let's chat. . Well, welcome and thank you for joining us on this episode As we talk about. Our recommendations if you're traveling in an RV and where we suggest that you would stop at.

It's not an. Extensive list because there's a lot of places that you can stop. There's a lot of destinations that you can go to. There are very specific destinations like, uh, Disney World. Disney World has a RV destination. Mm-hmm. And that we would expensive one. Yes. And we would love to go to, but some of these are definitely gonna be more into everyone's price range.

And so we're not gonna talk about those one-time exclusive deals where you can get onto a resort or something of that nature. But it's places that are all throughout the nation that we recommend you at least go visit at least once and. These are recommendations that are very specific to our family.

There are a few places that most people will recommend that we're not going to recommend because they just, they do not work for us. But let's start with the one that we are most familiar with. Yes. And that is the core of engineer parks.

That is the one that we have the most experience with, that we stay at most frequently. And in fact, we have one coming up in about six weeks, another visit to a Corps of Engineer Park. That's not too far from where we are now, and we absolutely love staying there. And the reason we like staying there is because they're so beautiful.

Yeah. They're usually very nice parks

one of the things that we love about the Corps of Engineer Parks is they are very affordable. They usually range somewhere between the 35 to $65 a night. They don't really get into the, the high numbers, even on holidays, which , we'll talk about in some other ones that that we're gonna mention.

But even in the holidays and those seasons where they know that people are gonna come. On vacation and, and travel to, they still keep their prices as low as they possibly can, which makes it so affordable for everyone. Yeah, it's definitely more affordable if you're looking at nightly rates and I think their max day is like 14 days, so it's not an extended stay place anyway.

It's only somewhere you're gonna go for vacation or for a short period of time, and we do like those affordable numbers. Very much. Another thing that we love about the Corps of Engineer is that they are located on lakes or rivers, which enables us to do all of the water activities that we love doing.

Fishing, boating, swimming, whatever it is that you wanna do out in the water,

then you have that option available.

We're very familiar with the Corps of engineer because that is where Jeremy's family for many years did their family reunions every summer, and one of the things that we all love doing was getting out on the boats and getting in the water. So we do love that they are on the water. Yes, especially for my family.

That was a big draw because , we always took boats, we always went fishing. It was just kind of one of our little things that we did. And it was a, it was very affordable for all of us to get together in one location because, I mean, I do have a very extensive family as far as numbers goes.

Um, but the Corps of Engineers do such great job of not only keeping it affordable. The location is always great, but they do everything they can to make it as nature friendly as possible. , They're almost always shaded. Mm-hmm. You're always in the trees. , You have a good view of whenever you're looking out, you always have a nice view no matter where you are in the park.

Most of them have a waterfront or a water view that , you have. Mm-hmm. But even if , you don't get one of those and you're kind of a little further back, it's still absolutely beautiful. Most of the time there's deer walking around or squirrels. Because there's no hunting on it. Mm-hmm. And so it just Oh, yeah.

Opens up the whole nature thing. So many mornings we would wake up and right outside of our camper or our tent, there would be deer, like a huge herd of deer, just like roaming through the campsites. And we would all get our cameras out and take pictures and. The kids always love seeing that. Another thing about Corps of Engineer is they are big rig friendly, which is a must for us right now because, um, in the past this would've been an issue.

Our other two , our recreational vehicles were not large, but this one is quite large. And so whenever we were planning our trip that's coming up in July, we were like, okay, we're gonna stay at a core of engineer because we know it's gonna be able to fit our big giant fifth wheel. And some of the other parks that we're gonna talk about are not very friendly whenever that comes to that because they, they restrict themselves a whole lot, especially with the turns and the curves and the roads.

Mm-hmm. But Corps of Engineer does a really good job. I mean, it's, it's government ran, so they do a really good job as far as making it very friendly for those that have. Large items, even if it's not big rigs, even if it's a large boat or something like that. Right. Usually it's very open. , They're very mindful of keeping , the tree limbs out of the way, um, for those tall RVs and everything, so it doesn't damage any of your stuff.

And it also helps protect nature even more. Yeah. And on top of that, there's spaces, the individual spaces that you're allotted is a lot larger than, oh yeah, your regular RV resort or RV park. They're so very roomy. We always make a joke about how you don't have to worry about guessing whose picnic table is who's, because it's very evident when you're in one of the core avenal parks when you're on your.

Little piece of property or when you're on someone else's, because there's so much space in between each site. Now, there are a few sites in the Corps of Engineers that are kind of geared towards family get togethers, or they're group sites. Group sites, yeah. Those sites are gonna be a little bit tighter because they're trying to fit everyone into a certain area, so you don't take up as much space as if you are individual throughout the park.

