campers – Syndication Server

Make RV camping easier with these resources and guides

It’s time to hit the road.

Rev up the RV, pack your camper, and get ready for fun. Whether you’re a van lifer or a part-time RV adventurer, a camping trip is the perfect way to unwind and explore the beautiful world around you. While there are tons of top-notch campgrounds in the United States, people traveling in an RV or camper will need to find campsites that cater to them. Hunting down the right spot isn’t always easy. Lucky for you, it’s about to get much simpler.

Make your next RV camping trip a breeze with these travel resources and guides. Uncover incredible campgrounds, learn all about boondocking, find ways to bring your pets along for the ride, and so much more.

How to find awesome campgrounds

If you need campground suggestions, you’ve come to the right place. This list of stunning spots for an RV camping trip will have you itching to hit the road. Plus, you can find the best national parks for RV campers here.

Looking for details on unique campsites? Check out this feature on the inviting world of Spacious Skies Campgrounds. For an extra sporty RV camping excursion, you’ll also want to check out the options available at SkyPark at Santa’s Village. This mountain biking park will treat RV campers to some marvelous views. If you’re searching for a wilder camping experience, you can also find RV campsites within the stunning Stanislaus National Forest.

Learn all about boondocking

See if boondocking is right for you (and learn exactly what boondocking is) with this guide. As this resource explains, “For the van life and RV communities, boondocking means camping in an area without hookups. This kind of camping is also described as off-grid or dry camping, as the campers don’t use and/or have access to public utilities like water or electricity.”

If this kind of RV adventure sounds like something you would enjoy, you can learn more about boondocking on public land with the Bureau of Land Management’s tips for dispersed camping.

Make RVing with your pets stress-free

There’s no need to keep your furry friends at home while you go camping. Discover practical ways to bring your dog or cat along for the ride with this guide to RVing and traveling with pets.

Other RV camping tips and resources

Hungry for even more RV camping resources? We’ve got you covered. For a stress-free trip, check out these five tools that make trip planning easy.

Bear pops beach ball, leading to an ‘attack’ on woman in tent

A bear stepped on a beach ball outside a family’s tent and awakened an infant, leading to an unfortunate set of circumstances.

A bear stepped on and popped a beach ball outside the tent of a family camping in Colorado, leading to an unfortunate set of circumstances that prompted wildlife officials to search for the bear with the intention of euthanizing it.

A husband and wife and their 2-year-old daughter were sleeping at Monument Lake Resort, about 37 miles west of Trinidad, when around 2 a.m. Friday the woman heard a bear sniffing around the campground, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

When the bear popped the beach ball, the daughter woke up and began crying. When the woman went to comfort the child, she “likely” brushed the side of the tent.

“The bear reacted by swatting at the movement, tearing the tent fabric and scratching the victim on the head,” the CPW stated. “Then the bear wandered off.”

District Wildlife Manager Bob Holder responded to the scene Friday morning and interviewed the victim.

The woman sustained scratches to the head but was not seriously injured, and she didn’t seek medical attention.

Holder inspected the tent and found four tears in the fabric, along with mud and dirt at the base of the tent fabric.

“Because the bear made contact with a human, it is classified under CPW policy as an attack,” CPW stated. “If found, the bear will be euthanized.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Bear follows hiker for nearly 4 minutes after sniffing her leg

Wildlife officials began searching for the bear with a team of dogs, and the local District Wildlife Manager set a trap in the campground in hopes of catching it. As of Saturday morning, it hadn’t been found.

“This is an unfortunate incident because the bear was not aggressively pursuing the victim,” said Mike Brown, CPW’s Area Wildlife Manager for the region.

“If the bear intended to harm the woman, the outcome would have been much worse. The evidence of the investigation illustrates that bears react to the environment they live in.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Dead grizzly bear found on a Washington beach is a mystery

Because bears sometimes respond to movement in an occupied tent, Holder recommends that campers sleep away from the walls of the tent to avoid such tent movements.

The CPW recommends that people who recreate in wildlife areas be bear aware, and offers tips on how to do so.

Photo courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

[listicle id=1905857]

Two campers asleep in tent injured in ‘quick and intense’ bear attack

The campers were prepared with bear deterrents but were rendered defenseless in the attack that caught them by surprise.

Two campers were asleep in their tent and had no time to react when a bear injured them in a “quick and intense” attack in Alaska’s Kenai National Wildlife Refuge early Saturday morning.

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge reported Sunday on Facebook that the people were camping alone along the shoreline of Skilak Lake near the mouth of Hidden Creek, and that after the attack, they managed to kayak to Upper Skilak Lake Campground to seek help.

One of the campers assisting the injured pair contacted Alaska State Troopers via satellite phone, and emergency medical personnel responded with a helicopter and ambulance, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

One camper was airlifted to a nearby hospital while the other was taken by ambulance. The extent of their injuries was not clear.

Leah Eskelin, a refuge spokesperson, told ADN that officials didn’t know why the bear attacked and didn’t know what kind of bear was involved.

“It was a short, quick, in-your-tent attack,” Eskelin told ADN.

“We’re grateful that they got the care that they needed right away and that everyone really came together at the campground to provide that aid and give them a quick response time.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Momma bear in Yellowstone has ‘paws full’ with misbehaving cub

Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger told ADN the campers had bear deterrents, such as bear spray and a bear horn, but didn’t have time to use them as the attack was quick and intense, adding that it was around midnight.

