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Old 01-17-2020, 06:42 PM   #1
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Canyon Creek private campground

Ok when we bought our rig we received thousand trails and Canyon Creek Resort offers for free camping. We indulged in a 90 minute presentation at Canyon Creek today by Winters, CA. I suspected a sales pitch and was correct. They are part of a network of private campgrounds nationwide thru Sams, and other outfits. The cost was substantial with a yearly maintenance fee. Kind of like a Timeshare but with unlimited nationwide camping at reduced prices. Does anybody use these? And how do you feel about this kind of cost. We stayed in a Thousand Trail north of us and it was very nice. Todays Canyon Creek is near Lake Berryessa and it too is very nice. I just have a hard time parting with that kind of money and the monthly fees for maintenance. Thoughts? By the way will say we have been given 14 days of free camping which is great and the people were very nice. Over the last 20 years we have never used this type of campground other than KOA and the Thousand Trails. Mostly State and private campgrounds on a pay as we go basis.
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Old 01-17-2020, 07:57 PM   #2
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We do not own a membership but have stayed at Thousand Trails campgrounds paying their normal rate. We aren't full timers (yet) so have never been able to justify their costs. We, too, prefer State campgrounds.

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Old 01-18-2020, 03:21 AM   #3
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We live in the Branson Mo area and last year joined the local "timeshare" type campground. We joined for the use of the pool and other things, camping was not one of the concerns although when our kids come out the cabins are cheap for them to rent.

Our buy in was not much, under 2,000 with only a small annual maintance fee.
A few years back went to another park but the cost was more than double what we bought in here for. Its like anything else if you use it its worth it.
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Old 01-18-2020, 06:25 AM   #4
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I think it depends on how you camp and what you expect to do.

Years ago we got one of those offers after buying a new RV. We went to the campground (Thousand Trails) and found we did not care for the crowds (it was a holiday weekend) and did not want to spend our time at the pool or other campground events. We found that what we wanted to do when camping is sit outside, enjoy the peace and quiet and hike the trails, so we now mostly stay at State and Federal campgrounds and, when we can, either dry camp or boondock.

When we bought a new RV we again got offers of free camping, mostly from Colorado River Adventures, but have decided that we would much rather just stay at quiet locations and enjoy the scenery.

Your mileage may vary.
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Old 01-18-2020, 08:55 AM   #5
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Much depends on why you are camping. If you are full time and the budget dictates saving on fees, a membership may make sense. You camp where the membership lets you save money.
But if you are camping because you like the advantages and freedom of choice RVs give, you will likely want to go a different way as there are certainly much cheaper camping sites than clubs offer. If you are city folks and want city facilities like organized game rooms, etc. , you may like the club even if the camper next door has his canopy over your slideout! But if you use camping as a way to get away from the crowd, don't join a club as it will definitely restrict you and many of the sites will be far less desirable.
I just looked in on some of the Thousand Trails sites and compared what reviews on their site say versus what reviews on independent sites say. It's the old idea of asking the competition for unbiased opinions.
Before placing any money and it does tend to be more than we spend yearly, I do suggest looking at where and which sites you would actually use. Then do a search of other reviews for those sites to see what real folks say about those campgrounds.
For us, it would require far too many stays in places we do not want to stay for it to save money.
We want to go where we want to be, not where camping is prepaid. They have very little reason to do you any favors once they have your money and the national group has little reason to make the local campground do the favors. The whole idea is to make each of them more money, not to save you anything.
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Old 01-18-2020, 01:36 PM   #6
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Well stated Morich!

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Old 01-19-2020, 08:20 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Morich View Post
Much depends on why you are camping. If you are full time and the budget dictates saving on fees, a membership may make sense. You camp where the membership lets you save money.
But if you are camping because you like the advantages and freedom of choice RVs give, you will likely want to go a different way as there are certainly much cheaper camping sites than clubs offer. If you are city folks and want city facilities like organized game rooms, etc. , you may like the club even if the camper next door has his canopy over your slideout! But if you use camping as a way to get away from the crowd, don't join a club as it will definitely restrict you and many of the sites will be far less desirable.
I just looked in on some of the Thousand Trails sites and compared what reviews on their site say versus what reviews on independent sites say. It's the old idea of asking the competition for unbiased opinions.
Before placing any money and it does tend to be more than we spend yearly, I do suggest looking at where and which sites you would actually use. Then do a search of other reviews for those sites to see what real folks say about those campgrounds.
For us, it would require far too many stays in places we do not want to stay for it to save money.
We want to go where we want to be, not where camping is prepaid. They have very little reason to do you any favors once they have your money and the national group has little reason to make the local campground do the favors. The whole idea is to make each of them more money, not to save you anything.
thank you, this was what I was thinking also. We are not full timers, and I dont want to be stuck in those resort, hotel like campgrounds. I want to see the country with no limitations.
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Old 01-19-2020, 02:37 PM   #8
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We own a membership in canyon creek and love it. We have recently moved to Nevada and do not use it any more. They also own Delta shore in the Delta and it is also a nice park. We used to use them all the time. We are looking to get rid of it as we do not use it. Our maint fee is about 69 a quarter. I you are interested please e-mail me at [email protected]. I do not know what your new maint fee will be but could check it out. I will say it will be a lot cheaper than what they are selling them for.
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Old 01-19-2020, 05:27 PM   #9
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We own a membership in canyon creek and love it. We have recently moved to Nevada and do not use it any more. They also own Delta shore in the Delta and it is also a nice park. We used to use them all the time. We are looking to get rid of it as we do not use it. Our maint fee is about 69 a quarter. I you are interested please e-mail me at [email protected]. I do not know what your new maint fee will be but could check it out. I will say it will be a lot cheaper than what they are selling them for.
Thank you for your feedback, But I believe we will pass...
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Old 01-26-2020, 04:43 PM   #10
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Canyon Creek

We toured Canyon Creek and it was okay but very overpriced. Once you hem and haw a bit, they will offer you a one year evaluation membership, which is much easier to swallow. If you email me I will tel you something that I don’t wish to put on this public site, but you may save big bucks.
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Old 01-27-2020, 09:09 AM   #11
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Well stated Morich!

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