But even those sites. Are fantastic. I mean, they have their own little pavilion most of the time set off to the side. You actually have grassy space and maybe even a few trees on your spot. And some of the other ones we're gonna talk about today.

Um. You don't have that all the time. It's a hit or miss. It's a hit or miss. And it all depends on what kind of, what side of the park you go to. Yeah. You might be lucky if you both can put your slide outs and not hit each other and encroach upon each other's territory. So we really like the roomy, roomy spaces.

Yeah. And even with all the room and all the space that they have, they still keep them very well maintained. Right. They are always very well maintained , from the grounds to the facilities. And I think the reason that they do that is because they have someone that is on staff majority of the time that that's their specific job is to do the maintenance, do the cleaning.

Whereas some of these other ones that we're gonna talk about, they, they may not have someone on onsite to fix the plumbing issue or the electrical issue right away. Whereas Corps of Engineer, , they have the maintenance personnel usually within just a couple of minutes of the, the campsite to come, help maintain all that.

And then of course, they're there. Traveling around., Not only is it well maintained, but , the customer service that you get from a core engineer, as they will travel around, they'll drive around in their truck, and if they see you out on your campsite, they'll stop and they'll talk to you. You know, because they're really big on the educational part.

As you know, they give away free Frisbees and other merchandise, coloring books and crayons for the kids and everything. , There's so many pros. There are a few cons to it, but there's so many pros and why we. Recommend the core of engineer parks. Yeah. I remember many times whenever they saw the kids out, anytime there were kids outside that they would always stop when they were driving around and they would hand out all the free stuff and all the kids loved getting.

All the fun activity books and things like that. And they were always about water safety. Water safety. They're very big on water safety. Oh yeah. And the core of engineer parks. And anytime, you know, there ever was an issue, you know, in a bathroom or shower house or whatever the situation was. Or maybe with, um, our hookups, if we would let the front desk know, and then they would always promptly send someone out to handle the issue.

So that's, that's really nice. We really do like the core of engineers and they do tend to be in more of your. Rural areas more so than like in your larger cities or off major highways. There are a lot more rural kind of out of the way, and I really enjoy that aspect about them. Another one that we recommend that is also rural, that sometimes.

It's gonna be also around lakes and rivers, but that is the state parks. Yeah. And every state park system is different, you know, from state to state, but in general, they all have pretty spacious campsites, just like a core of engineer. They're a little bit more spaced out, in my opinion, than the Corps of Engineers because they're taking into account so much more of the nature because they have walking trails, they have biking trails.

I mean, if. If you're looking for nature activities, state parks is where you go. Mm-hmm. And because they're all about , the education, sometimes they'll have events go on where they're, they're doing educational about nature. Maybe not so much water, like the Corps of Engineers are, but State Park is all about nature.

Trees, animals. Yeah. The one, um, near where we live locally, they do like bird watching tours. Like, , in the springtime or in the fall when the birds are migrating, they'll do different things like that. They'll do,, night hikes and look for night creatures and. Star guides and all kinds of things like that, that's really fun for, , you know, small children and even teenagers or even, you know, as a couple, if that's something that you're into.

Out of everything on the list that we're gonna talk about today, state parks would be the one that I recommend the most for Nature Lovers. Absolutely. But kind of on the flip side, because they take so much of the nature into, they're not 100% big rig friendly. Right. In fact, I'm not sure that our rig will fit into most state parks in Texas.

I. Let alone some of the other state parks where their sites are even smaller than most of the ones that we have in Texas. So although we love staying in state parks, um, in the past with our smaller RVs or in a tent, even many times in a cabin. We may not get to quite as much anymore, but we did wanna go ahead and recommend them because we have always enjoyed our stay in a state park.

And the, just like the Corps of Engineer, they take care of their facilities really well. They do really good maintenance, and if they are on a lake, . They're gonna add just a little bit extra stuff that the Corps of engineer, in our opinion, do not do. They're gonna add fishing docks, which the Corps of engineer don't do, and most of the time they will have some type of swimming area that is corded off, that's kind of like their little beach area that you can specifically go and, and swim at.

And I love how beautiful the state parks are. Um, I actually took our oldest daughter's graduation pictures

at a state park near us and they turned out phenomenal because the trails and the buildings and it, it's just so very beautiful near the water. And it was a great place to go and take pictures. And it's actually one of the more popular places locally where people go and take pictures because it's just so beautiful.

