What makes a long term RV park quiet and well run?

What makes a long term RV park quiet and well run?

A quiet, well run long term park has neighbors who stay for months and gravel roads where people drive slowly. Add a storm shelter and someone on site who answers the phone. Most of these show up on a short visit.

We run Lake Hudson RV Park on Dogwood Village Rd in Salina, between Salina and Locust Grove. We are not neutral. We would check the items below before parking for a season, and we hold our own park to them.

If you are still deciding whether to live in a rig at all, our guide to living in an RV full time in Oklahoma covers the bigger picture. Once you have decided, the next job is telling a good park from a loud one before you pay a deposit.

Park details come from our own records. Ask any park you visit to answer the same seven questions.

Why do the same neighbors matter more than quiet hours?

Posted quiet hours only work when people follow them. The better protection is who lives next to you. A park full of weekend traffic has a new set of neighbors every few days, and each new set has to learn the place. A park where most guests stay by the month has neighbors who learn each other’s schedules.

Guests who stay for months settle in, and they want to sleep too. If a park cannot tell you how many of its guests are monthly, ask again.

Our nightly rate is $47, and we do take nightly guests. The mix matters, though. When a park leans toward monthly stays, the people who share the roads with you are mostly your neighbors for the season, not strangers passing through.

How much does quiet really matter for sleep?

The CDC says adults aged 18 to 60 need 7 or more hours of sleep a day, and it lists a quiet, relaxing, cool bedroom among its tips for getting there. An RV has thin walls, so the park around you matters more than it would for a house.

Take a nurse coming off a 12 hour night who wants to sleep at 8 in the morning, or a tradesman up at 4:30 who does not want a generator running at 10 PM. Quiet is part of the job for these guests.

You can test a park for it. Visit at the hour you would sleep, whether that is 10 at night or 9 in the morning, and stand outside your prospective site for five minutes. Listen for a road that sounds like a drag strip or a lot light that hums.

What does a well run gravel road look like?

Good gravel is level and firm, with no deep ruts where rain collects. We renovated the park in 2022 and graveled the roads then, and we left the old shade trees standing on purpose.

Loose gravel throws dust and stones, and a fast truck wakes the whole row, so we ask everyone to drive slowly. A posted speed that no one follows is a warning sign.

Look at the edges when you tour any park. Stone borders around sites, as in the photo below, show where each site starts. Ragged edges and sites that run into each other can mean the park is short on room.

Why does shade matter at a long term park?

It does, and the reason is money as well as comfort. A rig in full sun in an Oklahoma July works its air conditioner hard, and shade helps. Our electric bills run from about $30 to $200 a month depending on use, and most guests average about $100. Heavy summer air conditioning pushes a bill toward the top of that range.

Our trees have been growing for more than 30 years, and we leave them standing. We kept the trees even though cutting them would fit more rigs. Our 50 wooded sites sit back among them.

When you visit a park, look up. Ask whether the trees get checked and trimmed, and how the park handles a limb that comes down. If you want to know about the trees on a specific site, call us and ask.

What should the hookups and the electric bill look like?

Every one of our 67 sites has full hookups, which means water, sewer and electric at your pad, with both 30 and 50 amp service. For a long stay, sewer at the site saves a lot of trips with a tote tank.

Electric is billed by use, so ask any park how it measures your meter and when the bill arrives. We tell guests up front that most pay about $100 a month, with a range of about $30 to $200, and that summer air conditioning is the main reason a bill climbs. A park that will not give a range is worth a second question.

Ask for the same plain answer on water, trash and WiFi. We have WiFi and laundry on site. If you work from your rig, ask about the connection before you book and plan on a hotspot as a backup, as you would anywhere.

What is the plan when a storm comes through Mayes County?

Storm season in northeast Oklahoma means you should know where the shelter is before you sign. The National Weather Service says that if you are in a mobile home, a vehicle or outdoors, you should move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. An RV is not substantial shelter, so know where the shelter is.

We have an on site storm shelter. Learn where it is before the sirens start. Our post on storm season for RV owners in Mayes County walks through what to do before and during a warning.

When you tour a park, ask where the shelter is and have the manager point to it. If the answer is a vague wave toward town, you have learned something.

Who answers when something breaks at 7 on a Sunday morning?

Pipes freeze and breakers trip, and a weekend does not stop either one. A well run park has a person you can reach, and the best arrangement is management on site, which is how we run ours. Look for a phone number that someone picks up and a person who knows which pedestal is yours.

Our guide to winterizing an RV in northeast Oklahoma covers what to do before a hard freeze, and it is worth reading even if you plan to stay hooked up all winter. Ask any park what its policy is on frozen lines and who to call, before the first freeze and not during it.

The same goes for the small stuff. A leaning limb or a pothole will not wait for a weekend. A park that fixes a pothole quickly will likely fix a water line quickly.

How do we price a month?

Wooded sites are a flat $350 a month, lake view sites are $450 and budget sites start at $300, with electric on top. A $100 deposit comes once you are approved.

Lacy H. stayed with us about a year. Her review reads:

Long term guests budget by the month, and a surprise fee in month four sours a stay. Before you sign anywhere, ask for the full list of charges in writing, and add the electric estimate to get your real monthly number. Call us and we will add it up with you.

How do you tour a long term RV park before you commit?

A walk shows you things a web page cannot. Go once at midday and, if you can, once near the time you would sleep.

