Thousand Trails Hershey RV Campground

We stayed at Thousand Trails Hershey RV Campground in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. (Campground Reviews listing.)

If you don’t mind the occasional farm smells and being woken up by geese, this is a delightful campground. And convenient to Hershey. You know, the chocolate place.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-04-20
  • Check out: 2025-05-03
  • 13 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, a little rain
  • High temps 65-75°F, lows 44-56°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 25 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise (dogs, a few kids)
  • Lots of bird noise (mostly geese)
  • Not noise, but an unpleasant smell sometimes, probably from nearby farms

Site:

  • #B97, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 15 feet wide
  • 25 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Mostly clean site
  • Elevation 550 feet, front facing NW
  • Backing on to lake

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
  • 70 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 25-64 Mbps down, 8-20 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 10-12 Mbps down, 0.25 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-70 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 2-5 Mbps up, 30 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Seasonally closed pool
  • Small lake

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park close to Hershey

This was a very nice park by Thousand Trails standards. The roads in the park are easily navigable, but the access roads are a bit narrow, so you’ll be fine once you get to the park. Our site was somewhat level, but the hydraulic levelers coped well. Utilities were all good, with 70 psi water pressure, so bring a pressure regulator. We enjoyed the view of the lake and the waterfowl wandering about. The Canada Geese are a bit of a hazard to navigation and sleeping in (better than an alarm clock), but seeing the goslings out and about was nice. This park no longer allows mail or packages of any kind, but the post office in Campbelltown accepts general delivery and was the cutest, friendliest, and most homey post office I’ve ever been to.

The most annoying thing about our stay was the check-in process. They took my TT membership card and held onto it until I trekked back and handed in the (unnecessary and redundant) paperwork where I had to give them my license and registration information for my RV and truck and any guests I might be expecting and pledging the soul of my firstborn child (or something to that effect), whereupon they deigned to give me my gate pass and return of my membership card. After a long travel day through the PA turnpike, dealing with asinine bureaucracy and being held hostage is one of the last things I want to deal with. I sure hope that once they get used to the assigned site situation, they sunset this ridiculous policy. Nevertheless, we’d be happy to stay here again. We camped at Thousand Trails Hershey RV Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Nice view:

Nice view

Utilities:

Utilities

Ducks below birdfeeders on our neighboring site:

Ducks below birdfeeders on our neighboring site

Tortoise crossing the road:

Tortoise crossing the road

Geese and goslings:

Geese and goslings

Geese and goslings

Geese and goslings

Gosling

Geese and goslings

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Cabins:

Cabins

Welcome center:

Welcome center

Closed swimming pool:

Closed swimming pool

Game court:

Game court

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Lake:

Lake

Lake

We’d be happy to stay here again.

Thousand Trails Lake & Shore

We stayed at Thousand Trails Lake & Shore in Ocean View, New Jersey. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A fairly typical Thousand Trails campground, mostly full of park models and annual sites, with a small section for transients.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-04-13
  • Check out: 2025-04-20
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny
  • High temps 53-71°F, lows 40-56°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 28 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise
  • Industrial noise from a mine next to the campground during working hours (and sometimes overnight)

Site:

  • #E16, back-in, sand
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Unlevel site; high on rear and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Sand site about 50 feet long by 45 feet wide
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 20 feet, front facing NW

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located at back of site
  • 60 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located at back of site
  • Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 430-630 Mbps down, 45 Mbps up, 19 ms ping
  • AT&T: 220-280 Mbps down, 17 Mbps up, 58 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters near entrance
  • Pool
  • Beach
  • Water park

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park close to Jersey Shore activities

Most of this park is occupied by annual sites/park models, with a small area for “transient” visitors like us. We arrived not long after they’d opened for the season, and there was a bit of a hassle as they adjusted to the new way of assigning sites. The gate that’s supposed to be used by RVs checking in was out of commission, so we had to go through the car gate, which doesn’t have a keypad high enough to reach from the RV. The girl at the front desk said she’d keep an eye out and let us in, but she’d obviously forgotten or gone somewhere else in the 5 minutes it took us to unhook the tow vehicle, so we were stuck. I saw at least one other camper have the same problem a couple of days later, as well.

