Skoolie Friendly RV Campgrounds

[browncrown]

I have seen many coments about being turned away from an privately run RV Campground because "we" are skoolies, or have, what I refer to as "An Ugly Clause" in their rules. It does get frustrating when you can't get to a county/state park.

Trying to stay on the positive side of things, I thought I would post a list of the RV campgrounds that I have visited where they welcome "us" with open arms. Each of these sites I know will allow skoolies for up to a few weeks...long term I'm not sure about. Feel free to add to the list. I am willing to spend my money here because they do not discriminate. I have had the Crown in each of these places before and after it was painted. All nice people and everyone wanting to know about the conversion. I'm on the west coast, so let's here from other states or our friends beyond the borders in Canada and Mexico. All of the sites I have listed are on the web with contact info:

CALIFORNIA

Orange Grove RV Park - Bakersfield, CA ... really nice place in an Orange Grove...you can pick your own oranges for free in season
Stockton/Lodi RV Park - Off Highway 99 in Lodi, CA ... an old KOA under private ownership NOW CLOSED
Sacramento West KOA - Sacramento, CA...nice people run this one.
Oceano County Park - Oceano (Pismo Beach) CA ...run by San Luis Obispo County...2 Block walk to the ocean
Anahiem Harbor RV Park - Anahiem, CA...very small sites on a paved lot, but great if you want to go to Disneyland, and every night at 9:20, the Disneyland fireworks explode right over your skoolie!
Wine County RV Resort - Paso Robles, CA...very nice, with a winery right next door if that is your thing...and you can stumble home
Flag City Rv Resort - Lodi, CA...Interstate 5 and Hwy 12 in Lodi. Pool and Spa, spaces somewhat small but nice
Campland by the Bay - Mission Bay San Diego, CA...near Interstate 5 and Grand Avenue. Pool and Spa, right on Mission Bay, Very Nice and friendly people. Also has an onsite store
( Don't confuse this one with the Mission Bay RV Resort which will not allow Skoolies and is nearly next door and is nothing more than a parking lot )

NEVADA

Circus Circus RV Park - Las Vegas, NV...just a big lot with hookups, but right on the strip, pool and good facilities

WASHINGTON

CAMERON COURT & RV PARK - 522 WCAMERON ST. , DAYTON, WA 99328

[Will]

Might be easier, and more useful, to make a blacklist. I've never been turned away. In fact, someone generally mentions how their father, uncle or someone they knew made a camper out of a bus...etc. Of course, we avoid RV campgrounds that would accept us as members.

[56farmerjohn]

I'd like to add three more seemingly friendly campgrounds to the list; Pleasant Valley County C.G., right outside of Bishop,Ca, Plum valley C.G., outside of Davis Creek , Ca . and Bear River C.G. , outside of Colfax, Ca... Bear in mind all these places will be populated by regular workin' class people, not neccesarily high end R.V. types.....

[lornaschinske]

Have any of you considered posting a review on www.campgroundreviews.com and actually include in your review that they are skoolie friendly? I need to ask at our current campground. Last summer they let us park the bus for a month in the "storage" row while it was full of our stuff. I think they would let buses in but I need to ask. I know they let some stealth cargo RVs in last summer while we were here. Also need to post a review for this place. Lots of skoolie folks don't know about this site.

[wmah]

I actually use the rvparkreviews site myself.
Although I don't tend to say if it was skoolie friendly I do say if it wasn't. So far I only came across one place in Iowa where they said they don't typically allow them but since I had a reservation they allowed it.

I usually do say if it was wheelchair friendly. All campgrounds are wheelchair friendly but they are not all very accommodating. I'll say if the showers are accessible or not, can the chair roll in, are the sites flat. Best showers for wheelchair are unisex showers for those that need help from well, self explanatory. Although I do think there is some law that say an opposite can go into the other shower to assist.

Best accessible showers I have seen so far are at the Wisconsin dells KOA. All individual restrooms and shower stalls. But at this place I didn't take the bus to, used the van that weekend.

[CAMO-MONSTER]

here is the one i'm full timing at.