When it was over, the campers quickly loaded some of their gear into the kayaks and went for help, which was a 1½- to 2-hour paddle away. They were prepared with first aid supplies; at the campground boat launch, other campers administered first aid.

“There’s no indication that they did anything to prompt the attack or did anything wrong,” Selinger told ADN. “It’s one of those where you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

ADFG biologists and wildlife officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were on the scene of the attack Saturday but didn’t find the bear. They collected the collapsed tent and other camping gear.

“ADFG is working on seeing if they can pull any DNA material off of that, like hair, because they want to see if they can find out what kind of species it is and that might help determine why the bear acted the way it did,” Eskelin told ADN.

The Hidden Creek Trail was closed Saturday but reopened Sunday with signs posted with details about the attack to warn trail users. Selinger urged those utilizing the area to use caution and carry safety supplies like bear deterrent and first aid.

“The big thing is being prepared as well as these folks were. You could get attacked in the Fred Meyer parking lot — you’re always in bear country here,” Selinger told ADN. “Always have some medical equipment, maybe compression bandages and things you may not think of. And whenever you’re going out, just be prepared in case something does happen — have a plan of how to get back to safety or how to contact somebody.”

Photo of Hidden Creek Trail courtesy of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge; generic bear photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Bear pushing on tent eventually bites camper

Campers in Montana were awakened early in the morning when a bear began pushing or “falling” on their tent.

Two campers on private land in Montana were awakened early last Thursday morning when a large animal believed to have been a bear began pushing or “falling” on their tent, wildlife officials reported Tuesday.

The campers began kicking and yelling to scare the animal away. In doing so, one camper, a woman, was bitten through the tent, according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The suspected bear then left the campsite without the campers seeing it. But based on the animal’s behavior and nature of the bite wound, the FWP determined that it was an adult-age bear, though no bear tracks were found to determine whether it was a grizzly or black bear.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Video shows just how fast bears are, as one chases woman and her dogs

The unidentified victim sought medical treatment for “relatively minor” injuries.

The incident occurred in Beehive Basin just northwest of Big Sky,

“Initial details of the incident indicate the bear’s behavior was likely investigative, not predatory, and that the bite was defensive,” the FWP said. “The victim reported that their food was stored securely in their vehicle, not in the tent, and that they were wearing clean clothes.”

The U.S. Forest Service and the FWP posted warning signs in the area, where wildlife officials will monitor closely for potentially hazardous bear behavior.

The incident comes on the heels of a grizzly bear attacking a mountain biker near Big Sky in the last week of May, according to the Billings Gazette. The biker is said to have likely surprised the grizzly bear after rounding a sharp corner on the trail. He sustained injuries to his face and back.

The FWP issued these recommended precautions for avoiding negative encounters with bears:

Be aware of your surroundings and look for bear sign.

Carry and know how to use bear spray.

Stay away from animal carcasses.

Travel in groups and make noise whenever possible.

Follow U.S. Forest Service food storage regulations.

If you encounter a bear, never approach it. Back away slowly and leave the area.

If a bear approaches your tent, make your presence known gradually. If it attempts to enter your tent, fight back.

Photos courtesy of the CPW and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Follow David Strege and the outdoors on Facebook.

Campers ‘attacked’ by bear pouncing on tent

A sleeping couple at a Colorado campground got an early wakeup call when a bear rummaged through their campsite and pounced on their tent.

A sleeping couple at a private Colorado campground received an early wakeup call Monday morning when a bear rummaged through their campsite and pounced on their tent in what wildlife officials called an “attack.”

The unidentified campers were staying at the Golden Eagle Campground about five miles southwest of Colorado Springs when the incident occurred around 1:30 a.m., Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.

The couple told CPW Officer Aaron Berscheid they were awakened when the bear knocked clean plates and a cooking stove off the table. Moments later, the bear apparently stood on its back legs and leaned on the tent “as if investigating it, causing the tent to collapse,” the CPW reported.

The incident was classified by CPW as an attack because the bear contacted a human. The woman in the tent reported being scratched on the head, but there was no sign of it when she was checked out later Monday.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Angler risks swimming with sharks to avoid losing fish

The commotion of the tent collapsing and most probably the couple screaming caused the bear to run off a ways. It turned and huffed at the couple. They shouted and finally scared it off by turning on the car’s alarm.

“By the descriptions of the bear and by studying its footprints, it appears to be a juvenile bear,” Berscheid said. “Its behavior sounds more as if it was just curious rather than aggressive. There were no food attractants at the campsite. I think it was just a curious young bear.”

A small brown-colored bear has been seen in the campground in recent weeks and is suspected to be the same one in this incident. A trap has been set in hopes of catching the bear and relocating it to a more remote area. CPW didn’t plan to euthanize the bear because it was not aggressive toward the people.

“The incident is an important reminder of the need to observe Bear Aware rules, especially when camping in bear country,” the CPW said. “Never keep food in a tent or eat in a tent. Store food and anything with an odor, including toiletries and clothes you cook in, in a bear-resistant container or suspended from a tree at least 10 feet above ground.”

Photos courtesy of the CPW and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Follow David Strege and the outdoors on Facebook.