Customer Reviews

Moon Colorado Camping: The Complete Guide to Tent and RV Camping (Moon Outdoors)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Almost 500 campgrounds in Colorado, from the plugged-in to the primitive are rated by author, Sarah Ryan according to facilities, scenic beauty, and activities. Ryan manages to be practical, informative and thoroughly engaging. Take, for instance, the quote she gets from Rosy Lane camp host Ray Zimball on the cliffs full of mica that surround his campground: "on a full moon you could read a newspaper by the light." This book is a must for Colorado campers and an excellent gift for outdoor-types. The guide is absolutely up-to-date but so well-written that it will be cherished by campers for decades.

Moon books traditionally have been phenomenal. Not so much this one. We chose a campground that had the autor's "best" rating and a 7 out of 10 "scenic rating". Um. . .yea. Our spot looked out over the ever-lovely swamp. . .I mean "pond". . .to the gorgeous RV city (seriously, an RV parking lot) and the ever-stunning backdrop of forest that was entirely brown due to the beatle-kill. We drove around the campground thinking maybe we got unlucky and discovered ours was one of the nicer spots. Some of the sites litterally backed up to peoples back yards. Seriously, what's the point?

As you may know, Colorado's been badly affected by the beatle-kill which has had tremendous effect on the landscape in recent years. This book makes no mention of it and since I can't find a copywright on it, I can only assume it was written many years ago, though I still can't figure out how the RV city got such high ratings.

We've since checked out other campgrounds in person and I really can see no correlation between this author's ratings and reality. I guess we'll use this book to get phone numbers and directions to the places, but frankly, you're better off saving your money and using the web.

As indicated by other reviewers, the Moon Outdoors (previously Foghorn Outdoors) series of campground guides is not without flaws. Even so, we know of no directories which do a better job of addressing campground aesthetics than these wonderful guides. In our experience, the look and feel of a campground is often the single greatest factor influencing the quality of a camping experience . . . and the factor totally ignored by nearly all other campground guides.

There are a number of directories which rate facilities, provide directions, tell you how to make reservations and give you an idea of the cost for a night's stay in a specific campground. This series gives similar basic information and then goes beyond that. The Moon guides actually give you a feel of what it is like to stay in a specific campground - a bit of a narrative description and a "scenic beauty rating" for each campground plus information about nearby recreation opportunities. We like that a lot.

Have we found instances where we liked a campground more or less than the book's author? Of course. Tastes differ and things change over time. Even so, we would rather have an admittedly subjective rating of a campground's intangibles than to have nothing to go on but a recitation of facts and figures.

Are the Moon Outdoors Guides the only ones we carry? No. But they are ALWAYS the first place we turn when selecting a destination campground.

I've been very happy using this Moon guide to pick good places to camp this summer. The book is well-organized, with clear, honest, and up-to-date information about camping in Colorado. Best of all, author Sarah Ryan manages to convey the spirit of a place in concise and creative descriptions, with sentences like "The Gates of Lodore sounds and looks like a place out of Lord of the Rings." I've camped during summers in Colorado for over a decade, and I'm impressed with how accurately this book describes familiar places. And I've been particularly delighted with how helpful it's been in my search for hidden campground gems.

Save your money!!!!! We bought two books, and threw this one away. It seemed to be just a copy of someone else's work except for her scenic ratings which she added. Ugh!!! Wasted a weekend in one "scenic" spot which definitely was not!! Cannot believe she herself could have ever been there!! YOu will have what you need whether camping in a tent or RV with the Colorado's Campgrounds by Gil Folsom.

I love this book and refer to it often. This was the most up to date book back when I purchased it. Well put together, easy to find Campgrounds. I have recommeded this book to everyone in my RV Club and many are going out to get their own copy after using mine.