Do you wanna see the world? Get outside and really enjoy the finest of camping? Then KOA is the place to start. There are a few main reasons why we go exclusively to KOAs. They are affordable, located in great places, and have great staff, but that’s not all. I want to show you each reason why we think KOAs are the best. So let’s jump into this grand list and hopefully we will inspire you to check out some of these great places too.
*quick side note: This is not sponsored by KOA. KOA isn’t paying me for this I just believe in a good thing when I know it and wanna tell other people it. (however I’m not an idiot so if they wanna pay me that would be cool with me.)
1. Affordable
One thing we are conscious of is how we can save money when we go out and explore. You never want to use a campground as a jump point to adventure and have it break the bank. We personally are tenters. Tent sites are on the low end of entrance fees to enjoy a great campground. There are options most places you go but the two main categories you have for tenting are primitive camping, or deluxe tent sites. Primitive camping is pretty straight forward, you get a plot of land to set up your tent, you get a picnic table and a fire pit ring. Deluxe tent sites however will have charging stations, water, sometimes even a nicer pad to put your tent on or nice canopy. Either option can run anywhere from $32-$69 a night. Which is significantly cheeper then a hotel. Most campgrounds we have gone to, also have all of the attractions for no additional cost. On occasion you’ll have a small fee for mini golf but for the most part its all free. We even went to a campground that had a rope course you can do for free! If you want to see more and spend less then KOA works for you. Not to mention if you become a member you get added perks to save more money. Which leads me into my second point…
2. Membership Perks
KOA is a massive large network of campgrounds all across the country (even into Canada, pretty good eh?) and they offer a membership program that you can enroll in and take advantage of it. It will cost you $33 to get enrolled and these are the exclusive benefits:
- 10% of registration fees
- Reward points that add up for cash off future stays
- Free night stays durning certain promotions
We camped a lot this year and with our points racking up we were able to get a total of $85 off certain parts of the year. A little $25 savings here a little $10 savings there. It’s pretty simple actually. Just camp like you normally would and when you show up at a campground ask them if you can use any of your points and then bam! Savings! Plus they have levels of the membership. Throughout the year they will bump you up a level based on points. Like automatic renewal in the program for the next coming year, more lenient cancellation rules, and 10% off a friends stay too. One time a campground gave me a bundle of free wood because we were a VIP member so that was cool too. Needless to say if you camp a lot it’s a no brainer to save yourself some extra savings. Check it out for yourself. https://koa.com/rewards/
3. You can plan a route
When we travel we tend to be like gypsies. We never stay anywhere for too long. When we travel long distances we try to find KOA campgrounds along the way to break up a long drive. A good trip will include 4-6 hours of driving, and a hike or point of interest each day. What we do will vary from day to day, but one thing is always the same, we will be sleeping at a KOA campground along the way. The KOA website has made it pretty easy to make this type of travel possible. https://koa.com/trip-planner/ If you look at the trip planner you can find ways to break up a long trip. Also equally helpful on each KOA’s website for the specific campground your looking for they will tell you what there is to do in the area. It has helped us many times find unique and different points of interest that we never knew about otherwise. So planing a trip and knowing you have a large network of campground to stay in is very helpful.
4. You know what to expect
No one wants to bring your innocent kids to a family campground to find it to be the tent and camper version of Sodom and Gomorrah. When you go to a KOA you know that they are family friendly and don’t put up with that kind of crap. You know that it will be clean, and it will be nice. Here are a few of the things I know we will always find:
- A Play ground
- A picnic table and fire ring on your site
- A nice bathroom
- Kid friendly, family friendly, dog friendly, and just friendly friendly.
- Something that makes them unique (more on that soon.)
You won’t be surprised in a bad way when you go to a KOA.
5. Individually owned and unique features
Meeting the owners is always a fun perk. They are always so excited to see you, welcoming, helpful, and best of all hospitable. You get the benefit from being in a larger network of KOAs for sure but when they are individually owned each campground takes on a unique feel. A little bit of their personality is visible throughout there campground. Anything from decorations to the playground they will all differ slightly. It’s fun to go to a new place and see how the layout of the grounds are, what the store looks like, or what kind of activities/events they might have. The other part I love is unique stays. We tend to mostly travel mostly with a tent but when we find a unique stay we try to book it. Here are just some of the pictures we’ve taken of some unique places we’ve stayed in:
We really believe that KOA locations are the best for our family to camp with. Whether we are relaxing by a campfire or use it as home base for a new adventure having all of these features on this list help. Check it out for yourself if you want to I’m sure you will also really enjoy KOA’s too. Click here to start your journey as well!
Wanna see a few campgrounds or unique stays? Check out a few of my videos:
Adventuring in the Moment 