March found us in three states with a much more reasonable total cost; closer to our original plan of spending no more than $750 a month on campsites. It has been an interesting journey over the past seven months to learn what we value and how that translates to actual dollar values in campsite costs. Let's just say that we are definitely ready to head back to the Western US in the coming months and take advantage of free camping on federal land. Read on for our reviews of our March campgrounds
We have found Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Host sites to be fantastic ways to fill in gaps in our itinerary, particularly when we are unable to get into state parks on our chosen dates. The fact that it is free is just a bonus. We greatly appreciated our four nights here since we couldn't get into the state park when we wanted. If you RV, even if you're not full time, a Harvest Hosts membership is 100% worth the yearly subscriptions!
Up till now, our favorite state park was in New Mexico last fall, but Dreher Island is our new favorite. Almost every site backs up to Lake Murray and you will get either a gorgeous sunset or sunrise view over the water depending on which side of the lake you are on. We spent almost our entire time at this site with our back hatch open, listening to the water lap, and enjoying the peaceful views. I imagine it gets harder to book in the summer months, but in March the campground was only about half full. We chose this park for its proximity to Congaree National Park, but ended up loving it on its own merits!
Our one and only stop in North Carolina was Asheville and this looked like the perfect campground: close to town, full hookups, and beautiful hiking trails. Sadly, the cell coverage maps failed us and we had minimal signal on any of our three carriers. This meant that Steve had to drive into town for three days to find strong enough signal to work. On top of that, winter decided to come back to Asheville with a vengeance for our time there (the week before it hit 80) and over night and morning temps were in the low 20s! We burned through our propane just trying to stay warm and decided it was far too cold to enjoy any hiking in the mornings before work. This would be a great choice for a campground if you aren't a remote worker and in the warmer months, but it was a major campground fail for us.
Our one and only RV Park for the month of March was just outside Gatlinburg, TN. It was clear we were there in the off-season, as the park was quiet, but we found the staff to be lovely and helpful. It is always nice to get a list of recommended activities and restaurants when you check in! This park was the perfect location for exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park and both Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge, (Dollywood!) TN. The Smokies stole our heart and we know we will return to explore more of the park. We would absolutely stay here again!
We wanted to stay at a Tennessee state park at least once, and we picked this one for it's proximity to our route. It is a lovely park with lots of trails to enjoy and we appreciated having full hookups, even if it did cost us more. If you're traveling through Tennessee via I40, this is a great park to break up your drive!
In the full-time RV lifestyle, friends who let you park on their property and Moochdock are absolute gold. Friends who not only let you Moochdock but let you leave your RV on their property while you travel to
Europe for a month? ....PRICELESS. We are so grateful to our friend Holly and her husband Chris for their generosity.
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