RE: Glacier National Park Recommendations
We went to GNP 4 years ago. We're also from MI so decided to stay on east side to save the drive on the way home (last leg of our trip). We stayed at St Marysinside the NP. We enjoyed it, did not have any issue with wind during our stay. We checked out the other GNP cg and when we go back will stay at Many Glacier near the lodge there. We think that is a great location. We think it has better views than the St Marys cg IMO.
We took the jammer red bus tours (no shuttle yet). We thoroughly enjoyed the tour - thetop was open, great day, wonderful tour guide, good group. Riding open air along the Going to Sun Road is awesome. Not seeing the shuttle buses not sure what kind of experience they provide. We also drove it twice, a great thrill also. It was also closed due to avalanches due to heavy rains. PM if you want tips on the route from MI, etc.
RE: going to Bryce and Zion in 2009!
From the N Rim Zion is only 1-2 hrs away, and Bryce anouther hour or so beyond that. You'll be able to see the parks, but not really experience them (ie just a drive through). At Zion take some hikes - the Narroes or Angel landing, same at Bryce - hike down into the park from the rim. While at the N Rim take some long drives out to the remote overlooks - we did a couple years ago and found these to be our most rememerable trips. Rafting can be found outside Moab, but it is a long drive from the GC area. At Zion the kids can take a tube float on the Virgin RIver right along the park. Rafting near Canon City looks to be awesome.
RE: Washingon DC Hotel close to Metro Stop?
For business I have stayed at the L'Enfant Plaza at the L'enfant Plaza metro stop near teh DoTrans. Easy walking to the Smithsonian. Top few floors are the hotel, the metro stop is under the hotel. May not be"reasonable" though. Rooms are somewhat dated, but fairly clean. Food courth also below hotel for cheaper lunches (crowded from nearby offices).
RE: Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario
We heard also from one of the park staff that the restrooms will be replaced by next year.
We had issues with bugs the last 2 days of our stay - biting flies - drove our dogs nuts - had to put them inside away from the bugs.
We don;t mind the desire by the park to keep things natural by not mowing, etc. Also that poison ivy is one of those "natural" elements, we just have never been anywhere when it grows as thick and profusely as we saw here. Luckily no kids to get into it.
Not sure which other restrooms someone may be refering to as new or nice - we drove through all the cg's and everyone seemed to have the same type & age of facility - just less used/busy. We actually used the facility in area 2 which just a short walk from our site along edge of area 1.
We did pick out some sites we prefer for any later visits - area 4 had many nice ones, since we prefer sites with electric, we did not see as many in Dunes, plus a bit tighter to get our 5er into (many trees, tight turns).
RE: Firewood
We just got back from a weekend in Canada. The Canadian border agents DID ask if we had wood (did not search). Also asked again at the provencial park (which sold wood). But wood outside the park, but was given a receipt stating it was cut local. Was informed (did not see it) that the Canadian federal govt will drive thru the park searching for wood that you cannot prove was cut local.
My BIL worked for the state trying to stop the spread of the EAB, quarantining areas, cutting down infected trees before they could spread. In our area, it is MILLIONS of trees, not just a few, that are now dead, within a couple of years. Solely due to RVers hauling a few sticks of wood - no, assisted by those same RVers, most likely. Just like the spread of the zebra mussels on pleasure crafts into the small inland lakes. Just one bug. The EAB came from China - not with an RVer, but most likely on a commercial freight carrier. (all praise the mighty corp & their search for the most $$ now wiping out our forests) but can you help prevent the spread? yes - don't take firewood with you.
Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario
We just returned from a long weekend stay at the Pinery Provincial Park near Grand Bend, Ontario - nort of Sarnia. We heard many good comments from people so we decided to check the park out.
The park is huge. They have 3 camping areas, 9 beach areas, many picnic locations, trails, bike paths, etc.
