Finding Your Ideal RV Campsite: Top 10 Campground Amenities to Look For

Finding Your Ideal RV Campsite: Top 10 Campground Amenities to Look For 
Tips and considerations for booking campground stays and ways to save.

By: Kenny & Sabrina Phillips

If you've ever searched for RV campsites, you know there are many campground options available—ranging in quality from bad to decent to absolutely amazing. In this article, I’m going to share some amenities to look for to make sure you have a great stay. Plus, I’ll share how we search for our campsites and save on our bookings.

Top 10 Amenities to Look for in an RV Campground for a Great Stay

When choosing a campsite, we typically start by looking at amenities at campgrounds near our route or destination to help narrow down our options. What you look for may differ depending on what you enjoy when camping, but this list is based on some of the top amenities we look for ...

1. Dog Park

One of our must-haves is a dog park for Belle. Even though she’s now considered a senior dog, she has a lot of energy, and nothing helps more than taking her to a park where she can play off-leash. If your dog doesn’t need to run, some dog-friendly areas may be enough to keep them happy.

Read more tips for traveling by RV with a dog in this article.

2. Ease of Booking

Being able to see campsite availability and book online is ideal for most RVers. Finding campgrounds that use an online booking system, rather than asking you to call in or email, can be much more convenient. You may also benefit from making a booking with a flexible cancellation policy if your plans may need to be adjusted.

3. Full Hookups

While not a necessity, full hookups make frequent travel much more convenient. Having everything at our site means we don’t have to wait in line to use a community sewer hookup when it’s time to leave. Full hookups also come in handy when Sabrina wants to take a long shower to wash her hair. 

New to RVing? Learn more about getting setup at your campsite.

4. Campsite Size and Setup

Having a pull-through site can make getting parked simpler, and it is ideal if you tow a vehicle since these often have more space. Depending on how often you plan to be at your campsite, you may want to make sure there is more room to spread out. Having a picnic table is also ideal if you enjoy eating your meals outside.

5. Firepits and Grills

Having a firepit and/or grill already set up at your campsite can be a great way to easily enjoy outdoor cooking and spending time outside in nice weather. Spending time outside your RV is also a great way to meet other campers!

6. Shower Facilities

If full hookups aren’t available, a campground with a nice bathhouse facility is a good alternative. If this is important to you, make sure you look for reviews that describe what the facilities are like.

7. Laundry Facility

Another important amenity for us on extended RV trips is an on-site laundry facility. We’ve found that most campground laundries have cleaner, better-maintained machines than off-site laundromats. Plus, if there’s a problem, we can easily talk to a camp host or office staff, whereas at a laundromat, there’s almost never an attendant available.

Learn more about doing laundry as an RVer.

8. Wi-Fi Access and/or Good Cell Signal

Checking Wi-Fi availability and if the campground gets a good signal may be top of your amenities list if you need to access the internet and be available for work, family, or just to keep up with your favorite show. 

Learn more about having internet access from the road.

9. Places to Stay Active

It is always a nice perk for a campground to offer a gym, swimming pool, and/or pickleball, tennis, or basketball courts. Having a nearby trail to access to hike or bike ride on is also a great thing to look for when narrowing down your campground options.

10. Playground and Kid-Friendly Activities

If you have children, a playground may be a top amenity to look out for. Campgrounds like Jellystone Parks even have amenities and activities specifically for kid campers.

Other amenities you may look for are: staff availability, camp store for firewood and other necessities, propane refill, sustainable practices (like recycling, waste reduction, etc.), gated access for security, clubhouse for hosting gatherings, turnaround space and wide roads for larger RVs, and well-marked sites.

Important Note: Be sure to also check the reviews for the campgrounds you are considering and search for comments that mention the specific amenities you are looking forward to so that you have a better idea of what to expect.

How to Search for a Campground to Book

Once you know where you are going and what you are looking for in your ideal campground, you can use apps with filters to narrow down your search. The two apps we use the most are RV Parky and the KOA App. We rarely have our campsites picked out more than twenty-four hours in advance, so we mostly use these apps to determine where to stay for the night. However, booking in advance will give you more options to choose from.

Using RV Parky to Find Campsites

We like RV Parky because it is free, easy to use, and has a filter setting that allows us to search for exactly what we need. Some of these filters include campground types (like KOA, Jellystone, military parks, national parks, or state parks.) It can even display non-traditional overnight stops, such as Cracker Barrel, Walmart, and casinos. You can also filter by amenities such as 50- or 30-amp service, pull-through sites, sewer, laundry, playgrounds, and more. 

All we need to do on RV Parky is type in the zip code of the area we’re planning to stop in, and the app provides a list of suitable options within a 20- to 1,000-mile radius, adjustable in 10-mile increments. I think it’s the most user-friendly and refined app for finding places to stay overnight. There are also peer reviews, which we’ve found to be more accurate than those left on Google.

Using the KOA App to Book a Campsite

You may be wondering, if the RV Parky app can do all that, why do we even bother with the KOA App? The simple answer is we really like KOAs, they are by far our favorite campgrounds. (Read more about that here.) We have stayed at over one hundred different KOAs throughout the years, and they have all been good—some even great. They are always at the top of our list when searching for a place to stay.

Because KOAs are our preferred campgrounds, we search for them first using the KOA App. If there’s one in the area where we plan to stay, it’s easy to book a reservation directly through the app—something you can’t do with RV Parky. The KOA App is also very flexible, even allowing same-day bookings (as long as you reserve a few hours before arrival). If you want to arrive very soon, you’ll need to call the campground directly.

For tips on planning your RV route, read this guide.

Saving Money on Campgrounds

Once we have chosen a campground, we have a few ways to save money during our stay. We are KOA Reward members, so we get 10% off our nightly rate as well as build points that can go toward cash discounts on future stays. Throughout the years, we have earned more than 750,000 points and have used those points to receive more than $1,500 in cash reward discounts on campground stays. This amount does not include the 10% we save on our nightly rate.

There is an initial signup fee for the reward card, but it quickly pays for itself. And because we are now VIP members, our renewal fees are waived. If you are a Winnebago GoLife Perks member, you can get a one-year membership for free. Learn more here.

When not staying at a KOA, we use our Lifetime Passport America membership. Passport America allows us to save 50% off participating campgrounds in their network. Currently, there are more than 1,200 campgrounds in the Passport America program, and our lifetime membership paid for itself within the first year. 

If you are interested in learning more about Passport America, you can check out this article: Using Passport America to Save on RV Camping. If you would like to purchase a membership and are a GoLife Perks member, you can get a 25% discount on a new membership.

Learn more about saving money on RV camping.

Finding Boondocking Spots Between Campgrounds

We also use another app to find campsites, and these are typically free stays. iOverlander is an app we use to find boondocking and dry camping spots. These sites are typically located on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) property, have a 14-day max stay, and offer no amenities, but they are also completely free. (Learn more about boondocking here.)

The iOverlander app helps us find locations as well as provides peer reviews on each spot, including cell signal strength. The app is free and easy to use. I would consider this app a must-have for anyone who wants to get away from it all. I actually used this app to find all my overnight stays while testing out the new Winnebago Revel Sport 44C, which you can read about here: Testing the Winnebago Revel Sport 44C.

What works best for us might not work best for you, and I would love to hear from you! What apps or tools do you use to find campgrounds, and what is most important to you when choosing a site?

Safe travels all, and happy camping!