RV Park Rating – American RV Park (Murdo, SD)

A quick review of our 2-night stay in Murdo, South Dakota

No dedicated website, but you can link to phone info here: American RV Park

1. Site quality = 4/5
   This park has an upper and lower level. The upper levels are very nice pull-through concrete pads with full hook-ups (50 Amp/water/sewer), bench and slice of green but not a lot of shade. The lower level has dirt sites on a grassy area with some trees, but only partial hook-ups.
2. Facilities = 3/5
   The bathrooms here are decent, but a bit dated. The interior is basic concrete with smaller showers. The grasshoppers and humidity do tend to find their way in here.
3. Amenities = 2.5/5
   The main amenity here, if you would call it that, is a huge grassy area on the lower level where kids & dogs can play. The pool is empty and there’s nothing else in the way of “frills”. The park does have laundry and free WiFi which works perfectly so that’s a bonus. There’s also an attached bar/restaurant although the food is very average.
4. Location = 3/5
   The main attraction in Murdo is the Auto museum so as far as location goes you’re within a block of walking distance from that which is great. Other than that there’s not much going on in Murdo. The town is only ~6 blocks all around and surrounding area is farmland.
5. Pet friendliness = 4/5
   These guys are very pet friendly and the grassy area on the lower area is a great place for doggie to run around. There’s no hiking of any type close-by so that’s the only negative.

 Overall rating = 3.3
BONUS ALERT: Within walking distance of awesome Pioneer Auto Museum

Summary: Murdo is a small transit town on Interstate 90 that gets mostly through-traffic and people staying a single night. The park caters to that and is very simple. Sites are nice, there’s full hook-ups and the park grounds are well maintained but there’s not much in the way of extra’s. Apparently they used to have a Good Sam’s rating but lost it because the pool is unusable. The main bonus is a large grassy field on the lower level of the park where doggie, kids & adults can run wild. Also there is good WiFi. This is an attached bar/restaurant but I wouldn’t recommend the food. The stop is worth it mainly for the Auto museum next-door, but otherwise this is not a destination vacation. Fine for a one-nighter, but not much more.

View of full hookup site in upper level...concrete and level, but not much shade

Side-view of upper sites

View of lower-level sites

Another view of lower-level sites. These are not full hook-up

View of green field in lower level. Lots of space for doggie to play.

SP Campground Rating – Boyd Lake (Loveland, CO)

Before we go on with our gripping travel tales, just a quick review of the campsite we stayed at in Loveland, CO.

Link to campground here: Boyd Lake State Park

1. Site Quality = 4/5
   Very nice sites here. All are long, curved pull-though concrete pads and have electric hook-ups (20/30/50 Amp). Nice separation between campers with grass, bench and grill. Only small ding is that pads are a tad tight (width-wise) and not all sites have shade.
2. Facilities = 4.5/5
   Top marks for facilities here. There’s flush toilets, kept nicely clean and coin-operated showers with excellent pressure. Central dump station and potable water on-site too.
3. Location = 5/5
   The park is beautifully located right next to Boyd Lake with direct access to swimming beach, water, biking and hiking trails. There’s even a small store at the swim-beach, plus playgrounds and grilling areas at various points around the lake. You’re also just ~1 mile away from central Loveland and a quick 20-min jaunt from Fort Collins with all the shopping you’d ever need.
4. Pet Friendliness = 4.5/5
   The park is pet friendly and there’s miles of hiking around the lake to walk doggie. Only slight ding…you can’t (officially) let fido swim in the lake.

Overall Rating = 4.5
BONUS ALERT = An oasis of green and water right next to Loveland

Summary: We were pleasantly surprised by this gem of a park. It was just meant as a place to park for our 2-day stopover while we serviced the RV, but we ended up loving the place. Located ~1 mile from Loveland, it’s beautifully situated next to a large lake (only 5 mins walk from any campsite) and surrounded by miles of hiking and biking trails. All the sites are level, concrete and have the bonus of electric hook-up. We were able to sit at our campsite and watch the sun set over the lake while Polly played in the grass. If we come through here again, we’ll definitely stay longer.

Extra Info: AT&T cellphone and Verizon wireless card both worked here. Sites $20/night, but you also need to pay $7/night for Park Entrance fee. 148 sites, reservable online.

