RoadSchoolLibrarian

Our site was over $100 (slightly under with Good Sam discount) because it had unobstructed views of the tower and it was Sturgis week, so presumably paid a premium for timing, too. For that $$, I expected some kind of decent customer service, but it was not so.

Our first slap in the face was that the pool was out of order. When I protested that I didn't get any kind of an alert or warning about that when I booked or since then, the staff member said that it has been unavailable for THREE years and that she doesn't have any opening date, but that there was a pop-up message on the web site that stated that the opening date for the pool had been pushed back. (Three years?) After three years, the amenity of a pool should NOT be listed on the KOA web site. One of the main reasons I was splurging on a KOA was to let my child have a zero-day of pool fun with other kids.

Second, the electrical hookup did not work for me. I tried to call the after-hours number, but it was not in service! This became an even bigger problem when it was apparent that no one shut off the VERY LOUD film that plays every night, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which was on repeat for the entire night. Since we were in site V1, right next to where the movie plays, it kept my 10 year old from falling asleep for a long time. Again, it would have been helpful if the after-hours number printed on the welcome brochure/map worked, but calling it just gave the "The number you have dialed is not in service at this time." So we had to put up with that noise all night.

When the front office opened in the morning and I let them know that we had trouble sleeping because the film was playing all night, they blamed it on other guests, saying someone who watched the film should have turned it off using a button on the wall after it was finished. She offered no apology or any kind of empathy.

I give the place a couple of stars for having clean bathrooms and for its location. The breakfast in the attached restaurant was good, and the restaurant staff was friendly and nice. But camp staff really soured the experience for us, as if expecting an advertised pool to be in service or to be able to sleep without a movie blaring all night is an unreasonable expectation.

Stayed during Spring Break week in a Class B camper van for 3 nights. This is the most expensive campground we’ve ever stayed at (by more than double) and we were willing to pay a premium because we were meeting family from another state who were going to stay in one of the tiny houses, and we thought we would splurge on a nice riverfront site for a gathering place. Overall, we really liked some aspects of the campground and weren’t impressed with others.

Pros:
- great location in the quiet town of Townsend, close to Cades Cove
- the very nice pool was (surprisingly!) open in April so my 9 year old was thrilled to be able to swim
- the mix of different types of guest housing was nice
- excellent laundry room with seating area
- nice common areas such as covered pavilion near pool
- nice food truck one day
- quiet guests in RV A loop

Cons:
- very crowded, RV sites very close together
- weird layout of diagonal sites on water, with no clear boundaries between sites. On one side, the RV next to us set up chairs and cornhole right behind the rear doors of our van, blocking our river view. On the other side, the black tank hose of the RV next to us was literally 3 feet behind us as we set next to the fire pit (which was a nice fire pit…except for the view of the clear elbow of their black hose)
- bathrooms were a nice (fancy) design but every time I went in to the main women’s room near the pool, all but one toilets were clogged (with poop) and there were no hand towels in the basket. When I reported it to the front desk, I had to wait nearly 10 minutes in line as they took incoming calls and dealt with other guest concerns. Just seemed understaffed
- couldn’t really hear the River at night in the riverside sites…the road noise was always louder

Overall, I might stay here again for the benefit of the quiet town, proximity to GSMNP, pool, and chance to stay with non-RVers, but despite the high-end finishes of Little Arrow’s facilities, the crowdedness and perhaps inadequate staffing made it feel not worth the high end price.

If I could, I would start a business where this forest road meets the highway, renting ATV's to people to drive the 9 miles up to the Granite Hot Springs pool, waterfall, and campground. Alas, no such business exists. So my main recommendation is DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ROAD if you're in a camper van with normal clearance or anything that is a low clearance vehicle. 4 wheel drive and high clearance is the only way I would ever do this again, and even so, I'd still be worried about wrecking the suspension on it.

Believe the reviewer before me. As they said, we hoped the road would get better, but no, it got worse. Way, way, way worse. So much worse. The potholes were SO deep (and completely filled with water) that I had to send my son into the road to step in them so I could tell whether I was going to bottom out my generator. The 9 mile road was probably closer to 18 miles on my odometer because I had to zig zag across the road, from one side to another, in a vain attempt to avoid the potholes.

