Nevada
RV parks, campgrounds and overnite spots
|
Carson
City
|
Tonopah Joy Land |
Pahrump Pair-a-Dice |
Carson City Comstock Country RV Park,located on the south side of town
near the Hwy
395 and 50 intersection. Though the address given for the park is for
South Carson Street (Hwy 395), the entrance is off Clear Creek Rd.
Clear Creek is the first stop light south of the 395 and 50
intersection. If you're coming down the hill on 50 from Lake
Tahoe
you will see the park off to the right at the very bottom of the grade.
If you're coming south on 395, stay in the right hand lane (all three
lanes continue past the intersection with 50) and turn right at the
light onto Clear Creek Rd. After registering at the office you will be
led to your site. We found there were a few low hanging branches that
you need to be watching for as you are driving through the RV park. If you have a satellite dish they will most likely assign a site in the south end of the park. It is the most open, while the north end of the park has a number of trees which may block any satellite signal. Since we did not have a satellite dish yet, we were assigned a site in the north section. This suited us fine, though there was a tree branch that was close to the
street side of the coach. The
site had full hook ups including cable TV, a very nice addition, plus
there was plenty of room to park our toad. Since were going to be there
for a week we opted for the weekly rate of $30/day based on a weeks
stay. This was certainly more than we wanted to average per day,
however we were in the "getting our feet wet" process and we had a lot
to finish up getting the coach ready to travel, so we weren't looking
for the most inexpensive place, rather what we wanted was convienence
with full service hookups. The monthly rates were considerably less,
with a 50 amp site being the highest priced at $390 per month, winter
rate. We were cautioned the most expensive time to stay in the
Reno-Carson City area is during the "Hot August Nights" celebration
when all the hotels, campgrounds and RV parks are generally full and
reservations are a must. Also be aware there are many semi-permenant
and permanent residents at this park. Since we were here in the midst
od winter, both the pool and spa were closed. Also we did not avail
ourselves to the laundry facilities, though we saw numerous residents
utilizing them. While ratings are subjective, We would give this park
an 8 and would not hesitate to stay here again.Carson City Pinon Plaza RV Resort, Located on Hwy 50 about 1.5 miles east of US 395 in Carson City,
NV. There is a new 395 bypass being constructed on the east side of
Carson City and when it is completed (sometime in 2006) the Pinon Plaza
RV Resort will be just west of the bypass on Hwy 50. Look for the Pinon
Plaza Best Westen Casino and
Resort sign on the South side of Hwy 50. Enter the resort on the east
side and go toward the back, you will see the signs for the RV Park
which is in the southeast corner of the property. Try not to enter from
the west side of the Resort (there is a traffic light which mkes it an
appealing entrance) as you will have to drive completely around and
through the Casino hotel complex parking lots to get to the Rv Park.
This is asmall park with very narrow sites. We stayed here in our former RV, a 24' Class C with no slides. While there were a limited number of coaches with slides at the park, if two coaches with triple or quad slides were parked next to each other it would not make for a very pleasant experience. Another negative for this park was the person in the office. in all our years of camping, and we have camped for almost 40 years, never have we experienced a more sarcastic, obnoxious office person than we did at this park. Based on our experience checking in, we would never have any desire to return to this park.
In addition to the
obnoxious old man in the
office,the place is almost littered with
"do not" signs, though most seemed to be totally ignored by
the people staying at
the park. About the only good thing about the place were the rates,
which were $14 per nite in the
winter and $24 in the summer. We would give this park a 4 and would not
stay here again unless there was a change in management style and an
upgade of facilities. However, if placing a wager is important to you
it would probably be quite accetable, provided your rig would fit into
your site.Tonopah
Joy Land RV Park (formerly
Twister Inn RV Park) located 1/2 mile east of town on Ketten Rd off
US-6. This is not the easiest to find, nor the easiest to access RV
park. For easy access there is the Tonopah Station Casino in town. We
have always had a
somewhat stubborn bent, so just because the Twister Inn RV
park no longer seemed to
exist, it was no reason to stop at the Casino on our way thru town. You
may wonder how we knew the Twister no longer existed. While it was in
the Trailer Life Directory we were using, there were no signs, coming
into town about it. We did notice a green and white, somewhat crude
sign about the Joy Land RV park on the same street, so we figured it
had probably changed owners. You can only see the park from the road if
you are coming into Tonopah on US-6, look down and to the right after
you pass Mann Rd, as it is
located well below the
highway.
