Product Review: Ultimate Campgrounds App
Disclosure: We received complimentary copies of Ultimate Campgrounds U.S. and Canada. Our opinions are completely honest and our own. Please read our disclaimer.
Right before the summer we learned about the app Ultimate Campgrounds and were really excited about it. Ultimate Campground has an app for the U.S. and for Canada, and from their description it looked like they have an extensive collection of campgrounds. We were a bit worried about how easily we would find places to boondock as we travelled to Yukon and then once we were there. Our main resource at the time was Campendium, and while we love Leigh and Brian’s website, the boondock list for Canada isn’t as complete. So Jerud and I decided to get the Ultimate Campground apps as an additional resource.
Ultimate Campgrounds U.S. is $3.99 for iPhones and Androids. Ultimate Campgrounds Canada is $1.99 for iPhones and Androids.
We tested it out right off the bat when we needed to spend a night in northern Montana before crossing the border. Ultimate Campgrounds actually provided us a campground that wasn’t on Campendium so that was a great start!
View from the free campground we stayed at outside Whitefish, Montana thanks to Ultimate Campgrounds.
The app is easy to use and has great features:
The overview map shows all the campgrounds in your current location. There’s also the option to enter an area you want to search for campsites.
Users can favorite campsites and easily refer back to them later.
There is detailed information for each campsite that includes: which organization manages the campsite; distance from your current location; total sites; how many RV sites; how many electric sites; amenities; fees; dates opened; elevation; weather at the campground location; elevation of the campsite; telephone number; nearest town; GPS coordinates; and links to its website and photos.
Tons of filters help you choose a campsite that best matches what you are looking for. You can filter by which organization oversees the campsite, type of campground, elevation, fees, electric sites, RV dump, showers, water, generators, activities, amenities, and when it’s open.
Ultimate Campgrounds also lets you download portions of the map (using Apple or Open maps) to view when you’re out of cell signal range.
The thing to keep in mind with Ultimate Campgrounds is that this app wasn’t created just for RVers but for travelers of all kinds: whether you drive your RV or car to your campsite, hike or paddle to your site, or want to stay at a cabin. And according to Ultimate Campgrounds they have 28,000 locations (I think for the U.S. alone)!
We ended up using Ultimate Campgrounds and iOverlander the most while we were in Canada. iOverlander fulfilled our desire to wild camp in non-campground locations. But Ultimate Campgrounds was great when there weren’t any wild camping spots available because the app includes free campgrounds where we could boondock.
The main, and so far only, downside of this app is that it doesn’t have a comment section like Campendium and iOverlander do which allows users to include up to date info/feedback on specific sites. Being in a 25 ft. long RV, we (mainly me) always worry a little when we pull into a campground whether or not we’ll be able to find a spot that will fit us even if the campground description includes a max RV length. User comments often give additional info to set my mind at ease.
A screenshot of one of our reviews for a boondocking site.
We haven’t used this app again since we’ve been back in the U.S., but we’re looking forward to finding all kinds of campsites once we hit the road again in the spring. We won’t give up using Campendium and iOverlander, but Ultimate Campgrounds has been and will continue to be a great additional resource for us as we travel across North America.
