Campground Review - Webter Park Campground

The second part of my June vacation, I visited a friend in Rochester, NY. I was looking for something close, and found a County campground in the town of Webster. As I do with every campground, I look at both the campground map and Google Earth images. I saw that all sites had 30 amp electric, with some having 50 amp electric, I decided to give it a try.

Google mapping had the location of the facility about 1/4 mile or so East of where it was. Pulling into the facility, I noticed how clean and well cared for it looked for a county campground. I was quite impressed.

Drove up to the camp manager's office and was greeted by a friendly couple. They gave me a choice of sites, and I picked a random one. Price was $25 a night, which was about $5 cheaper than the KOA and half the diatance to my friend's residence.

Sites pretty much looked fairly level, needing minimal blocking. My site was a little tight to back into but others looked a bit easier.  The sites were 100% grass, lined with trees on the sides.  Electric pedestals look fairly modern and in good condition. Campground rules also allowed you to tie into the water spigots that line the road every few campsites as long as you use a wye adapter.   Also, depending on the site, a lot of hose may be required.

There was one comfort station in the center. Facility was exceptionally clean and well maintained. There was a large wash sink outside for doing dishes. One negative was that there was no hot water to this sink or the bathroom sinks. There were also 3 large unisex showers on the opposite side of the facility. These showers were token operated costing 50 cents for 5 minutes. Once again, very clean and well maintained.

There was a nice playground facility for the kids next to the comfort station. Once again, well maintained.  There was also a nice large open field for the kids to play in also.

I most definitely would camp here again if I visited Rochester. The campground is located not far off Lake Ontario. There is a waterfront park just down the road. Overall, a very nice facility.

Campground Review - Greenbelt National Park

For my vacation on the railroad, one of my destinations I decided was to head to Washington DC to visit some friends and their new baby. Campgrounds near their house went for $60+ a night.  So, I decided to give my first try to camping without hookups and save myself at least $45 a night.

When I arrived, first thing is a big hiway sign warning about ticks. And yes, they were right as I found a few on me the three days that I was there. As I followed the signs towards the camping area, I realize how wooded the place is. I pull up to the camping area and see that the ranger station is under construction and the guard house is locked down with signs pointing me to self registration. Of course, there were no envelopes there, and got lucky and found some outside the ranger station.

There were signs directing scouts only to loop A, large campers to loop D, tents only to Loop C. So, I decided to give Loop B a try. I found myself a site next to the comfort station.  The place to me was pretty dead for a Saturday in June.

Sites in Loop B were small to me, as my 21 footer and Liberty barely fit with the wheels on the back edge of the pad. Sites on the inside of the loop were fairly level, but on the outside would require blocks. Lucky for my short tow vehicle and trailer, I was able to back up into the tight fit. Other sites had a little more room to maneuver.

Comfort facility was old and could definitely use refurbishing. They were somewhat clean, probably due to the lack of patrons. I would hope they do a better job when more people use them. There was one large shower in the facility. Shower was free and the hot water was ok. The facility had lots of bugs due to people leaving the door open and I also saw a salamander crawling around.  Outside of the facility, there was a large washing sink for dishes.

One thing I liked was that the place was well wooded. When checking the place out by Google Earth, I had a hard time finding the campsites. This thick forest is good for keeping the camper cool, but would make a solar power system almost useless and also satellite TV.

The camp host for my loop was friendly. They stopped by checking to see if you registered.

The dump station was located by Loop D. It was your basic dump station with a hose on a pole for rinsing your hoses. Of course it leaked at the top giving you a cool shower. There was also a potable was spigot and also potable water spigots around the loops.

If I was going on a cheap vacation to the DC area, I would go here again. Especially in cooler weather, as I like my creature comforts. But if it was going to be hot and muggy, I would probably stay at a nearby campground with hookups.