Hi, I am new in camping. Went out west last year with a german shepherd and hoped for some nice places to walk some trees and space in the parks themselves. Most parks were simply utilitarian places to park your Rv while you went off someplace else. I was hoping for a beautiful Rv park to stay in, to walk my dog, to look at beauty, maybe a river or lake to sit outside and paint or read.
We were crushed in cramped spaces with gravel to walk on and tiny places to walk dogs. If anyone has any ideas going toward the west. Bill loves Colorado, Wyoming but I am willing to really look anywhere for being able to remain in beauty. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Each of the reviews has a "check off" box for whether or not it's pet friendly.

I know personally that Horn Rapids RV Resort in Richland, WA has a dog walking area, but then, you would have to have a reason to go to Richland, WA.

JJ

Welcome aboard, not only to camping but to a great forum to share all things camping!

Have not posted my review yet, but roughly 14 miles east of Temecula, California is: Rancho California RV Resort. Listed here under Aguanga, California. Located off I-15, then east on south highway 79. Full hook-ups (20, 30, 50 amps) on large concrete lots: some basic, some with lavish outdoor kitchens. Tons of grass between lots. Verizon, Sprint and ATT cel phone and air-cards work. Renting from absentee owners (via the very pleasant HOA team, Fairway Associates) is the best value for longer term stays. Ranges from $400 - $750 a month.

All kinds of walking opportunities, with or without your dog. Need a leash and baggies while in the park, but plenty of great trails outside the gates. Mainly a golf resort set into the back country of southern California. Little (just under 600 sites) oasis of green grass and ponds, surrounded by the San Diego County Palomar mountain range.

You did not elaborate on your rig, so I'll make note that this particular park requires rigs 30 feet or longer; generally not older than 10 years, (some beautiful exceptions here though) and as of this date, will not accept toy-haulers. You will need a tow vehicle to best enjoy the surrounding area.

No ATVs (generally southern californians are desert bound with toy-haulers full of ATVs...thus the sensitivity at this resort.)

Stay for a long weekend, couple months (it's 60-70 degrees here in winter), or for ever.

Not a lot going on if you have small kids to entertain; but if walking a dog, reading a book, birdwatching, photography, golf or just relaxing by the pool sounds good, it's a winner.

Cheers!

I don't have a dog, but my hands-down favorite campground last year was Rafter J Bar in Hill City, South Dakota. It's a huge campground with several different areas to choose from, depending on what kind of amenities you want. Very dog friendly. Excellent place to walk your dog (very large field) in the campground (it also borders the Black Hills State Forest -- you just climb over a gate and you're in the forest -- I don't know what the rules are for taking dogs into the forest but we went walking every day and never saw another person on the trail). Swimming pool and hot tub, bicycle rentals (borders a biking trail), laundry, cable tv, wi-fi....everything you would want in the way of amenities and secluded areas to get away from it all. Three miles from Hill City (shops, restaurants, grocery store, the 1880 Train). There is no lake, but there is a couple of small streams that border the campground. What's really stunning is the scenery -- all around you are beautiful hills, stone formations, ponderosa pines. It's a very peaceful place with deer wandering across the field in the morning. We stayed there for two weeks and I left reluctantly. I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!!! I imagine it might get a little rowdy during the Sturgis motorcycle days, though.

You really need to be patronizing the state and national park system, not private RV parks and Campgrounds. While there are probably a few that would meet your needs, economics usually do not allow private enterprises to provide half acre sites, in prime areas on prime property. If they tried, they would price themselves out of the market. For the land to be affordable, it would have to be a long way off the beaten path and by definition, way off the beaten path means not much access to paying customers. Water frontage of any kind is usually multiple times more expensive than land even a few dozen feet removed. Hence RV parks that have such frontage usually only have a relative few sites on the frontage and the rest set back on the cheaper land. They also pack the frontage sites as tight as possible because frontage sites generally rent for a substantial premium. Learn to boondock and what you are looking for is everywhere. There are literally thousands of forest service and State and national park campgrounds with what you describe. They just don't have any services other than a parking pad and maybe a pit toilet.

Also add in the COE parks to the last post. Lots of land in most cases on lakes or rivers and super nice to live in.

Hello, we live in Colorado and although there are many great RV parks, I am with John Blue and kcmoedoe, try the state and National parks as well as BLM and COE land for camping.

One of our favorite places to camp is not even listed here. It's a BLM land in between leadville and Buena Vista CO near Clear Creek resevoir. The sites are free and about 15 of them are in the trees where you park right next to the river. Even if the river sites are taken, there are many more areas where several rigs can park together or you can park and have quite some privacy. No amenities except for vault toilets, but it's free. It's even on the Colorado Trail so if you want to go for a hike for an hour, day or longer, it's available.

If you need hookups, I would reccomend Mountaindale Cabins & RV Resort in Colorado Springs (nice sites, friendly people) or Clear Creek RV Park in Golden (right next to a river and walking path, but very close sites).

Good luck, and pleasant travels.