Once we got to our site, it was long enough for our motorhome and wide enough to park beside it. The site was a little unlevel, but better than some others. Nice little lake and beach on the property, and during the hot months, I imagine the pool and splash pad areas are super busy. Trash disposal is very far from the camping area, so slightly inconvenient if you don’t have a golf cart or take it in your car when you go out. There was also some low hum of nearby industrial noise, but it wasn’t too loud inside the RV. We camped at Thousand Trails Lake & Shore in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our first new state of the year, we were able to add the New Jersey sticker to our map:

New Jersey sticker

State stickers

Lake and sunset:

Lake

Lake

Lake

Lake

Seasonally closed water park:

Seasonally closed water park

Seasonally closed water park

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Nothing too exciting about it, but we wouldn’t mind staying here again.

Cherry Hill Park

We stayed at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here. We had originally planned to stay longer, but changed our plans to save money by staying for free at Thousand Trails parks instead. But we ended up here for one night anyway, to break up an otherwise too long travel day.

This is a very nice resort, convenient to the DC area, though this time was just a convenient stop on our journey north.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-04-12
  • Check out: 2025-04-13
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Cloudy
  • High temp 51°F, low 53°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 22 MPH

Noise:

  • Some freeway noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

  • #616, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
  • Mostly level site; used air leveling, since only one night
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • About 14 feet to neighbor on driver side (which was empty)
  • About 40 feet to a road on passenger side
  • Picnic table and patio table & chairs on a brick patio
  • Fire pit
  • Charcoal grill
  • A small tree
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • Didn’t use the water or sewer, since only one night

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • AT&T: 765 Mbps down, 36-50 Mbps up, 19-35 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: didn’t use, but last time was 20 Mpbs down, 20 Mbps up, 8 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 38 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: negligible service
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Pools
  • Onsite cafe and food delivery to site
  • Package delivery to office
  • Bus to DC mall
  • Tour buses

Part of our review on Campground Reviews from our previous stay (omitting comments about the specific site):

Location, location, location!

If you want to visit the DC area with your motorhome, trailer, fifth-wheel, tent, or what-have-you, this is THE place to do it. It’s convenient to the Beltway and close to a Metro stop for all your sightseeing needs. They also offer tours from the campground, which is just the cherry on top. The campground is top-notch and well-kept, with all the amenities you could want (including food delivery right to your site), which is a plus on a travel day. […] We camped at Cherry Hill Park – Washington, D.C. In a Motorhome.

A handy campground map for getting to our site (though this was the wrong one for our specific site):

Map

And on the other site, a map of campground features:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

See our previous stay for more photos.

We’d be happy to stay here again. 

Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay

We stayed at Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay in Gloucester, Virginia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A fairly nice Thousand Trails campground.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-04-01
  • Check out: 2025-04-13
  • 12 nights

Weather:

  • Mix of sunny, cloudy, rainy
  • High temps 52-83°F, lows 34-67°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 32 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Lots of neighbor noise

Site:

  • #B65, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Fairly unlevel site; high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by 25 feet wide
  • 30 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Trees between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 30 feet, front facing NW

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 50 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 56-177 Mbps down, 10-30 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 70 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • AT&T: 82-111 Mbps down, 0.75-1 Mbps up, 127 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 1.5 Mbps down, 0.2 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool
  • Ice cream shop
  • On-site cafe

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice place for a longer stay

This is a fairly typical Thousand Trails park with 50A full hookups. Our site was mostly level, but look out after it rains, because they have some drainage issues. It was nice to have a restaurant on site that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Like most Thousand Trails, they have now switched to assigned sites, which I like. Also, like most Thousand Trails, they no longer accept packages. The local Post Office does General Delivery, and the nearest Amazon Locker is in West Point. We camped at Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