CAMERON COURT & RV PARK
522 WCAMERON ST.
DAYTON, WA 99328

managers name is
KELVEN HAGEL
(509) 382-4410

[browncrown]

This is just an update of the list:

CALIFORNIA
Orange Grove RV Park - Bakersfield, CA ... really nice place in an Orange Grove...you can pick your own oranges for free in season
Stockton/Lodi RV Park - Off Highway 99 in Lodi, CA ... an old KOA under private ownership - NOW CLOSED
Sacramento West KOA - Sacramento, CA...nice people run this one.
Oceano County Park - Oceano (Pismo Beach) CA ...run by San Luis Obispo County...2 Block walk to the ocean
Anahiem Harbor RV Park - Anahiem, CA...very small sites on a paved lot, but great if you want to go to Disneyland, and every night at 9:20, the Disneyland fireworks explode right over your skoolie!
Wine County RV Resort - Paso Robles, CA...very nice, with a winery right next door if that is your thing...and you can stumble home
Flag City Rv Resort - Lodi, CA...Interstate 5 and Hwy 12 in Lodi. Pool and Spa, spaces somewhat small but nice
Campland by the Bay - Mission Bay San Diego, CA...near Interstate 5 and Grand Avenue. Pool and Spa, right on Mission Bay, Very Nice and friendly people. Also has an onsite store
( Don't confuse this one with the Mission Bay RV Resort which will not allow Skoolies and is nearly next door and is nothing more than a parking lot )
Arena RV Park - Chowchilla, CA...Highway 99 at Robertson Blvd. in the central part of the state. Family owned and very friendly. Train noise from nearby tracks, but didn't bother me at all. Good for an overnight stop.

NEVADA
Circus Circus RV Park - Las Vegas, NV...just a big lot with hookups, but right on the strip, pool and good facilities

WASHINGTON
CAMERON COURT & RV PARK - 522 WCAMERON ST. , DAYTON, WA 99328

[gbstewart]

I wondering if a camp ground could legally turn some one away? I would think that it would be descrimination? on our big trip coming up in a few weeks to the east cost of canada(I live in canada) I will challeng the park if they turn me away cause I have skoolie and not a 200,000 motor home. You a judging me because of what I have, you would think that my money is as good as the next person regardless of what he or she is driveing. If I do come across this in my travels, you bet that I will let there mayor know that there is descrimination going on.

just my 2 cents
gbstewart

[GreyEagle]

RV Parks, like most campgrounds and Hotel/Motel's reserve the right to refuse service to anyone....
They do this to CYA. (Cover Your Ass)
Some parks are even Class A only so if you have a $200,000 Class C or some other camper you cannot get a site...
Maybe the skoolie would qualify??? who knows

[lornaschinske]

Get a load of http://www.trailervillagervpark.com/page1/page1.html in Roswell, NM. Look at Rule #7. For that matter read all the rules. You gotta make sure your trash bags are the tie kind to put in their dumpsters!

BTW, no public park can legally turn a skoolie away. A private park is a whole other matter. They have the right to refuse anyone. Usually there are other campgrounds in the area you can stay at. When we left NC and came out here, we only stayed at two campgrounds in 1700+ miles. Both were public. The one in Hobbs, NM (Harry McAdams Park) was really nice and it was really cheap. Wonderful showers (or was it so wonderful after the heat from the road?), full hookups and wi-fi although no cable. No problem... just watched a DVD. All our other stays were in parking lots. I don't care for the rigamarole of pulling into a campground for just one night unless I have to dump tanks and take on water. We dumped on the road at rest stops and truck stops and took on water at the same time except for when the Lowes in Midland let us use their garden area hose. We built a mister for the bus radiator in the parking lot and needed to fill the 30 gallon water tank we had sitting in the bus. Yep, we actually had everything to build a misting system including the12vDC water pump. We did have to buy new drip sprayers because what we had (from a drip irrigation setup) was for lower pressure than the water pump was putting out... kept blowing the little jets right off the tubing. The store generously said we could park overnight if we wanted to as well. Very nice people. We didn't stop for the night until we hit Hobbs though.

The only thing I like better than a low cost public campground is a parking lot that allows us to Wallydock in it. Yep, I'm Frugal!

[lornaschinske]

The campground that we are currently in (we have a vintage Class C) had a beat up trailer being pulled by a shorty schoolbus for an overnight stay. Based on what these folks were running (multiple vehicles and trailers loaded to the hilt), I would guess they were moving. But they did have one of those little short van type buses like what head start uses.... and it was SCHOOL BUS SAFETY YELLOW!!!! So an overnight is fine apparently. I still don't know about long term as we are leaving as soon as we can get the absolute minimum done to the bus and the exterior painted. The next place we go to has a bathhouse so we will get the toilet hooked up, bed put back together and go.