It's so beautiful. And another just great, awesome bonus added on top to all the other things that we just talked about. It's affordable, right? It's very similar to price in the Corps of engineer, maybe a little bit more. Um, and then of course you have to pay a day pass even if you're not staying the night.

And if you have guests that comes stay with you, they have to pay their state park day pass. But it is definitely more affordable again than. Most, if not all, private RV resorts. , They still have the regulations that you can't stay beyond a certain amount days

it's definitely not gonna be an extended long stay, but if you're doing that week, two week vacation, it's definitely a place that we highly suggest you at least check out to see if that will fit your family as it totally fits our family.

And , we'll go ahead and, and jumble these two together. As far as the Corps of Engineer and the state parks, but we really enjoy the peace and quiet that you have at these parks, right out of all the ones we're talking about, the state parks, and then, um, the Corps of Engineer as well, unless it's a major summer holiday, like 4th of July or a Memorial Weekend or Labor Day or something like that.

Yeah, they're very peaceful and tranquil and quiet. Now, you're gonna have your rowdy neighbor, you know, every once in a while, but because they're so spacious, because you're kind of far off that if someone walks out of a trailer and slams the door because their door is hard to shut, kind of like ours, you're not gonna hear that more than likely being next door to 'em, because you have that much space in between you.

I think another thing that's so great is. Both of those, um, networks, the state parks and corps of engineer parks, they're so filled with trees. They're like natural sound barriers. Yes. In between each sites and in between each section. And, , most of them are not located on major highways, so you don't have a lot of traffic noise.

You don't have a lot of city noise. It's, it's just such a great like. I'm here to camp type atmosphere. Like they're both really good for camping or glamping or whatever you wanna call it. Yeah. And just like Misty pre alluded to the ambiance, the birds chirping. If you're by the lake, you know the waves kind of coming up on the, the shore and you don't really have to worry about a whole lot of road noise mm-hmm.

With these parks because they are gonna be off the highway. , They're gonna be kind of in a secluded area, more than likely around a lake or a river. And just , the energy that you feel from, you know, just nature around you is just, really awesome. If you've never stayed at one of these parks, go check it out.

You'll totally understand what we're talking about. Yeah. If you're wanting , the camping vibe. Then these are one of the parks that you want to stay at. So the next two we're gonna talk about, they're different more than the state parks and the Corps of Engineer, but they're similar with each other.

And the first one is Thousand trails. Thousand trails. Can be expensive or affordable, depending on so many different things. And there may be an episode where we go through and just absolutely break down thousand trails because there is so much information. There's so many different memberships, there's so many, there's just so much that goes into a thousand trails.

But if you are a. Full-time traveler, or you travel all summer in your rv, then it is by far the most affordable option, even more so than the corps of engineer and the state parks because once you pay for that membership, whatever kind that you get, and there's so many details that go into it. And if you are interested, .

I will link the website in the show notes. But. Once you pay for that membership, you don't have to pay anything else for the rest of that year. And Misty said there's a lot to it. She tried to explain this to me and I jumped on their website and I was like, oh yeah, it's this and this. And she was like, no,

if you go here, there's actually more to it. Right. But it is one of those things that once you learn to navigate through it mm-hmm. The savings are definitely there. Oh yeah., It's something you have to navigate and if you're interested in it, I highly suggest you get on the phone and talk.

To one of their agents through thousand trails and they will walk you through all the plans and stuff they have. It changes frequently, sometimes in January. They just completely changed a lot of their plans and the research I had done last year is no longer valid for this year, and I'm having to do more research for us for future endeavors.

But it is definitely going to be the most affordable for full-time travelers. And one thing that we'll say is , their organization are mainly on the coast areas. Yeah, they're up and down the west and east coastal areas. There's not very many at all in middle America, so to speak.

, There's not very many in that area, but why we do recommend thousand Trails is because of the amenities that they offer. And the community that they offer. And this could be a make or break. So we've already talked about the state and core where you know you're gonna do lake and river stuff.

These next ones that we talk about, especially a thousand trails. And, and the next one is the, you're gonna get more of a resort kind of feel. Than a out in nature by a lake, than a camping right? Than a camping field. If you're looking for the camping vibe, the thousand trails is not what you want.

The spots are going to be closer together. Yep. There's going to be way more people, way more noise. Um, but there's so many amenities and what makes them great is what they offer for families. Now, they don't all offer the same things, but it could be. A swimming pool. , Horseshoe volleyball, basketball, pickle ball. Um, miniature golf, , indoor recreational facilities where they have arcade games and books and puzzles and just so many different. Amenities that they offer.

