Resource or App for Campgrounds

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Bwht4x4

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Morro Bay
My family and myself are planning a trip from CA to TX this spring and will be driving there and back with the truck and camper. We'll be staying along the way in campgrounds and national forests. I'm wondering if there's a book or phone app that shows all the campsites for a given area. I don't know how far we'll be going each day and not sure of the route, but we'll want to be able to find a campground near where we'll think we'll be ending up for the day.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
x2 on the Ultimate Campground App. It has a wide variety of NFS, BLM, county, utility, state, etc sites that are easy to filter down to the type your looking for. Just wish it had an option for using off-line. I guess you could take a screen shot of the areas your interested in
 
I just downloaded the ultimate campgrounds app and I do like the layout but it lacks most private RV spots which are nice to know about in a pinch, especially in large cities. The allstays app is much better all aound but I think I will keep the ultimate campgrounds app as well because I think it has some public campgrounds that the allstays doesn't.
 
We used several sites on our last Alaskan trip.
The one most helpful is Campscout.com.
Has a large menu of camping places and most have pictures and good info.
It worked great for us and help us find some less used places.
Also you might try DirtyDogs CampingUsa.com site
Frank
 
Thank you for your interest in the The Ultimate US Public Campground Project iPhone app. I am the app developer.
It is only $3.99: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-ultimate-us-public-campground-project/id698323700?mt=8
As for offline maps, it deals with that in several ways:
1. You can download almost any National Park Service PDF map for free within the app. These maps work offline and online.
2. There is a map caching functionality built into the app. It's not ideal, but if you use Open Street Maps you can cache the maps for offline work.
Enjoy!
 
i'm new to this --- what IS the best way to find dispersed camping sites??? some of these web sites seem pretty useful. Are the web sites about the best way to locate sites? i can find CG's on various maps - even atlases, but for finding areas with a variety of sites, haven't figured out the best way to do that.

asking at various parks and things - hasn't really panned out. no one seems to really know any places, except of course for established camp grounds.......

the other options involve driving around endlessly........ that's always been frustrating............
 
I think the electronic is all well and good but does anyone have a recommendation for a good old fashioned print atlas that shows national forest campgrounds? The AAA maps only show Woodalls recommended campgrounds. I used to have an atlas which showed the National Forest Campgrounds but can't remember the name or publisher.
 
I've driven around allot in new to me places since I retired twelve years ago and i use allot of different map sources to find those places to camp. I always have the right bench mark state atlas, my trusty old garmin gps and before I head out, I always load up on BLM, FS and other gov't (both fed and state) maps of the area(s) I plan to drive through or visit. This site also is a world of info and I always check in here for the latest dope on the area(s) I am headed to! Also, having a pop-up makes following one of those interesting sounding road signs allot more fun than before. Follow your nose ;) and enjoy the world.

You can never have enough maps and for me planning a trip is almost as much fun as doing it. More help-- if you see that government guy or gal when you are out and about "always ask them" what the local story is and if you think about it before you head out "give a ring" to what ever agency runs the area you are headed for. Just remember, while it is their job to answer your questions, be nice and you will be surprised how much more info they have and how that a friendly voice will make their day too!

Smoke
 
Smokecreek1 said:
You can never have enough maps and for me planning a trip is almost as much fun as doing it.


Smoke
Click to expand...
Make your plans when it's cold outside
And the north winds they do blow
For half the joy of the trip my boy
Is setting your traps to go

Albert Bigelow Paine - paraphrased (The Tent Dwellers, 1908)
 
Wandering Sagebrush said:
Make your plans when it's cold outside
And the north winds they do blow
For half the joy of the trip my boy
Is setting your traps to go

Albert Bigelow Paine - paraphrased (The Tent Dwellers, 1908)
Click to expand...
Yep!!!

Smoke
 
Outnabout said:
I think the electronic is all well and good but does anyone have a recommendation for a good old fashioned print atlas that shows national forest campgrounds? The AAA maps only show Woodalls recommended campgrounds. I used to have an atlas which showed the National Forest Campgrounds but can't remember the name or publisher.
Click to expand...
Watershed Communications published a National Forest Campground and Recreation Guide under the Coleman name many years ago. The book claims to be a complete guide to all 4,300+ NF CGs in America. My very beat-up copy has a 2003 date but as far as I can tell Watershed Com has long been out of business. I still use this as a reference to locate FS CGs before checking the forest sites on line for current info and better maps. Some CGs no longer exist, have been temporarily closed or have been relocated but the old book is generally still accurate. I guess things don't change very fast in the Forest Service.
 
The Army COE has a neat little book that lists all of their campgrounds in the US, complete with prices, maps and all that good data. Their main cg's are neat and clean and usually have hot showers and are located in many states that have few or none fs/blm cg's. Some of the CG's are managed with the Bureau of Rec and various state agencies and are easy to miss w/o the book. Ya can not go wrong for $16.00/8.00 a nite.

Smoke
 
Thanks. I'll look into the COE info. I've yet to try the dispersed camping but summer is coming.
 
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