Customer Reviews

Woodall's North American Campground Directory with CD, 2009 (Woodall's Campground Directory: North American Ed.)

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

 

 

Okay, make that two. I have used Woodall's for years. I have started only going with 4 W's or higher when checking the quality rating for a campground. 3's can be terrible. They need to double check the accuracy of reviews. Sometimes it seems a laundry list of facilities gets a high rating without any consideration for the condition of the campground.
Also, they need to include the actual address of the campground so that it can be plugged in to a navigation device. Get with the times!

The 2009 Woodall's North American Campground Directory is thicker and more informative than the 2006 version I replaced it with. But, I bought this latest version from Amazon primarily because of the free CD-ROM included in the book.

Unfortunately, the CD does not open on my Dell laptop. I just get the error message "Access Denied". I called a representative of Woodall's Technical Service Dept., but this representative did not have direct knowledge of this problem. The representative said that I would be put on a "list" should replacement CDs become available. The representative could not give me any shipping date. So........ 2 stars.

Update: Received a replacement CD from Woodall's in March and installed it without any problems. But it apparently had a virus in it which caused my laptop to freeze up after opening their database up. Uninstalled the Woodall's downloaded information, ran my antivirus software, quarantined the virus. Everything now runs OK. Received a second CD (unsolicited) in June, but I just shredded it. Guess I will just use the hard copy of the Woodall's campground information (Just like in the good old days!) The Woodall's online website works just fine (if you are camped at a place where you can get WIFI).

We bought this book thinking it was going to be full of great information. The fact that it came with a cd was a big thing for us too as we could load it into a laptop and access it this way as well.

What we found was a phonebook thick book full of advertisements...and I mean full...and very little original, accurate, or diverse information. For instance we loaded the cd and typed in the city, Brookings. It is a coastal town in Oregon(we are from Oregon and know the area). We looked for things of interest near the town within 25 miles and one thing came up...and it was a business that had paid to advertise their shop. It was not a thing of interest and believe me...there is much more than that to do around Brookings...which is a beautiful coastal town near many beaches and parks.

The majority of the information provided seems to be from places that pay to be there. We felt taken as the cost to us was 28.00...so we bought a book full of advertisments. Seems that this company sells it at both ends.

My advice...avoid this book unless you want to donate to the bank accounts of who ever owns this company...and buy "The Next Exit" and a good road atlas as well as a copy of the Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds, and Services Directory.
This Woodalls product is a rip off.

This is a good guide. The CD is really handy when planning the night before on your computer. But, I use a GPS all the time while traveling and the Woodalls does not always give the address of the RV Park to program into the GPS unit so we are left with using the written directions to find the RV Park. Woodall's - please add the real address of all the parks and also insert the GPS N and W coordinates location for each park. Geeez - move into the 20th century.
I also do not like the assembly of the states into the east west or however they did it. Alphabetical would be much easier for me.
I also would like a more definitive definition of whether wifi at each site means that it is included in the price or if you have to pay a lot more for it.

The industry standard just got better with an enclosed CD-ROM, easily searchable and with quick links to campground websites when available. Only downside to the CD is that you cannot print site listings. Maybe next year;>

While this book has lots of detailed information, I was disappointed that it lists the campgrounds under states in a regional format. I would have ordered a Trailer Life Directory instead. It just takes a bit more time to determine what region the state is in, then look it up.

My husband wanted this book as he has used it in previous years. We have a popup camper and wanted to know where all the campgrounds were located. Holy Wah! There is an information overload, but I'm sure you will find what you are looking for! It was the best price we could find online as well!