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Old 01-28-2014, 07:49 PM   #1
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Campground Guides

Do people use hard copy campground guide books these days or is it all on the internet?
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Old 01-28-2014, 08:25 PM   #2
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Hard copy is the only way. Wi-Fi is not always there when you need it .
I got maps in my door pocket for almost every Province and State in North America.Don't leave home with out them. And there a good read. I study maps and points of intrest days in advance, but thats my way of keeping the trip intresting and fun..
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Old 01-28-2014, 08:35 PM   #3
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I too have a large collection of hard-copy maps, but when it comes to campground books, I'll pass.
A friend gave me a copy of Woodall's when I got the trailer. It was almost the size and weight of a phone book, and for all that, contained little useful information. In fact, it was a phone book. Just a list of addresses and phone numbers.
And you need your reading glasses and a magnifying glass, the type was so small.
I never actually used it to locate any campground.
I'll use the web to look up campgrounds in an area, but even then, the reviews are suspect.
Best resource is the members of this forum.
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Old 01-28-2014, 08:57 PM   #4
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Ah yes , pulling over in a rest area getting out the glasses and some times the mag glass sounds familar. But you have to wait for the wife to take the dog for a pee brake and then it 's game on. Mind, you only got 90 seconds to get the job done....
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Old 01-28-2014, 09:27 PM   #5
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Couldn't live without our Rand McNally road atlas and the Allstays app (along with several other apps) we have a gps but it has taken us astray several times.
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Old 01-28-2014, 09:33 PM   #6
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I've added a laptop and DeLorme Streets Atlas USA 2014 for my travels. I plan on being flexible on my trips and feel that I want to advance from the atlas "technology" used when I traveled cross country 39 years ago. Figuring that wi-fi will not be available from my kind of campsite, I'll be able to plan my trips as I go.
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Old 01-28-2014, 09:39 PM   #7
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I use these all the time for planning
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Old 01-28-2014, 10:03 PM   #8
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We very recently got a TomTom for the car. At 7 PM On my drive home from Denver recently I asked Tom to direct me to the nearest Cabelas where I could safely boondock. Knew vaguely where the store was because I spotted it from the road on my way up. But to TomTom Cabelas did not exist as any kind of point of interest. Then I missed a bear-left turn on I-25 where it goes from 6 lanes to 3, and ended up in Lone Tree, but found a Barnes and Noble with Starbucks.

Black coffee in hand, I lap-topped onto Google Maps, got my directions to Cabelas, (on Cabelas Drive). Back in the car just to see, I tried and failed with Tom again, this time with having a specific street address! Guess what, the store was in Lone Tree 2 miles away!

OK so maybe Tom's map program was older than this new store and a new road. Once home I immediately went online to get my free TomTom map upgrade. No lie, my computer required 5+ hours to download it, then another hour and a half to copy it to the GPS device.

Moral of story? Why take a chance. Keep your paper maps.
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Old 01-28-2014, 11:00 PM   #9
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Check out Topo Maps for the iPhone and iPad. I believe it's $9.95, but once purchased you have access to all the 7.5 minute quadrant topi maps in the U.S., and their counterparts in Canada. Download just the quadrants you need, and they stay on your phone or tablet. You can set pins, label locations, get GPS coordinates, calculate distances, etc. And, you can enlarge the maps just as you do a photo, to zoom in. They'll show features not seen on a lot of commercial maps or travel books. Great accessory if you hike or bike.
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Old 01-29-2014, 12:28 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthe View Post
Do people use hard copy campground guide books these days or is it all on the internet?
We often use the internet as a source, but also carry campsite books and maps for the states we are visiting as well. Neither is perfect, and some books are better than others. I like the Moon camping guide for the states that they cover, but as with many, they don't always list them all.

We have been surprised both negatively and positively on numerous occasions, but what the hey, that's part of the adventure and fun. 8)
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Old 01-29-2014, 07:54 AM   #11
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Tim and/or Julie -- So I hate to sound dumb, but is that an app for your phone that you displayed? I don't have a smart phone yet (Terry does) so I need step by step guidance here. It looks like what we need. In the past we had the telephone size Woodalls but if we downloaded the campground guides then it wouldn't matter if we had wifi.
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Old 01-29-2014, 08:29 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by santacruzer View Post
Check out Topo Maps for the iPhone and iPad. I believe it's $9.95, but once purchased you have access to all the 7.5 minute quadrant topi maps in the U.S., and their counterparts in Canada. Download just the quadrants you need, and they stay on your phone or tablet. You can set pins, label locations, get GPS coordinates, calculate distances, etc. And, you can enlarge the maps just as you do a photo, to zoom in. They'll show features not seen on a lot of commercial maps or travel books. Great accessory if you hike or bike.
Bob, the Topo Maps are scans of USGS and NRC maps and do not necessarily show the latest roads and highways. Have you had any issues with the accuracy of these maps?