Imagine, if you will, slicing open an English muffin, toasting it, and using it as the model for your road surface. There were more potholes than roads.

One mistake we made, and I cannot blame USFS for it, is that we used the built-in navigation in our van to guide us to the Granite Hot Springs pool, and it was WILDLY wrong. Like the reviewer below, I considered bailing after one mile, but I kept thinking it couldn't possibly get worse, and by the time I was 2 miles in, I figured I was halfway there because the nav told me I had only 2.5 more miles to go. At this point, I knew there was no chance I was going to risk camping here because a steady drizzle had started and could continue off and on overnight, so adding inches more deep mud to the massive ruts and potholes was seriously risking me getting stuck on this road with no cell service. But I had come that far, and I really wanted to try the first hot springs of my life, so I forged ahead, telling myself that I was more than halfway there and would be rewarded with a blissful soak.

Unfortunately, when we reached the point where my navigation system said the pool would be, there was nothing there, and no room anywhere to turn around -- there were drop-offs on one side of the road, and there was no way I was going to do a 26-point turn and risk sliding off the road in mud. So on we continued, figuring the pool had to be just around the corner, just over the next rise, almost there, almost there. Well, no. It was another FIVE MILES. At some point, I reached some kind of a fugue state fueled by spite and stubbornness, where I was just gripping the steering wheel. determined to get to the pool come hell or high water (both of which were in the potholes).

It took 90 minutes to drive those 9.5 miles. 90 minutes. And when we finally reached the parking lot for the pool, it was teeming rain and we had to walk a quarter mile in mud from the parking lot to the pool. Now, in fairness, the experience of the hot springs pool was really cool. But it was NOT worth the damage I might have done to my van, and it was absolutely not worth the 3 hour slog up and back through a rutted, muddy, English muffin road.

Since I bailed on driving beyond the pool to more dispersed camping sites, I can't review the sites themselves, but If you are reading this and STILL want to try going up to the hot springs pool, do NOT take the right fork in the road where you see the hot springs waterfall. Both forks will get you up to the pool parking lot. The left fork is actually a fairly decent stretch of road (we took it on the way down) but the right fork has the deepest ruts I've ever driven over...they were crevasses, really, with treacherous big sharp stones sticking up 7-8 inches above the mud. I made it to the top, barely, but I would never, ever do it again without high clearance, 4 wheel drive, off-road tires, and traction boards.

In the end, we did enjoy the soak in the hot springs. It's a quirky, weird place, and the water was just right. We walked down to the falls, too, where you can also soak in a small pool on the opposite side of the creek. But my enjoyment of what should have been a relaxing soak was ruined by my terror at the prospect of haivng to drive back down that road. I apologized profusely to my van the whole way down. I feel like I owe my van money. I know this is wordy, but you have been warned. I was warned by the Campendium reviewer before me, but I didn't want to believe it could have been that bad, since so many other reviews were great, and it's an extraordinarily beautiful area. But it is THAT BAD. You have been warned. Twice.

We found ourselves near Marathon after a brief a hard freeze in January. Our camper van was nearly out of propane, and the only propane supplier in Terlingua, TX near Big Bend was out of propane entirely, so we had to take an unplanned drive to Alpine just before closing time at a propane place there. Not wanting to drive back to Big Bend NP in the dark, we landed at Marathon Motel & RV Park for a one-night stay with electrical hookups so that we could use our electric space heater as backup during the cold night.

Paying only $20/night with our Passport America discount, I didn't expect much from Marathon Motel & RV Park, but we were delighted when we pulled up in the dark to see the retro neon Motel/TV sign, the funky colored lighting, the beautifully lit adobe courtyard, and all of the small adobe houses. The staff member at the desk was friendly and check in was a breeze. We got site 3 in the lower (30 amp) section next to the courtyard, facing the road. Road noise was not a problem at all, even with our camper van pop top up. The sites were less than half full, and everyone kept their lights off because this is a Dark Sky community. The sky was spectacular at night. Overall, the place was very welcoming and warm at night and didn't feel at all desolate or creepy, which is how it appeared in some photos.

