Topic: May Road trip

[Rd5]

Hey all,

Are there any Oregon and California folks in here?

I've been planning a road trip down to Cali and Arizona to take place in May. I have 3 weeks to play with and taking the whole family (Wife, son-5 and daughter-4).

Does anyone know any free or cheap campgrounds in Oregon, California and Arizona? I've been looking at campground rates in California and they ain't cheap. I mean most I've seen are upwards of $24.00!!! 

We are planning on doing some Hotel-ing in Sacramento (visiting her family), San Diego (for the Zoo), Flagstaff (for day trips to the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater), Vegas...well, because its Vegas and perhaps on the way back, somewhere in Souther Oregon (hoping to see Crater lake).

Still would like to do mostly camping/tenting since it is cheaper and I want to give the kids the experience so they can learn to love it as much as I do. So, any suggestions on FREE or CHEAP campgrounds would be extremely helpful.

Route - I5 to Oregon then West to the gold-coast HWY, starting at Lincoln City. Following the coast until Eureka where we'll head inland to take in the Redwood forest and re-join the I5 to head to Sacramento. We'll stay at Sacramento for about three days/nights then head to San Diego, possibly stopping at Anaheim...then again, maybe not. Once at san Diego, we'll, again, stay for about three days/nights and check out the Zoo and other near-by attractions. From there, we'll head East toward Flagstaff where, we'll stay for about three days/nights and take day trips to the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater.

These are the most important parts of the trip...I'd rather spend more time on this and less time on the rest of the trip (the way back) but to me, the journey is as important as the destination so if anyone has any recommendations on important sites or cheap campgrounds which won't add massive amounts of travel time, I'd appreciate it greatly!

I have a few road-tips planned for the next three years, Vancouver-Fairbanks and back (to visit my brother), BC and Alberta and the most ambitious being a cross Canada trip to Halifax, returning via the Southern states, including Louisiana, Florida, Texas and a few nice parks including Yellowstone, Klamath Falls, etc.

I really want the kids to have a good time and see lots of interesting stuff...before they get into HS when they'll no longer want to be with ol' dad... 

[teacherman]

My dad has been going to California for the last 3 winters, and he said the campground rates hit the roof this year. One other thing he mentioned was quite a few of the campgrounds were closed this year compared to other years down there.

[mwyhui]

Have you tried this:
http://www.totalescape.com/active/campstuff/cmpdest.html

[08specbsubie]

Sounds like its going to be an awesome road trip. Ive done the coast to san diego from Vancouver and it was amazing stayed in lots of nice campgrounds but yes alittle pricey but look what you pay these day to camp in banff with park fee fire permits and campsite.
I highly reccommend the wild animal park in sd I was all pumped for the zoo and not too impressed.
Have a great trip

[Rd5]

My dad has been going to California for the last 3 winters, and he said the campground rates hit the roof this year. One other thing he mentioned was quite a few of the campgrounds were closed this year compared to other years down there.

recession...it hits everyone and everything...

[Rd5]

Have you tried this:
http://www.totalescape.com/active/campstuff/cmpdest.html

Tried it, found the site a bit difficult to navigate, especially since I don't know the camp's names in relation to their location. I'll try it again when I have a bit more time, searching the route for names that pop up at the site...

Also, most of the sites there, I have to pre-book and with a wife that prefers staying at hotels and young kids...well, not sure about making it everywhere I book, on time...


Lastly, most of those sites are the $20-27/day sites.

Good resource none-the less. Thank you

[Rd5]

Sounds like its going to be an awesome road trip. Ive done the coast to san diego from Vancouver and it was amazing stayed in lots of nice campgrounds but yes alittle pricey but look what you pay these day to camp in banff with park fee fire permits and campsite.
I highly reccommend the wild animal park in sd I was all pumped for the zoo and not too impressed.
Have a great trip

It should be...for our honeymoon, we drove from Vancouver to Mexico, staying in Reno, Vegas, Flagstaff, SD, then driving north through SF and up the coast past Eureka to Lincoln City.

I think the wild animal park is a great idea, thank you. Can you still drive your own car through or does one have to sit in a shuttle?

I remember going there with my parents in their car, when I was little ...back then it was still called the SD African Safari 

I too was not impresed with the  SD Zoo. Couldn't see most of the animals like the big cats...they were all hiding.