Oh, playgrounds. I think every single one of 'em has a playground. Most of 'em do, because they do understand that this is gonna be more of a resort feel. Mm-hmm. You know, we kind of mentioned community a little bit, but they'll have different things that you can do as far as, , they get together and , might play bingo or you know, have a movie night or something.

And it just kind of brings everyone together, whether you know, you're total strangers or your friends and they just offer. Different things that, , a core or a state just will not do. So, big disclaimer, um, some of the parks are pretty outdated. Yes. So if you are interested in the thousand trails, make sure you do your research before you go.

Some of them are a bit outdated and they don't look like they've been touched for a while, but many of them are being completely upgraded or they're being added to with newer, nicer spots and facilities. Yeah, especially the one that we are gonna be hidden.

The one that we're kind of close to, that we plan on going to, just got renovated and it looks amazing. Yeah. I cannot wait to take the kids to it. I think they're really, really gonna love it. Do you know, I was doing some research the other day mapping out, um, future plans and

I saw one that had like a little mini water waterpark and splash pad with a water slide. And then I saw another one that had like, um, one of those bounce things that are like. In the ground. Do you know what I'm talking about? Where it kind of looks like one of those big inflatable things that they put in the lake and you jump on and then the other person goes flying in the air, but it's like on the ground, it's like a little trampoline type thing.

I don't know what I'm talking about. No, I mean, bounce houses is the only thing that kind of comes to my mind, but I know that it's a little different than that. Yeah. So yeah, they're upgrading their amenities and I am super excited to take the kids to a lot of these. Um, locations here in the near future.

Another great thing about thousand trails, which if you haven't already figured out since we are gonna be visiting many of them, is that most of them are big rig friendly because they're full of big rig families like us,  they're gonna have way more spots that are available for big rigs. , You might not have as many trees and it may not look as pretty as some of the other places are, but it's still gonna be a great place 'cause you still get to use all the amenities They're just really great for families because you know, they offer laundry rooms and large shower. In bath houses and just a lot of great facilities, many of them have general stores on location where they have, you know, food like, like miniature grocery stores and items that you would need for your rv.

And there are a few of them that even have restaurants on site. Like they're really made for kind of that resort family camp fill without the price that goes with it.

Another place that is similar to thousand trails is KOA. Yeah. They're actually so similar that many of them are connected together, A thousand trails and A KOA will be basically the same park.

Like you'll pull in the same entrance and everything, and they share amenities. You just stay at different parts of their resort. That's not always the case, but there are a few of them that are like that. And I would say out of every single thing we're talking about today, for the most part, the general rule of thumb is that KOAs have the best amenities and most of their parks, because a lot of them are the more up to dated or recently built ones, right?

They are more updated than most of the thousand trails. And they do that because of the location that most KOAs are at. It's because they are at either big highways, you know, right off the interstate or they're at destination locations. Yeah, they're, they're close to major attractions and they want to attract people that are visiting those touristy areas

to their park. So they try to keep 'em up to date. Um, they are a. A bit more pricey and by a bit, I mean a lot more pricey than a thousand drills. Still cheaper than a lot of your, you know, private or, , fancy smancy RV resorts. Still a bit cheaper than that, but they are the most expensive one on the list that we're talking about today.

And of course they're going to also be big rig friendly. They're going to have the 50 amp hookups because they're trying to pull in as many people as possible. Instead of them staying at a hotel, they're offering all these amenities, which most of the time is gonna be way more than what a hotel could offer.

And it's gonna be way more fun because of the community and the whole family atmosphere that they have. Yeah. They offer so many activities. , It depends on where you're at and what time of the year, of course. But you know, they can do things from movie nights to bingo nights, dance night.

Like there's so many different activities they'll pull the kids in for crafts and and arts and things like that, and even like little educational moments with them. I think that's so awesome and I think that's what makes the KOA in the thousand trails pull in so many families with children because especially those that are full-time or that tend to vacation the whole summer because it gives their kids.

That community, and maybe the parents do, maybe they want that community too, and it, and it gives 'em that socialization and just that communal atmosphere, which you don't get in a state park or a corps of engineer because people that go to there, they wanna go for camping. They want their peace, they want their space, they want their quiet.

But when you're in a KOA or a thousand trails, it is a much more communal type atmosphere. And I've even heard of some places even doing like tournaments for certain events. I know pickleball is a huge thing. Some of them do a pickleball tournament and I mean, of course you, yeah, I mean it doesn't, it's not gonna last all weekend or something.