BTW, I'm in Casey's Socorro RV Park on I25 Exit 147 and it's the best park in town . It's safe and that is what matters.

Next stop is in Roswell at Town & Country RV Park. We stopped in to ask if they had problems with a schoolbus and food cart long term when we went down to TX in November 2009. Bigger town, more folks with $$ and they have a Home Depot right there in town. No driving 50 to 70+ miles to buy a piece of lumber.

[gbstewart]

Camping D'Aoust in Staint Lazare, Quebec. Very nice people and a beautiful campground. Welcomes Skoolies. Very children & pet friendly. They even close the pool between 5 & 6 for supper.(never seen that before) Great playground for the kids. It even has street lights for when it gets darker.

This place is going on our list of places to stay.

[gbstewart]

Another great campground we found isn't even on the map. It's called Chocolate River New Brunswick. Skoolie friendly and it's just a few minutes from the Hopewell Rocks. Full hook-up, under $30.00 a night and overlooking the Bay of Fundy.

[jolly_rogger]

anyone find anything in the victoria bc canada area that allows skoolies ive got a couple leads but so far they are just leads no confimation

[lornaschinske]

http://www.goldstreampark.com/ Found it here... http://uscampgrounds.info/

[freakn]

You try the forestry campsites around Lake Cowichan>

[itsme1738]

so does anyone have a black list going....where not to go or,not allowed?

[lornaschinske]

While discussing some aspects of the various types of SKP parks (Escapees) I ended up reading some very interesting replies to my post. So here are a few quotes from the thread...

David & Lorna Schinske
As far as that goes, I not terribly sure that an SKP or affiliated park would allow our schoolbus conversion to stay in the park in the first place. The impression I get is that these are "member" parks and since so many of the forum members object to "alternative" RV's (and me in particular, since my opinions do not mesh perfectly with their opinions)that we would not be welcome there member or not. Not a problem. We do need to stop in at Livingston at some point but most likely will end up staying in one of the many public parks in the area.

harry bellerby
Lorna I have seen many skollies in rainbow parks.

Kirk
I have seen more than one home built RV in school buses, vans, a Step-Van, and a converted cargo truck so I can't see any big deal about it. I have never been asked about what our RV is and it is now 14 years old. The high class folks don't want us either, but it has never been a problem in any Escapee park that we have been to. I suppose that it might be possible to have a problem in one of the coop parks as they make their own rules and we have not been to all of them.

sandsys
We camped at Rainbow Plantation across from a guy in a conversion van. He unloaded all his Rubbermaid type bins to the area under a tree to make room in his van for himself. He left the bins under the tree when we ran from an approaching tornado then returned when the threat was over. We stayed there several weeks all told and he was still there when we left. So, I don't think you'd have any trouble being accepted there in your bus.

Jack Mayer
I've seen busses (big ones an skoolies) in SKP parks. I'm sure it would not be a problem in any of the Rainbow parks...

Bill Joyce
Huh? Your bus conversion would not be alone at most SKP parks. Believe me. Try it and don't judge based on some people on the forum since some don't have anything else to do but cause trouble. Also remember, you can be a member of the forum and not be a SKP or actually do much with SKPs.
I will also say that we are presently in a "membership park", a Thousand Trails, and your bus conversion would fit in fine since there are many here. We have seen vans parked with a 15-amp cord snaked through the window so a school bus conversion is upscale in comparison.

NOTE: You do not need to be a member to stay in an SKP park. You do need to be a member to get the discounted rate. The part about the Thousand Trails I found interesting. I personally will never own another time-share thingy again but if you travel near the things, it may be a good option. We just never end up in areas where there is a timeshare or if we do end up in the same area, we have other "favourite" places to stay.

Based on these posts, I would say that the "turned away skoolie" is not as common as we have been led to believe. I believe it may be that there is a much lower percentage. But what do you always hear about alternative RVs? "You have to be careful because you can't get into all campgrounds". Well, no one can get into ALL campgrounds. Many are turned away due to size, power requirements, age of RV or age of RVer (been there on both) and type (some places are "Class A's only").

[chev49]

thanks for the usacamprgounds link. me didnt haveth that one...

[Collin Humble]

I have only been turned away from one park, and that was the Jellystone in Portage, IN. The only irritating thing is that it is not listed in their rules and regulations of their website! The guy was also very rude on the telephone to me about the whole thing...