What’s new and burning law:

What's new and burning law

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Some rainy days, and a little surface flooding:

Rainy and flooding

Rainy and flooding

Flooding

Pavilion:

Pavilion

Cafe:

Cafe

Menu

Menu

Dinner:

Dinner

Breakfast:

Breakfast

Another menu:

Menu

Pizza, mac & cheese, brownie:

Pizza, mac & cheese, brownie

Camp store (featuring ice cream):

Shop

Seasonally closed swimming pool:

Closed swimming pool

Dog park:

Dog park

Dumpsters:

Dumpsters

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Piankatank River:

Piankatank River

Piankatank River

Piankatank River

We’d be happy to stay here again.

Using a sewer tote tank and macerator pump to dump waste tanks from the back of our truck again

I previously posted about using a sewer tote and macerator pump to empty our waste tanks. Here’s another example of doing this, with a variation to cope with parking in front of our coach.

I dumped when our gray and black waste tanks reached 50%; we could have been conservative and made it the week with that space, but it was nice not to need to do so:

50% gray and black tanks

The wet bay, with the power for the macerator hooked up, along with the sewer pipe:

Wet bay

The macerator pump, hooked up to a sewer hose and a garden hose dedicated to this purpose:

Macerator pump

When parked in front of the coach, it’s a bit longer to get from the wet bay to the truck:

Hoses

The hose into the tote in the back of the (pollen-y) truck:

Hose into tote

Filling the tote:

Filling tote

8% gray and 13% black after the first dump; I fully emptied them the day before we departed, which took another two dumps (with the liquids added after the first dump):

8% gray and 13% black after first dump

Dumping from the truck at the dump station:

Dumping at dump station

The tote in the back of the truck while dumping:

Tote in the back of the truck while dumping

It’s nice to have this option when we don’t have a sewer hookup.

Emporia / I-95 KOA

We stayed at Emporia / I-95 KOA in Emporia, Virginia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A convenient stop on the way north. This is described as a KOA Holiday, but is more of a Journey. This is a reasonable place to stop (if you don’t mind the train horns at all hours), but I wouldn’t call it a holiday destination.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-03-30
  • Check out: 2025-04-01
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, some rain
  • High temp 79°F, lows 49-64°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 25 MPH

Noise:

  • Little road noise
  • Nearby train horn noise, about every half hour, day and night
  • Some neighbor noise

Site:

  • #126, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t since only two nights
  • Somewhat level site; high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 80 feet long by 13 feet wide
  • 11 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 22 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • No trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 120 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 50 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 226-244 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 14-21 ms ping
  • AT&T: 90-146 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 62 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 85 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters and bins
  • Closed seasonal pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Good for a quick stop

It’s my understanding that a KOA Holiday is supposed to be the destination and reason for going there. Why this is listed as a Holiday is beyond me. It was perfectly fine for a short stay, but the train noise all day and night would preclude me from wanting to stay any longer than necessary. Our nightly rate was because I used $50 in KOA reward points for a two-night stay. Otherwise, this would have been far too expensive for what it was. We camped at Emporia / I-95 KOA in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities; rather high sewer, with no thread, so I used the water bag weight:

Utilities

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Seasonally closed pool:

Closed pool

Not too bad a stop for a day or two, other than the train horn noise; if we come this way again, we might look for another option.

Holly Point Campground – Falls Lake SRA

We stayed at Holly Point Campground – Falls Lake SRA in Wake Forest, North Carolina. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very nice lakeside campground, but the spring tree pollen was horrendous.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-03-23
  • Check out: 2025-03-30
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, a little rain
  • High temps 62-77°F, lows 37-55°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 23 MPH, but sheltered by trees

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise
  • Regular plane noise (on the flightpath of Raleigh-Durham International Airport, 10 miles away)

Site:

