Camping America's Guide to Free and Low-Cost Campgrounds: Includes Campgrounds $12 and Under in the United States Paperback – April 15, 2014

WOW!! This guide paid for itself the first night out. My husband and I, and our two dogs just returned after 5800 miles in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and back to SW Washington where we live. We were in our wonderful Alpenlite 22' fifth wheel trailer that my husband has done a complete Solar power installation following the directions on "Handy Bob's blog". We never ran out of power and we use a coffee maker, TV, computer, Vita-Mix blender, small electric iron, curling iron and stereo system, not to mention recharging phones, cameras and Kindle during the day. Please check out Handy Bob if you are considering installing Solar in your RV. His directions and suggestions REALLY WORK and the cost is a fraction of what you would pay to have it done by a pro. We found wonderful places to stay in this book and had a ball planning where to stop next. Not many seem to know about these places, some of them National Forests, BLM and also The Corps of Engineers properties. Some of them are without power and water but if you are self contained and have Solar this isn't a problem at all. There are good directions to each place, the costs are what are stated and if you intend to save $$ while traveling, this book is a must have!!. A great book for theRV or tent traveler and we highly recommend this book.

A 3.5 star rating would be more accurate, I think. Worthwhile book to have if you look to camp inexpensively on a few occasions, or regularly. However, I wrote this review to point out some features -- mostly the shortcomings.The book covers 44 states. Most notable missing is New York State. Each State section is preceded by a State map, numbered with the places detailed in the text. Some of these maps are frustrating to read. Most notable: Arkansas (South), and CA (all State sections), are almost impossible to use. The identified places on the map have numbers (a black circle filled in, with a white number inside the black circle) that are very small and blurry -- nearly impossible to read in some cases. The previous edition has this same problem. There are a couple of instances where, if the maps were oriented differently (e.g., in a landscape orientation) it could have been presented larger and (hopefully) easier to use. States that have fewer places have large, easy to read numbers. Perhaps more of a challenge to the publisher/editor, but the maps in these cases should have been further split up into sections to increase the size of the numbers.Lastly, the placing of the numbers on the map is sometimes 'off' in the sense that they really aren't where they belong. Not far from their proper location; just not quite 'right.' This can be misleading or the user might 'miss' a place since it wasn't marked where they are or planning to go.Although really not a problem, it should be noted that several of the maps have a different numbering appearance. Usually the places are identified with a black circle with a white number inside. On some maps, this is not the system.The text is very small -- fine print. Sort of the size you'd expect footnotes to be written, in some books. Nonetheless, the text is crisp, clear, and easy to read. I know some of these places do not have a direct phone number, but many do in fact have direct phone numbers (e.g., to specific State parks). The book does not list any phone numbers for individual entries. There are general phone numbers for some places at the beginning of each State section.There are a few instances where, directions given to the location are inaccurate. So the best course would be to use a second source or GPS to compare or find the camping area. Having and using a smartphone (where you can get a signal) is the wise way to verify the camping location.It is still a publication worth having, as noted above, if your goal is to camp inexpensively as an ongoing travel mode. Descriptions are reliable in general (except as noted above), although places do change (pricing, availability, amenities, services, etc.) what with some funding cut backs. The book is light weight (approx 1.5 pounds), considering it is almost 1.5 inches thick. Pages a very thin. They have a 'newspaper page' quality to them and are pale grey, not white. The book is easy to carry and transport while traveling.

This book helps find $12 or less campgrounds

OK, we bought this book and then embarked on a two-month long 'The Great American Road-trip' vacation.From WA. state to Maine, to the deep-south, to AZ., and back north.I give this book an 'Average' rating for the following reasons:Negatives:1) The book seems to have been written by 2nd-Hand info, contributed by past campers. I realize that the info can not possibly be written by a single author, having been at every single campsite ... And info to any one campsite is kind of 'ify' at best. '5 miles to XXXX' may really mean 10 miles and if there is an 'advertised' price ... For the most part, add an extra $5-10.00 ...Not that big of a deal, because the campground may very well be a WHOLE lot cheaper than, say, a KOA ... And in a few cases a whole lot BETTER ... But, if the book says '$XX.00' for camping ... Don't count on it.2) The map(s) completely suck. Absolutely UN-freekin-readable. The states are just kinda' a grey blob, with no roads marked, and it really makes it hard to figure out exactly where the hell you are.. When you're looking at numbered 'spots' on a map ... But the map is just a blobish print-out from a laser printer that is running out of toner? Useless.C'mon guys ... You can print out something better than what you have printed. Seriously. Do better.Positives:1) As the book advertises itself, it will pay for itself after the first 1-2 times you use it to find a great campsite.We actually found several campsites, that were not only FREE ... But were so off the beaten path, they turned out to be 'GEMS' and I'd go back there in a heart-beat..2) Price was right. Hard to say 'no' when you only pay $15.00 for it ... Much less than the cost of one stay at a KOA..