Driving with TT-stop over recomendations and tips needed

Pam :)

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
Hi, I've been a long time DIS lurker and occasional poster. We haven't camped at the Fort in 15 years, we had a pop up and we stayed at a hotel on the way down, but have been to WDW once or twice a year flying down and staying in hotels (on or offsite), rental houses and time shares; usually visiting in October, February, April and one July trip. We visited the Fort and attended Hoop de Doo on every trip :love:. I have planned an end of July trip with our TT for 9 days at the Fort and 4 days as our stop on the way back home at the Outer Banks.

We are traveling from Central/Western NY (Rochester). We are not committed to a route at this time (I get the DC issue but we are pretty good at timing to avoid the traffic) but are not opposed to the WV route either. We would plan to drive 10-13 hours (2 drivers) the first day and only stop for quick gas/potty breaks. With any of our route options, I would expect we would be stopping in North or South Carolina. We are traveling with our 14DS, meeting our 16DD and leaving our 22DS home to work:rolleyes:, we are pulling our 25 TT with one slide.

I did a search and found a few recommendations but no recent threads (if there is one I missed please post a link). I need tips on where to stay on the way down? Do we stay at a campground?
If so please share your favorites and why? Do we pull into a truck stop? Walmart? Something else? How does it all work, do you slide out, unhitch?
We have camped our whole lives but never did a one night stop in the camper.

Thanks in advance,
Pam
 
I can't speak to the specific locations - as our routes are different. And others can speak to the overnights at non-campgrounds.

We have always chosen to do our overnights at campgrounds. The cost is not that high and we like having the opportunity to plug in, get water if we want to, avoid the noise of truck stops, etc... For us, we arrange for pull-through spots, pull in, level the trailer front to back (we don't unhitch unless the positioning is too severe on the truck), plug in and call it a night. It takes me all of 5 minutes to get set up for the night and we are nice and comfortable no matter what the weather and circumstances.
 
We have stayed at Colleton State Park in SC. It is just a few miles off I-95. Very easy in and out.
 
I can’t help with the long haul. On your way down to Disney there are three state parks on the way or not very far. O’leno state park in high springs fl is 20 mins north of gainesville. This is our favorite state park. Good sites, clean comfort stations......there is a play ground in the magnolia section.....20 mins off of I 75. Payne’s prairie state park.....gainesville fl. My least fave of the three. It’s kind of spooky the woods are so dense. Both of those parks need a reservation as they are close to the University of Florida.....Go Gators! They are about a 2.5 to 3 hour haul from Disney. The third state park is 30 mins away from Disney. Lake Louisa. Beautiful park.....sites are closer than the previous two. Lots of water around, but it’s a very well maintained park.
We prefer state parks as there is a limit as to how long guests can stay. We like to avoid rv parks due to some having permanent residents. I don’t like being watched as a new arrival. Typically Florida state parks are low in cost. They have 50 and 30 amp service, and water. No sewer hook ups typically. When we stay in the state parks, especially if it’s a short stay.....we use the comfort station for solids. Easier to empty the tanks for the haul. (Sorry for the TMI)
 


Well if you come down 77 way, there is a nice campground at the 81/77 split. Fort Chiswell RV park, we have stayed there during our trips to or from Disney. It is about 7.5 to 8 hours to the Fort from there. From there we use the 77/26/95/I4 route.
 
O’leno state park in high springs fl is 20 mins north of gainesville. This is our favorite state park. Good sites, clean comfort stations......there is a play ground in the magnolia section.....20 mins off of I 75.

I agree with the Magnolia loop, but would avoid the Dogwood loop like the plague unless you are seriously experienced truck driver or something. Even though some of the sites on Dogwood say they accommodate larger rigs, good luck getting them in there.

Also, wear plenty of DEET while visiting O'Leno, even overnight. Deer ticks are very, very thick there. They are so very tiny, you can barely see them. We spray ourselves before even getting out of the car. That being said, we do visit the park often, as it is only about 10 minutes from home. They have lots of festivals and things that we attend.

