Selecting a Site

Depending upon the campground where you are staying, you may want to spend a bit of time and select that perfect campsite. We've stayed in some commercial campgrounds that are so full that you simply must take what you are assigned. But state parks, at least in Texas, will allow you to select your site after you check in. Please note that you normally aren't allowed to reserve a particular site; however, upon arriving at check-in, you can then request a specific site. If you are not familiar with the campground, this usually means driving through the campground(s) after checking in and finding an unoccupied site to your liking. After finding a site, we usually call the office to make sure the site is available, then set up the trailer. After getting setup, we return to the office to get a new tag for that site.

Here's a little trick I've started using as of late when we are going to a campground we have never been before. When planning the trip, I pull up a map of the campground. Many commercial campgrounds have a map online of their campground, and all Texas state parks have maps. See the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for access to individual campground maps. I then use Google Earth to zoom in on the campground. I can work back and forth between these two sources and get a short list of sites I'd be interested in, especially as regards direction orientation, shade trees, and space between sites.

Everyone has different things that they look for in a campsite, but here are things we consider.

• We like for the utilities to be close together. Our water, electric, and sewer connections are within a few feet of each other on the front half of the driver side of the trailer. Thus, we like for the campsite connections to be close together on that side. We have found a few campsites, though, where they aren't. In one campsite, the electric connection was on the opposite side of the trailer. Fortunately, we had an extension so that we could reach it. The picture below is of site 54 in Tyler State Park. Notice how all utilities are within a few feet of each other. Nice!

• In the summer, we like shade trees. In 100 degree heat, it is difficult to keep an RV cool in full sun. We also prefer a site where our awning side faces east, if possible, so that we are away from the sun on summer evenings. We have an awning, but if there is not sufficient shade, that sun will eventually dip below the awning, making things unpleasant.
• We like for the picnic table that most campsites have to be easily accessible from the trailer. We've really enjoyed those sites where we can get close enough to the table where the awning actually covers some or all of the table. The picture below shows campsite 54 at Tyler State Park. The site faces southeast, the table is partially under the awning, the concrete slab the table sites on is close enough to step out on from the trailer, and the fire ring at bottom right is close to the table. We like this sort of setup.

• If fires are allowed and there is a fire ring, we like it to be near the table.
• We like to have a bit of room around us. Most commercial campgrounds where we have stayed have sites packed fairly close together. State parks, in general, allow much more room between campsites. We don't like being crowded.
• If we happen to be staying in a campground without full hookups, we then may consider a location close to the facilities.
• Since we have a deep slide-out, we must always ensure that nothing on the driver side of the trailer would block that slide from fully extending, such as trees or posts.