How many of you mix boating and camping?

Geurk

Geurk

New Member
Oct 20, 2006
195
Lexington, KY
Boat Info
2005 220 Select
Engines
350 Mag w/Alpha 1 Drive
Corsa Exhaust
I'm guessing this question is aimed at those with an open bow, like myself, with no overnighting capabilities.

We do the majority of our boating on lakes within the Daniel Boone National Forest, and the campgrounds there are beautiful. So we decided to get a travel trailer so we can stay the weekend when we go boating. This saves us on gas, hotel fees, and even storage fees. We are going to be leaving our camper within 3 miles of the lake, and they happen to have indoor storage for my boat/jet ski as well. So everything thus far seems to be positive. Anyone else doing this?
 
we don't have a travel trailer (yet) but we've tent-camped at a campground that was right on a reservoir and had a great time. i was even able to pull the boat up on a beach and leave it overnight. I look forward to getting a TT (maybe a year or two) and doing the camping/boating thing a little more comfortably.
 
We have been camping / boating in NH for about 10 years now. The campground is on a small lake (pond) with boat docks. It was great doing both.... camping and boating on the weekends, until I got the itis. :smt021

Now, the boat is too big for the campground (they only allow up to 18'). So every weekend is a choice....camping OR boating. :smt101
 
ahhhhhhhh....Cave Run and Laurel River Lake!


We used to camp and boat all the time but the kids have us so busy that we don't have the time to throw those trips together any longer. Several years ago I bought a piece of property on a creek that goes out to the Ohio River that is 35 miles from the house. That way everything is ready for those quick overnighters and daytrips.

use to regularly visit Cave Run, Laurel, Cumberland, Green River and Barkley. Cave Run is probably my favorite next is Laurel.
 
We have a bigger boat now and can overnight in the boat itself. But years back we used to boat & camp, and loved it. In fact, did that once up the Mississippi from the Gulf to St. Louis. Nice trip, that.
 
We boat and camp a lot. I'll pull our 30' travel trailer with my 3/4 ton Suburban, and my wife will pull the boat with her Durango. We'll usually stay in a state park or a corps of engineers campground on one of our local lakes, but sometimes we'll find a campground close by and make a short drive to the water.

At night, depending on where we stay, we'll either anchor/beach the boat right next to the campsite, pull the boat out for the night, or put the boat in a daily rental slip that one of the campgrounds has.
 
Actually we've keep our RV on the TN river for the past 2 months. Works great, only thing it seems like the kids have used it more the we have :lol:
 
when we had our 18' bowrider, we looked like the Beverly hill billies with all stuff in the bow, we used to go to the sand bar camp then the next morning goto the launch ramp unload and boat the rest of the day
boy do i miss those days :cool:
 
Great timing on this topic. We have been looking into getting a travel trailer since my parents just bought a lot on Lake Murray in SC. We are thinking of getting an older used one and sticking it out there with theirs so we have room for us and the kids to stay on the weekends. If anyone has any suggestions about what to buy, not to buy let me know as I have very limited experience with campers. Guess I'll hunt me a camping forum too :wink:
 
I ahve owned a cuddy cabin for several years and tried sleeping on it not very comfortable. Last year we purchased a used fifth wheel RV, traded this year for new. @008 we took a permanent site right on the OH in Aurora IN. The site has boat docks and a ramp I now have best of everything we boat all day tie up to the dock and sleep in our camper at night within 25'-0 of the river. when not boating we watch the tug boat tows go bye. Paradise!!!
 
I drive the boat and my wife drives the 3/4 burb with the 26 foot travel trailer. Usually it's one or the other, but this weekend we had to meet some friends at the campground. It's tough finding enough space for both rigs in one spot! :grin:

138-3891_IMG.jpg
 
We wanted to last year, but never got around to it. I did tow the boat to OK and stayed at my brothers camper one weekend. We usually just get a cabin at ozark mountain resorts. They have their own dock so it is nice. This year we plan on buying a nice big tent and staying a few times. I'm thinking of just buying into my aunts timeshare and staying at the cabin when we want.
 
We camp and boat every year. This year we are going to Lake Michigan and bringing our tents and camping gear. The nice thing about bringing a boat is having the extra space to bring more crap. Yea we look like the Beverly hillbillies but who cares. Once we unload the boat, no one will ever know. It beats trying to cram 10 lbs. of crap in a 5 lb. bag. Besides, who can resist outdoors and the open sea!

Anyone want to start a new post on the best boating/camping sites? It would be helpful to have the exact name of the campground, body of water and state. Some pic's would be nice and maybe some details on the boating accommodations (slips, docks, launches and so on). Anyone? Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.....
 
We tried out boat-in camping at Laurel Lake a couple of weekends ago. A lot of fun, and it was beautiful, but it was a heck of a lot of work. Load the truck, unload the truck, load the boat, unload the boat, set up camp, and then reverse the order when it's time to go. I would do it again, but I don't think my wife was too keen on all the work. We may be doing boating and camping separately, but we'll see.
 
arock,
go to cave run and stay at Zilpo Campground. The primative sites are right on the water and you have bathrooms and paved campsite. Try sites H-26 or H-27. you can anchor you boat right at the campsite.

At Laurel we camped at Holly Bay campground and left the boat in the water even though we couldn't see it.
 
Thanks Wish2Fish.
We stayed at Grove on Laurel, and the boat-in was the same as you described for Zilpo and Holly Bay. I think what made it so hard for us was the side of the Grove that we stayed on. It was a pretty big hill, but had a great view, and the wake was a little calmer.
I love Cave Run, but we started going to Laurel last year, and fell in love with it a little more. So I just put the boat in storage there to save some gas.
 
Last fall was the first time we did this, and we loved it. I had my 18' Bowrider then, this yr I have the 21' Select, and we want to do it soon. We stayed last labor day weekend at a state owned island park with about 8 campsites on the entire island. We had our own site with lean-to's. You have to carry in/out your supplies, it's fairly primitive, but was just what we were looking for! We had perfect weather the entire weekend.

-VtSeaRay
 
Yeah, my gf and I enjoyed that entire weekend. The only bad thing was (and this is more due to our being older now) our backs were killing us since my old hiking sleeping pads were minimalist padding. I fixed that this winter, purchased a set of Therm-a-rest DreamTime sleeping pads, that are more for like station wagon camping style! :grin: They're a tight fit in my tent, but will work fine, and will be much better for us.

We do the Major Resort Hotels most of the time. But, both of us like to be in the outdoors once in a while!

-VtSeaRay
 
This post was started last year, but since, we have spent most of our weekends down at Laurel Lake at the Holly Bay campgrounds. Our storage is just down the road, so we just pull our 33' travel trailer down to the site, then put the boat and ski in the water when we want to use them.

The campgrounds are some of the most beautiful that I have seen. Set fairly deep in the woods and easy access to the water. You can either leave your boat in some protected coves that are in a no wake zone, or, use the campgrounds launch ramp.

I recently moved to a 4 10 hour day work shift. So I now have Friday-Sundays off. Its basically a mini-vacation every weekend. :)

If any of you are camping there, feel free to stop by our site. We have the boat/jet ski sitting in our site in the evenings so we are easy to spot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,266
Messages
1,429,659
Members
61,143
Latest member
seanmoconnor10
Back
Top