You'll find the closer you get to a metropolitan area or a tourist destination like Las Vegas, Disneyland/World, Branson...etc the more parking lot type RV parks you'll see. This is usually because they need to squeeze the maximum number of units into a confined area. The land cost is high so they want to have a good return on their investment.

That being said, you will also find, within driving distance (less than 50 miles) lots of natural setting type RV Resorts / Campgrounds.

I like to use www.rvpark reviews.com to do my research. The site has a great feature where it will list cities nearby (and show the distance) where there are campgrounds. For example if you wanted to stay in Branson...all of the RV Parks in the Branson area and you call all of the RV parks listed and discover they are all full or too expensive, you look at the list of nearby towns and find a RV Park just outside of Branson.

The reviews from other RVers also will let you know if this is a park with the "It" factor. You''l see comments like "It was wonderful, beautiful, best park...etc" or "It was a Parking lot, the spaces are too close together, it was a pig pen...."

Edit by moderator: Activated link.  Terry

Thank you Technomadia, RVRon and The Bear II !

Although it is not good to know that asphalt campgrounds are common, it is definitely helpful to know. We will certainly research campgrounds using www.rvpark reviews.com and other sources, to locate as many “it” factor camping locations as possible.

Another resource for campground selection is http://www.freecampgrounds.com/ but it won't compare asphalt vs. It factor. One with which I am familiar is in Ballinger, TX. In a city park with pecan trees, picnic tables/ramadas small lake and quiet. Can't beat the price (and all sites are 50 amp). The listing can give you some really good ideas.
Another is Andrews, TX. A gravel parking lot, no shade, no pool, etc. But you can't beat the price. The good part is is near Buddy's Drive Inn, which is home to steak fingers (supposedly the first to develop them) cut from sirloin/ (see what you can learn from a forum ;) )

Edit by moderator: Activated link.  Terry

Lyn wrote:

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DH located a website that I thought others reading this thread might also find of interest – the website focuses on camping locations that have scenic views (http://campingwithaview.com/.) The website allows you to view camping locations by view type (e.g., mountains, canyons, rivers), by state, and by recreation (e.g., bird watching, biking, fishing.)

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 That is one awesome potential of a resource!  Why haven't we seen this one before??  That's exactly the way I want to look up potential campsites!

What's odd tho (and kinda trippy for us to see), is that the site features a review/tour of a Oliver Travel Trailer - which is the type of trailer we full timed in from 2008 - 2011.  It was *awesome*.   Which is doubly shocking as to why we've never seen this site before - as the Oliver community is pretty tight knit, and the folks behind the site seem to be avid Oliver fans. 

However, Oliver hasn't built a trailer since right after they finished ours in late 2008 - which kinda dates the info on the site  As they seem to still be continuing to pitch Olivers as being in production - and they're not.  They stopped after building 45 of the trailers, and have been on indefinite hiatus since 2009.    So, sadly - I fear this site may not be under active development - and the listings do seem kinda sparse.  

Wonderful idea and a great way to pick sites.. and I'd love to see it picked up again. 

 - Cherie