We stayed at St Vrain State Park in Longmont, Colorado. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Delightful waterfront camping.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-09-22
• Check out: 2022-09-26
• 4 nights

Weather:

• Sunny
• High temps ranging between 63-80°F, lows around 43-45°F
• Negligible wind

Noise:

• Significant road noise; no train noise
• A neighbor with a wind chime and other annoying noises, but not too bad

Site:

• Mallard campground #27, back in, cement
• Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
• Level
• Large site: about 90 feet long by about 60 feet wide
• Electric-only hookups:
• 50 amp power, conveniently located
• No water connection
• No sewer connection
• Picnic table with shelter, and fire pit on gravel
• Waterfront

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 75 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 33 ms ping
• AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
• Verizon: 6-20 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
• Campground Wi-Fi: none
• Starlink: not used

Amenities:

• Dumpsters
• No pool
• Waterfront

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful park, pity about the highway noise

This was a nice base camp to explore the region. On the plus side, our site was very nice, with a view of Mallard Pond. Everything was well-kept and clean. On the negative side, $36/night for electric only is a bit steep (plus the extra day-use fee for our rig and tow vehicle), and there is constant noise from I-25. We would stay here again, despite the noise, if we had a full hookup site. We camped at St. Vrain State Park in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: If you arrive late and have to use the “iron ranger” to pay for your day-use fees, don’t get the annual pass. Just get a day pass and stop by the ranger station the next day to upgrade to an annual if you’re staying a while (or visiting other CO state parks). If you have a motorhome and tow vehicle, you will need two passes.

The RV park map:

And an interactive map, showing all the ponds:

Our site had only electric, no water or sewer, so we arrived prepared, with a full water tank. We wouldn’t want to stay more than a week, but we coped just fine; the night before departure, our fresh water was only halfway, and grey and black were negligible (Jenn had a long shower on departure day, which reduced fresh to 30%, which is our preferred level for travel):

Our site:

The pond behind our site:

Canada geese:

Pelicans:

Other sites:

An accessible fishing pier:

Our coach across the pond:

I spotted a couple of hot air balloons — we’ll be seeing hundreds more of those soon:

This was a very nice state park; we’d be happy stay here again, and would enjoy staying longer, if we were in a full hookup section.

We stayed at El Rancho Village RV Park & Cabins in Wheatland, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A basic RV park next to a freeway.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-09-20
• Check out: 2022-09-22
• 2 nights

Weather:

• Overcast, drizzle, thunderstorm
• High temps ranging between 67-85°F, lows around 49-55°F
• Some wind

Noise:

• Significant road noise; no train noise
• No neighbor noise

Site:

• #21, pull through, gravel
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t bother
• Not particularly level
• Large site: about 100 feet long by about 45 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power, conveniently located
• 30 PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
• No picnic table or fire pit

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 64-75 Mbps down, 15-26 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
• AT&T: 45-56 Mbps down, 2-4 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
• Verizon: 30-40 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
• Campground Wi-Fi: unknown
• Starlink: not used

Amenities:

• Dumpsters
• No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop off I-25

This was a decent place to stop on our way through Wyoming. Met by a friendly manager who checked us in. It feels like they’re still getting settled in at the office, but it’s very low-tech, with a manual form to fill out and hand-entered credit card details. Our site wasn’t particularly level, but we managed to beat the leveling system into submission eventually. Utilities all worked as expected. I really think they missed a prime opportunity, though, because all the sites face towards the interstate instead of the distant mountains. Expect road noise from the interstate. We camped at El Rancho Village RV Park & Cabins in a Motorhome. 

They didn’t have an RV park map, so here’s an interactive map, though they’ve made a few improvements since this satellite image:

Our site:

As usual on arrival, I used our outdoor shower and collapsable bucket to prepare to clean our windscreen:

Office and cabins:

Cute cabins:

Very basic playground and shelter:

Bathrooms with nice murals:

Other sites:

A friendly dog, I think belonging to the owner:

Stormy clouds:

Lightning:

This park is right next to the I-25 freeway:

A decoration:

We stayed at Buffalo KOA Journey in Buffalo, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice RV park.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-09-17
• Check out: 2022-09-20
• 3 nights

Weather:

• Sunny
• High temps ranging between 68-84°F, lows around 45-57°F
• Negligible wind

Noise:

• Distant road noise; no train noise
• Large group in neighboring site for first couple of nights

Site:

• #75, pull through, gravel
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
• Fairly level
• Medium site: about 65 feet long by about 30 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power, conveniently located
• 60 PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, not very inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
• Picnic table on cement; fire pit on gravel, grass and rock landscaping, small trees

Internet (in usage priority order):

• AT&T: 10 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 95 ms ping
• Campground Wi-Fi: 12-23 Mbps down, 2-5 Mbps up, 8-28 ms ping
• T-Mobile: 6 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 130 ms ping
• Verizon: 50 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
• Starlink: not used

Amenities:

• Dumpsters
• Closed pool
• Creekside path
• Mail delivery at office

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

A River Runs Through It

We were in the newer section, which is absolutely awesome with the river running around the edge. The sites were very tidy and well cared for, and the staff were all extremely helpful. We will definitely stay again when we next pass through the area. We camped at Buffalo KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

The Clear Creek section of the park, where we were, is very new, and quite nice. Our site:

A long sewer hose was needed:

A path to the creek:

Looking back at our site and others from the path:

Group fire pit:

Clear Creek; it is indeed very clear:

Bridge:

Dog park:

Decorations:

Creek-front tent site:

Confluence of creeks:

Other RVs:

We stayed at Osens RV Park in Livingston, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another short stay. A nice basic RV park.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-09-14
• Check out: 2022-09-17
• 3 nights

Weather:

• A little rainy, some lightning in the area
• High temps ranging between 69-74°F, lows around 42-48°F
• A little wind

Noise:

• Some road noise; nearby train noise
• Quiet neighbors, except one motorhome that ran their engine way too long

Site:

• #B5, pull through, gravel
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
• Fairly level
• Medium site: about 65 feet long by about 30 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
• 65 PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, rather inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)
• Picnic table on grass

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 40-60 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
• AT&T: 30 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 125 ms ping
• Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
• Starlink: not used
• Campground Wi-Fi: limited, not used

Amenities:

• Dumpsters
• No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Cute park in a cute town

This was a nice spot to stay on our way through Montana. Check-in was quick and efficient, with super-friendly and helpful staff. We were escorted to our site, which is always a nice touch. The site was level and clean. The only downside is the sketchy road from the highway into the park. We camped at Osens RV Park & Campground in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Our site:

A rather inconvient sewer location; I had to break out a third 10-foot sewer hose (though to be fair, if we had parked the truck in front of the coach, it wouldn’t have been so bad):

The entrance:

Entrance garden:

Office:

Decorations:

Playground:

Bathrooms:

Rain barrels and recycling:

A chicken (probably flew over the fence from a neighboring property):

Little library:

An interesting truck and Vanleigh fiver next to us (Vanleigh is a related brand to Tiffin, created by Bob Tiffin’s son Van and grandson Leigh):

More RVs:

This new neighbor was annoying; they left their engine running for ages on arrival, and again when departing the next morning. It isn’t necessary to leave it going:

A new neighbor, with a dog with a ramp:

Flushing the black tank:

Slides in, ready to go:

We stayed at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

For long-time readers, if that name sounds a little familiar, it’s because we stayed here on our way home from Yellowstone last year. We liked it so much, we took the opportunity to go back here this year.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-09-11
• Check out: 2022-09-14
• 3 nights

Weather:

• Partly sunny, but mostly smoky from nearby wildfires; a little drizzle
• High temps ranging between 79-89°F, lows around 49-53°F
• A little wind

Noise:

• Some road noise; nearby train noise
• No significant neighbor noise

Site:

• #E12, pull through, gravel
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since we didn’t need to go anywhere
• Fairly level
• Fairly large site: about 75 feet long by about 40 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
• 50 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located (boosted from our tank)
• Good sewer connection, not very conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
• Picnic table on grass
• Some trees; clear sky for Starlink
• Delightful landscaping with flowerbeds and decorations

Internet (in usage priority order):

• Starlink: 2-6 Mbps down, 7-9 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
• T-Mobile: 22 Mbps down, 14-32 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
• AT&T: 16-20 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 115 ms ping
• Verizon: 8-12 Mbps down, 4-7 Mbps up, 110 ms ping
• Campground Wi-Fi: limited, not used

Amenities:

• Dumpsters
• No pool
• Package delivery to outside of office

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Still the prettiest park

This was our second stay here, and it’s still just so lovely. The roads are easily navigable even for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle, the trees are nicely trimmed back, so there were no scraping branches or anything. There is a bit of road and train noise, but the beautiful surroundings make up for it. We camped at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Our site:

The power and water was kinda far away from the coach:

The sewer wasn’t super close either, requiring two hoses:

Dumpsters near our site, with a train going by beyond:

The office:

Rather unusual to have recycling at an RV park:

Bathrooms:

Tourist info:

Greenhouses:

Lots of very nice landscaping:

Bathrooms:

This was the site we had last year:

Other sites and more landscaping:

Our site again:

We stayed at Plymouth Park Campground in Plymouth, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Spiders!

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-08-24
• Check out: 2022-08-27
• 3 nights

Weather:

• Mostly sunny
• High temps ranging between 96-99°F, lows around 63-66°F
• A little wind

Noise:

• No road noise or train noise
• No neighbor noise

Site:

• #32, pull through, asphalt
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
• Fairly level
• Large site: about 90 feet long by about 90 feet wide
• Partial hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently located
• Water not used due to boil notice (we arrived with full tank)
• No sewer connection
• Picnic table and fire pit on gravel
• Large trees
• Spiders!

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 22-82 Mbps down, 8-16 Mbps up, 95 ms ping
• Verizon: 0.1 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 800 ms ping
• AT&T: 26 Mbps down, 13 Mbps up, 58-122 ms ping
• Starlink: not used
• Campground Wi-Fi: unknown

Amenities:

• Dumpsters
• No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Not for the Arachnophobic

This is a beautiful park, right along the Columbia River. When we arrived, we particularly enjoyed the large shade trees and green space at each site. However, when we woke up the next day, it was as if we’d spent the night in Mirkwood. Spiders. Spiders everywhere. All over our motorhome and tow vehicle. Every nook and cranny had spider webs and a resident spider (orb weavers, so not harmful, but still). Looking up at the trees, it was obvious that there was a major infestation as there were spiders hanging between every branch. I am not arachnophobic, but it really made me not want to sit outside. It’s probably just the time of year, and it may not be such an issue any other month, but it was really, really bad at the end of August. I spoke to another camper who had been planning on staying a week but was going to leave the next day because they didn’t want to deal with the spiders. I kind of wish we’d left earlier than planned as well. We knocked down as many as we could see before we left, drove over 200 miles, and are still dealing with them a couple of days later.

It should also be noted that they were having some issues with the water system at the park and issued a boil notice, so you need to be prepared with your own water supply before coming. If they resolve the water issue and the spider issue, I’d be happy to stay here again because it really was lovely otherwise. We camped at Plymouth Park Campground in a Motorhome.

The RV park maps:

Our site:

A bug:

Spiders!

Other RVs:

Playground:

A nice campground… other than the minor detail of the spider infestation, and unavailable water and sewer.