1. Drive in slowly and notice how fast everyone else is driving. The pace of other guests tells you more than any sign.
2. Walk the roads and look at the gravel, the edges and the drainage. Rutted corners and standing water mean the park is behind on upkeep.
3. Stand at the site you would rent and listen for two or three minutes. Note the traffic and any lights or generators.
4. Find the storm shelter, the laundry and the office, and ask the manager how to reach them after hours.
5. Ask for the full price in writing, including electric, and when the bill arrives each month.

If a park hesitates on any of those five, it is better to find out now. If you cannot make the drive, we will talk through the same list on the phone.

Does an age limit on RVs help keep a park in good shape?

We think so. We take RVs that are 10 years old or newer. An older rig is reviewed case by case from photos. The point is to keep the park in good shape for the people who live there.

Our post on the 10 year rule at RV parks explains how it works and what to do if your rig is older.

Whatever the park’s policy, ask what it is before you drive out. A clear age rule with room for a photo review gives an older rig a fair look.

Why do guests choose our park for the long haul?

We are on Dogwood Village Rd in Salina, about 3.6 miles and 7 minutes from Locust Grove, 4.8 miles and 8 minutes from downtown Salina, and 17 minutes from MidAmerica Industrial Park. We have 67 full hookup sites. Seven are lake view sites at $450 a month, 50 are wooded at a flat $350 and 10 are budget sites from $300. All are plus electric, and a typical site is about 35 feet wide and 120 feet deep, so many fit a truck and a boat.

Tre N. wrote:

Lorri B. wrote:

Those are two of the 57 Google reviews behind our 4.7 stars. Our monthly RV sites page shows the three site types with photos, and our page for an RV park near Locust Grove covers the drive.

Laundry and WiFi are on site, and so is the manager. Dogs are welcome when their owner is with them. The two public Lake Hudson boat ramps are about half a mile away,.

What does a month cost at our park, all in?

Electric runs about $100 a month for most guests, and your own use can land anywhere from about $30 to $200.

All prices are plus electric. A $100 deposit is due once you are approved. Budget sites are smaller and have no room for a boat.

For a 13 week stay, plan on about three months of rent plus electric. Our nightly rate of $47 works for a short trip, and a monthly site is a better deal once you stay past a couple of weeks.

Can you have a lake view and a quiet park too?

Yes. Seven lake view sites look out over Lake Hudson, and guests there often see eagles over the water. The wooded sites sit back in the shade. Austin S. wrote about both:

Lake view is $450 a month. Wooded is $350. Some guests pick on budget and rig length. Others drive out to see the water first. If you are not sure, tell us how you live in the rig, and we will point you to the site that fits.

How far is our park from town and work?

A quiet park only helps if the drive fits your days. We are right off the highway between Salina and Locust Grove in Mayes County, and these are the Google Maps times we measured from our gate.

Times change with traffic and weather. Run your own route at the hour you will drive it.

A 17 minute drive to MidAmerica Industrial Park is a short commute for a long shift, and it still leaves the road behind you when you pull in. We are independent, and we have no connection to MidAmerica or any employer there. Guests who work there come for the drive and the space. Our page on monthly RV sites has the details for a stay of a month or longer.

Can you bring a dog and a boat to a long term site?

Dogs are welcome when their owner is with them. That rule is a good one to ask about at any park, because a dog left alone in a rig can bark for hours, and the neighbors hear every minute of it. Picking up after your dog keeps the park pleasant for everyone.

A boat is a question of room. Our typical site is about 35 feet wide and 120 feet deep, roughly 4,200 square feet, and many sites fit a truck and a boat. Budget sites are smaller and have no room for a boat. If you fish Lake Hudson, the two public ramps are about half a mile away, and the Iron Horse Landing marina is 6 minutes off at 3.1 miles.

What does the first week at a long term park look like?

Plan the first week as a settling in. Level the rig, check each hookup before you trust it and walk the roads to find the laundry, the office and the shelter. Learn which neighbors work early and which work nights, and keep your own lights and generator use in mind.

Do the first electric math early. Read your meter on move in day, read it again a week later and multiply, since most guests use about $100 a month and a heavy air conditioner can push it up toward $200. If your numbers come in far above that, call us. We would rather talk about it in week two than in month three.

What mistakes do people make when they choose a long term park?

The most common one is booking from photos. Photos show the best angle. See the roads in person.

The second is not asking about the full monthly cost. A low rent with a big electric bill, or with fees added at move in, adds up to more than a fair rent with a clear bill. Ask for every charge.

The third is picking a park for the view and ignoring the neighbors. A lake view is lovely, and so is sleeping through the night. Ask who stays at the park and for how long.

A fourth mistake is waiting until you need a site. We would rather you call early and know what is open. If you work at MidAmerica Industrial Park or are moving here for a job, our guide to moving to Mayes County for work lists the first month steps in order.

What should you ask us on the phone?

We prefer a phone call, though the website form works too. When you call (918) 373-9216, have these ready:

• The age and length of your RV, and the year it was built.
• Your move in date and how long you expect to stay.
• Whether you are bringing a boat, a work truck or a second vehicle.
• Whether you travel with a dog, and what shifts you work.

We will tell you which sites are open, what the first month costs and how the $100 deposit works once we approve you. If your RV is older than 10 years, send photos and we will review them. If we are full, we will say so.