We stayed in Riverside, which itself has 4 areas. Ours was Area 1 with electric. We had a pull-thru site, which most of them are. Areas 2 & 3 have no electric, area 4 has mostly electric. Each area has a central restroom facility with showers. Since the cg's are so large, these are always very busy & never clean (but are cleaned). The showers are actvitated by a touchless system, but the womens in our area did not always work - many had issues with the system timing out and unable to turn back on - with a head of shampoo!
Our site was was secluded from the neighboring sites, but somewhat shallow so close to road & sites across road. The power outlet is some distance - bring extra cords. The biggest issue we had was the park is blanketed with poison ivy - all through the cg's, along paths, around the beach areas. We have been to many parks and seen areas with poison ivy, but never this thick - right up to edge of roads & camp site. We did not get any, but were always worried.
The park does little mowing, to keep to natural area (as it should be - not a resort) even sites are not mowed. Most roads are gravel, including site pads. Park was patrolled on regular basis, quiet (even with being full a couple of nights).
The beach is long along Lake Huron, nice sandy bottom. Also have dog beach.
Has a channel for canoeing & fishing. Park store. Ranger programs for kids. Grand Bend nearby has good food & dining.
All in all, an above average public park worth visiting. Not a top of the list place.
SC/NC Trip Report
Just returned from our trip to CHarleston, SC and Asheville NC. We had a great time.
On our way we made an overnight stop at the Kentucky Horse PArk cg. A very nice cg, large, paved roads & pads. Ours had a slight uphill slope, but no issue leveling. W/E only. It was nearly full but very quiet. We did not have time to visit the horse park itself, we want to go back to visit more. Large pool in the cg. Decent restrooms. Store. A dogshow was going on during on visit, but no issue with dogs in cg - quiet, controlled.
At Charleston, we stayed at James Island County park. A very clean park. Our site was a bit tight for our liking, but still a nice site. The cg was quiet, the restrooms nice (but not always clean - showers seemed dirty - kids playing with sand?) The park has many emenities - a water park, bike paths, a dog park - icluding a beach for them to swim, a fishing lake. The cg has many trees that shaded the sites - but still allowed for satellite (not us - no TV on our trips). The site does not have a paved pad, but full hookups. It is about 15 minutes to Charleston - a great city to walk around and enjoy the historic buildings. We had good weather, a bit hotter than normal, but no rain. We also enjoyed the beach out at Folly and touring the aircraft carrier/destroyer/submarine nearby. We stayed for 3 nights.
We moved to Cascade Lake Recreation Area SW of Asheville near Brevard. It is a private cg run by the Cradle of Forestry (NC state?) The cg has gravel roads & site pads with W/E & some full hook-up. Most sites were in heavily wooded and hilly terrain (many difficult for large units), full hookups are open & level along lake. We had a large pull thru W/E right next to lake, some issue to level but able to with many levelling boards. Most of our stay cg was nearly empty (<25%), very quiet. Restrooms need updating, but clean. Had store, a swimming lake & a larger lake to fish (good fishing seen - trout, bass, panfish).Entrance controlled by staffed gate - tightly controlled. Very quiet cg, even when nearly full on weekend. Friendly staff. CG clean. 30 minute drive into Asheville & Blue Ridge parkway. Enjoyed visting Biltmore, driving the parkway (very little traffic), and seeing the area. Attended BBQ festival in Tyron nearby - great food & music - nice festival.
Will post pix soon.
RE: Fredericksburg VA to Michigan UP: any suggestions?
Another suggestion is to take US23 into MI, then over to US27 up thru the center - staying off the much busier I75 corrider with all of the Detroit traffic (weekends very heavy with travel up north). Once you are past Lansing the road is mostly rurl - vs. I75 which does not really open up until past Bay City/Standish.
RE: campground needed, Flint MI to canandian border off I-69
Another cg is Covenant Hills CG in Otisville MI. It is a religous cg but is not "in your face" about it. It has a nice small swimming lake, plenty of activities, etc. It is NE of Flint. We went with a group and it was nice, quite, clean. My sister kids' HS goes there late summer for their HS marching band camp (cabins on other side of park - never knew they were there).
