Going On A Camping Trip? 7 Places You Must Visit
One of the most exciting parts of camping is discovering new places. While it’s always nostalgic to keep going back to the same campsites year after year, especially if you’re traveling with young children, exploring a new place allows you to build new memories that will last a lifetime.
And who knows? You may find a new place that you want to return to every year. To help jumpstart your creativity, we’ve come up with a list of 9 places that you must visit on your next camping trip.
#1. Glacier Bay National Park In Alaska
We’ll start with a must-see that’s likely the furthest away— Glacier Bay National Park in Southeast Alaska. The national park is an impressive 3.3 million acres, with everything you could possibly want in a camping expedition.
There are mountains to climb, rainforests to hike through, and glaciers and fjords to view. The park is also an officially designated wilderness, recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations, and is a protected biosphere reserve.
Although the park itself only allows walk-in camping and luxury RV trailers are not permitted, there are plenty of places to park just outside the park.
#2. Cloudland State Park In Georgia
Cloudland State Park is located on the Northwest side of Georgia near both Tennessee and Alabama. The state park sits on Lookout Mountain and is full of deep canyons, waterfalls, sandstone cliffs, dense woodlands, and wild caves. Cloudland is perfect for anyone seeking an abundance of outdoor activities and recreation, with multiple hiking and biking trails. The park also offers horseback riding, disc golf courses, and opportunities for picnicking and sightseeing.
There are plenty of places to camp while visiting Cloudland State Park, including multiple walk-in campsites, rental cottages and yurts, and more than 70 RV friendly areas to stay overnight. Most of the RV sites have electrical and water hook-ups, and domestic pets are welcome.
#3. Starved Rock State Park In Illinois
One of the most must-see camping spots in the state of Illinois is likely not where you’d expect. Starved Rock State Park is in Utica, Illinois, which is about an hour and a half to the southwest of Chicago. The state park is known for its hiking trails, as well as outdoor recreational activities like fishing, boating, kayaking, and hunting. There are 18 canyons to see, surrounded by lush vegetation, and bald eagle viewing is possible all year round.
Camping in a travel trailer is welcomed, and Starved Rock has 129 different available campsites with cement pads to make the leveling process easier. All campsites have electrical access, and the park has dump stations, water hydrants, and shower houses. Same day camping is available, but making reservations is always recommended.
#4. Brown County State Park In Indiana
If fall leaves are your thing, there is no other place better in the country to see how amazing they can be than Brown County State Park in Nashville, Indiana. While the park is beautiful all year round, it’s especially stunning in the late summer and fall.
In addition to seeing the leaves, the state park has plenty of opportunities for both recreation and education. You can take a cave tour, go hiking or biking, see the scenery by horseback, practice archery, and enjoy a swim. Hunting and fishing are also available with a license.
A variety of different camping sites are available, from basic tent sites to RV sites with electrical hookups. You can even bring your horses! It’s a beautiful park to spend time in, and you can definitely spend multiple days without getting bored or doing the same thing twice.
#5. Lake Bistineau State Park In Louisiana
While Lake Bistineau State Park isn’t the largest of the state parks on this list, it is one of the most unique. The park features an upland mixed hardwood forest to roam around in, plenty of tupelo and cypress trees, and many outdoor activities. It’s also likely the best park on the list for fishing, attracting avid fishermen (and women) from January through the early fall due to the abundance of largemouth and yellow bass, catfish, bluegill, black crappie, and red-ear sunfish.
The park has five different hiking and walking trails and a huge disc golf course, as well.
You can camp at Lake Bistineau State Park, but the campsites do not have any hook-ups for water, sewer, and electricity, so it’s more of a boondocking experience. That’s the best part of a travel trailer, though. You can be off-grid for the weekend without having to give up many modern amenities, especially with your Bowlus, because our lithium batteries let you go off the grid for at least a week without a power hookup. and you’ll likely be spending so much time out in the park you’ll only be sleeping there anyway!
#6. Great Smoky Mountains National Park In North Carolina
You haven’t really seen all of the beauty and majesty that the world has to offer until you’ve seen Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which spans both parts of both North Carolina and Tennessee. The park is known for its incredible biodiversity of plant and animal life, which is part of what makes it the most visited national park in the country.
The park is full of things to do, enough to satisfy any camper’s wants and needs from a camping trip. The most popular activity, by far, is hiking. There are a lot of different trails to choose from, including trails that will take you by waterfalls, through the forest, and past breathtaking views. There are even kid-friendly trails!
There are plenty of campsites available in the area, and the options are wide, even in terms of where you can park your travel trailer. Who says you can’t have luxury in the woods?
#7. Yellowstone National Park
And finally… if you haven’t yet experienced Yellowstone National Park, it’s time.
Not only is Yellowstone the first official national park in the country, but it’s also one of the most well-known. Spanning multiple states, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, the park’s most popular attraction is Old Faithful, by far. But it has so much more to offer than just that.
While visiting, you can take a hike, go biking, enjoy a relaxing day of fishing and boating, or just explore the thermal basis. The park is a stunning reminder of just how powerful nature can be, and it often reduces people to speechlessness when they finally see it in person. Pictures just don’t do it justice.
There are 12 campgrounds at Yellowstone National Park, but not all of them are travel trailer friendly. There are seven sites that are accessible to RV campers, but many have length restrictions, so you should check first and reserve as far in advance as possible. Most sites have water and electric hookups.
In Conclusion…
The next time you head out on an adventure, try something new! Any of the spots we mentioned are perfect for discovering something new, and with your Bowlus travel trailer, you’ll be adventuring in comfort. With our signature heated floors, comfortable sleeping quarters, and spacious bathrooms, your home away from home will make your trips that much better. You’ll make memories to last a lifetime, and maybe find a place you’ll want to return to year after year!
Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/glba/index.htm
https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/havasupai.htm
https://www.havasupaireservations.com/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578
https://gastateparks.org/CloudlandCanyon/
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Pages/StarvedRock.aspx
https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2988.htm
https://www.lastateparks.com/parks-preserves/lake-bistineau-state-park