There were some guests enjoying music (not too loud) and a fire in the courtyard area that night, but no noise reached our site. It was a bit of a walk to the bathrooms and showers, which were closer to the 50 amp section of the property.

The only negative I'd mention, as others have, is the fact that there are only two bathrooms/showers for all the RVers. That was fine at night when we arrived, but there WAS a line of 3 men waiting to use the single men's bathroom/shower in the morning---since anyone needing the toilet would need to wait for anyone using the shower-- and that really was a bit of a crisis for my kid, who *really* needed to go, but since I was the only woman, I snuck him into the women's side. (Since they are single rooms, I don't really understand the need to separate by sex, anyway.) The bathroom did have quite a bit of water on the floor from the shower, but otherwise was clean.

All in all, it was a very pleasant one night stay, far exceeding our expectations given the very reasonable (PA discount) price.

Visiting Theodore Roosevelt NP, but Cottonwood Campground in the NP was fully booked, and we were put off by the crowdedness and parking lot feel of the private Medora Campground (plus the price!!!!) so we decided to try our luck on a Saturday night and then again on a Monday night at this first come, first served campground just 7 miles from Medora west on I-94. Arriving around sunset the first night, we were delighted to find a handful of sites still available on a Saturday evening. We came back again on Monday night after returning from a day and night up at the North unit of TRNP and were delighted again that many sites were available after dark.

SItes are spacious and include a fire ring and large picnic table. (Both picnic tables were a bit strange, with a standard sized bench on one side and then an oversized bench on the other side and longer table.) We had a great short hike up to the highest viewing point for a sunset on Saturday night. Bathrooms were clean - looks like they're cleaned daily - and the showers were great: warm water and clean, and I think there was even heated air in the shower for getting dressed afterward.

Did not notice any noise at all from the Interstate, and we had our windows open all night. Fellow campers were quiet. My son enjoyed riding his bike through the paved campground loops.

We didn't try the dump station but they do have a good potable water station. Paid $20 cash each night in envelopes at the fee paying station.

Got one bar of AT&T, but it would intermittenly go to no bars and SOS on my iPhone. No t-Mobile access. Several sites without tree cover would have been fine for Starlink, but most sites have ample shade and room.

We enjoyed our stay at Guadalupe River SP, so much so that we extended for an extra day. We would have preferred to stay in the 30amp section of the campground, but the reservation system says there is a 20' limit. Our 21' Class B van would likely have been fine in any of the spaces, but we followed the rules and stayed in the 50amp section. Site 49 was large and level, in easy walking distance to the very nice (and very clean) bathrooms. We really liked that the showers were separate and private. They had great pressure and hot water. The 50amp electric posts had 30amp outlet as well as 50.

My best memory here will be seeing my first armadillo, right in front of our campsite! Nights were very quiet. We did get weak (1 and 2 bar) signals for both AT&T and TMobile without a booster.

This was a decent location for both Lyndon Johnson National Historical Park and San Antonio Missions Historical Site.

Site 23 was nothing to write home about, but Many Glacier as a whole was so spectacularly beautiful that I'd bump up a 3-star site to 5 stars just because it's so amazing to be in this blow-your-mind-beautiful section of the park. We saw a grizzly bear & black bear on the way in.

After being in more remote campgrounds in Glacier for several days, it was nice to be a close walk from our site to "civilization", the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, which actually had free Wifi if you have AT&T for mobile service. (The regular free WiFi there is just for guests of the inn, but you luck out with a fast AT&T free wifi connection there.) Food at the restaurant there was ambitiously priced, but convenient.

Highly recommend the boat tour from Many Glacier Hotel. We did not have reservations on a really beautiful, sunny summer weekday, but we got onto a boat on standby. The short hike to Grinnell Lake was easy and the lake itself was spectacular (and not too cold in August for a child to paddle in.)

The only downside for access is that (as of August 2023) the road to Many Glacier has many miles of dirt road in really bad condition - potholes and miles of washboard. In my Class B van, I had to go VERY slowly as it seemed like the road was going to shake our cabinets off the wall. Once we got beyond that section of road, though, it was okay.

