About AMERICAN CAMPGROUNDS

Welcome to our new blog site all about campgrounds we have discovered in the USA.  Very soon we will be posting blogs about over 30 campgrounds that we have either used or specifically checked out.   If these posts are not already up, please be watching for them.  We will post them as soon as they are ready and we will be editing as needed. Hopefully in the near future we will be adding pictures and maps. 

Nitsitapiisinni & Moe at White Oak CG - COE - Alabama
Just stopped for the night but want to return.

Pamela and I are full-timers.  We are residents of Montana and work as volunteers for the National Park Service at Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana from the first of May to the end of September.  After that we head south - everywhere, except Canada, is south of Glacier - and visit National Parks, National Forests, Corp of Engineers Rec Areas, State Parks and a host of other camping areas.

Pamela is a college biology professor, currently on disability, with a love for the outdoors. She not only has an expertise in things biologic but she's becoming quite an expert on the geology of our country. Pamela was a triathlete before severe arthritis ended her career with double-knee replacement.

Our vintage trailer, Willy at home in Glacier NP.

I'm Russell.  I'll be doing most of the writing with Pamela's oversight and approval.  I'm a retired psychotherapist who also loves the outdoors.  I used to do ultra trail runs -  runs and races of 40 miles or more on wilderness trails.  I stopped running trails when we moved to Montana because in the Rockies runners are just fast food for lions. But I also love hiking, climbing, biking, kayaking and even scuba diving in cold mountain lakes. After we started volunteering for the National Park Service I began my avocation, wildlife management.


We live in a 20 foot camper trailer with no slide-outs pulled by our Ram 1500 4x4, Mighty Moe, loaded with our toys. We started in a 16 foot, 35 year old vintage trailer named 'Willy', which we loved, but had to go bigger to get a walk-around bed that was necessary for medical reasons. Our current trailer, which we have named "Nitsitapiisinni" (Blackfeet for 'our way of life') and call "Sinni" for short, is a 2017 Springdale. We bought it in July of 2016 and have been very pleased with it. We decided that it would not only be fun but could be very helpful to other travelers if we were to share some of the very out-of-the-way places where we stop.  It just made sense that we include all campgrounds we visit and set up our campground reviews as a blog to make it easier for everyone.  We didn't hit the road this year until April because of Pamela's three surgeries but between the end of April and mid-December (2016) we have covered 8,902 miles and spent a total of $720 on campgrounds.

Watts Bridge Access, Idaho Fish & Wildlife - free camping
on the beautiful Salmon River 

One thing you will want to remember about us is that we prefer to be out in the woods, wilderness, on a beach, or anywhere except in a town or a commercial campground. There are lots of reviews of commercial campgrounds on the web if that's what you like.  We have nothing against having a concrete pad with full hookups, but we will not sacrifice the beauty of nature to have such things, nor will we pay excessive amounts of money for such conveniences.  We are probably happiest when we're simply stopped along a beautiful stream many miles from "civilization" without any amenities. It doesn't hurt that such places are either free or perhaps $5 a night.  Those of us who travel the west are aware that there are so many more beautiful places just to stop for a night than there are in the east. We have never stayed in a Walmart parking lot but we have stopped at Pilot stations where they often have a separate area for campers. We do this ONLY when we need to get from point A to point B quickly and don't have time to seek out a place like those we will be describing. We also have more free access areas and small national forest campgrounds in the west. BUT, those of you traveling the east have many more Corp of Engineer campgrounds. We have found these to be a treasure but they are almost all well away from heavily inhabited areas which is exactly what we like.

You must remember that we are going to rate these campgrounds according to things which we like or dislike.  We have tried to include enough comment and details for you to make an informed decision.

HAPPY TRAVELS!

Pamela Smith and Russell Vance