The short version
An RV park is a privately owned business built for RVs: paved or gravel pads, hookups at every site, often laundry and WiFi, and nightly, weekly, and monthly rates. A campground is a broader term that covers everything from a national forest loop with a vault toilet to a family-run lakeside park with tents, cabins, and RV sites mixed together. Most campgrounds are on public land or cater to tents as well as RVs; most RV parks do not take tents at all.
In the directory, listings are tagged as campgrounds, RV parks, or RV resorts based on how they are mapped and named, and you can filter any of them by hookups, pets, and rig size on the categories page.
RV parks
Think of a typical private RV park as a utility stop. Sites are close together (often 25 to 35 feet apart), the layout is a grid, and the value is in the infrastructure: 30 and 50 amp power, city water, sewer at the site, a dump station, a bathhouse, and a laundry room. Many sit near an interstate exit and earn their living on overnight traffic; others are in resort towns and fill with weekly guests. Rates run about $40 to $75 a night for full hookups in most of the country, higher near coasts and national parks.
Expect a mix of short-term travelers and long-term residents. A park where half the sites are monthly is not a red flag by itself, but read the reviews for atmosphere. Our guide on monthly RV park rates explains how that side of the business works.
Campgrounds
Campgrounds come in two main flavors:
- Public campgrounds run by state parks, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Army Corps of Engineers, or a county. Sites are larger and more private, with trees between you and the neighbor. Hookups range from none (most national park and forest loops) to water and electric (most state parks and Corps parks) to occasional full hookups. Prices are low: $10 to $30 without hookups, $20 to $45 with electric. Stay limits of 14 days are standard.
- Private campgrounds like KOA, Jellystone, and thousands of independents. These blend RV sites with tent sites and cabins, add a camp store, playground, and often a pool, and lean toward families. Rates overlap with RV parks, $40 to $90 depending on the amenity level.
Browse public options by agency: state parks, national parks, national forests, Corps of Engineers, and BLM.
RV resorts
"Resort" is not regulated, and some parks use it generously. A true RV resort has concrete pads, full hookups with 50 amp, a heated pool and hot tub, a clubhouse with planned activities, and often pickleball courts, a fitness room, a restaurant, or a golf course. Many are gated, most enforce rig age and appearance rules, and several in Florida and Arizona are age-restricted to 55 and over. Nightly rates are $75 to $150 in season, but the real market is monthly and seasonal: $900 to $2,500 a month depending on the state and time of year. Some resorts sell deeded lots, so a share of the "sites" are privately owned and rented back through the office.
If the listing says resort but the reviews mention gravel, a closed pool, and no clubhouse, it is an RV park with a marketing budget. The RV resorts hub lists parks named or mapped as resorts; check amenities on each listing.
Membership parks
Thousand Trails, Coast to Coast, Resort Parks International, and similar networks sell annual or lifetime memberships that give you "free" nights at their parks. The economics vary: a Thousand Trails Camping Pass for one zone costs a few hundred dollars a year and covers 14 to 21 day stays, with add-ons to remove the gap between stays. Members who camp 60-plus nights a year at network parks come out well ahead; occasional campers do not. Membership parks range from excellent to tired, and the good ones fill early with members who booked months out.
Separate from membership parks are discount clubs: Good Sam (10 percent at affiliated parks), Passport America (50 percent at participating parks, with blackout dates and stay limits), and Harvest Hosts (overnights at wineries, farms, and museums with no hookups). They are cheap and useful; see how much RV parks cost for the math.
Public vs private at a glance
| Public campground | Private RV park | RV resort | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nightly rate | $10 to $45 | $40 to $75 | $75 to $150 |
| Hookups | None to water and electric | Full, 30 and 50 amp | Full, 50 amp, cable |
| Site size | Large, private | Compact | Medium, landscaped |
| Max rig | Often 30 to 40 ft | 45 ft plus | 45 ft plus |
| Tents | Usually yes | Rarely | No |
| Stay limit | 14 days typical | None | None; monthly focus |
| Booking | Recreation.gov, ReserveAmerica, state systems | Direct | Direct, often months ahead |
| Best for | Scenery, budget | Transit, work stays | Snowbirds, long stays |
Which one fits your trip?
- Driving cross-country: private RV parks and KOA Journey locations near the interstate, with a Harvest Hosts night or two for variety.
- A week at a national park: a campground inside or next to the park if your rig fits, booked the day the window opens; a private park in the gateway town as the fallback.
- Working remotely from the road: a private park or resort with reliable power and WiFi, backed up by your own hotspot.
- Winter in the Sun Belt: an RV resort or a long-term BLM area like Quartzsite, depending on budget. See snowbird destinations.
- Weekend with kids: a state park with a lake or a Jellystone-style private campground, depending on whether you want quiet or a pool.
Frequently asked questions
Can I camp in a tent at an RV park?
Usually not. Most private RV parks are RV-only, sometimes for insurance reasons and sometimes because sites are gravel pads with no tent area. Private campgrounds and nearly all public campgrounds welcome tents. Use the tent camping filter in the directory to be sure.
Are RV resorts worth the extra cost?
For a stay of a month or more in winter, often yes: the monthly rate is a fraction of the nightly rate and the amenities and social calendar are the point. For a two-night stop, a resort is expensive infrastructure you will not use.
What does a campground without hookups mean for an RV?
You run on your batteries, propane, and fresh water tank, and use the campground's dump station or a nearby one on the way out. Most RVs manage three to five days this way before water or holding tanks become the limit. A generator or solar extends the electric side; public campgrounds restrict generator hours, typically to daytime only.
Is a KOA an RV park or a campground?
Both, depending on the location. KOA Journey parks are essentially RV parks aimed at overnight travelers, while KOA Holiday and KOA Resort parks are full-service campgrounds with tents, cabins, pools, and activities.