Site 98 was not direct waterfront, but it was close to level and within view of beautiful mountains and just 50 yards from the water. Bathrooms were clean, and this is the first time I've seen a bathroom that had a separate area to dump a cassette toilet, which is great. No showers, but we drove into East Glacier to Brownie's to do laundry and get a hot shower for $7. My 10 year old son LOVED the campfire circle talk about mountain goats at the Two Medicine campfire circle.

We had terrible weather here - first wildfire smoke, and the next day gloom, rain, and then a deluge - but we still enjoyed the place. We took the boat ride to the other side of Two Medicine and hiked up to Twin Falls in the pouring rain. Still fun. Thanks to a ranger for the warnings about the hydrologic outlet and weather event.

We saw a black bear on the mountain one morning and another black bear close to us on the road out of the campground. Mountain goats walked right into our campsite several times.

There is a great campground store near the Two Medicine boat dock. The boat ride is well worth the price, especially if you get a nice day. The hike to Twin Falls on the other side was easy.

Absolutely loved camping in the Oceanside Campground at Assateague Island National Seashore. I stayed in late April for 3 nights in site 25, and then again for 1 night in early May on a different weekend in site 35.

Site 25 was in many ways the worst of all in the 2nd loop of the Oceanside Campground, but we enjoyed it anyway. It runs parallel to the beach rather than as a diagonal back-in site, so the sand dunes blow straight across the vehicle spot and have encroached on the site. The actual space for a trailer or a camper is quite small. We just barely fit in with a 21' camper van and a small car for my guest who was joining us...her car was literally a foot or so out of the site itself into the road. Nevertheless, in a camper van we still enjoyed Site 25, as my pop-top had visibility beyond the dunes to the beach itself. The site had a fire ring with grill (which we didn't use - too windy) and an oversized picnic table, but there was not much level ground on the site for spreading out things like an extra tent or a screen room.

While we were there, we scoped out all the sites and decided #35 would be best, as the current sand dune condition means that our pop-top could see over the dunes and to the actual crashing waves. When we saw a one-night cancellation on Recreation.gov in May, we snagged it immediately and enjoyed an absolutely spectacular overnight stay in site 35, loving every minute of the easy walk to the beach and the sunrise view of the ocean from the poptop. The sound of crashing waves as you fall asleep is amazing. Site 35 is level and VERY wide, so there is plenty of space to spread out chairs and set up tents or a screen room (though the wind isn't great for that). The site has a fire ring with grill rack and an oversized picnic table.

This campground loop had vault toilets and outdoor (cold) showers. Just outside the loop was the dump station and water.

We drove through the Bayside loops and thought those were nice sites, too, especially because many had water views from the sites themselves, but we vastly preferred the sounds of the crashing waves and the easy walk over the dune to the beautiful, nearly deserted oceanfront.

The absolute best part of the stay were the 3x daily visits from the wild horses to the campground. During our May visit, we got to see a foal that had just been born a few days earlier, awkwardly toddling and exploring with its Mama and others in the band of horses. Just magical. The only thing that marred the delight of the wild horse visits was the fact that many campers IGNORED the abundant "A Fed Horse is a Dead Horse" warnings and were far more concerned about taking video/selfies than securing their food, so we saw several picnic tables being raided by horses while campers just filmed and let them scavenge among the human food. A disgrace, given that you have to sign an agreement to lock away your food in your vehicle when you register for the site. The horses typically meander slowly throughout the campground, so there is no excuse for not putting away all food if you see them coming.

Bring your bikes to enjoy riding along the wide bike lane of the main park road. You can ride up to the Visitor Center or over to the state park. Exhibits at the visitor center are interesting and the Junior Ranger program was okay. There were special desks for Junior Rangers, a unique touch.

There are many stores in National Park gateway towns that call themselves General Stores, but are really just gift shops with a junk food aisle and cold drinks. This is a legit General Store, with fresh food (including fresh whole milk and heavy whipping cream), real meat (not processed stuff), fresh bread, and other staples. It also has sundries, household items, basic hardware, and a variety of things you'd expect from a real general store. You'll pay more for food here than you would at a major grocery store, but there are no grocery stores near here, and there are many other stores that call themselves general stores that don't take the risk of stocking fresh food. I happily paid more here to support a local business that clearly serves locals in need of healthy food.