CANYON VIEW RV PARK, SPANISH FORK, UTAH

Our Opinion: Neutral.  Quiet, easily accessed and inexpensive.

Date of Stay: September 26 and 27, 2010.

Weather During Stay:  Hot days, cool and windy nights.

Site Description:  This is a paved parking lot for RV’s on the edge of a pretty, green, municipal park.  Each of the 24 sites has a shared electric box (two 30-amp plugs) and water spigot at the back of the site. No sewer connections, but there is a dump on-site.

Sites are reasonably spacious, backing up to a bit of grass and thick tree cover with picnic tables.  The only restrooms are down the hill, through the trees, in the day use picnic area, so this park works best for self-contained RV’s.

The parking area has two sections.  Sites 1-10 are farthest to the west, and the dump station is also located there, at the farthest end of the parking area - a very awkward location if site 1 was in use.  Sites 1-8 are best for big rigs, but we saw a big motor home parked in the first area (sites 11-24), too.

Rate: $12/night for 30 amp E and W.  Fill out an envelope and pay the iron ranger.

Phone/radio/TV:  Strong Verizon signal for phones and aircard.  No obstacles for the roof-mounted satellite TV dish.  No cable TV here, and we didn’t try the antenna.  Local NPR from Salt Lake City on 91.1.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: Spanish Fork is at 4,500 ft, at the foot of some VERY DRY mountains.  The green of the grass and trees of this municipal park were very welcome.

Lighting/noise:  Very dark and quiet at night.

Favorite Sites:  Big rigs should go into the second parking area where the sites are a bit longer.  We’d avoid site 1 because of the placement of the dump station.

Hiking/Walking:  You can stroll through the park (down the hill, through the trees behind the campsites), but we didn’t find any easily accessed long walks/hikes.

Comments:  This park was about ¼ full when we visited.  Good bargain.  Grocery shopping within a couple of miles (back towards I-15).  Odel paid $20 to play 18 holes at the golf course that surrounds the park.  We would stop again if we wanted to overnight in the area.

FORT HALL CASINO RV PARK, FORT HALL, IDAHO (POCATELLO AREA)

Our Opinion: Neutral.  Made a good overnight stop just off I-15 near Pocatello.

Date of Stay: September 25, 2010.

Weather During Stay:  Warm, dry afternoon and a cool evening.

Site Description:  The 40+/- sites in this tidy casino campground are all pull-throughs, all reasonably long, and all narrow.  All have FHU with 20/30/50 amps. 

Roads and sites are paved, with the pavement just barely wide enough for a rig.  With the exception of 6 or 7 sites on the far end of the campground, sites are separated from each other by a 4 or 5 foot wide strip of grass, over which slides and awnings extend.  Very tight!  

Between the inadequate width of the sites and the odd placement of the utilities, it would be quite uncomfortable to be sandwiched between close neighbors.

Onsite restrooms with showers, and a large expanse of green lawn for recreational use.  If you drive a big rig, beware of the A row of sites (the first row as you enter the park) - the turn at the end of the row to exit is too right for a large rig, requiring you to back out of your site or drive against the traffic pattern.

Rate:  $20/night for FHU.  Pay the cashier in the miserably smoky casino.

Phone/radio/TV:  Strong Verizon signal for phones and aircard.  No obstacles for the roof-mounted satellite TV dish in most sites (except those behind the single clump of large trees).  No cable TV here, and we didn’t try the antenna.  Local NPR from Pocatello on 91.1.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: Located at around 4,400 ft, with plenty of green grass and many recently planted smaller trees, the park is fairly visually appealing.  Views are of the casino, the adjacent service station, and dry countryside.

Lighting/noise:  Reasonably dark at night.  Noise from nearby I-15, but not overwhelming.

Favorite Sites:  Half a dozen of the sites in the back of the park had much larger grassy areas dividing them from their neighbors, so would be far superior when/if the park was full.

Hiking/Walking:  Nothing pleasant.

Comments:  We wanted to stop early in the day and visit the Costco in Pocatello.  Too hot to dry camp (which is allowed for one night in the gravel lot behind the service station), this park, not half full, worked well for us.  Very convenient access to I-15, but far enough away that the traffic noise was not annoying.

