50 Campfires

There seems to be a large amount of camping related blogs popping up lately and 50 Campfires is one of my favorites. 50 Campfires provides information, articles, reviews, recipes, and camping locations for car and RV campers in the U.S. and Canada. They also have a free magazine subscription that covers recipes, destinations and camper features.

They don't feature many teardrops or tiny trailers, but they did have a 10 "groovy" teardrop post that featured a great tour video of the Vistabule. I also like their gear reviews, recipes and their fun "Get Toasted" logo.

Photos and video by 50 Campfires

Hipcamp

While the website, Hipcamp, is currently only available for the state of California, they plan on expanding to 20 new states by next summer—just in time for teardrop camping. Hipcamp is a new website and team focusing on not only campgrounds and campsites, but the amenities that surround them. The site covers everything from campgrounds near the best wineries and stargazing to the best rock climbing and surfing.

I spoke to Eric Bach and Alyssa Ravasio, the owners of the site and avid campers. Alyssa's frustration with finding campsites online was the catalyst for the creation of Hipcamp. Eric is a world traveler, backpacker and a member of the purple-clad trio, the "Modern Gypsies", who won ABC's "Expedition Impossible". They both wanted a better search system online. They are also big fans of teardrop trailers and plan on having their own Hipcamp wrapped and branded teardrop soon.

Tell us a little about how HipCamp came about. What do you want users to get from it?

Hipcamp was born out of the frustration to discover and book campsites. The process seemed extremely fragmented. We'd have to go one place for official government information, another for photos, another for reviews, and then another place to book. We thought it could be done better and thus enable more people to get outside.

The goal is to give users a single source in which they can do everything they need to in order to make a camping trip happen. We want the users to have a simple, engaging, and fun experience while doing so. 

What has been the response to the site?

We've had a great response to the site! People are excited to move to new states and so are we. Our goal is to get to 20 more states in the U.S. by next summer. We'll also be adding in features such as user reviews, user uploaded photos, and new opportunities for our community (or tribe as we like to call it) to engage.

Which campgrounds seem to get the most traffic? What amenities are people interested in?

Some of the campgrounds that get the most traffic are Bullfrog Pond (in Austin Creek), Wildcat Campground (in Point Reyes), Bothe-Napa Valley Campground (in Bothe-Napa), Steep Ravine Cabins & Campground (in Mt. Tam), Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground (in Pfeiffer Big Sur), and of course Upper Pines Campground (in Yosemite). 

I think people are really interested in our activities, amenities, and features filters. That's one of the coolest things about Hipcamp, is that you can use the filters to get the exact type of campground you want. It's very personal.

Can you think of any California campgrounds for people who lean toward teardrops and tiny trailers?

Hmm...well some of my favorites are Huckleberry Campground at Big Basin Redwoods, Andrew Molera Campground, Steep Ravine Cabins, and Borrego Palm Canyon Campground.

Have either of you had any experience with teardrop trailers?

I've had experience with trailers in general, but not teardrops yet. However, it is our dream to own a Hipcamp teardrop trailer. It would be so cool to have one that is Hipcamp branded, but still feels natural and vintage.

We'll all keep an eye out for you on the road, Hipcamp!

CampingRoadTrip

Memorial Day is coming up and the beloved three-day weekend is the official kickoff of the summer camping season. To plan out our summer teardrop camping trips (and some future trips), I've been playing around with the CampingRoadTrip website. This site lets you do refined or broad searches for campgrounds in your chosen city or area of the country.

The site is clean, uncluttered and easy to use. You can search for campgrounds by state, city or by campground name. You can also define your search to a specific mile radius of a city or town. The site also has a review area where you can add your personal review about a campground. The breakdown of each campground gives you the location, photos, basic descriptions, price and ratings. The detail page of each campground gives you everything including weather in the area, larger photos, reviews, electrical hookup details, and facility and service information.

The website also has a forum that has topics on everything related to camping including workamping, types of trailers (teardroppers need to represent!), things to see and do in various regions and the best road trips. CampingRoadTrip also includes tips and articles on attractions and events all over the country.

 

RoadTrippers

Nearly everyone I've met who owns a teardrop trailer, loves to travel the open road. We love to see new towns and cities, take backroads to (nearly) undiscovered natural lands, and pull over to check out a local landmark or a roadside diner. Actually, one of the best parts of a road trip is planning it: poring over maps and photos and looking for those unmarked roads to the next destination.

Now there's a new website and app called RoadTrippers that maps out your road trip and the sights, restaurants, hotels and unusual stops along your route. The interactive software shows you the quickest route to your destination which you can then drag and move around to adjust where you want to go. It will even give you the time to complete the route, the distance and the possible cost of fuel.

You can then search for places along your route including Offbeat Attractions, Tourist Info, Tours, Film & TV, Family and Amusement Parks and Folk Art and Photo Ops. You can also pinpoint accommodations, shopping, restaurants, nature and sports. You can add each of these markers to your trip and save it for future reference. The site also offers guides on everything from UNESCO sites to the best beaches and a blog that features towns with weird names and underrated national parks.

RoadTrippers' little intro video also features a cute van loaded with gear and towing what looks suspiciously like a lime-green teardrop trailer.