Typical campsite. Curved concrete pad with bench & grill

View of our site at the end of Loop D

View of the loop opposite our site

Hiking/biking trails next to the lake

Early colors of sunset over the lake (view from the RV)

SP Campground Rating – Green River (Green River, UT)

Well finally getting to the last of our Utah posts. This campground was a stop-over on our drive from Capitol Reef area to Colorado. It’s a State Park so I’ll rate it using the same system we outlined for National Forests a few posts back. Here ya go…

Link to campground here: Green River State Park 

1. Site Quality = 4/5
   All the sites are nice quality here. They’re all paved with fire-pit, grill and bench, plus most sites have shade (a big plus in a hot area). Lots of grassy areas in-between each site and all are pretty nicely spaced. A few of the East-facing sites have views of the golf course, albeit less shade over there. The only negative is that sites are a tad on narrow side, so it was a bit of a squeeze to get the old 40-footer in there.
2. Facilities = 5/5
   Good facilities here. Flushing toilets and even hot showers (for free!). The showers are on a timer and very powerful, but not much of an inconvenience there. Central dump station and potable water.
3. Location = 3/5
   Green River is kind of an odd-job location. The town is the only real civilization on ~100 miles of empty, dry road on Hwy 70. There’s really not much here except the town and the golf course, plus a few, small-town shops and one Museum (The Powell Museum). The rest of the town is fairly run-down, but the State Park itself is green and pretty. It’s very popular on the week-ends as the one green spot in an otherwise very dry area.
4. Pet Friendliness = 4/5
   This is a pooch-friendly area, and there’s plenty of greens and grass for doggie inside the park, but just not much of an area to walk them elsewhere. The surrounding golf-course (which surrounds the entire park) is not accessible to dogs and neither is the river (officially) or the lakes. So, you either walk the dog inside the park or on the street.

Overall Rating = 4
BONUS ALERT = Green grass and water in an otherwise very, very dry area on Hwy 70

Summary: Green River is a convenient stop-over location along the very dry section of Hwy 70. The park itself is green with access to the river so it’s used by many local families and boaters. Overall it’s a pretty park, and a bonus for those who like to golf. There’s not too much else around this area so I’m not sure I’d stay long-term here, but I would definitely recommend it as a stop-over. If you need hook-ups the cross-the-road A-OK park offers full hook-ups for almost the same price as the State Park.

Extra Info: AT&T Cellphone and Verizon wireless cards both worked here. $16/night. This park gets popular so I’d recommend to book-ahead on-line. No hookups.

Shaded site on West side of campground

View along back from site #32

Unshaded are on East side around site #20

View across golf-course from East side

Polly "unofficially" plays on Green River in early AM

RV Park Rating – Palm Canyon (Borrego Springs, CA)

Following on with the Park Rating system we invented here, we’re travelling on in time from the first park we stayed at to the second. Palm Canyon is located right next to Anza Borrego State Park and we passed 2 weeks in this gorgeous location. Here’s the low-down… 

Link to the park here: Palm Canyon Resort 

1. Site quality = 3/5
   This is a basic, sandy desert and these are basic desert sandy sites. Sparse shade, except in the back row of the park but even then it’s a stretch. There are pull thru and back-in sites. The pull-thrus sites are nice and long with 50A and 30A available, but a bit close together so you’ll be tight with your neighbours when it’s full. Cable TV available. Table at each site.
2. Facilities = 3.5/5
   Clean and spacious with very large showers but nothing fancy.
3. Amenities = 3/5
   Pool, laundry and cutsy little restaurant/bar, but no WiFi at the sites (only in hotel = it’s free, but you need to walk over there)
4. Location = 5/5
   Less than 1 mile from the Anza Borrego Nation Park entrance. Also, side of the park is right next to a desert area with literally miles of trails and hill hiking where nary a soul will distrub your peace. So, you can literally fall out your RV and into the desert. Also, very near the town of Borrego Springs which has all your basic needs but no major stores. Great Farmer’s market on Fridays AM’s.
5. Pet friendliness = 5/5
   Very relaxed about pets, even being off-leash. Tons of space to walk your dog next to the park.

Overall Rating = 3.5
BONUS ALERT: walk from your RV to Desert hiking trails 

Summary: This is a pretty basic RV park but you’re coming for the desert and you just can’t beat the location. This park puts you right in the middle of the desert experience with miles of hiking right out the steps of your rig. During wildflower season you’re literally in the middle of the blooms, and you simply can’t get any closer to Anza Borrego Park. If all this is too much civilization there is a lot of boondocking nearby (Peg Leg is a popular location). Oh, and only come here in the winter months, It gets way over 100F in the summer and the town practically shuts down. 

For more posts on Borrego Springs see here:
Peg Leg Smith Liars Contest
The Great Sonoran Desert 

The Palm Canyon Resort Restaurant/Bar

 

View of RV sites..great when it's empty, but a little tight when full. That's Anza Borrego Park in the background.

 

The "dog run" literally crawling distance from the RV site. Miles and miles of hiking and no-one seems to go there.