JUNIPER CAMPGROUND, RIRIE, IDAHO

Our Opinion: Recommend, if you want to get away from it all - nothing much around here.

Date of Stay: September 22 through 24, 2010.

Weather During Stay:  Balmy fall days and cool nights; very windy afternoons and evenings.

Site Description:  What a mix of sites!  The campground, with a large reservoir on one side and agricultural fields on the other, consists of 2 paved loops with 40+ paved sites and a grassy area for tents.  Perhaps a third of the sites have a large enough flat spot for a big rig - the rest (mostly back-ins) are either too short or two sloped for big rigs. 

The utilities are also a mix.  Most sites are FHU, with at least 20/30 amps, but several sites have 50 amps.  Some of the developed, paved sites have no utilities at all, and one has 30 amps and water, no sewer.

Sites are very spacious, and each site has a concrete picnic table and a large fire ring.  Well-watered and manicured grass surrounds all of the sites, dotted with appealing juniper trees.  Each loop has a restroom, and the picnic table has its own.

Rate:  $18/night for FHU, $16/night with a Golden Age Pass.  $10/night for tent sites. 14 day limit.

Phone/radio/TV:  Strong Verizon signal for phones and aircard.  No obstacles for the roof-mounted satellite TV dish.  No cable TV here, and we didn’t try the antenna.  Local NPR from Rexburg on 100.5.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: Located at around 4,900 ft., this park feels very remote (nearest town, tiny Ririe, is 4 miles away).  The irrigated grass is very appealing.  Local views are of grass, junipers, and neighboring rigs; distant views are of open agricultural fields and big skies.

Lighting/noise:  Very dark at night - the only lighting came from inside the restrooms.  Very quiet when we visited (but the park was virtually empty).

Favorite Sites:  These are the sites that will accommodate a big rig reasonably well, mostly pull-outs but a few are backins:
50 amps - A8, A20, B3, B6, B10, B13 (our site), B15, B17, B19, B20
30 amps - A14 (no sewer), A17, A23, A25, A26, B4, B12
No HU: A10 and A12, both quite private with great water views.

Hiking/Walking:  Walking the campground loops is pleasant, and some primitive trails wind through the undeveloped area of the park.

Comments:  This park was almost empty when we camped here, a few days after the “close of the season”.  The nearest grocery store is 20 miles away in Idaho Falls, so bring food with you!  We were told the place fills up in summer, especially on weekends, so reservations are a good idea.  Locals come here to picnic, boat, swim.

GROS VENTRE CAMPGROUND, GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING

Our Opinion: Recommend.  No hookups, just a pretty campground in a gorgeous national park.

Date of Stay: September 16 through 21, 2010.  This is our second stay - the first was in June of 2004 and nothing appears to have changed.

Weather During Stay:  Mild fall weather: mostly sunny days in the 70’s and cool nights.  

Site Description:  Located at the south end of Grand Teton National Park, Gros Ventre Campground has over 300 sites, arranged in seven loops and along the “main road” that ties the loops together.  Just one of the loops has utilities, and it houses national park employees and volunteers – no campers. 

None of the remaining 6 loops have utilities, and three of the loops do not allow generators.  At the time of this visit, generator use was allowed in loops A, C, and D, and in sites along the main road linking the loops. 

Each loop has two bathrooms with flush toilets (no showers), a water faucet, and a bear-proof trash container.  A dump station is located at the park entrance/exit, with potable water.

Loop roads are narrow and paved.  Sites are mostly level and graveled, all back-ins of varying sizes.  Many small sites, many medium sites, and far fewer sites for big rigs.  VERY few sites to accommodate rigs over 40 feet.  All sites have a heavy picnic table and a fire ring, and spaces are backed by cement and log barricades.  To allow our rear end to hang over the barricade (so our front end was off the road), we set the jacks manually WITHOUT dumping the air suspension.  It was obvious many diesel motor homes had taken the same precaution to avoid fiberglass damage on the barricade.

Rate: $20/night, $10/night with a Golden Age pass.  No reservations; all sites are first come, first served.  This is one of the last campgrounds in the park to fill, and frequently doesn’t fill.

