GrandmaLee
Minooka, IL
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Why are nice shady private owned campgrounds so hard to come by? Most I see when searching the web look like big parking lots baking out in the sun...with little or no shade...looks like a drive in movie lot. Does anyone know of a shady campsite in eastern Iowa...with a water hookup?
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hallock5
Texas
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One of the great unknowns asked by many of us...
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Eycom
32043
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Try this site, US Campgrounds. I've never camped in that State. But in the east, Government parks offer considerably more natural settings with electric and water hook-ups. Might be different in Iowa.
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carpetguy2
N.IL
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I like sunset campground.Near Iowa.
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GrandmaLee
Minooka, IL
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THANK YOU
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westernrvparkowner
montana
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GrandmaLee wrote:Why are nice shady private owned campgrounds so hard to come by? Most I see when searching the web look like big parking lots baking out in the sun...with little or no shade...looks like a drive in movie lot. Does anyone know of a shady campsite in eastern Iowa...with a water hookup? They are not available because it takes trees 50 or more years to get huge. So if someone puts in a park the traditional way, the trees they plant won't be providing that shade for decades. It is much, much, much more expensive to build a park in a forest. Excavation costs for the utilities and roads will increase by 100s of percents. Running the utilities and roads will kill many of the existing trees by cutting the roots and they then become hazards, both to rigs and people. Many of today's RVers require clear horizons for their satellite systems. Trees rapidly degrade Wifi signals. Trees are navigational hazards for rigs and require constant, costly maintenance. It is hard to grow grass under a canopy of trees, so you have mud sites. Trees also concentrate insects. Most parks have left the forested campgrounds to the forest service and government parks. Instead they plant and keep trees in stategic places for appearance, not necessarily shade.
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wildtoad
Blythewood, SC
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Exactly why I prefer the state parks here in SC. The ones I've visitied still have good shade trees. I have lttle interest in campgrounds that look like used rv lots.
And the real reason many private campgrounds look like parking lots? It's about how many sites you can get in the alloted land and as pointed out construction and maintenance costs. It's a business.
Tom Wilds
Blythewood, SC
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JayWalker2009
I'm not really a
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You are mostly going to find them in the older CG's, because as stated it takes a long time for shade trees to get big enough to do the job. And also as stated, today's construction standards is to take the path of least resistance and totally level off the lot (they do the same thing now with houses) and then put in the sites, plant a few piddly trees later. Back in the 80s and even 90s construction crews would leave a lot more grown trees up. Since that takes time, and time is money, they usually don't bother anymore. Newer subdivisions in my area are exactly the same way. The lots are now much smaller, the houses MUCH BIGGER, and NO trees. Just beautiful homes on piddly tiny lots without a bit of shade trees. When we were house hunting we just had to look at neighborhoods with construction from the 80s and 90s as the newer ones were all house, and no yard, no trees. THat to me is as important as the house. I just can't figure who would want to buy a million dollar home just to set it on a tiny lot that sits in the sun with no trees. Everyone around here seems to be a ten cent millionare buying big houses and not enough money to buy a beautiful lot that matches the home. I'd rather go wtih the modest house, nice yard.
I will not camp at a CG that is a big parking lot with lots blazing in the sun. I pass them on by. I'd just as soon dock at walmart if that did it for me.
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ANewCreation
VA
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So far, here in Virginia, every private CG and state park we have stayed at has been shady. I am like many others as I would not stay in a campground without trees/shade. Also, the landscape is different in different parts of the country and may be a reason for less trees in certain localities. Don't you guys in Iowa get a lot of toranados? That certainally can't help the tree population .
Hope others who camp in Iowa can help you out.
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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wildtoad wrote:Exactly why I prefer the state parks here in SC. The ones I've visitied still have good shade trees. I have lttle interest in campgrounds that look like used rv lots.
And the real reason many private campgrounds look like parking lots? It's about how many sites you can get in the alloted land and as pointed out construction and maintenance costs. It's a business.
Double ditto. If I want to be part of a sardine setup I'll camp at Walmart. Shade is definitely more important to us than wi-fi or television. We camp to be out in nature. If I want a cell or wi-fi signal, I'll walk to the playground or nearest spot. We're told we need to do more walking for our health anyway.
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.
Keep on rollin'!
Magnus
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