Save money and avoid crowds with off-season camping

author image

September 9, 2012

By Bob Difley

camping_off_seasonAlong with food and fuel, campground expenses rank among RVers top expenditures. So if you can take a big bite out of what you lay out for camping you have taken a big step in keeping total expenses manageable. One way to accomplish this is by taking advantage of off-season camping, which also has other advantages as well.
Following is #6 from my ebook, 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang From Your RV Lifestyle Buck, about off-season camping.
Why camp in the off season?

Camping in the off seasons offers a variety of advantages over prime time: you have fewer crowds to contend with, fewer rowdy neighbors staying up half the night drinking and talking loud around their campfire, fewer noisy children, a much quieter campground, more available campsites, more wildlife, and often prices are reduced. Weather is the biggest deterrent to camping in the off-season, but with the school year and not weather determining when the off season is, you can enjoy warm weather before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. And with proper planning your off season trips can be fun and enjoyable rather than uncomfortable.

How to find campgrounds that offer lower off-season prices

Off season camping fee policies change from year to year and state to state. So ask questions and check with authorities to find out the current policy. Some state parks offer reduced rates in the off season and/or during the quiet mid-week days ( for example Massachusetts off season camping).

Many desert campgrounds offer reduced rates before and after snowbird season. Some forest service campgrounds, after turning off the water supply for the winter and releasing their camp host, do not charge to camp. Ask at the forest service offices as these would be camp specific rather than a broad policy.

►Tip Keep notes in your campground book or journal on campgrounds that offer reduced off-season rates, you may not remember from season to season.

►Tip Offer your services to rangers in the off-season and often you can get a hosting or caretaking position—and free camping–out of the deal. Parks are strapped for money and many are not only willing but eager to trade out for work that their budgets don’t cover.

I want to thank all of you who purchased my ebook, 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang From Your RV Lifestyle Buck [Kindle version], which has now risen to the #2 seller in the Parks & Campgrounds Travel Reference section of Amazon.com.

For more RVing tips take a look at my Healthy RV Lifestyle website, where you will also find my ebooks: BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands (PDF or Kindle), 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang for your RV Lifestyle Buck (PDF or Kindle), and Snowbird Guide to Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts  (PDF or Kindle).

Leave a Reply

7 comments

  1. Barry & Monique Zander

    $3 HALF-PRICE SPECIAL — For one of the best off-season deals, take the “Loneliest Road in America” over nine mountain ranges and across 287 miles of Nevada to Great Basin National Park. http://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/camping.htm
    $12 a night, $6 with Golden Age/Golden Access passport, and when water is shut off, fees are reduced by half. But be ready for anything: We were relaxing in our folding lounge chairs one beautiful afternoon in early October when a dark cloud appeared. The temps dropped dramatically and a heavy snow began to fall. We had paid ahead for a week, but we bolted anyway for warmer conditions, sacrificing $7.50 in fees. Another episode of being the neverboredrvers.

  2. Hi guys & gals:
    We use membership type campgrounds to keep our site reserved and keep our costs low.
    Don’t forget used memberships listed in RV magazine ads.
    Just review these contracts before you buy. Many privileges, and many pitfalls.

    Happy Camping,
    Fred b.

  3. Old Man on Walkabout

    Washington state offers a $50, off season pass. Good Sept thru March at all state parks. If you don’t use Hook-ups, stay for free. With Water, Electricity, Sewer it is only $6 per night

  4. gebills

    Having obligations in the summer time leaves only pre-memorial day and post-labor day RV’ing available to DW and myself. We are relatively new (relative to many RV’ers) to RV’ing and really enjoy our RV in the off-season. Admitted, with current fuel prices, the fuel bill is a huge concern. This fall we plan on towing from Seattle to Iowa to visit relatives and hit a wedding, and then move back to the southwest or west coast area to try to catch a week or two to heat before returning back to the rainy northwest. We are picky about camping sights we end up in. I would rather end up in a Walmart parking lot or an interstate rest stop than a cocaine camp ground. We aren’t looking for the best of the best; we simply want a secure camp sight with water, sewer and electricity, in that order. Food costs are the least of our concerns with expenses. We are in our mid-60’s and don’t eat a great amount of meat any more We do focus more on good seafood and good produce. Our food costs are less that our camp sight costs that routinely range from $32 to $49 a night. Given the recent prices of diesel fuel, I shouldn’t need to tell you that this is the primary costs of our excursions. Our food costs, thank goodness, run from $10 (avg) to $25 a day; the lesser if we eat at the RV, and the higher if we eat one meal away from the RV. We thoroughly enjoy the RV lifestyle.

  5. Ted

    Funny, but I actually enjoy off-season camping more than summer camping. Don’t really care to sit by the fire when its 85 and humid. Kind of nice when its 60 degrees though. Nice sleeping too!

  6. catchesthewind

    George, You have a point but when you travel in an rv then food is a major expense unless you plan on long term fasting.

  7. George

    Okay, count fuel in as an RV expense, but you can’t include food. You have to eat whether you’re at home or in an RV.