On a side note, I wonder if the owner of Topo Maps is infringing on any copywrites by scanning and selling the USGS or NRC maps?
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Old 01-29-2014, 08:31 AM   #13
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I like to take along a roadmap for the areas we are headed too. It is nice to lay a map out on a table to look at while planning, as it gives a better, broader perspective.

But beyond that, we prefer the electronic methods, much easier to use on the fly, whether it is the car GPS, or maps on the phone or tablet. We do not take much for pamphlets, as all that info and more is available online, and easier to find too.

Here are a few apps I use on my phone. Some more than others. There are still way better apps online, but I bet all the phone apps will only continue to improve.

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Old 01-29-2014, 08:55 AM   #14
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The new Rand McNally gps for rv's Amazon.com: Rand McNally RVND 7720 7-Inch RV GPS with Free Lifetime Maps: GPS & Navigation
has built in weather for your route so you can plan accordingly. Also it has lifetime maps, updates and good sam accommodations. One more nice thing, it also has veterinarians for those with pets.
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Old 01-29-2014, 10:27 AM   #15
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Bob, the Topo Maps are scans of USGS and NRC maps and do not necessarily show the latest roads and highways. Have you had any issues with the accuracy of these maps?

On a side note, I wonder if the owner of Topo Maps is infringing on any copywrites by scanning and selling the USGS or NRC maps?
Most of the topos scanned are older and, yes there are accuracy issues with roads and highways. Their value, at least to me, is that they do show some older roads and jeep trails, and buildings that may or may not still be in existence. And, of course, the topographical features are important. There are also issues where areas overlap...contours don't always line up at the edges, for example.

There's no US copyright issue with government documents such as this. USGS stopped printing paper versions of them several years ago, and I know backpackers and others scrambled to get paper maps while they lasted, I being one.
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Old 01-29-2014, 10:41 AM   #16
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For paper, I use the AAA sectional versions of Woodalls book. I much preferred their older Campbooks, but they have discontinued them.

While I sometimes use my GPS's campground listings, I find it pretty unreliable, often sending me to trailer parks, closed campgrounds, etc. Much prefer apps on my iPhone. If I was only going to have one app it would be AllStays Camp & RV. It provides a map of the area you are in that shows the different types of campgrounds. You can also scroll it to any other location. It has filters so you can choose what type of campground you are looking for.

Additional apps I use include CampWhere (no longer available) for non commercial campgrounds, and RVParkReviews to check on what others think of the campgrounds I'm interested in. While I haven't used it, I've seen good reviews for the RV Parky app.
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:23 AM   #17
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Jon - thanks for the tip on the AllStays app - it looks like a good one.

Slightly off topic (one of my specialities) a GPS app that I love is MotionX GPS app. If you love to hike or bike it is an amazing help. When have cell coverage it will constantly download topo maps of where you are, or if you know you will be in an area with no good cell coverage, you can download the maps to your phone via either WIFI or cell before you set out. After using it for a while, I sold my Garmin handheld (with a user interface I could never get used to), as the MotionX app is very user friendly.
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Old 01-29-2014, 12:06 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthe View Post
Tim and/or Julie -- So I hate to sound dumb, but is that an app for your phone that you displayed? I don't have a smart phone yet (Terry does) so I need step by step guidance here. It looks like what we need. In the past we had the telephone size Woodalls but if we downloaded the campground guides then it wouldn't matter if we had wifi.
Yes, I had posted a screen shot from my iPhone but the main app, Allstays is available for computers as well. I use this app mostly for planning. I put in a location of where I am going and then look around for the type and kind of campground I am looking for. I will often go to the site for the campground and read the reviews. We then write them down so we don't have to rely on the phone to re-access the data. Allstays keeps up to date a lot so we find it reliable for campgrounds that are open, etc. The filter is nice for screening out types of campgrounds that you don't want. The others I have listed are also used, but Allstays is our "go to" app. If we are not near Wi-Fi then I turn on my cell data and use that to check to see what is available. Still, nothing replaces paper. A good road map or atlas is essential we have found and it shows campgrounds in the area that are public, state or national but not the private.
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Old 01-29-2014, 12:40 PM   #19
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So it sounds like the Allstay app plus detailed maps (we already have a pretty good Atlas) plus maybe the Moon guide books could be a plan. And it looks like Good Sam campground guides is free on the internet.
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Old 01-29-2014, 01:16 PM   #20
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So it sounds like the Allstay app plus detailed maps (we already have a pretty good Atlas) plus maybe the Moon guide books could be a plan. And it looks like Good Sam campground guides is free on the internet.
Allstay is the best of the bunch, for sure.

Make sure you take pictures on your trip to the moon to share with us too.
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