I actually love Paynes Prairie and don't find it creepy, or too wooded at all. However, I did run into a woman laying on the bath house floor there at 4:00 am once. But that's another story altogether. lol

If you just want a quick stop RV park, Casey Jones in Lake City is nice. It's literally right off Interstate 75.

Lost of people stop in town at Inn & Out. It's just off the exit prior to Casey Jones, but that land has been sold and it's closing. As a matter of fact, I think I'll make a post about that. It was a crappy place anyway, in my opinion.
 
We have stayed at Colleton State Park in SC. It is just a few miles off I-95. Very easy in and out.

Watch your timing if you're doing Colleton (and probably other state parks as well) we stayed overnight several years ago and the campground gate was closed upon our arrival at probably around 8pm. Very lucky for us a regular camper who had keys was just arriving as we were about to hit the road, he let us in and escorted us to our site. Since then we've done the more commercial campgrounds or just overnights at Wally World, which I got more comfortable with once we got our class C.
 


I agree with the Magnolia loop, but would avoid the Dogwood loop like the plague unless you are seriously experienced truck driver or something. Even though some of the sites on Dogwood say they accommodate larger rigs, good luck getting them in there.

Also, wear plenty of DEET while visiting O'Leno, even overnight. Deer ticks are very, very thick there. They are so very tiny, you can barely see them. We spray ourselves before even getting out of the car. That being said, we do visit the park often, as it is only about 10 minutes from home. They have lots of festivals and things that we attend.

I actually love Paynes Prairie and don't find it creepy, or too wooded at all. However, I did run into a woman laying on the bath house floor there at 4:00 am once. But that's another story altogether. lol

If you just want a quick stop RV park, Casey Jones in Lake City is nice. It's literally right off Interstate 75.

Lost of people stop in town at Inn & Out. It's just off the exit prior to Casey Jones, but that land has been sold and it's closing. As a matter of fact, I think I'll make a post about that. It was a crappy place anyway, in my opinion.

Well that explains the random bugs that are on the dogs, regardless of the flea and tick treatment.....I will speak to the vet about something else. We live on acerage. I was unsure if they were getting them from our property.

While we were at Payne’s prairie.....random people would just pop out of the woods near the camp sites. I have no clue if there were trails close by, but they creeped me out.
 
Well that explains the random bugs that are on the dogs, regardless of the flea and tick treatment.....I will speak to the vet about something else. We live on acerage. I was unsure if they were getting them from our property.

We live on large wooded property nearby as well. As long as our dogs stay home, they are fine. We don't take them to O'Leno at all because of the deer ticks. They have lots of warning posters about them, but people don't tend to think they are just generic warnings like any park has. In reality, its a serious problem there.

While we were at Payne’s prairie.....random people would just pop out of the woods near the camp sites. I have no clue if there were trails close by, but they creeped me out.

Okay, that IS creepy! I honestly don't know if there are trails. Maybe there are some weirdos around. I may have to rethink going there again.

When we were there, we had my daughters camper out on a shake-down trip close to home since she just got it. Turned out the toilet was leaking, which doesn't work for a grandma like myself. I have to pee like 4 or 5 times a night. Thankfully, we were right next to the bath house. Went in a 4:00 am one night. As I opened the door, I heard a stall door shut and lock, so I know there was another person in there too. Right as I walked in, there was a woman on the floor, in front of the sinks.

She was in in the position that Muslims pray (don't know how else to describe it) except her arms weren't outstretched. I asked her if she was okay and she said yes, she was just not feeling good. I asked her a couple more times if she needed help and she declined. I knew someone else was in a stall because I had heard it shut and lock. The first stall was empty, so I quickly used it ... couldn't hold it. No feet were showing on the floor in the back stall, so whoever it was was propped up on the toilet.

At that point, I was pretty sure it was a man in the other stall or the feet would not have been hidden. I went back out to the sinks and had to step around the floor woman's hair to wash my hands. While making a bunch of noise with water and dryer, I leaned down and whispered in her ear, asking if she needed me to call help. She still said no, she was fine.

I hightailed it back to our camper and locked the door. Pretty creepy stuff. I still don't know what was going on. Maybe there is a homeless population there? Since you saw people coming out of the woods randomly, and my late night bath house encounter, I'd guess that may be the case.

