What brings RVing tourists to your neck of the woods?

[eubank]

I'm not that tip-of-the-tongue geographically literate, so I wanted to ask you to contribute to a little survey: What brings RVing tourists to your neck of the woods?
The "What" of the question can be pretty much anything that brings RVers in: An event, a landscape, an activity, a cultural thing, whathaveyou.

"Neck of the woods" can be understood as a state or a province, but, as usual, such borders often fail to capture the essence of the what.
So I'll start, and I'll call my neck of the woods the New Mexico Area:

NEW MEXICO AREA

• Balloon Fiesta
• Santa Fe / Taos culture
• Bosque del Apache (fall, winter, spring)
• Native America: Current stuff (e.g., the Pow-Wow)
• Native America: Historical, pueblos, etc.
• White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns

That's all I can think of at the moment that really brings people with RVs into the area (though I'm almost certain to have forgotten something!). What about your area?


Lynn

[masseyfarm]

Good question Lynn.

I can say one thing that does not bring RVrs to an area is community bylaws that forbid RV parking at all available parking lots in the area. If one is not familiar with the area, you usually like to look around and visit the local park and museums which are generally located downtown. Without adequate parking, or with numerous signs posted against RV parking, it tends to move you on to the next community that might be more interested in your money. Most small communities are RV friendly and things usually go downhill from there in direct proportion to the bureaucracy of the local council.

One of the the most friendly States we have visited is South Dakota and they do cater to the traveling RV community.

Dave

[eubank]

That's not really what I'm thinking of, Dave. It's more about identifying the main RVing tourist attractions and/or events for different parts of the continent!

Lynn

[SteveSueMac]

What a great thread!


I'm going to have to study more but living in CT, clearly the 2 casinos bring in a lot of RV traffic. There are many campsites near the casinos and intended more for parking to get to the casino as opposed to actually camping :-)

There's a campground called Strawberry Park in Preston that is really sort of the equivalent of the Manhattan of campgrounds. While there is plenty of space between sites, there are TONS of sites, TONS of activities and a "hum" at night of all those folks really enjoying one another's company.

There's Mystic, CT with its aquariums, shipyards and of course, Mystic Pizza of the Julia Roberts movie fame.

Then there's Gilette Castle in East Haddam. Originally the home (mansion) of William Gillette who was an actor known for his role as Sherlock Holmes on the stage.

There's Mark Twain's house in Hartford.

The Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the New England Air Museum at Bradley Airport, the Science Center, Discovery Place and Planetarium in Hartford, and lots more...

And just north of us is the Berkshires in MA - beautiful on their own and of course Tanglewood is a huge draw whether the attraction is the BSO or James Taylor. Northampton, MA is a vibrant college town with great restaurants, music and people watching - all with campsites close by.

These are some top of mind attractions. I'll have to think some more about this. Great thread!!

[eubank]

Cool stuff! Keep it up!

Lynn

[noreen&sal]

I can drive exactly 28 miles from my house to Jersey Shore Haven. I will pass at least 15 parks on this drive, and they all charge high prices. It must be the beaches. lots of our neighbors to the north. I would bet that this area has more RV parks per square mile than lots of others. Sal

[DanB]

Northern Ohio:
- Cedar Point
- Lake Erie Islands
- Cleveland, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Museums, Theaters, but not the Browns
- Walleye
- LaGrange Airstream Park

[TBRich]

ARIZONA
Winter SW Sunbelt Weather (of course)
The Grand Canyon
AZ High Country around Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks

The NE Quadrant including:
Monument Valley
Painted Desert
Petrified Forest
Meteor Crater
Navajo Reservation
Canyon de Chelly

Multiple Historic Native American Ruins

Native American Culture (20+ Tribes, Nations, Communities) including:
Navajo
Hopi
Apache
Yavapai
Hualalai
Havasupai
Pascua Yaqui
Tohono O'odham

Sedona and the Redrock Country
Mogollon Rim/White Mts (with lots of camping options)
Extensive State Park System (with a lot of camping options)
National Forests (with lots of camping options)

National Monuments, including:
Saguaro National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument
Organ Pipe National Monument
Sunset Volcano National Monument

Lower Colorado River Corridor (AZ/CA border) including:
Lake Mead Recreation
Lake Havasu Recreation

Winter Skiing:
Snow Bowl (Flagstaff)
White Mts
Mt Lemmon (Tucson)

Easy Access to Mexico

[OldVwHunters]

The Ninety foot peace sign. Mostly just the RV Hippies though.

[m.hony]

Nothing here, but 35 miles up the road- beautiful campgrounds and great fishing- crappie tournaments-

[Protagonist]

Mardi Gras.
Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Fantastic restaurants.
Being able to legally walk around with a beer in your hand, as long as it's in a plasric cup.

[eubank]

Super duper! Keep the pedal on the metal!

Lynn

[PA BAMBI II]

RVers come to our area for:

• The local Amish Community
• Outlet shopping
• Antiquing
• Strasburg Railroad (Strasburg is my hometown and I LOVE trains!)- Thomas weeks are rough on us locals!
• Dutch Wonderland amusement park
• Turkey Hill Dairy Experience
• Small town America...

[lewster]

South West Florida in Winter:

3 things………weather, weather and ………WEATHER!

Oregon's Columbia Gorge area in Summer:

Wine, weather (a very windy place for kite boarding and windsurfing), hiking, waterfalls, Mt. Hood (year round skiing at Timberline Lodge), cycling (mountain and road), whitewater rafting and kayaking, excellent fishing, boating….the list goes on and on………………………..

[mojo]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Mardi Gras.
Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Fantastic restaurants.
Being able to legally walk around with a beer in your hand, as long as it's in a plasric cup.

A plasric cup?

I think you have been spending too much time plasterdic in the Quarter!

[mstephens]

Mount Jacinto about 10,000 right up from the valley floor. Take aerial tram.

GOLF! We have about 65 courses within 30 miles of my house.

Tennis. There are big tennis clubs

Hot Weather in the summer, very warm weather in the winter.

Anza Borrego State Park - desert, sculptures, landscape

Salton Sea - fishing, camping

Joshua Tree National Park - 30 miles or so

Sunnylands Estate - world summit meeting place

Palm Springs resort area

Casinos galore

Humongous outlet mall - 30 miles away

Windmill Farm with 5800 windmills

Mount Palomar 200 inch telescope (50 miles or so)

BIg Bear Lake

Idylwild resort area

Lots more. Generally we get many thousands of snow birds here.

[RangerJay]

Holy smoke - Northwestern Ontario - there is a LOT:

- serious wilderness
- great scenery
- stunning sunsets
- best canoeing on the globe
- fabulous fishing
- hardly anybody here ....

Welcome to Quetico Provincial Park
Sunset Country, Ontario, Canada - Fishing, Hunting, the Great Outdoors!

You're welcome to come and join us - but don't tell anyone else .....


Jay

[Wingeezer]

Mayor Rob Ford? (Jus' Kiddin')

Our home in Burlington is pretty much a bedroom community of Toronto.

Brian

[Beer Snob]

It's all about the water out here on the eastern tip of Long Island. The beach, fishing, boating, surfing, paddling, beach bonfires. There are amazing places to eat and drink and in summer you can't go a full day without seeing some celeb, if that's what you're into. Winter is for winterizing....antifreeze in the airstream and porters and stouts in the owners.

[HiHoAgRV]

Military parks, Casinos, the Natchez Trace, the Delta and Blues.