FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS June 25, 2003, 09:27:42 am Yahoo Message Number: 23762Just completed a trip from Texas to Pennsylvania with my wife and four year old, and we wanted to recommend two national park campgrounds that we especially enjoyed -- and to solicit recommendations for others.I should note that our ideal of a campground may not be everyone's. We like primitive sites, in the wilderness, usually with few amenities (or utilities) and often only a handful of other campers.One campsite was in the Kasatchie National Forest in Louisiana. Designed "Lotus Campground," it is along an unnumbered park road which runs East off state road 117 between the villages of Kasatchie and Bellwood. This section of the National Forest is just south of Natchitoches, a charmingly restored small Louisiana town. The campground itself is small, maybe a dozen sites, in rough terrain deep in the thick forest. We were the only Rvers that night and thoroughly enjoyed the sense of wilderness. The campground does have water and modern toilets, but mostly it has the sense of really being "out there."The second campground we enjoyed was in the Holly Springs National Forest, in Mississippi southeast of Memphis. Again, the campground was along an unnumbered park road off state route 4 just at the northern edge of the small unrestored but thriving town of Holly Springs. This is a larger, more sophisticated park, with several dozen sites in the woods near a small lake, picnic tables, paths through immaculately maintained woods, a boat launch. Even in June we were one of only three Rvers in the camp, and though the sites weren't as rustic as Lotus, they were still within the woods. Most have water and electric. An armadillo lumbered around foraging for awhile after we arrived, and the camp was amazingly free of any kind of insects. We're spending the summer in northwestern Pennsylvania, then plan to drive to Los Angeles on a generally northern route -- Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona and across the desert into L.A..Would enjoy getting recommendations from other LD travelers for campgrounds you've liked along that route, especially the more rustic sort.Lyle
Re: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS Reply #1 – June 25, 2003, 10:43:29 am Yahoo Message Number: 23765QuoteWe're spending the summer in northwestern Pennsylvania, then plan to drive to Los Angeles on a generally northern route -- Ohio, Illinois, QuoteIndiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona and across the desert into L.A.. Lyle, if by end of summer you mean September, note the southern part of that route will be HOT through the month at least. You can avoid most of that by sticking further north, i.e. pass through Yellowstone, maybe Glacier, then south to Tahoe, and down 395 to L.A. A month later, returning the southern route should be fine. Our season starts late September/ early October for our fall trips, to avoid heat and crowds.Steve, in SoCal
Re: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS Reply #2 – June 25, 2003, 11:40:15 am Yahoo Message Number: 23767QuoteJust completed a trip from Texas to Pennsylvania with my wife and four year old, and we wanted to recommend two national park campgrounds that we especially enjoyed -- and to solicit recommendations for others.We're spending the summer in northwestern Pennsylvania, then plan to drive to Los Angeles on a generally northern route -- Ohio, Illinois, QuoteIndiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona and across the desert into L.A..Would enjoy getting recommendations from other LD travelers for campgrounds you've liked along that route, especially the more rustic sort.Lyle Lyle, Thanks for the report and park recommendations. Sounds like you and your family had a good time.There is a place in the DATABASE for park recommendations and such. You may want to add entries for the places you mentioned and see what others have put in along your proposed route.In regards to your route, I'm assuming there are some places in Kansas you want to see or visit, because I can't under stand why you wouldn't go through South Dakota then down through Colorado. There are some beautiful sites along that route. Of course if time is an issue, I understand.Enjoy your trip,-Victor
Re: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS Reply #3 – June 25, 2003, 01:41:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23774Lyle, Thanks for the recommendations. We're not very experienced at all, but it's already obvious to us that the State Parks, National Forest Service, Corp of Engineers, etc are going to be the best bet for us. somewhat rustic, without large crowds is definitely our preference. Of course this time of year electric does come in handy for the AC so you don't have to run the gen all day. We're thinking about going to the Chewalla lake campground outside of Holly Springs MS in the next week or two.Would you mind sharing how you identified or found out about the campgrounds you mentioned? I've got several books, but sometimes they list so many possibilities, with so little detail that I always wonder what we'll find when we finally get to the campground.I'm definitely envious of the folks that live out west with all of the dispersed camping opportunities