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Finding Campgrounds
How do i find campgrounds? Anyway i can. Here is an alphabetical list of all the resources i use, general information about what you’ll find at each, and some comments about my experiences, etc. The camera icons indicate whether you’ll find pictures @ these sites. The more icons the more pictures.
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COE CGs are simply fabulous A favorite of ours. They tend to have large spacious sites, impeccably maintained, and cheap. Some COE CGs have “no hookups” and others have sections where you will get water & electric only. This link will open to a click able U.S. map. to locate the CGs near you. It can get confusing navigating this site - i often find myself lost in the maze of secondary links. You may see some pictures here, but if your like me you stumble onto them by accident. Note - Recreation Gov (explained below) handles most (but not all) COE CG reservations. For e.g., they do not manage the CG on the NC side of John H. Kerr Dam - but they do for the VA side.
This lake which is Northeast of Nashville has 4 COE CGs ( Dale Hollow, Lillydale, Obey River, Willow Grove). We have never camped here, but I’m sure we will someday. This link will sure be helpful in picking a site. Checkout the link to individual CGs to see pics of every site. Make reservations thru Recreation.Gov - see link below.
Fort De Soto Park CG Pics (FL) 
Here’s Lucy Campground Reviews
I write a short review (well sometimes short) of each campground we visit and include atleast 1 picture of our campsite. My trip journals often have additional pics embedded in them— you’ll find a link for the journals @ the top of each state’s campground folder.
IRV2 Campground Reviews by State
This is a dedicated section in another large RV forum that i recently discovered. Not alot of reviews - but it seems to be growing, is nicely organized, and a few reviews include CG pictures.
Lake Hartwell Campgrounds (GA & SC)
Lake Sidney Lanier Campgrounds (GA)
Lake Lanier is Northeast of Atlanta and has 9 COE campgrounds. This link will take you to a COE website summary page. On the side bar menu you will find a link to “campground maps”. Click on this to get an interactive map of each campground with pictures of every site. We stayed @ Old Federal in April of 2008 - checkout a few pics of our stay here. Make reservations through Recreation Gov - see link below.
Missouri has over 40 State Parks. This link will take you to their website to reserve a site and to learn more information about each park. Within each park - there is link to an interactive campground map (usually at the top). Click on the site #s to see a picture of each campsite. Self explanatory. We have not stayed @ any Missouri State park CGs — so i have no clue which are the best parks or how easy it is to get into them, but this information impressed me so much - i had to share it.
This campground is in Colorado Springs. We have never been here - but any CG website that includes a picture of every site is one i want to remember. Hopefully they are still around when we get out West - in the year 2525. smile
North Bend COE Campground Pics (VA)
During our stay @ North Bend i took many campsite pictures of this fabulous campground. 39 pics in total so check them out. Make reservations via Recreation Gov - see link below.
The is an online reservation service for the USDA Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation outdoor recreation facilities and activities. It is setup and managed the same as Reserve America and it also may include “featured photos” of a campground site, etc.
Reserve America (note this link opens a new window)
This is an online reservation system to many Federal, State and a few private campgrounds. It has great information about the amenities available - such as site length, how shady it is, if it is close to water, does it have water & electric, etc. You can reserve specific sites and you must pay for the total stay upfront - however they have a reasonable cancellation policy. Check the website for reservation details. Most (but not all) campgrounds listed include some “featured photos” so you might get a general idea of a typical campsite.
RV.NET - Campground forum - This is a very active and high traffic forum. You can ask questions here and get several responses in less than 1/2 hour (usually). I sometimes ask questions, but i prefer to just search past postings. E.g., searching on “Goose Point” in just the campground section will give me a list of topics containing Goose Point for the last 12 months. Read through those and be sure to checkout the profile information of posters — it sometimes includes a link to member blogs, photo albums.
This is a photo album connected with a private MSN discussion group that has been around a long time. I need to do more research on the owner as I don’t know anything about him but he sure has a lot of pictures of the campgrounds they have visited over the years. 15 pages worth.
RV Park Reviews - The veteran campground review website most often used & recommended by RVers on the forums i visit. Tons of reviews can be found here as well as links to the campground websites if they exist.
Seven Points Campground (TN) -
Per Recreation Gov website this is one of the most visited COE CGs in the nation. Located on J. Percy Priest Lake, it has 64 sites and only seven miles east of Nashville. We have not stayed here - but drove thru it in Sept of ‘07 and took pics of several lake front sites and a few other sites that were nearby - 13 pics in total. We would love to stay here someday. Very, very nice.
Silver River State Park Pics (FL) -
We stayed @ this CG for just one night on our way to Topsail. Great place — we’ll be back for sure. Checkout the link above to see pics of 20 sites. Make reservations through Reserve America link above.
Topsail Hill State Park Pics (FL)
Pictures of every campsite @ Topsail - taken by a member of the RV.NET forum. I have some additional Topsail site pics in my photo album - they might offer a different view of parts of the CG. You can find them here. Make reservations for this campground through Reserve America - see link above.
This resort in Longs, SC is one of our favorites. They recently improved their website to include pictures of every site. In mid 2006, the resort added 40+ new sites.
The traditional resource that most every RVer uses - the campground book. I prefer Woodalls but i have used Trailer Life and Frommers. I tend to use these books when on the road and i don’t have access to the internet.
The pages in the Trailer Life book are thinner - feels like tissue paper and the maps are in the front of the book vs. with each State. I find it more difficult to use for thse 2 reasons.
Frommers has great information not found in Woodalls or Trailer Life - e.g., They rank CGs by their beauty - spacious sites - etc., but they have not visited every CG in a State so if you rely on this book alone you’ll miss some good places to stay. But the pages are thick - i like that. Silly i know. You can buy these @ any large bookstore. Both Trailer Life & Woodalls offer online versions - but I don’t use these either. Obviously these are popualr resources and some folks really prefer them - so by all means give it a try if you want a packaged solution.
We stayed @ Winfield COE in Appling, GA for 3 nights in April of 2008. These are a sample of the type of sites you’ll find here plus some shots of the lake and faclities. The lake levels were extremely low due to the drought of the past 2 years.
Someone on the RV.NET forum posted this link — Whoaa… What a great find! We have not been to Yosemite yet and it may be years (like another decade perhaps) but I sure hope this link is still active. Through this link you’ll find pictures of every campsite for these 6 campgrounds - Lower Pines, Northern Pines, Upper Pines, Tuolumne, Crane Flat, Hogdon Meadow, and Wawona. I bet there are hundreds of pictures - many good ones but also some taken at strange angles where you cannot really tell what the heck you are looking at. 
Oh well guess it’s better than nothing. Make reservations through Recreation.Gov (link above).
