Thousand Trails St Clair

We stayed at Thousand Trails St Clair in St Clair, Michigan. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice Thousand Trails campground.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-05-11
  • Check out: 2025-05-18
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Mix of sunny and rainy
  • High temps 67-81°F, lows 44-61°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 27 MPH

Noise:

  • Some freeway noise
  • No train horn noise
  • A bunch of neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #C21, pull-through, gravel
  • Buddy site, with neighbor passenger side facing us on both sides (ugh)
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Fairly level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 8 feet wide
  • 35 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Some tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 620 feet, front facing due west

Utilities:

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

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 130-300 Mbps down, 7-30 Mbps up, 30-40 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 380-430 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 75-210 ms ping, unreliable
  • AT&T: 128-142 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 0.5-7 Mbps up, 60 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool
  • Package delivery to office, at no charge (uncommon for Thousand Trails nowadays)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A Nice Thousand Trails Campground

This place was typical of an older Thousand Trails campground, but the communal areas looked new and well-maintained. Like all other TT properties, they have switched to assigned sites, which I prefer. A word of warning, however, because the map they have online when you click the link in your confirmation email is highly outdated. Our original assignment was B2, which, on the old map, was a 15A site, which would not suffice, and we had some angst about what we’d do if that were the case. Thankfully, the map on the website itself was an updated version and showed it as a 50A & water site. When we checked in, however, the lovely lady at the front desk informed us that we would be in C-18, which was a full-hookup site. I wasn’t too happy about it since all the pull-throughs are buddy sites (I’d rather not have a sewer connection than have a buddy site). However, she very sweetly moved us to C-21, which was still a buddy site but had larger grassy areas between the sites, so we weren’t cheek-by-jowl with our neighbors, so it all worked out.

One of the best things about this campground is that it is one of the few Thousand Trails campgrounds that 1) still accepts packages for guests, and 2) doesn’t charge for them. It’s also one of the rare TT campgrounds that provides the actual gate code in the pre-arrival email. This is because you need to let yourself in when you arrive and then check in at the welcome center. I’ve been conditioned by past experiences at TT campgrounds to be skeptical of those emails, so it came as a surprise when I needed the gate code upon arrival. We camped at Thousand Trails St Clair in a Motorhome.

Campground map; it says C18, but the check-in person told us C21 was better:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

It was a buddy site, which we normally hate, but this wasn’t too bad, since there was a fair bit of space between the sites. Plus it was too cold to want to sit outside, so didn’t bother us too much:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Dusty truck (we did take it through a car wash after this, though it was dirty again a few days later from rain):

Dusty car

We added the Michigan sticker to states map, filling a hole:

Added Michigan sticker to states map

Just the little NE states left:

Added Michigan sticker to states map

Our original site assignment was here, next to that annual site; it would have been fine, but no sewer:

Original site assignment

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Office:

Office

Playground:

Playground

Community campfire:

Community campfire

Little library and game:

Little library and game

Mini golf:

Mini golf

We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Ravenna, Ohio to St Clair, Michigan

We drove our coach 249 miles, about five hours of driving, from Ravenna, Ohio to St Clair, Michigan.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west then north:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

“Is your TV Antennae Down?” — okay, pedantically that should be either “are” or “antenna”:

Is your TV Antennae Down?

Leaving West Branch State Park:

Leaving West Branch State Park

High arching bridge over rail line:

High arching bridge over rail line

Ohio Turnpike I-80 West:

Ohio Turnpike I-80 West

“Trucks and slower traffic use left lane”; unusual:

Trucks and slower traffic use left lane

Large service plaza truck parking:

Large service plaza truck parking

Service plaza food court:

Service plaza food court

BK and Starbucks coffee for lunch:

BK for lunch

Paladin in his dash bed with some roadworks:

Paladin in his dash bed with some roadworks

Ohio turnpike I-80/90 West:

Ohio turnpike I-80/90 West

Another service plaza, with RV elctrical hookups!:

Another service plaza, with RV elctrical hookups!

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

I-280 North:

I-280 North

Oregon?!

Oregon?!

Bridge over Maumee River in Toledo:

Bridge over Maumee River in Toledo

Maumee River

I-75 North:

I-75 North

“Welcome to Pure Michigan”:

Welcome to Pure Michigan

Not the best road surface:

Not the best road surface

TA fuel stop:

TA fuel stop

I-75 North:

I-75 North

“Speed limit 70, truck speed 65, minimum speed 55”:

Speed limit 70, truck speed 65, minimum speed 55

“Welcome to Thousand Trails St Clair”:

Welcome to Thousand Trails St Clair

Gate:

Gate

Our site:

Our site

West Branch State Park

We stayed at West Branch State Park in Ravenna, Ohio. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice state park, though many of the sites are unlevel.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-05-03
  • Check out: 2025-05-11
  • 8 nights

Weather:

  • Some rain and some mostly cloudy
  • High temps 60-70°F, lows 44-52°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 21 MPH

Noise:

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

Site:

  • #100, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Very unlevel site; high in front and driver side; used hydraulic leveling (which couldn’t get entirely level; air leveling couldn’t cope either)
  • Asphalt driveway about 45 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • About 90 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • No neighbor on driver side
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 990 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 55 PSI very hard water, conveniently located
  • Unthreaded sewer connection, very conveniently located (2 2-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 12-160 Mbps down, 5-22 Mbps up, 30-90 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 42 ms ping
  • AT&T: 17 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 80-120 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 60-150 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice campground, unlevel sites

