What do you know about KOA camp grounds?
We’re selling the house and moving into our camper. My daughter mentioned KOA camp grounds all over the state. What do you know about them?
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Oh there are several in Kansas. Any idea how much it costs? Is it a yearly membership?
The $30 membership gets you a 10% discount I think.
Prices per night are not cheap, I’ve got a retired friend that travels around to different Folk and Craft shows. I think he said it cost him $40 a night. with RV hook-up
They are nationally known but yes, you would have a nightly fee I believe. Perhaps there is a seasonal rate. One option might be to look into being a caretaker in residence at a campground. Then you would get free camping and probably hook ups if not a salary. I’ve heard that retirees do this sometimes.
Well, I think we’ll stick with state parks. We get a pretty hefty discount cuz Rick is super old!
Rick wants to do that, be a caretaker. We’ll be looking at a lot of things.
40 dollars a night seems high. Heck for 1,200 a month you could rent a pretty nice place around here. But I haven’t been camping since 1999 and it was about 15.00 a night then.
@chyna Privately owned campgrounds with hook-ups for RVs are pretty expensive.
@Dutchess_III I just went online to try to find the rates for an extended stay at the Lawrence, Kansas campground but you had to put in a lot of details before getting to any rates. I think your idea of public park campgrounds or the caretaker slot would be your best bet. Or do you know someone who has property you could park it at?
Well…we’re gonna live in it.
^^ I understand that. I meant park it at and live in but I guess you need hook-ups for power and sewer?
When our kids were younger, we did a number of KOA stays here in California and were a regular at one camp (“Kamp”) in particular. We stayed in a “Kabin,” though, and not in a vehicle. It was basically a glorified tent with wooden sides. Long walk to the washrooms.
I don’t know anything about how KOA works as a franchise, but I can say that we noticed a lot of differences among sites that had to do with the particular operators. How well the grounds were kept up, amenities, what was available free and on loan, etc., varied a lot. I guess I thought it was going to be as predictable as a Holiday Inn, and of course it’s not, although that depends in part on the physical setting. They’re not all in shady woods.
> We’re selling the house and moving into our camper.
That sounds idyllic to me, even though I know it would never work for us. The idea of being able to just pack up and go . . . I think about it a lot. I hope it’s a wonderful experience for you. Do you plan to settle down in one spot again eventually?
Well if that option comes available @janbb we would certainly consider it.
Rick has a Senior Pass for state parks.
I traveled across country with my kids when they were young and we spent a night in a KOA. We slept in a tent, but the facilities were clean and in the morning, they provided a pancake breakfast. This wasn’t a normal thing…not every day…but the owners like to do nice stuff for the campers from time to time. Very friendly people. BUT…that was probably 20 years ago.
I heard it’s really great but way too expensive for an extended stay.
The KOA campgrounds are considered the Hilton of campgrounds.
Yeah! They are very nice. More like resorts than campgrounds.
@Dutchess_lll: What about a state park where they have a campground?
Yes. As I said above Rick has a Senior Citizen pass for state parks. That’s our best option.
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