’m going to step away from my comfort zone for a moment to reflect on a target of all that we do here at RV Enthusiast — because it really doesn’t matter how well you maintain your RV if you can’t find a place to enjoy it.

Yes, I’m talking about RV park/campground sites — or, more accurately, the management of these sites.

For years, the RV and campground industries have touted camping as a relatively inexpensive way to vacation. In fact, the cost of airlines, hotel rooms and rental cars was Exhibit A. By comparison, Exhibit B — an RV trip — could be enjoyed for a fraction of those costs. And yes, it still can — but the gap is closing.

There simply are not enough campsites to accommodate everyone, a situation that’s only worsened due to the jump in the popularity of RVing as a way to continue to travel during the pandemic. Unfortunately, a growing number of park owners apparently now see RVers less as guests than as a captive audience.

For example, one of the online RV forums I visit carried a recent post from someone who talked about the park she recently stayed at. While I won’t mention the name of the facility, it was part of a chain of campgrounds. Her site was $190 per night. That’s steep, but it’s in keeping with RV resorts offering a number of unique features. No one should begrudge such facilities for asking top dollar — it costs big bucks to install, maintain and operate these amenities. That said, when she went to book the same space for the same dates next year, she was hit with a $60 jump in pricing, to $250 per night. That’s an increase of more than 30% — in one year.

And it goes beyond just pushing the cost of nightly stays into the stratosphere. When RVE’s publisher, Bob Livingston, was on the road last summer, he suffered a breakdown that necessitated a change of plans — including canceling a prior reservation at a park in Virginia. As per the park’s requirements, half of the multi-day reservation was paid in advance — and $332 was lost. Yes, the park had a “no refund” policy in place. It also was filled to capacity, and quickly re-rented the space that had already been paid for. That scenario was repeated a few times last summer for the Livingstons.

“Although we knew the rules, breaking down does not happen on demand or when expected,” Livingston reflected. “We were supposed to meet friends at the park, who confirmed that the site was indeed rented for the entire time. In the ‘old days,’ parks did not operate at near or full capacity and had to put such rules in place to protect themselves. Today, they are mostly full — especially in popular locations — with campers on waiting lists.”

Compare that to the hotel industry — held up at one time as an example of escalating costs — which tends to adopt a friendlier approach. While hotels have tightened cancellation policies that were extremely loose during the worst of the pandemic to appeal to travelers, their updated requirements are still far from some of the draconian practices we’re now hearing about with some RV parks. According to a rundown of such policies we found at the website Bankrate.com, many hotels require cancellation of at least 24 to 72 hours before the reservation; anything less and the guest is charged a fee equal to the cost of one night’s stay.

That’s fair. Losing the entire cost of the reservation? Not so much.

The real irony, though, is how some park operators seem willing to endorse some practices seen in other industries while ignoring others they choose not to duplicate (like friendlier cancellation policies). A prime example of this is “dynamic pricing,” a concept that’s been pushed by campground consultants for years. This is simply charging more for RV sites as their availability dwindles — a practice well-known in the hotel and airline industries and, at one time, derided by many campground owners.

Proponents will describe this as little more than dealing with supply versus demand. Before you climb on board that argument, however, imagine if other industries practiced it as well. Picture driving up to the local burger place at dinnertime, for example, and discovering that your favorite fare was 30% more expensive because the owner of the establishment had to bring in additional help to deal with the expected increase in orders. Sure, the owner is also confident of selling more — but then again, RV parks are also renting more today. No park owner ever estimated his/her overhead — and then factored in additional dollars for unforeseen expenses and profit — based on 100% occupancy; doing so invites disaster. Savvy operators look at historical averages — be it 70% or 80% filled sites over the timespan the park is open — to establish a cost baseline, then price the sites from there.

Is this a ludicrous example? Absolutely. But how is it any different?

Fortunately, there are alternatives. Among parks, Kampgrounds of America (KOA) has done a stellar job of rebranding its company-owned and franchised locations into KOA Journey, KOA Holiday or KOA Resort facilities. The designations are designed to inform travelers of the amenities they can expect to enjoy — and pay for. “And,” Livingston opined, “KOA has a very good cancellation policy.”

Beyond that, if you don’t need a patio with a Jacuzzi alongside your RV — even if, as in Livingston’s case at one “resort,” it was opposite an old RV with a refrigerator and boxes stored outside — state and national parks are an option if you can beat the rush and make reservations in time. And the dearth of campsites has given rise to the best idea to come out of the outdoor arena in years: boondocking in truly unique environments. The companies making up the Togo Group include OvernightRVParking, said to be the largest database of free RV parking locations in the U.S. and Canada with 14,000+ locations (overnightrvparking.com/index.html) and Campendium (campendium.com), which includes free parking locations by state, offer good options. And, of course, there’s Harvest Hosts (harvesthosts.com) and its roster of more than 2,800 unique locations that have signed up to offer RVers free overnight camping. In fact, Harvest Hosts recently acquired Boondockers Welcome (boondockerswelcome.com) which pushes the company’s boondocking locations to more than 5,000 across the two networks.

With these locations generally limited to a single night’s stay, however, they aren’t a cure-all for what ails the campground arena.

“For ourselves, planning next summer is problematic,” Livingston admitted. “We want to make plans, but we don’t want to sacrifice any more reservation money should we have to cancel due to breakdowns, fires, bad weather or any other situation.”