  • #69 (loop 2), back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Mostly level site; slightly high on front driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • About 30 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • About 50 feet to road on driver side
  • Trees between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Lantern hook
  • Tall trees
  • Mostly clean site (one bit of trash)
  • Elevation 290 feet, front facing North

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 70 PSI water, conveniently located
  • No sewer; we used our tote and the dump station

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 30-35 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 30-100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 49-60 Mbps down, 0.25-0.75 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 100 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Lake
  • Dump station

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful park, but beware the pollen in spring

It turns out that camping in the middle of a hardwood forest during the week the trees come alive in the spring is a fantastic way to find out if you have terrible allergies. The pollen in this part of NC is no joke. Besides the trees trying to kill me, this was a beautiful campground. Our site was plenty long enough for our 40-foot motorhome and tow vehicle. However, some sites looked like they would have been too sloped to work, so be sure to check the details of the specific site you’re booking. Site 69 had a great view of the water through the trees and was close to the small beach/picnic area. We camped at Holly Point Campground – Falls Lake SRA in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Falls lake state recreation area map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

View of the lake out our window; fortunately the intervening site was empty most of the week, and only used as a day-use site on the weekend (which I have mixed feelings about, taking a site from an overnight camper):

View of the lake out our window

View of sunrise over the lake from our site:

View of sunrise over the lake from our site

A peek of our site from the swimming beach, and a goose:

A peek of our site from the swimming beach, and a goose

Geese on the beach:

Geese on the beach

Boat on the lake:

Boat on the lake

Swimming beach:

Swimming beach

Swimming beach

Swimming beach

Swimming beach

Geese

We used the dump station via the tote in the back of the truck three times:

We used the dump station three times

Dumpsters at the dump station:

Dumpsters at the dump station

On the flight path, 10 miles from Raleigh-Durham International Airport:

On the flight path, 10 miles from Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Lakefront:

Lakefront

Boat on the lake:

Boat on the lake

This trailer was backing itself into the site, not hooked up to the car:

This trailer was backing itself into the site, not hooked up to the car

Tent sites:

Tent sites

Tent sites

Tent sites

Other sites:

Other sites

Many not very level:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

A very nice campground, other than the pollen. We’d be happy to be back, in the same site, at a different time of year.

James Island County Park

We stayed at the James Island County Park campground in Charleston, South Carolina. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice county park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-03-16
  • Check out: 2025-03-23
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • A mix of rain and partly sunny
  • High temps 63-73°F, lows 45-54°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 33 MPH, but sheltered by trees

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise
  • Occasional plane noise

Site:

  • #29, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 110 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • 50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 25-50 feet to road on driver side
  • Tall trees between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 10 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
  • 75 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Unthreaded sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 50 Mbps down, 6-13 Mbps up, 30-45 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: 6 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 90-160 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 13-23 Mbps down, 0.25 Mbps up, 70-130 ms ping
  • AT&T: 30-270 Mbps down, 0.1-0.3 Mbps up, 100-220 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 45 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters and recycling
  • Water park

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park close to Charleston

This campground is in the middle of a large county park and close to everything Charleston offers. Our site was unlevel side-to-side, but not too bad. The tree cover made getting Starlink reception tricky but not impossible, and it was the best coverage of any of the cellular networks. The roads to the park were a bit dicey for a big rig–very narrow and with lots of big trees close to and over the road. We camped at Campground at James Island County Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

Park map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, a very long pull-through amongst trees:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Other sites; there was an Airstream rally going on, so there were a lot of them around:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Games:

Games

Bathrooms with outside laundry:

Bathrooms with outside laundry

Bike hire:

Bike hire

A nice park. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Crooked River State Park

We stayed at Crooked River State Park in Saint Marys, Georgia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A pleasant stop on our way north.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-03-09
  • Check out: 2025-03-16
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, some rain
  • High temps 62-76°F, lows 48-62°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 32 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #62, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Mostly level site; a little high on rear passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 20 feet wide
  • 30 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 75 feet to road on driver side
  • Trees and shrubs between sites providing good privacy
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Lantern hooks
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 20 feet, front facing due West

