Simplify Explore Learn Together
Campground Reviews
The good, the bad, and the ugly. Not all campgrounds are created equal. A great campground can really enhance your trip, or even be a destination in itself. A bad one might lead you to question if you even really like camping to begin with. As we travel, we review the campgrounds where we stay, so look below to find out which ones we think you shouldn’t miss, and which ones to avoid.
Often when we visit friends, we are able to set up the camper in their driveway or yard. But since our friends in Seattle live in an apartment, we needed to find a campground. There weren’t a lot of options available, and because the Seattle KOA is actually located in Kent where our friends live, we chose the KOA. It……
After Yellowstone, our next real destination was to visit our friends in the Seattle area. But it was much too far for us to drive straight there, so we broke the trip up into three legs with two “en route” nights in between. Our long day-trip to the Tetons turned into a late night, which meant a sluggish morning getting……
While we explored Yellowstone and the Tetons, we stayed at Hideaway RV Park in West Yellowstone, Montana. Here’s our review of this small but charming campground. Price: $31.50 per night Location: Easy access from West Yellowstone to the west entrance of Yellowstone NP. We found Hideaway to be central enough to have easy access, but outside of the downtown enough……
Why Billings? Because with just a short detour off of our planned route, we were able to visit with friends that we hadn’t seen for years. We met their kids, introduced them to ours, and had a really nice time catching up. We met Julia when we were all working at Kirkwood together in 2000. The next year, when she……
Leaving South Dakota, we continued west into Wyoming. The plan was to drive to Devil’s Tower, spend a little time exploring there, then continue on to Gillette to camp for the night. We had plans to meet friends in Billings, MT for the weekend. Native Americans and other early settlers developed many legends and folk tales around the Devil’s Tower……
Our home in the Black Hills was at the Spokane Creek campground. It’s definitely a place we’d recommend! Here’s our review: Price: $22/night, off-season rate. Location: A bit difficult to find, so believe what they say on their website. It’s easier to call and get directions from them or get it straight from the website than it is to find……
Any Rich Mullins fans out there that recognize this title as a line from his song “Calling out your Name”? I must confess that other than this song lyric, I’d never even really heard of the Badlands. They weren’t along our original planned route, mostly because we didn’t know they were there. But we’re so glad we changed our route……
We are not much for tourist traps. The more billboards I see placed along the highway, the less I want to stop at whatever is advertised. It provokes in me the opposite reaction to the one intended. So when we were looking for someplace to stay on our way between Minnesota and the Badlands in South Dakota, Al’s Oasis was……
Writing tonight from a campground in western Montana. As of today we have been on the road for exactly ONE MONTH! We’re still loving it and looking forward to two more months of adventures. But now to pick up the story where we left off… Heading west from Minneapolis, we stayed one more night in Minnesota on our way to……
For a lot of Swedes, Minnesota is the first state they hear of or learn about. To an American, this seems strange. New York, maybe? California? Texas even? But when you consider that over a million Swedes emigrated to the United States in the late 1800’s and that most of them settled in Minnesota and its neighbor-states, it’s not so……
Needing a bit of respite from our campground experience outside of Chicago, we were willing to pay a little bit more to have a few extra amenities the next time. What we found was a Kampground of America (KOA) in Madison, Wisconsin, en route to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota. It was just an overnight stay. A chance to……
When last we left our fearless adventurers, they were in Michigan. Sorry things have gotten a bit out of order, but I’ll try to get back on the chronological path we’ve taken and see if we can catch up with where we actually are. So while we were in Michigan, I realized that the upcoming weekend was Labor Day weekend…….
Holland, Michigan is a beautiful little college town, home to Hope College, Western Theological Seminary, and a state park on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Holland State Park campground was our next destination and our home for two nights. Our friend Jeff works at Western and once we checked in and set up camp, we drove into the town……
I confess. I did not expect to like Michigan all that much. It’s not that I expected to dislike it, it’s just that it’s never been someplace that I’ve longed to go. Before our trip, we were sharing our planned route with some friends and they said, “Why Michigan? Do you know someone there?” The answer was yes, we do…….
