How important is a concrete parking pad?

[redbaron]

@redbaron ... Looks like Grizzly out in West Yellowstone to me? Will be there in September.

FLSteve

Yes it is. I paid for 3 sites. Lucky me

 

[Rollin Ollen]

I prefer the concrete but I won’t go out of my way for it. We prefer camping in places that have some privacy and don’t pack you in with hardly enough space to sit at the picnic table without being on top of the neighbor’s utilities. We prefer state parks and COE campgrounds. While it can sometime be difficult in a 45’, we manage. We park in SWFL for 6 months in the winter and then we are on the road for 6 months. I’ve accepted that the exterior of the coach is going to be filthy, whether from the drive or the rain water splashing while parked. Most places don’t allow us to wash the coach, but a few do and I appreciate that. I won’t let just anyone wash my coach. I left Reno last week and a Marathon coach pulled up next to us. The next day he had some local boy washing his coach to include the use of a scrub brush on a pole. The guy’s coach had many swirl scratches. Again, I’ll do it my self. I’m still capable and get some satisfaction from doing so.

I'm with you. I'll do it myself thank you even though it takes me about three hours.

 

[Underboss]

Prefer concrete but gravel is ok if need be. Dirt sites create more cleaning inside and not pleasurable if it rains

 

[lostinfla]

We've been in just about every scenario possible in our travels. From nice paver sites to mud that will devour jack pads. I prefer concrete if it's somewhat level, but one place we stay quite often is all grass. The area is mostly level and I really don't know how it doesn't get rutted from coaches parking there. Grass sure makes it cooler in the Florida heat compared to concrete, and there, there's no issue with dirt, just some grass clippings after they cut. One week from today we will start our 4 month trip for this year. I can't wait to be on the road again! (should be a good song title)

 

[Neal]

One benefit of a nice white concrete pad such as Angel Fire, NM is it helps you discover your leaks. I discovered both a leaking shower pan (water on the pad) and oil dripping. Later turned out to be a head gasket, under warranty thankfully.

 

[Wemustrv]

We primarily stay at state,county, Federal and Corp of Engineers campgrounds. We do not use RV Parks. With that in mind gravel and grass pads are ok, Cement is great but not a deal breaker, We typically put a big mat out wherever we camp no matter the surface.(picture below, it had been raining when we set up so we were letting it dry before putting out the mat.) We have a mat at the top of our stairs and shoes come off same as brick and mortar

 

[GlampDaddy]

First choice = concrete.

 

[Crazydog]

Guess we'll never see any of you people where we like to camp. Oh yeah we like to actually go camping instead of going fro rv park to rv park.
OMG!! There is so much dirt.

 

[BGMAC]

There has not been many times I was on concrete. The location and view are more important for us.

 

[John&Andrea]

The boss prefers concrete, gravel is fine to me.

 

[Jim]

First choice = concrete.

Yeah, me too!

 

[Boat Bum]

Guess we'll never see any of you people where we like to camp. Oh yeah we like to actually go camping instead of going fro rv park to rv park.
OMG!! There is so much dirt.

View attachment 29305

Said the guy pulling a small house behind him.

 

[Wemustrv]

Guess we'll never see any of you people where we like to camp. Oh yeah we like to actually go camping instead of going fro rv park to rv park.
OMG!! There is so much dirt.

View attachment 29305

Hopefully our paths will cross. We are similar.

 

[Rosy]

It wouldn't feel like camping to me on concrete. Everywhere we've stayed to date with our RV has been gravel. My family's lake lot is all grass obviously but we only tent there.

 

[Rollin Ollen]

It wouldn't feel like camping to me on concrete. Everywhere we've stayed to date with our RV has been gravel. My family's lake lot is all grass obviously but we only tent there.

I believe there may be a difference between "camping" and full time traveling. We, as full timers, are not looking to "get away for the weekend" or a yearly vacation. Back in the day, when we had kids with us, we didn't care what surface we parked on. Actually, dirt was preferable as we would rather "group camp" with our friends on Crown Land. The kids could yell, scream and holler and not bother other campers along with all the other activities. At the end of the outing, we would spend a couple of hours cleaning, restocking and generally getting ready for the next outing. That was expected as part of the package. Now, we travel to see what this continent has to offer. I would much rather not have to worry about keeping the rig clean. I have better things to do. I guess, in a nut shell, we don't "camp".