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Category: 2019

Cherry Creek State Park, Aurora, CO

Cherry Creek State Park, Aurora, CO

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Site Quality: Concrete pads with asphalt roads. Our site was long enough for our rig and truck.
Type: State Park
Access: Easy access from Interstate 225 a few miles east of Interstate 70.
Staff: We visited the park in the winter and only one loop with 16 sites was open (although we found out that normally two of the sites were not available). During the summer there are 6 loops with about 140 campsites. With a confirmed reservation you could skip the office and go straight to your site. Unfortunately, when we arrived someone was still in our reserved site and they were two hours away. We agreed to take one of the two “unavailable” sites and were happy with that.
Amenities: Restrooms with showers, laundry facilities, dump station (closed in winter). There are numerous hiking trails in the park but we didn’t use any of them due to the winter weather.
Cellular/WiFi: Verizon service was weak and only 1 bar on our phones. Our data rate was between 2 and 20 Mbps depending on the day. AT&T through our wireless setup was fast at about 30 Mbps. The park had WiFi but we did not use it.
What we liked: Ease of access along I-225. Full hookups during the winter. Nice views of the lake and some of the Denver skyline and mountains west of the park.
What we didn’t like: Sites are expensive for a state park and on top of that you need a daily or yearly vehicle pass which just adds to the cost. Since they weren’t expecting to use the site we were in, they had not cleared snow from a major storm about two weeks prior from the site. There was still quite a bit of snow left right in our pathway from our truck to the RV.
Verdict: Cherry Creek is a very nice park with a lot to offer with camping, hiking, boating and fishing to name a few. For us, we would stay here again but it is about 40 minutes away from family in the area so it is a bit far. In the winter while Chatfield State Park is much closer, it does not offer water and sewer so it is a trade off between being close and having full hookups.

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Limon KOA Journey, Limon, CO

Limon KOA Journey, Limon, CO

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Rating: ⭐
Site Quality: Gravel (mostly dirt and mud) roads and pads. Our site was barely long enough for our rig and truck. Since we were only going to be there one night we just left the truck hooked up. Spaces are tight. There are no amenities like picnic tables.
Type: Commercial Park
Access: Easy access from Interstate 70 on the east side of Limon, CO.
Staff: No one was in the office when we arrived but a quick call to the emergency number and someone was there within about 5 minutes.
Amenities: Laundry, restrooms with showers.
Cellular/WiFi: Verizon service was 4 bars on our phones and our data rate was over 52 Mbps. AT&T through our wireless setup was fast at over 29 Mbps.
What we liked: Ease of access along I-70.
What we didn’t like: Expensive for what it was at ~$42/night. The park was mostly dirt and was muddy. Most of the people in the park appeared to be long term residents and the park was probably about 90% full. Not much in town, mostly fast food with a few local restaurants. Diesel was expensive here – about $.40 higher than what we should pay in Denver.
Verdict: We would stay here again if this was convenient for our travels but likely only as a last resort.

Creek Side Resort, Hays, KS

Creek Side Resort, Hays, KS

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Site #27

Fort Hays was an important frontier military fort built in 1865 to protect the Union Pacific Railway. As you might suspect from the pictures below, the buffalo was important in this area. Some of the famous characters around the area when it was known as the most lawless town on the frontier were George Custer, Wild Bill Hickock and Buffalo Bill Cody.

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Deer Creek Valley RV Park, Topeka, KS

Deer Creek Valley RV Park, Topeka, KS

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After a three week stop in Springfield Missouri to visit family for Thanksgiving, we needed to head west toward Colorado but we also needed to find a place that could align our trailer wheels. With MorRyde independent suspension each wheel on our trailer can be aligned much like a car. We had already tried a couple of places who said they could align anything, but it turned out they could align anything but our trailer. As luck would have it, there was a MorRyde certified alignment service center in the small town of Pittsburg, KS just north and west of Joplin along our path. We stopped in at Holland Alignment at our scheduled appointment time and they started work right away. Everything was completed within the 2 hours I was told it would take and at the price I was quoted ($180).

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Big Red Barn RV Park, Carthage, MO

Big Red Barn RV Park, Carthage, MO

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Site Quality: Gravel roads and pads. Our site was long for our rig and truck but just barely. We were at the end of the row so we could park behind our rig without blocking anyone else or we could park in front if we hooked up. Any other site might be a problem. Sites are close together with a picnic table for each.
Type: Commercial Park
Access: Just off Interstate 49 south of Carthage, MO. Access is not difficult, but it’s not straightforward either. It takes a bit of planning prior to arrival.
Staff: Staff interaction was good but minimal. We came in on a Sunday and the office was only open from 10AM until noon. They allowed us to arrive before noon so we could check in while the office was open. If closed, they have standard after hours procedures we could have followed.
Amenities: Dump station, laundry, restrooms with showers, playground, horseshoes, common fire pit, rally barn. Free cable TV. Propane on site.
Cellular/WiFi: Verizon service was 3 bars on our phones and our data rate exceeded 50 Mbps. AT&T was about 6.75 Mbps. They had WiFi but we did not use it.
What we liked: Decent price with Good Sams – ~$32/night. Close to Walmart, gas stations and restaurants. Carthage looked like it would be a good place to explore for a week but we only had one night. No road or train noise.
What we didn’t like: Sites are all pull-thru and are close together.
Verdict: This was a decent park and we wouldn’t have any problem staying here again but we would probably try one of the other parks in the area next time to see of we could get a longer site and/or a bit more space between sites.

Office and namesake Big Red Barn