States with less amenities

[HDRider]

We have been at RV camping a few days short of a year.  We have yet to stay at a "for profit" campsite.  By that I mean we stay at state parks, COE parks and national parks.

We have camped maybe 40 days in 7 states.  Like I said, we are newbies in all respects.

We have our first "big" trip planned.  It is 25 days.

It appears that Vermont state parks do not offer any amenities on the sites.  They have community water and a dump station.

https://www.vtstateparks.com/camping.html

 

Are there other states' parks that do not have sites with water and electric?

[johnwen]

Maine and most of NH, according to my booking agent :)  Dolly Copp National Forest (NH) does have some electric sites and water spigots are scattered throughout.

John

Edited August 2 by johnwen

[Shawna and Scott]

Ohio usually has electric or non-electric sites with places through out the park that you can get water. Also there are usually sites with no electric hookups if that is what you are looking for.

[HDRider]

2 hours ago, johnwen said:

Maine and most of NH, according to my booking agent 🙂 Dolly Copp National Forest (NH) does have some electric sites and water spigots are scattered throughout.

John

I just swapped a site in Freeport ME at Winslow Park for Camden Hill State Park in Maine to get electric and water on the site.

[HDRider]

2 hours ago, Shawna and Scott said:

Ohio usually has electric or non-electric sites with places through out the park that you can get water. Also there are usually sites with no electric hookups if that is what you are looking for.

I prefer to have water and electric on the site.  Having sewer is nice too.  Oddly the cost of a site does not seem to depend on the amenities it offers. 

 

I have nothing against boondocking, but I want to pick my time and place.  

[mossemi]

21 minutes ago, HDRider said:

I just swapped a site in Freeport ME at Winslow Park for Camden Hill State Park in Maine to get electric and water on the site.

Heads-up, the sites at Camden Hills are listed with the site number and either an S, M or L.  We reserved site 47M and it was pretty difficult to spot the Ollie.   If possible try to get a L site.

Mossey

[johnwen]

RV Trip Wizard is usually reliable with this kind of information.  And usually you can go to the campground website or call them to verify, being that you are in the planning phase. Happy trails!

John

[mossemi]

3 hours ago, HDRider said:

Are there other states' parks that do not have sites with water and electric?

My experience has been that almost any campground that has weather cold enough to freeze water pipes will not have water at the site, but usually has community water located and multiple spots.  I carry a full 5 gallon water bottle from home and when it becomes empty I can use to transfer water to the Ollie if needed.

Mossey

[SNY SD UP]

3 hours ago, HDRider said:

We have been at RV camping a few days short of a year.  We have yet to stay at a "for profit" campsite.  By that I mean we stay at state parks, COE parks and national parks.

We have camped maybe 40 days in 7 states.  Like I said, we are newbies in all respects.

We have our first "big" trip planned.  It is 25 days.

It appears that Vermont state parks do not offer any amenities on the sites.  They have community water and a dump station.

https://www.vtstateparks.com/camping.html

 

Are there other states' parks that do not have sites with water and electric?

Do not rule out National Parks.  We have stayed at some that did not have site water or electric.
You can (try to) make site reservations ahead of time, or some 'may' hold some sites for daily 'FCFS' (first come first serve), but with all FCFS, get there early, as they go fast.

For example in ND, camping at Theodore Roosevelt National Parks, Juniper (North Unit) CG & Cottonwood (South Unit) CG.
Both campgrounds are primitive (no hookups, no showers).  However as compensation they do have Bison (i.e. Buffalo) wandering thru the CG.

I can only speak for the North Unit (and I believe @Mike and Carol have stayed there). 
The South Unit has Medora, (a real treat for kids & some adults) and the 'Musical'. 
Lots of hiking & portions of the Maah Daah Hey Mountain (SERIOUS) Bike Trail.

 

B~Out

[Mike and Carol]

We’ve only stayed at one Vermont State Park, Grand Isle on Lake Champlain.  It had no hook ups but there were a couple of state parks on the lake that had W/E.  We usually stay in public campgrounds, COE, USFS, state and National parks, etc. when the location is what we want.  We prefer to have utilities, but some locations just don’t allow.  Some of our best campsites have been on National Parks with no hook ups at all (Joshua Tree, Glacier, Grand Teton, Zion, Organ Pipe Cactus, Black Canyon, Great Sand Dunes to name a few).

43 minutes ago, SNY SD UP said:

I can only speak for the North Unit (and I believe @Mike and Carol have stayed there). 

Yes, we did.  There were bison, lots of bison walking through our campsite!  It was a great experience.

I still use Ultimate Public Campground app (even though it isn’t supported any longer) first to see if there are any public campgrounds that fit our traveling objectives.  Mike

[John Dorrer]

5 hours ago, HDRider said:

We have been at RV camping a few days short of a year.  We have yet to stay at a "for profit" campsite.  By that I mean we stay at state parks, COE parks and national parks.

We have camped maybe 40 days in 7 states.  Like I said, we are newbies in all respects.

We have our first "big" trip planned.  It is 25 days.

It appears that Vermont state parks do not offer any amenities on the sites.  They have community water and a dump station.

https://www.vtstateparks.com/camping.html

 

Are there other states' parks that do not have sites with water and electric?

Yes,  There are many states that have one or more parks that don't have hook-ups. It is very easy to check on their websites. We have camped at Grand Isle SP, Stowe ( SP name escapes me), and Middlebury SP.

[John Dorrer]

3 hours ago, HDRider said:

I just swapped a site in Freeport ME at Winslow Park for Camden Hill State Park in Maine to get electric and water on the site.

Camden SP is beautiful. Drive up to the observation tower. Just North is a great restaurant with Lobster Rolls to die for. Micro brewery in town. Town is a nice place to stroll.

[Steph and Dud B]

The only state park in CT with some W/E sites is Hammonasset and the W/E sites usually book up very early. Most sites at Hammonasset, and all sites at the other CT state parks, have no hookups.

[mossemi]

7 hours ago, SNY SD UP said:

However as compensation they do have Bison (i.e. Buffalo) wandering thru the CG

 

7 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

There were bison, lots of bison walking through our campsite!  It was a great experience.

Krunch and I stayed at Cottonwood CG and also had bison strolling through our campsite and horses were also in the campground.  But the highlight for us was the hot air balloons that woke us up early one morning. 
Although we didn’t stay at Juniper CG, we did drive up to visit and we thought that it is the nicer of the 2 campgrounds and had more vacancies.  There was a little less to do in the north unit and it seemed smaller that the south unit.

Do both if you have the opportunity!

[jd1923]

We will likely not camp again in VT. Only because with stops it’s 3K miles away. Been to VT a dozen times in the 70s and 80s. My sister lived in Brattleboro for a few years and I’ve skied in almost every VT and NH resort. 

We don’t care about hookups, sometimes don’t connect even though we paid for them. I trust my water and power more so.

One of my favorite roads is Vermont Hwy 9! Take it west to Bennington, what a great road. And keep driving west staying off Interstates as long as you can!

[Steph and Dud B]

Brattleboro isn't what it used to be, unfortunately. Even Sam's Outdoor store has left downtown. (No more free popcorn.) 

[HDRider]

17 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

There are many states that have one or more parks that don't have hook-ups.

It is very easy to check on their websites.

I was struck by the fact that none of Vermont's state parks had hookups.  I was querying the group if there were other states like that. 

Obviously I do check their websites.  That is how I found out Vermont's situation. 

Edited August 3 by HDRider