The Unofficial Guide to the Best RV and Tent Campgrounds in California and the West [Paperback]

Joel Grossman (Author), Christopher Brooks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2002 | Series: Unofficial Guides (Book 32)

The Unofficial Guide to the Best RV & Tent Campgrounds in California & the West features candid reviews and ratings of over 350 campgrounds in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah. It includes:

Detailed profiles and overall quality ratings of the best campgrounds for both RVers and tent campers
• Complete information on rates, hook-ups, and facilities
• Campgrounds rated for beauty, quiet, privacy, security, and amenities
• The only campground series with candid ratings for quality and value
• Easy-to-follow directions to each campground
• Tips on fun things to see and do near each campground
• Practical advice on RV repairs and maintenance

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the Publishers of The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World®

For Travelers Who Want More Than the Official Line!

Your Source for the Best Campgrounds in America:

• Honest, outspoken reviews
• Candid ratings for quality and value
• Each campground personally inspected by independent travel writers who do not solicit ads or take commissions
• Complete information on rates, hook-ups, and facilities
• Easy-to-follow driving directions
• Introductions to each state
• State road atlas for locating every campground

The Only Campground Series with:

• Star ratings for beauty, privacy, spaciousness, quiet, security, cleanliness, facilities–even insect control!
• Separate ratings for RV and tent sites
• Detailed, descriptive profiles of every campground
• Awards for the best campgrounds in every state
• Tips on fun things to see and do nearby
• The best sites within each campground
• Tips on nearby restaurants, markets, gas stations, and attractions

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764562568
• ISBN-13: 978-0764562563
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,512,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Listings But Poor Campground-Finding Tools, October 28, 2002

By 

D. Weisberg "kayak angler" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to the Best RV and Tent Campgrounds in California and the West (Paperback)

This book lists some great campgrounds. I would have given it a five-star rating, but unfortunately the book's locational tools are so poor that it's hard to find the campgrounds you want. Here are some examples:

We stayed at a recommended campground, Clear Lake State Park in California. The book's review was 100% on target, and it was a great place to camp.

But don't bother looking it up in the book's index because it's not there. Other state parks are in the index, so don't ask me why this one isn't.

Of course you can always use the book's map to locate all the campgrounds in a given area, right? Maybe not.

The book's map shows two black dots indicating campgrounds in the Clear Lake area at Kelseyville and Nice, towns near the campgrounds. I try to look up Kelseyville, but it's not listed. Eventually I find what I'm looking for under the nearby town of Lakeport (even though the address given in the listing is Kelseyville).

But that's just for starters. I was perusing the book after returning from our trip, and I noticed there was a campground listed under Middletown, a town we drove through on our way home. I missed this campground in my pre-trip research because the campground, Beaver Creek RV Park & Campground (p. 137), is omitted from the book's map. I know I'm not mistaken, because I looked it up and found it just south of Clear Lake using Tom Stienstra's book California Camping.

If I could find so many screw-ups in such a short period of time, I'm sure the book is loaded with them. On the other hand, the recommended site was excellent, and the information provided about it was accurate. I'm going to buy this book anyway, knowing that its poor campground-finding tools will make a lot more work for me and increase the risk of missing a campground within a given area.

Used in conjunction with Stienstra's California Camping, this book should help the reader pick the best campgrounds. For those looking for campgrounds located in the other covered states (Arizona, Nevada, Utah), this is still a worthy book worth your consideration. Or wait until the second edition comes out -- perhaps by then they'll have made the necessary improvements.