on BLM land. There doesn't seem to be many opportunities for that in the southeast.Thanks,Charles.QuoteI should note that our ideal of a campground may not be everyone's.QuoteWe like primitive sites, in the wilderness, usually with few amenities (or utilities) and often only a handful of other campers.The second campground we enjoyed was in the Holly Springs National Forest, in Mississippi southeast of Memphis. Again, the campground was along an unnumbered park road off state route 4 just at the northern edge of the small unrestored but thriving town of Holly Springs. This is a larger, more sophisticated park, with several dozen sites in the woods near a small lake, picnic tables, paths through immaculately maintained woods, a boat launch. Even in June we were one of only three Rvers in the camp, and though the sites weren't as rustic as Lotus, they were still within the woods. Most have water and electric. An armadillo lumbered around foraging for awhile after we arrived, and the camp was amazingly free of any kind
Re: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS Reply #4 – June 25, 2003, 07:03:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23791Quote" We're spending the summer in northwestern Pennsylvania, then plan to drive to Los Angeles on a generally northern route -- Ohio, Illinois, QuoteIndiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona and across the desert into L.A..Would enjoy getting recommendations from other LD travelers for campgrounds you've liked along that route, especially the more rustic sort." I would second the motion to visit South Dakota, in particular, the Southwestern part, in the Black Hills. If you like uncrowded campgrounds, fishing, meadows, lakes, wildflowers, wild raspberries, and wildlife, don't miss this area. Also, there is a lot of history and Native American culture. Don't forget Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood (history and gambling), and Custer State Park (Bison, Big Horned Sheep, deer, and mules that are decendants of Custer's pack mules). If you are close to Mt. Rushmore, heed warnings to RV s, re: the Pigtail bridges, as they are tightly "curled". Unless you love Harley Davidson's, don't go during the first week of Aug. when the Sturgis Rally is happening. Otherwise, the bikes add to the great scenery, but also the amount of people everywhere. We have family there and go for 3 weeks every Aug., but will have our "new to us" LD there for the first time, leaving So. Cal on Aug 1. Going via Las Vegas and Utah, so if you see a Teal '96 LD, it's us!Mari C So. Cal
FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS & unmarked roads Reply #5 – June 26, 2003, 10:26:12 am Yahoo Message Number: 23815Quote. . . "Lotus Campground," it is along an unnumbered park road which runs East off state road 117 . . . These sound like lovely places. Since the roads were unmarked, how did you come to find them?Sarah[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS Reply #6 – June 27, 2003, 11:28:08 am Yahoo Message Number: 23874My thanks to Steve in SoCal, Mari, Sarah and Charles for replying to my request for recommendations for rustic campgrounds along a route from PA to CA. I think we'll add South Dekota to our itinerary. We've got friends we want to visit in Santa Fe, which is the reason for the more southerly route toward the end, but maybe we'll sweept north again after that.Sarah asked how we identified unmarked park roads. Not easily. I honestly don't recall whether, when we actually found the road, there was some designation. I do know our map book, which is generally very good, failed to put a numbers on these roads. Mostly we navigated by means of looking for the roads between identified roads or villages, and often as I recall there would be a National Forest sign with an arrow. Other times we'd end up stopping at gas stations or whatever to ask directions.Charles asked how we came to identify these rustic campgrounds. Sheer guesswork, actually. It seems, not illogically, that the more remote the site, the less crowded it will be, and our experience generally bore that out. There is one camping guidebook we use which we find helpful often (but not always) -- "Camping on a Shoestring," by Don Wright. But honestly, just as often we simply looked for the green and yellow camping symbols in our mapbook, searching for sites away from cities in more remote parts of the countryside. Incidentally, Chewalla Lake is, I believe, the NF campground we stayed at outside Holly Springs, MS. For some reason our map does not show the lake. Incidentally, on this most recent trip, we bought a new mapbook, the 2003 Michelin North America Road Atlas ($16.95 at Barnes & Noble). It is laid out NOT state by state but geographically -- and found that system much more useful. When you drive from one state to the next, you simply flip to the next page to continue tracking your route, instead of having to find out where the next state map is, then orient yourself on how that state map lines up with your previous state map. We recommend this Michelin map.Best, Lyle
Topic: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS (Read 3 times)
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Topic: FAVORITE CAMPGROUNDS (Read 3 times)
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