The Good And Bad Of Corps-Hopping

We've talked about how much we enjoy staying at US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) parks across the US, and Lord knows, we've stayed in enough of them. In fact, I'm writing this post from Piney Grove COE campground as we speak. I mean, what's not to love about relatively remote campsites almost always on water with plenty of opportunities to hike, kayak, swim or fish (if you're into fishing, that is, which I am not), right?

Well, not everything is Skittles and rainbows when it comes to hopping from COE park to COE park, and it's an adjustment you have to be willing to make if you're truly going to enjoy the experience of one of America's great recreational treasures. Some of this post will be pluses and minuses, while others will be categorized as “do's and don't's” for yourselves and your fellow COE campers.

Let's start off with the obvious. COE parks are a great way to enjoy nature. One of the nice things about Corps-hopping are the parks themselves. Unlike private parks where sites are situated right next to one another where you get to know everything you ever wanted to know about complete strangers, Corps parks feature wooded lots with plenty of trees between you and your neighbor. This is not to say that each spot is isolated, but in most cases you've got decent space to enjoy privacy if you desire it.

And you can't beat the price. Sites run from $26 to $32 per night, generally, and for that you get a relatively or completely level site with a spacious patio and 50A electric hookup and water. If you happen to be as “experienced” in life as we are (over 62), make sure you get the Lifetime Senior Park pass from the National Park Service for $80. Not only does it get you free admission to every National Park in America, but you get 50% off the nightly rate in COE parks, bringing your very affordable rate per night down to an insanely cheap nightly rate of $13-$16!

But with every day of sun, there's always a little bit of rain. Notice the one thing I DIDN'T include as part of your site in COE parks – sewer hookups. Because they're on water (that's how the shoreline in all these parks was created, after all), unless a sewer system pipeline is nearby, septic isn't allowed. So maybe about 1% of all COE parks features the rare and very appreciated full hookups of water, electric and sewer.

So that means a trip to the dump station on-site. If you're like us, we can go 3-5 days before our gray water (shower and sink) needs to be dumped if we conserve, while some travel trailers are even more limited. For folks just staying the weekend, this is not a problem. There are bathrooms and showers interspersed throughout the park for those folks, or for tent campers. For us, it means a once-a-week trip to the dump station to empty our black tank (smelly toilet stuff) and maybe a trip or three for me to drag a “sewer caddy” full of gray water behind the Jeep to the dump station so that we eliminate unplugging and moving the whole RV back and forth to our site.

As I have written about before, everyone is limited to a 2-week stay at COE parks, and you can't just stay for the 2 weeks, then turn around and come back in for another. After all, these are parks paid for by the American taxpayer, so there's no hogging sites and campgrounds so that the occasional recreation-lover cannot experience what we full-time RVers get to enjoy. What we do usually is find another COE park nearby and do our next stay there, then move on to the next if that's in our itinerary.

Generally during the week this is a quiet lifestyle, but comes the weekend most Corps campgrounds explode with couples and kids trying to get as much “recreating” in as is humanly possible for 2-3 days. And while it's nice to see kids playing and friends visiting, they tend to bring every piece of civilization known to mankind with them for those few short days! Golf carts, bikes, motorized kiddie cars, boats, toys and – lights.

Yeah, lights. Lot's and lot's of lights. Many motor homes (not ours) have had underbelly LED lights installed. Some folks will tell you they serve a purpose in keeping critters from finding their way into the RV, but it's really all about the status of having a rotating set of mood lighting on your campsite. And make no mistake – it IS a status symbol for many. Frankly, it's not our thing. Fifth wheels, campers and even the occasional tent camper bring their own lighting with them. Some are LED rope lights to ring the ground around their site, plus strings of white or colored Christmas lights to attach to trees or their RVs or the canopies they've erected. Look, I get it. It's nice to have your “patio” lighted at night when visitors are there. What I DON'T get is keeping them on ALL NIGHT AND DAY! Who keeps their lights on 24/7 every day at home? Not only does it waste electricity, it destroys the seclusion of being out in nature. I think the local wildlife breathe a heavy sigh of relief when Sunday nights come around and the park empties. So if you're reading this, shut your lights off at night while COE camping.

 This is what a moon rise over Lake Whitten should look like.

 

This is what happens when light spillage from a camper who has gone to bed does to the moon rise.

And how about this crowd who went to bed with these lights shining brightly?

Another “pet peeve” we both have is people bringing their dogs with them and not following the rules regarding them. Pets must be kept on a (short) leash or runner (or within a pen) and must not be left outside unattended. This is a rule most private parks employ and enforce, but for some reason folks aren't quite as willing to restrain their dogs in the South. While their dogs are generally friendly, some are more than willing to run up to anyone to greet them, and a charging dog – no matter how big or small – is a cause for concern, especially if we're walking Grover (who has his own issues with strange or certain types of dogs). So keep your pet(s) on a short enough leash that restricts them to your site, and preferably to your patio.

A final issue with Corps-hopping is access to civilization. Yeah, we do stay here to get away from it all, but due to the remote nature of COE parks, cell phone signals are usually pathetically weak. Enough to make calls, sometimes enough for the occasional download, but usually not robust enough to handle the electronic nature of modern society. We don't do enough of anything electronically to spend the money on satellite TV providers or a Starlink connection for the internet, so when we do need to attach to the rest of the world it can take a while. Our biggest concern with being so remote is being able to get weather alerts on our phones and to keep track of local radar, which is why we had a WeBoost antenna installed a couple of years ago. Not a perfect solution, but it's better than it was.

And it does allow me enough bandwidth to upload this post to our website and Facebook pages.

We're also remote enough that we get very few over-the-air (OTA) TV stations, so sometimes what little TV we do watch is very limited. That's where our DVD player comes in handy. And streaming isn't always an option due to the bandwidth issues mentioned above. But we make it work.

So there you have it; the ultimate and blessedly short guide to Corps-hopping – the pluses, minuses, do's, and don't's. Just another glimpse into the RV lifestyle we enjoy.