This was a nice state park on the lake. Our site was very wide with lots of space between the neighbors, but a bit on the short side (just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, and we parked our truck crosswise at the front with about a foot to spare). The only real downside was how massively unlevel the site was front-to-back. We tried multiple positions and both air and hydraulic leveling, but could never get flat. Examining other sites in our loop, it didn’t appear that any of them were particularly level. Many rigs had their wheels off the ground, which is just unsafe. Our utilities were all in working order, but with very hard water, which required us to refresh the water softener twice in a week. We camped at West Branch State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

You can see how much the site slopes… and our coach wasn’t even level:

Our site

Our site

A track to the lake from our site:

Track to lake

Lake

Back to coach

We added the Ohio sticker to our map:

Added Ohio sticker

Added Ohio sticker

And added the Cuyahoga Valley National Park sticker:

Added Cuyahoga Valley National Park sticker

Added Cuyahoga Valley National Park sticker

Dumpster and bathrooms:

Dumpster and bathrooms

Bathrooms

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

We’d be happy to stay here again, but not in the same site.

Travel from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio

We drove our coach 323 miles, about six hours of driving, from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map

An interactive map:

Preparing to toad up:

Preparing to toad up

Geese and goslings on the road:

Geese and goslings on the road

Entering the Pennsylvania Turnpike:

Entering Pennsylvania turnpike

The first of several rather narrow toll plazas:

Toll plaza

I-76 West, aka the turnpike:

I-76 West

Another toll plaza to exit the turnpike for fuel:

Another toll plaza

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Back onto the turnpike:

Another toll plaza

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

The first of several tunnels:

Tunnel

This U-Haul driver wasn’t very good at lane placement:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Out of the first tunnel and straight into the second one:

Tunnels

The third tunnel:

Tunnel

Service plaza:

Service plaza

Paladin on the dash at the service plaza:

Paladin on dash at service plaza

The fourth-and-last tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Another service plaza:

Service plaza

Bridge construction:

Bridge construction

Welcome to Ohio; a frame from the dash cam, as the photo was too obscured by rain (not that this is great):

Welcome to Ohio

Huge welcome center parking:

Service plaza

The last toll plaza:

Another toll plaza

Yay for E-ZPass:

Another toll plaza

A steep arching bridge over a rail line:

Steep arching bridge over rail line

West Branch State Park:

West Branch State Park

Check-in office:

Check-in office

Our very sloped site:

Our site

Baseball: Harrisburg Senators vs Erie SeaWolves

We attended a double-A baseball game between the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals affiliate) vs Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers affiliate) at FMB Field in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

An interactive map of the ballpark on an island in the capital city of Pennsylvania:

Capitol building:

Capitol building

FNB Field:

FNB Field

Dinner options:

Dinner options

Weird burger and cheesesteak:

Weird burger and cheesesteak

Snack:

Snack

View from our seats, section 110, row 1, seats 1 & 2:

View from our seats, section 110, row 1, seats 1 & 2

Play ball:

Play ball

Baseball

Selfie:

Selfie

Run scores:

Run scores

Run scores

Exploring the ballpark:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Hershey ice cream:

Hershey ice cream

Ball hit the ump’s mask:

Ball hit the ump's mask

Wackiness:

Wackiness

Broken bat:

Broken bat

Baseball

Final scores:

Final scores

Baseball

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.

Travel from Ocean View, New Jersey to Lebanon, Pennsylvania

We drove our coach 162 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ocean View, New Jersey to Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Map

An interactive map:

Taking out the trash on the way out of the campground:

Taking out the trash on the way out of the campground

Tollway:

Tollway

Bridge over Great Egg Harbor Bay:

Bridge over Great Egg Harbor Bay

Walt Whitman Bridge over Delaware River:

Walt Whitman Bridge over Delaware River

Wide toll plaza:

Wide toll plaza

Philadelphia:

Philadelphia

Heavy traffic:

Heavy traffic

St John the Baptist church:

St John the Baptist church

Another toll plaza:

Another toll plaza

Very close roadworks barrier:

Very close roadworks barrier

Paladin on the dash leaving a rest area:

Paladin on the dash leaving a rest area

Another super-narrow toll plaza:

Another super-narrow toll plaza

Heading towards Hershey:

Heading towards Hershey

Chicken:

Chicken

Thousand Trails:

Thousand Trails

Following our coach to our site:

Following coach to our site

Our site:

Our site

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.

Travel from College Park, Maryland to Ocean View, New Jersey

We drove our coach 164 miles, about three hours of driving, from College Park, Maryland to Ocean View, New Jersey.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Map

An interactive map:

Fort McHenry Tunnel, under the Baltimore harbor:

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore harbor

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore harbor

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore harbor

Roadworks with a very close barrier on I-95 North:

Roadworks with a very close barrier on I-95 North

Rest stop:

Rest stop

Crab for lunch… a mistake, as it took about 25 minutes to get the food:

Crab for lunch

Crab for lunch

Susquehanna River:

Susquehanna River

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Welcome to Delaware, blink and you’ll miss it:

Welcome to Delaware, blink and you'll miss it

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

Delaware Memorial Bridge:

Delaware Memorial Bridge

Delaware Memorial Bridge

Welcome to New Jersey:

Welcome to New Jersey

Truck rest area:

Truck rest area

Muffler man statue:

Muffler man

Our destination:

Our destination