On other very, very important thing. The enforcement of the 25 mph
speed limit law is very strict in Tonopah, observe it. And no, we
didn't get stopped, it's just that everyone was going the speed limit
or a little slower and there has to be a good reason for that. Back to
RV parks, Ketten Rd is well marked so we made the turn but almost
immediately had second thoughts. Just ahead there was what passed for
an intersection. The road to the left was dirt, the road straight ahead
was dirt and the road to the right, while paved, was narrow, sloped
downward and appeared to be lined with what could best be described as
older dwellings, the kind that gather accumulations of discarded
objects over the years. We decided, rather than unhook, turn around and
go back to the Tonopah Station RV park, we would press on. After all we
are calling our travels, an adventure. A short
way down the road the park on the right. Pulling in, Linda
went to the office to register, but no was was there. In a couple of
minutes a fellow came up, said the owner works in
town, but would be here in a little bit. We continued to wait, less and
less patiently as time passed. Finally someone came up, turned out to
be the same fellow as before, and directed us to park in a
pull thru site. To get in it we looped around the inside of the
campground and 
pulled between a tree and a rock bank. The tree was so
close we couldn't open the street front slide and
the turn to the exit would be
so
sharp that, because of the angle we were at, we weren't sure we could
pull forward to exit. Hooked up the water and electric, but
having empty tanks, not the sewer. Put our
money, $14, in an envelope and put it in the slot. Later, after dark
the owner came by, gave us a receipt, said we had pulled into
the site the
wrong way, but at least we were in the only pull thru
site in Tonopah.
Also mentioned there was a cable TV hookup. Now the book had
mentioned CATV
but we hadn't found it. What it is, is a long piece of coax cable off
to the side. You need a barrel coupler to hook it up, something that
for whatever reason, I had brought along. In the morning we
backed out of Tonopah's only pull thru site and continued our journey.
We would give this park a 5 and would stay here again if we needed to
overnite in Tonopah.Pahrump Pair-A-Dice, an SKP Co-Op Park located somewhat off the
beaten
track. When we first considered becoming extended RV travelers, on
organization we knew we had to join was Escapees. This is
"the" support
group for people who leave their old life behind and embark on their
own RV adventures, just as we are doing. Headquartered in Livingston
Texas, it is the preeminentadvocate
and support group for full time and extended Rv travelers and
should be very seriously considered by anyone embarking or in the
process of planning their own
adventure. Escapees has 8 Rainbow Parks and 11 KP Co-Op Parks and this
was the first one we stayed in. Our FHU pull thru site cost $12.50 per
night for the 3 nights we stayed. We also paid for 2 days
of wi-fi at $2.50 per day. As I had mentioned the park was
a little off the beaten track, but all hard to find. We came through
town on Highway 160 from the north, turned right (south) on South
Homestead Rd. Continue through the stop sign at Gamebird. Turn right
(west) on Manse Rd. This is not a big intersection, so keep your eyes
peeled. If you miss the turn like we did, you can turn around at the
Casino further south on Homestead. The park is at the corner of Manse
and South Oakridge Rd. You turn left onto Oakridge, then right into the
park. Most of the sites appeared to be occupied on either a permanent
or seasonal basis. The unoccupied sites are scattered thoughout the
park. There are also boondock sites directly across from the office. In
addition they have an area where you can wash you rig or car if you
choose. If you do, be sure and dry the water off. We didn't and ended
up with white spots all over both the coach and the Explorer. One other
nice little addition was a clothesline which made it easy to get some
fresh smelling air dried bedding. We enjoyed our time a Pair-A-Dice
Park and would not hesitate to stop the next time we are this
way.