It's just gonna be like that evening, whoever wants to sign up, you know, you, you get done and you know about an hour, two hours and you're done and you're moved off to the next event. But they do get together as much as possible. And of course it all depends on what exact park that you go to, but most of them are very interactive.

And the great thing about KOAs is there are over 500 locations across North America, and they're more all over the place than what thousand trails are. Right? They do. Tend to be more of them up and down the coast, the east and you know, west coast more so than in the middle. But they do have more in the middle states than thousand trails does.

You do have a bit more options in that category. Now, a thousand trails is listening to this. I would simply say to them, Hey, pick your game up or give us a call and we'll give you some points and some tips. I don't think they're listening about how to pick up that, that middle section where a lot of people want to travel or.

At least if they're on the east coast, get to the west coast without having to go all the way along the border. Yeah. But if you do wanna get from east to west without having to go along the border, we have an option for you. And that is a Passport America membership. And this is massive. I did not know this until Misty actually told me about how huge.

Passport America truly is. Yeah. They have over 1200 locations across North America.

And it is a membership that is only $50 a year, which in comparison to a thousand trails. Big difference. Yes, it's definitely way cheaper to get a part of their membership. But there's some differences as far as what that membership gets you right? In a thousand trials, memberships, you can stay 14 to 21 days depending on what kind of membership that you have For a passport America, it is actually dependent on each individual.

Park. So out of those 1200 parks, they all have their own rules, regulations, and ways that they do things. Now, the one thing that is universal across all parks is when you stay with your membership, you get a 50% discount for their nightly rates. Which could turn out to be massive, right? I mean we, we were talking about, you know, all these other parks before, how they don't get too expensive, but there's some parks out there that are a part of this passport America that are super expensive.

Mm-hmm. And if you get that 50% discount, it's just like staying at a KOA or a thousand trails for one night and you're just getting this overabundance resort. Type fill. And then there's also some in the Passport America network that are super, super cheap and they're like $20 a night and you can stay for $10 a night with your discount.

The range of. Resorts and price style, you know, things like that. It is so massive. Each park is so very different from the next. , You'll have parks that have full amenities and full hookups and that have fun things. Maybe a pool, and then you'll have parks where you can go and park it and you, you might have water and electricity if you're lucky.

And. There's not a single tree. It looks like a parking lot. They're so very different. But it's a great option if you're needing one to three nights to stay because that is pretty much all you can stay to use your membership. Now you can stay and not have that 50% discount for the other nights, but if you're gonna use your membership, most only allow one to three nights.

And unfortunately, most also do not allow you to use your membership on weekends or holidays. And this could be a huge factor one way or another if you're looking to take that vacation where you want to get to your destination as fast as possible, but you don't want do hotels and you want to take your RV with you and have.

All your, your nice house stuff that goes along with it, then this is probably the way to go and one benefit from the Passport America is that you can use it as often as you'd like within your year. You can go from park to park to park, and it's no issue.

Um, however, you're gonna run into difficulty finding them that you can use your pass on the weekend and on holidays, so. , That would be kind of a difficult thing to do and you would be moving so frequently. But if you are going to take, um, a road trip across America in an rv, a passport, America is what I would recommend the most because you're only gonna stay one to three nights in each location anyway.

And you'll be able to do that with a 50% discount. I just, I can't think of a better way to do a road trip in an RV than that. . I think it's also a really great option. Like we said before, if you're going to make a huge jump. From one state to another or across the country, but you don't wanna do it all in one day you can use your Passport America membership at one of these parks and just pop over for the night just so that you're not having to boo dock or, you know, camp out in a Walmart parking lot or a Cracker Barrel parking lot or something like that.

You'll have water, you'll have electricity. You won't have to. You know, get up at the crack of dawn and get out of their parking spots that you have to, whenever you're at Cracker Barrel or Walmart, and it's a very inexpensive option if you need to do that.

Right. Or, you know, you were talking about staying at, , something other , than a park that. , I've heard of stories that one manager goes, oh yeah, it's fine if you stay overnight. And then the morning manager gets there and goes, why are you in my parking lot? And so it could cause a little bit of headache if you're not fully prepared for that.

We do wanna let you know that , this list is in no particular order. These are just five of the ones that we recommend above all the other ones because it fits our family so well.

All of these are very family friendly, they're all very affordable, and they just really work for us. So those are our recommendations, and again, it's not any specific locations. We will maybe give some specific locations at another time, but those are the networks that we fill Our are the most affordable and family friendly. Join us next week. We are going to be talking about how to add nostalgia, which we think is extremely important to every trip.