What a shame because it's a great place to kayak with the manatees.
 
Great replies so far thanks for taking the time.

I definitely think I would be more comfortable in a campground, a pull through would be grea,t add a decent bathhouse and it would be perfect. It didn't occur to me to stay hooked up to the tow vehicle if possible and just plug in- we wouldn't really need to hook up water or sewer for the night.... It is really about the destination and a good nights sleep. The 14DS would benefit from a little exercise and a campground would offer that (actually a nice campground walk would benefit all off us). I've added all your campground recommendations to my master file since i never know what variations life can bring. Please keep them coming. Any and all wisdom is appreciated.
 
I definitely think I would be more comfortable in a campground, a pull through would be grea,t add a decent bathhouse and it would be perfect. It didn't occur to me to stay hooked up to the tow vehicle if possible and just plug in-

Stephen Foster is a very nice Florida state park, not far from the state line. A good place to get a morning start from, only about 2.5 hours from Disney. I mention this one because they have quite a few pull through sites. I would highly recommend reserving your site in advance, both here and at any Florida state park. The sites do have electric & water.

ETA: There is a Stephen Foster state park in Georgia as well. I linked to the Florida one so you wouldn't mix them up.
 
Pam, you're getting suggestions on this thread for both I-75 and I-95...I'm guessing coming from NY and based on what you mentioned you'll be taking 95. Here's a decent listing of campgrounds along I-95: https://www.i95exitguide.com/camping/ Although, I think some names are a little outdated (like KOAs that have sold to independents, etc.)

Like I mentioned above, now that we have our class C, we do parking lot overnights more frequently, but only when the weather is good for it and we don't need AC (I'm not a fan of sleeping with the genny on to power the AC). So we've stayed overnight in many CGs along the corridor for both Disney and non-Disney FL trips. We did learn that in the summer you need a reservation at many places...since you're traveling in July I'd make reservations so you're not desperate like we were last summer. That takes some flexibility out of the equation, but it stinks to be tired and ready to stop only to find out there is no vacancy.

We drive down from central CT and our favored route is I-84 to I-81 then we cut over on highway 17 in VA to drop in to I-95 north of Richmond and take 95 for the rest of the way down. We have family in Raleigh, so our timing usually involves seeing them for a meal together. And really, everyone's timing might be different anyway based on how many drivers and how long a haul you do comfortably each day. Oh, and what time you shove off. Anyway, one of our favorite stop-overs is the RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads (for us that gives us an hour drive to go meet SIL and BIL for breakfast in the morning.) Then our second night we like the Jacksonville North-St Mary's KOA right over the GA/FL border in Kingsland GA, that gives us about a 3 hour drive to the Fort in the morning. They have free waffles in the morning, so that's a fun way to start the day :)

On the way home we generally push through and do only one overnight. For that overnight we try to make it to somewhere in NC. We've done the Fayetteville KOA, the Smithfield KOA (I think this is called Raleigh Oaks now), and also Camp Pedro (*almost* in NC, LOL) - all of which aren't my idea of an ideal CG, most could use a little TLC but just right for what we need for overnights and felt safe. Last year we stopped in Savannah for a couple of days on the way home, so the trip back north started further up. For that overnight we ended up staying at South Forty campground in VA (after finding no vacancy earlier on the route). That was convenient and worked well - an older CG that used to be a KOA that could use a little love. But again, for an overnight it was perfect.
 
Pam, you're getting suggestions on this thread for both I-75 and I-95...I'm guessing coming from NY and based on what you mentioned you'll be taking 95. Here's a decent listing of campgrounds along I-95: https://www.i95exitguide.com/camping/ Although, I think some names are a little outdated (like KOAs that have sold to independents, etc.)

.

KristenU Thanks for your detailed reply, since we are in Western NY the WV route and DC route are both options, in the past I think we were limited because of propane tanks and tunnels (i'm not sure if that was a real thing or just a choice). We really haven't decided on which route, certainly campground options will factor into our decision. we have 2 drivers and are comfortable driving 12-14 hours easily ( when we were younger we would drive straight through but i refuse to do that anymore!). I plan on making reservations, but I also know in our world plans change often at the last minute and I like to be prepared with a solid set of recommendations. The I-95 exit guide will be particularly helpful an extra thanks for that.

