Has any Forum members here tried this?

[IAMICHABOD]

Casino Camping

One thing nice about the RVing, whether it is full time, a hobby or weekend warrior or just a passion is that you can always change it up to fit your pleasures or your way of doing things.

Several years ago I saw on this forum Casino Camping discussed, at the time I thought nothing about it. On my annual long 2 or 3 week trips to explore my State I would plan out my Itinerary to include the places I wanted to explore, our coast line or our Redwoods, the National and State parks, the Deserts and Gold country. The list of things to do here is amazing.

I would plan a trip that included FHU parks, partial hookups or dry camping; I am always prepared to do any of them.

On one trip the drive from one place to another was longer that I wanted to do in a day, as a retired OTR driver I don’t have to do those long days. I saw in between that there was a Tribal Casino. I looked it up on the Casino Camping site and they allowed overnight camping. It worked out quite well, a nice place to park; security greeted us and took us to the spot where they could always see us on their cameras.

The staff was very friendly and helpful, always security around, the food was very good and reasonably priced so it was an experience that I would try again. On another long trip I found the same thing at a different Casino.

This past year I decided to explore closer to home and also see what the Casino Camping had to offer. From my house here in So California there are several Tribal Casinos within a day’s drive. Some have FHU parks and some dry camping. The ones that have a FHU park are nice and they all have a free shuttle to and from the casino direct to your campsite, they are a bit more upscale as is the prices in the casino for food and gambling minimums on machines and table games.

The others I have tried, that had no RV Park varied from posh and expensive to modest, the modest ones had the best and least expensive food; also I found that they have locally grown harvest and wines.

So has any Forum members here tried this? If you did what were your impressions of this and would you try it again.

[IAMICHABOD]

lhenry8113 wrote:
Stayed at the Pala Casino, in So Calif., and really enjoyed our stay. The R.V campground was full hook-up, big level cement pads, had trash pick-up, green space between sites, free shuttle to the Casino, restaurants, etc. Was super clean and had great view of the MTN's. We are not gamblers but sure enjoyed our stay there.

This is one of the Casinos that I stayed at,Pala Casino is all that. The review and pictures that I submitted to the Casino Camper website shows the sites and how big they are with the large grass areas between each site. Once the trees and hedges get grown each site will be very private,they were almost there last time.

I was there just prior to the opening then came back later and enjoyed my stay and have been back and have another trip planed soon.

[CavemanCharlie]

I've done it a couple of times at the casinos near me. Some of them are quite nice. Others are just a parking lot. The closest one to me used to be nice but, have upped their prices to the point of being not worth it to me.

[RedRollingRoadb]

I'm in the Portland, OR metro area and have used the website as my wife like to donate the the Native American Relief Fund, which she owns. Care to donate? LOL

We did a trip a few years ago in to North California and used the site to get some info. Had lots of fun. We generally dry camp, as for an overnight stop why pay?

Only one place that we have been to was security rude. We got a late start in the AM due to DW having a work issue. Was a whole bunch of people in the restaurant that heard my displeasure with the wanna-be cop. Needless to say I left a poor review.

Been to several that really didn't have good parking but they bent over backward to help and make our stay comfortable.

[StarkNaked]

Yes, we use 7 Feathers and Rolling Hills. Both on I-5.

I have checked out others with plans to stay, but ended up on different routes.

[Horsedoc]

We have stayed at Council Bluff (Harrah's) and Harrah's Cherokee. It has been several years for each, but I believe Council Bluffs had electric and was 20 bucks. Cherokee was free. Cherokee has expanded a few times and I don't know if it is still free.

[SageCrispin]

Have stayed in a couple, as others have said-when convenient. One in St. Louis, Mo was on the rail line. Stayed several days, could eat at the Casino and travel easily to the city. Could walk to both the casino and the rail station.

[Matt_Colie]

We use casino lots when they are in the right place.

Because we were running on Street Atlas early on, and I had found the overlays, one of which was for overnight parking, we have used casinos from time to time. We never managed to get there when there was even an electric place open. That is not essential when we are in Travel Mode.

One we use kind of regularly if we are westbound, is the Casino Queen in East St. Louis. There is both an FHU campground in walking distance to the light rail that can take you into town, or an empty area at the east end the we use when the FHU is closed. They provide a shuttle to the main from both.

The only bad time we has was when we had situated ourselves for the night an a semi parked nest to us and he was both idling and running a loud reefer. I moved over to a car park section (out coach is only a little smaller than a big dually or a stretch passenger van, but the security guy came and bothered me. I explained the situation and it was clear that he did not care. So I left in a manner that made my displeasure very apparent to all that might observe. There was no RVParky yet, if there had been I would have written a carefully worded review.

We never again ONPed at a casino that relegated us to the trucks only lot.

Matt

[lee_mayhan]

We stayed one night at Treribles Lakeside Casino RV Park in Osceola, Iowa on I35 south of Des Moines, about 50mi. It is a nice park.

[Chum_lee]

bikendan wrote:
We've been doing casino camping for years.
Some have RV campgrounds, some allow overnight parking. We've done both.

Yep. Same here. IME, every casino's overnight RV policy differs. Some overnights are free (usually no services) some not. We prefer it to Wal Mart, when available. The rural Indian Casino's are usually the most liberal. Not so with big city casinos, especially in Las Vegas. Google Maps is your friend. Just check out the parking lots for RV's in advance. You can usually get a variety of good meals at casinos for very reasonable prices especially if you get their "frequent flyer" cards which are usually free and just take a second to get.

Chum lee

[bikendan]

We've been doing casino camping for years.
Some have RV campgrounds, some allow overnight parking. We've done both.

[ken56]

We stumbled upon the Wildhorse Resort and Casino just east of Pendleton OR. not far off of I-84. Great campground. We hadn't intended to hang around Pendleton but it was so nice we stayed 3 days. Glad we did.

[buc1980]

We stay at Sky Ute casino in Colorado.Is a nice campground with all the facility.It was $39 kind of expensive when you consider the money spend gambling.

[Dutch_12078]

We prefer the full hookup sites at The Villages At Turning Stone RV Park operated by the Turning Stone Casino Resort, Verona, NY. With our 15% Escapees discount, the site price is pretty reasonable. Free shuttle buses to the casino...

[gbopp]

We stayed at Mohegan Sun Casino near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre PA.
No hook ups. But, it was quiet and secure.

I would chose a casino before a Walmart for an overnight stay. It's definitely not camping but it serves the purpose.

I found it on Casino Camper.