Phone/radio/TV:  Verizon phones and aircard worked without a booster or amplifier.  Our satellite TV dish was able to find a signal through the trees.  We didn’t bother trying the air antenna.  Local NPR on 90.3.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: Located around 6,500 ft., this flat campground is a very short walk from the Gros Ventre River.  Very tall deciduous trees throughout the campground provide shade and obstacles for satellite dishes.  Views are of you neighbors, the tall trees, distant hills, and the occasional moose.

Lighting/noise:  VERY dark and quiet at night!  Each bathroom is lit by inside lights and a few dim outdoor lights, so not a problem.

Favorite Sites:  We were in site 147, barely long enough for us.  No real favorites here, though we preferred Loop C.  Loops A, which seems to have most of the longer sites, is very open with little privacy or shade.  Most of the rigs there were big.  Loop B didn’t allow generators, so that was not a choice for us.  Loop C has trees, but is not too heavily forested, while Loop D was quite shady.  If you are in a big rig, your choices will be somewhat limited.

Hiking/Walking:  Plenty of exercise walking the loops of the campground and exploring the river, but the park is loaded with good hikes, most within no more than a 30 minute drive.

Comments:  Stop at the office to register when you enter.  If you have a specific site in mind, they know whether it is open or not.  Otherwise, you will be assigned a site based on the size of your rig and any special requests.  Pay, and proceed to your site.  There is plenty of space to hook or unhook a towed in the amphitheatre parking area just off the main road - a good idea since the campground roads have NO place to do so.

TETON MOUNTAIN VIEW LODGE AND RV PARK, TETONIA, IDAHO

Our Opinion: Recommend, particularly at Passport America rates.

Date of Stay: September 12 through 15, 2010, off-season (after Labor Day).

Weather During Stay:  Balmy fall days and cool nights, with occasional dramatic cloud formations.

Site Description:  This small park opened in 2005 adjacent to Teton Mountain View Lodge.  Of 22 sites (all pull throughs), 16 are FHU with 20/30/50 amps; 6 (one on each end of the three rows) have no hookups.  An additional 8 tents sites are on grass at the edge of the campground.

Sites are nicely sized, each with a bit of grass, a small tree or two, and a picnic table.  Utilities are placed between two adjacent sites, so you are very close to your neighbor on the utility side, while you pull through in opposite directions.  Roads and sites are gravel.  Sites are completely level.

A central building houses restrooms with showers, a large laundry room with reasonably priced machines, and a TV room (no cable TV at sites).  Dump station on site.

Rate:  We paid the 50% off Passport America rate, $14.50/night plus tax.  A great bargain!

Phone/radio/TV:  Usable Verizon signal for phones and aircard.  WiFi is available, but we didn’t use it.  No obstacles for the roof-mounted satellite TV dish.  No cable TV here, and we didn’t try the antenna.  I found a local NPR station, but it had too much static to listen.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: Located at 6,600 ft., this park is in the wide open space of the Teton Valley, on the west side of the Teton Range (Grand Teton National Park is on the other side of the range).  Near views are of the lodge and the little town of Tetonia.  Distant views are of the peaks of the Teton Range.  Rugged, very “western”, dramatic and appealing.

Lighting/noise:  Night lighting is subdued, with a low light on each utility box and a few dim lights around the perimeter of the park.  The sounds of traffic from Hwy 33 die down late in the evening.  This is generally a quiet area.

Favorite Sites:  All of the RV sites are similar.  We chose site 7, with our door side facing the view of the Teton range.

Hiking/Walking:  Take the short walk into Tetonia, or stroll down the road on the west side of the park.  The USFS Ranger Station in Driggs (6 miles south) has information on hikes in the area, or drive Teton Pass east to the national park with all it has to offer (45 miles).

Comments:  The park was only ¼ full during our visit, a real treat.  Very friendly and efficient staff in the office.  Odel played 18 holes at The Links at Teton Peaks for $18 (walking).  Excellent grocery store and good natural foods store in Driggs, a slightly larger town 6 miles south, along with an independent book store, art gallery or two, a couple “outfitters”, banks, realtors.  We had delicious burgers in Tetonia at the North End Bar & Grill.  Lots of large, lodge-style homes in the area… looks like there is money in Teton Valley.