Campers and RVs require time-intensive maintenance. But owning a rig doesn’t have to stifle your adventures.
“I don’t have time for stuff like hiking,” joked the friendly RVer. “I have a camper.”
It was a foggy morning in late spring at Smokemont Campground, on the southeast side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For over an hour, I’d been standing in a circle with experienced camper owners getting helpful tips about towing and batteries and dump stations. But when I tried to shift the topic to everyone’s favorite outdoor activities in the area, the conversation had become oddly quiet.
“There’s so much to do when you have a camper,” the RVer continued. “I usually just stick around here.”
This happened two years ago, at the fourth campground where my wife and I took our travel trailer. For years, we’d been road-tripping across the country, staying in tents and motels, while chasing activities like paddling, biking, and hiking. When we later decided to purchase a lightly used 17-foot fiberglass Casita, we wanted to increase the comfort without stifling the adventures.
Of course, we had a lot of questions about our new camper. I’d quickly learned that owning one requires significant work and planning. I’d also learned how generous fellow RVers can be with their knowledge. As a result, you can spend hours in camp, whether fixing a broken door latch or chatting with instant friends about everything from leveling blocks to pesky leaks.
That first day in the Smokies, we didn’t get out of camp until early afternoon. As we drove away, reluctantly downgrading our plan from a day of paddling to a shorter waterfall hike, I made a vow. This lighthearted oath would come to guide our first few years of camper life. “If we’re going to keep traveling like we used to,” I declared, “we have to avoid the campground trap.”
Now, I fully respect that many people get an RV to spend time around their campsite. We definitely do this on occasion. Other times, my wife—a teacher with a greater desire for relaxation—stays back in camp while I head out solo. However, our overall goal remains to explore the country using our trailer as a basecamp. Otherwise, we’d spend a lot of money, time, and effort to reach far-off places and barely see what’s there.
Over the two-plus years with our camper, we’ve taken a half-dozen trips totaling nearly 20 weeks on the road. We stayed at 32 camps across 14 states. We visited amazing national parks, forests, and historic sites. We explored awesome trails, fun rivers, and rugged landscapes. Along the way, we learned a great deal about how to plan and execute camper trips that prioritize outdoor adventures. Here are some lessons.
Research & Reservations vs. Winging It
Back in our tent days, we usually “winged it.” We packed up the truck and set off in a general direction, often out West. Near adventurous destinations, we looked for walk-up sites in campgrounds, with our back-up being dispersed areas on public lands. Then we explored until we felt like moving on. We made occasional reservations for the most popular places, such as the Grand Canyon or Joshua Tree. When the weather turned bad, or we wanted a break in town, we went to a cheap motel for a few days.
Once we were towing a camper, there were new challenges to consider. To start, you need a fairly level and accessible spot that will fit your specific camper. Most public and private campgrounds provide this important info on their websites, but there are fewer of these campsites available, and they’re in higher demand. As a result, the best RV campsites are often reserved well in advance.
Yes, there are camper folks who hop from campground to campground without reservations, but it can take time to tow a camper around, looking for a suitable site. Since we want to devote that time to activities, I make reservations for most campsites on our road trips.
How to Find an Adventure-Friendly Campsite
However, I don’t begin planning our road trips by searching for campsites. I start by mapping out outdoor activities and interesting destinations. Months ahead of time, I’m gradually researching regions, parks, rivers, trails, museums, and other things we want to check out. I discuss these options with my wife and loosely rank the items that most interest us. Then I see what types of camps are nearby. In general, I consider a one-hour drive between activity and campsite as the max distance we’re willing to go for a seemingly worthy side trip. The closer the better, and if we can hike, bike, or paddle right from the campground, that destination usually moves to the top of the list.
What to Look for in a Basecamp
Another consideration is which amenities are available at campgrounds near outdoor adventures. Some of the best trails and landscapes are found in remote places far away from RV campgrounds with electrical hookups. For example, many national park units and national forests have primitive sites for tent camping that allow self-sufficient camper vans, travel trailers, and smaller RVs.
Some road-trippers call this dry-camping, meaning you’re using your camper without hookups. You can typically fill up your freshwater tank nearby, but you’ll need to camp without electricity or provide your own power source. Like many campers, ours has on-board propane for a stovetop and furnace. Plus, our purchase included a suitcase solar panel that can trickle-charge the battery and personal electronics. However, to run most appliances, I had to pick up a generator.
One of our reasons for road-tripping with a generator is that, after a hot day of summer biking or hiking, we want to cool down with air conditioning. This requires electricity, as does running the water pump for our shower. Since our days involve grimy outdoor activities, we want some indoor comfort whenever we’re dry-camping in remote places.
How Far and How Long to Go
In general, when I start researching a possible trip, I make a rough estimate for how long each activity might take: a few hours of hiking or visiting a museum; a half day of mountain biking; a full day of paddling. I use these estimates to figure out how many activity-devoted days we’d want to make a stop worth it. Then I factor in some downtime and generously estimate the travel time, to account for fuel and supply stops.
We typically won’t take our camper to a destination for just one or two nights—unless we are road-tripping to a far-flung destination or the distance between camps is short. Our reasoning is that it usually takes us 1-2 hours to park the trailer, level it, and switch the interior from driving to camping mode.
When you add in travel time, that means driving to and from campgrounds can cost a half-day or more. Some drivers will tow a massive fifth-wheel trailer, while blazing down the highway and weaving through traffic at 80 mph, but that’s just begging for a social media-worthy accident video. With my V6 Tacoma towing our 3,000-pound loaded camper, our top speed is around 60-65 mph.
As a result, around 300-350 miles—or 4-5 hours of driving time—is the farthest we like to tow our camper in a day. Since a long drive can mean a day devoted to travel on either end, we want at least that many days in between for activities, and ideally more. Thus, for most campgrounds that allow access to fun adventures, we want to stay for three or four nights.
Where to Camp for Adventures
One of the best things about having a camper for our road trips is that it allows new opportunities for adventure. Some benefits we expected, like comfortably dry-camping inside a national park.
We’ve now done this at many NPS units, including Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, and Mammoth Cave.
Another benefit is being able to comfortably camp during challenging weather, when, during our tent days, we might have packed up and bailed. We’ve hunkered down through rainstorms at Red River Gorge, heat waves at Big South Fork, and cold snaps at Carolina Beach State Park.
A third benefit was less anticipated. Our camper has become a moveable hotel room for exploring pricy cities we previously would have skipped past. We’ve done this at Pocahontas State Park outside Richmond, at Falls Lake State Rec Area outside Raleigh, and at the Explore Park near Roanoke.
So, How Do You Avoid the Campground “Trap”?
To review, start by researching your outdoor activities in advance. Then plan out enough time to do them. Pick a campsite as close as possible. Factor in travel time and camper set-up.
If something nonessential on your camper breaks during the trip, like a door latch, use duct tape on the road and fix it at home.
And finally, try to get out of camp early each morning, before the friendly folks start coming around to chat about campers. You can always talk to them when you return in the afternoon. You’ll be ready for a break, and they’ll probably still be there.
Cover photo: All photos by the author.