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 45 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 28-38 Mbps down, 9-10 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
  • AT&T: 115-127 Mbps down, 13-20 Mbps up, 50-85 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • River

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Lovely state park

Not all campsites here have full hookups, but we were lucky enough to get a reservation for one. Our back-in site was plenty long enough for our 40-foot motorhome and tow vehicle. All the connections were good, and the campground hosts were on the ball, cleaning sites as soon as they were vacated. The campground is peaceful, with lots of nice, easy trails to enjoy. Note that the boardwalk has been removed from the loop behind the nature center, and we had to hop around some very large puddles to get around. Despite signs warning of snakes and gators, we saw neither, but we did see an armadillo, which was exciting as I’d never seen one that wasn’t roadkill. We camped at Crooked River State Park in a Motorhome. 

Tip for Other Campers: Jekyll Island (Driftwood Beach) and Fort Frederica National Monument are both worth a daytrip. Locals Dockside had excellent seafood, and historic St Marys is a cute little town.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Pollen on our truck:

Pollen on our truck

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

The first time we’ve seen a live armadillo:

The first time we've seen a live armadillo

Venomous snake country:

Venomous snake country

Little library:

Little library

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Cabins and screened picnic area:

Cabins and screened picnic area

Shelter building:

Shelter building

Dangerous cliff:

Dangerous cliff

A nice park; we’d be happy to stay here again.

Thousand Trails Peace River

We stayed at Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We had some concerns about staying here, based on reviews, but were pleasantly surprised.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-03-02
  • Check out: 2025-03-09
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny, a little rain
  • High temps 68-82°F, lows 43-63°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 25 MPH

Noise:

  • Negligible road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • A little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #C50, back-in, grass
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Very level site, surprisingly; used hydraulic leveling
  • Grass site about 55 feet long by 40 feet wide
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site; a bottle and a few other bits of trash (TT doesn’t clean sites)
  • Elevation 40 feet, front facing North

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 45 PSI water, conveniently located
  • No sewer connection; pump-out service available (one free per week, $15 for extra)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 10-26 Mbps down, 11-16 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 290 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • AT&T: 435 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool
  • River

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Better than expected

We were somewhat skeptical before our stay here since the reviews weren’t all that great, but we decided to try it anyway and were pleasantly surprised. There were sites available in the full-hookup section, but opted for a w/e-only site since they offer one free pump out per week. The full-hookup sites are smaller and at the front of the park, closer to the highway and noise. The sites closer to the river were much quieter and spread out, so the slight inconvenience of no sewer was a fair trade. Since the hurricane that blew through a few years ago, all sites have been upgraded to 50A (the previous lack of 50A was our main hesitation based on earlier reviews). The campground got a bit busier and noisier (up in the full-hookup section) on the weekend, but it was otherwise a peaceful stay. We camped at Thousand Trails Peace River in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, in the non-sewer section; more spacious and quieter than the sewer section:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

A squirrel on our picnic table:

Squirrel

Towards the end of our stay the waste tanks were getting a little full:

Full waste tanks

We wanted to empty them for our travel day anyway, so we went to the office to schedule the free honeywagon pumpout; they gave us this sign to put in our window:

Honeywagon sign

The pumpout truck; quick and easy:

Waste pump

Aerial views of our site:

Aerial view of our site

Aerial view of our site

And the campground; you can see the more tightly packed sewer sites closer to the road, and much more spacious non-sewer sites closer to the river:

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of bridge

Office:

Office

Playground:

Playground

Pool:

Pool

Courts:

Courts

Walking path by the river:

Walking path by river

Bridge, river, kayak:

Bridge, river, kayak

Kayak on the river:

Kayak on the river

There are a couple of dump stations, but on the wrong side of the road for non-sewer sites to use when leaving, weirdly (without looping around):

Dump station

Cabins:

Cabins

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

As I said, we were pleasantly surprised. We’d be happy to stay here again.