While the long-time reader might know that I tend to camp at state parks or national parks (including US Army Corps of Engineers sites), every so often, I spend a night at a KOA campground. Why? There’s a few reasons…
Location
When I’m planning a route, I can usually find campgrounds along the way pretty easily. I prefer to drive 150 miles between campgrounds, on average, but sometimes, there just isn’t a public campground at my preferred distance. For example, I wanted to go from Hartwell, Georgia to Huntsville, Alabama this past week. I ended up choosing to stay at a KOA in Murphy, NC, which was about 120 miles from Hartwell and 200 miles from Georgia. Nothing else really fit; I’d end up having a really short transit the first day (75 miles or so) and then a really long transit the second day (230 miles). Location is probably the #1 reason I stay at a KOA campground.
Fun fact: To get from Murphy, NC to Huntsville, AL last week, I went through Tennessee, then Georgia, then Tennessee again before I made it into the state of Alabama. The roads followed mountain passes; state borders did not!
Convenience
There are a few things about a KOA that are very reliable: hot showers, laundry facilities, and level sites that mean I don’t have to unhitch for a one-night stay. That last one saves me time the next morning because I don’t have to hitch up before I go; I just pull up the stabilizers, plug in the 7-pin, and go. When I’m tired after a long driving day, pulling into a level site and doing as little as possible is sometimes the best thing ever. KOA campgrounds also have free wifi, which is always a treat. Even if they ask you not to stream videos, I can at least update my website and download some app upgrades.
Safety
A few times, I’ve landed at a public campground and not felt comfortable enough to stay more than one night. Either the vibe from other campers felt off, or I had zero cell signal, or – in one case – both those things. The KOA makes sure their affiliated campgrounds are welcoming, clean, and safe, and sometimes that really matters. As a solo traveler, safety for me is a lot about trusting my gut when something feels off and then taking whatever actions I need to feel safe and secure.
Price
Yeah, KOAs usually aren’t cheap, but when there are a ton of campgrounds clustered around an attraction, the KOA might actually be reasonably priced. One place I can think of where this is true is Virginia Beach, VA. If you get shut out of the state park, there’s a pretty nice KOA across town that will do and it was cheaper (and nicer) than most of the other private campgrounds
No Other Options
I was staying at a state park near Santa Cruz a few years ago when they closed the campground due to bad weather coming in. I literally had nowhere else to go at that point, so I ended up at the KOA about 10 miles down the road. It wasn’t cheap but it did mean I could stay in the area to finish visiting with friends and also not have to drive too far in bad weather. I did three nights at the KOA before the state park opened back up, the rare occasion when I didn’t just do a one-night stand.
So…
I keep my options open when I’m looking for campgrounds along a route. I stay most often at state parks because they are usually clean, low-cost, and have electric hookups, something I appreciate more every year. But sometimes, a one-night stand at a KOA just works. It’s like eating at McDonalds in a strange city or country: you know what you’re going to get and sometimes that predictability is exactly what you need.
I don’t do a lot of research, exactly, but I’m constantly wandering through the world finding things incredible and remembering them.
Nick Harkaway
Ad a kid we traveled in a pickup camper across the country every summer. We stayed at lots of KOAs in the 60s, probably because of laundry facilities and a pool.
A quick one and done… and enough hooks for a family of eight.
It has enough hooks to keep everything dry for one person 🙂