RE: St. Mary's Campground, GNP
We stayed St Mary's CG inside the park. It did not any electric. The sites were long pull-thru loops off the road. Only issue we had was soe sites had rocks or posts placed in spots that made it difficult to manuever into.
RE: White Water Rafting
We have done 3 trips - the first was on the NEw River in WV many years ago - youngest was 6 at the time. The guide was not th ebest, but us into a rapid that then flipped us. It was a few moments of panic when we could not find our youngest - he was trapped under the flipped raft. But we all survived. Have also rafted the river near Glacier (name? the one where the movie with M Streep was filmed), much tamer, and then the Colorado near Moab - day long trip. They give lots of warnings, training, etc. but again found it to be not overly rough - just a coupl eof bumps then mostly flat water. As we drove through Color., we drove along the Arkansa River (?) and it looked to be alot of fun. Many rafters on the river.
RE: Yellowstone & Bear Tooth highway
We drove this in 04. We made a side trip from Cody, over the Beartooth, then into YNP and stopped at Madison cg. It was a day long trip, well worth it. My wife was fearful of the drive beforehand (we were towing a 5er) and didnot want to make it, but we all feel this is one of our highlights of that trip to YNP. Great drive, do it towing or not, but don;t miss the opportunity.
RE: Dead Horse State Park
We stayed here 2 years ago, had site #1. It was very private. Only 20amp then, but we were able to survice. It is one of our favorite parks, we really enjoyed staying there and visiting the area.
RE: North Rim GC camping
We stayed there 2 years ago with our 30' 5er, plenty of room. I don;t recall any issues when making reservations. May be the rim edge sites have restrictions, our site was more in the center of the cg - plenty of space. Many other larger rigs there also.
RE: Michigan to Yellowstone in 2 Weeks?
We made the same trip over 16 days (included full weekends at each end of the 2 weeks) in'04. We have a 5er with diesel pick up.
You always wish you had more time, but you make do with what you have. We actually made MORE stops than your plan. We stopped a few days at Custer SP in Black Hills to visit Mt Rushmore & area. We drove through Badlands for a few hours of sightseeing beforehand. Then stopped for a few hours at Devils Tower. A night in Cody, then into YNP (via Beartooth Hwy)for a few days, with a day trip to GTNP. We then headed to Glacier NP for a few days. He had time for a rafting trip, horseback riding, cave exploring, hiking, snowball fights, swimming, chuckwagon dinner, wildlife watching. It is our families best trip - and no one complains today about how short of a trip it was or the LONG days of driving.
For cg's - We stopped in Ill. at Utica, then in SD at Kinnebec KOA, Custer SP - Blue Bell unit, then Cody, then Madison in YNP, at Glacier we stayed at St Marys inside the park. On way home we stayed in Sturgis SD, & Rochester MN. We did over 700 miles a few days.
RE: Looking for an alternative to Traverse Bay
We stayed at Leelanau RV several years ago. It was a very clean park, some seasonals. It is not "near" much but you can drive to Sleeping Bear, Taverse City, etc. to see sights & dinner, etc.
They park was very friendly, had ice cream social, even an organ concert in their house (big pipe organ in special wing of house).
RE: Favorite Michigan SP?
We stayed at Interlochen last year - kind of a memory trip for us since both of us attended Interlochen music camp as HS kids, watch going swimming for swimmers itch though. Some of our favorites - Straits when visiting that area - good location to get to ferries to island, good view of bridge, Muskelounge for nice lake to swim & fish plus the shore of the big lake, close to falls & Soo, and Porkies for a totally diff. MI experience.
RE: Watchman Campground/Zion and Gravel trucks
We stayed at Watchman in 2006, and did not notice any gravel plant or trucks. We had fires to contend with (loss power one night due to fires outside park). We did make a day trip to Bryce from Zion, we did not think it was a bad drive at all - it was a noce relaxing day - we even had time to hike a large portion of the rim trail at Bryce.