I am considering a 2 night stop on the way down and getting into FT Wilderness earlier (more time at the Fort) need to talk to DH.
Thanks for your imput,
Pam
 
Morning! Fellow WNY here. We are doing the trek with our 33 ft. 5th wheel to FT wilderness for Easter and have booked the Charlotte/Ft. Mill KOA. I like it because it is just on the other side of Charlotte so if you time it right you can miss the afternoon drive time and be beyond it the next morning. For the past 20 years I have driven my “snow birding” Grandmother’s car to Cocoa Beach from Buffalo (in January) and have always gone the WV way. We also towed our 36 ft. TT to Tybee Island, outside of Savannah GA and after much debate went that way. We did fine through the mountains.

A few years ago we purchased the Allstays Camp & RV app and it has been great for finding campgrounds, Walmart’s with overnight parking, service centers, etc. I think it was $10???? but well worth the cost.
 
A few years ago we purchased the Allstays Camp & RV app and it has been great for finding campgrounds, Walmart’s with overnight parking, service centers, etc. I think it was $10???? but well worth the cost.

Good suggestion, another app is RVparky, and it's free. Use it a lot to plan trips and stopovers.

It shows Wal Marts, truck stops, Cracker Barrels , and other locations. You can create login and build a trip. It's pretty good .
 
A few years ago we purchased the Allstays Camp & RV app and it has been great for finding campgrounds, Walmart’s with overnight parking, service centers, etc. I think it was $10???? but well worth the cost.

I totally agree - I love love love this app, but I wanted to share that it is now only available on Apple. The last time I went to recommend it and share a link from Google Play for Android, I couldn't find it. I emailed to the creator to ask how to find it... he got right back to me and was very honest about what was going on. I learned that it is still available on a web version (that is mobile friendly), but the app is no more because Google was against free overnights and banned a good chunk of their data. He didn't want to have a lesser product and grew weary of the one-sided battle with Google and decided to just pull it.

Best $10 I ever spent on camping stuff, hopefully it will come back at some point on the Android platform.
 
Hi Pam, We're from your area, just a bit north on the other side of the Canadian border, Kingston Ontaio. It's 1,405 miles to WDW for us. We're retired and we take our time on the trip.

Our preferred route is I-81 to I-77 to I-26 to I-95 - it bypasses the Baltimore/Washington area altogether. Our usual first night stop is either Harrisburg East Campground at Harrisburg PA or Western Village RV Park at Carlisle PA. The second night it either the KOA at Wytheville VA or the KOA at Statesville NC. Our third night is usually Coastal Georgia RV Resort at Brunswick GA. From there it's only a couple of hours to WDW so you get there early for check-in and set up.

You could go I-90 to Erie and I-79 south to I-77 and face Pittsburgh traffic, or you could head south on I-390 and connect with I-81 near Harrisburg. I'm not familiar with the roads in that corridor to Harrisburg.

If you're more aggressive than we are, or in more of a rush, the KOA's at Wytheville or Statesville could be a good half way point for you, whichever way you go.

That's my 2¢ worth!
 
Pam let me echo KristinU's recommendation of Carolina Crossroads. We travel with 2 pups and tend to try for Disney in Dec/ Jan time frame. Since we don't really like pulling into new to us CG's in the dark we plan on stops we can make by like 4:30pm at the latest and set up for the night before the sun goes down. CC has been very good to and for us The Comfort Station is in the Main Bldg. and our experience is always clean
 
Pam another place we have found very good for us is Camp Lake Jasper in Hardeeville SC Exit 8 of I 95 just 8 miles north of the Georgia border. CG is very clean and staff is extremely friendly and helpful, CS and Laundry are clean. My only problem is for some reason only certain pressure regulators work well there i f need be they sell one they know will provide sufficient pressure to meet your needs We intend to stay an extra day on our next trip to explore.
I can also recommend Camp Wilderness north of Richmond in VA. We stayed there a few years back on our way home and wish they were still open year round as they are only like 4 hours from home for us. CS was immaculate, store well stocked extremely close to I 95
 

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