Thousand Trails Membership (What You Need to Know)

In a hurry? Jump to Thousand Trails Membership Levels – Quick Reference Comparison Chart

What is Thousand Trails?

Thousand Trails is a membership camping club with over 80 RV resorts and campgrounds throughout the US.

A Thousand Trails membership allows you to camp at any of the Thousand Trails campgrounds without any additional nightly fee.

As you can imagine, this means that you can save a lot of money! In fact, I do not know of a more economical way to camp across the country with hookups. Over the last 6 years, we traveled the country, camped with hookups for $5.01 per night and saved $28,992.19 with our Thousand Trails membership.

There’s even more, an optional add-on called the Trails Collection provides access to another 100 plus RV parks across the country.

How Does Thousand Trails Work?

The basic idea is simple. You buy a Thousand Trails membership and pay annual dues. Then you can camp at the Thousand Trails campgrounds without paying a nightly fee.

Your membership type defines how many nights you can stay in a row, whether you can go directly from one Thousand Trails campground to another and how far in advance you can make a reservation.

For example, our membership allows us to stay at a Thousand Trails campground for 21 days without a nightly fee. After a stay, we can go directly to another Thousand Trails campground for up to 21 days. As if that’s not enough, there is no limit to the number of times we can do this each year.

Sounds good right? So, let’s take a look at the membership levels.

What Are the Thousand Trails Membership Levels?

There are currently four types of Thousand Trails memberships. The Camping (Zone) Pass, and three upgraded membership types; Elite Basic, Elite Connections and Adventure.

Note: We’ll be discussing new Thousand Trails memberships in this article. It is also possible to buy a used membership on the resale market. Used memberships can be a great way to save money but are quite a bit more complicated. We suggest both using a broker and doing your research if you want to buy a used membership. We used the Campground Membership Outlet and can wholeheartedly recommend them. You can contact Kimberly at kimberly@membershipoutlet.com.

Camping Pass

A Camping Pass is the most basic membership and a great way to try Thousand Trails. You’ll be able to visit multiple Thousand Trails campgrounds and get a real feel for the membership. If you like it, you can upgrade. It’s also a good membership for someone who camps a lot or part time RVers.

How does the Thousand Trails Camping Pass work?

The Thousand Trails Camping Pass allows you to stay in a Thousand Trails campground for up to 14 nights in a row. After a stay of 4 nights or more, you have to be out of the Thousand Trails network for 7 nights. You can not go directly from park to park.

The Thousand Trails campgrounds are grouped, by location, into five zones. You select the zone(s) that you want. Then you can camp at any of the campgrounds in that zone for $0. Yes, you read that right. There is no nightly fee!

Thousand Trails Camping Pass Zones

Check out the full list of campgrounds in each zone at the Thousand Trails website.

Reservations can be made 60 days ahead of a stay. This should be fine for most campgrounds. However, it may be difficult to get reservations just 60 days ahead of time in the high season in some areas. Florida in the winter for example.

In addition, the Camping Pass includes day use privileges. So, you can get a day pass to use amenities, like the pool or dump station, at a Thousand Trails campground when you are not staying there!

The Thousand Trails Camping Pass membership includes one zone and is $630 a year. Additional zones, if desired, are $70 each. That makes it about $50 per month for one zone. It’s hard to find a campsite for more than a few nights for that price!

Pro Tip: There are often sales and promotions so make sure to keep an eye out. For example, right now, you can use this link to get $100 dollars off the Camping Pass.

Is the Thousand Trails Camping Pass worth it?

Yes! Let’s say you use the link above for $100 dollars off the Camping Pass, you’ll pay $530. If you stay three times, for 14 nights at each campground, you’ll pay $12.61 per night! The more you stay, the lower your nightly price gets!

Check out our Thousand Trails Cost Calculator. Enter the number of nights you plan to use your membership to find out how much each night will cost and how much you can save!

Trails Collection with the Camping Pass

You can add the Trails Collection ($330) to your Camping Pass. This adds another 100 plus RV resorts nationwide. Most Trails Collection stays are free of charge but there are some premium RV resorts that charge a fee of $20 per night. Also, some are 55 plus. We cover all the details of the Trails Collection later in this article.

Upgraded Membership Levels

The Thousand Trails upgraded membership levels are the Elite Basic, Elite Connections and Adventure. They all allow 21 day stays with park to park privileges at the 81 Thousand Trails campgrounds across the country. You can stay at any Thousand Trails campground for 21 days and then go directly to another Thousand Trails campground for 21 days.

Your stays are included in the membership. There is no additional nightly fee! And on top of that, there is no limit to the number of nights you can stay each year.

Upgraded memberships are great for full time RVers. The option to stay at a Thousand Trails campground for 21 nights and then go directly to another Thousand Trails campground is a game changer. It means that you can really maximize the use of your membership as you explore different parts of the country.

Without a doubt, the savings can be incredible. There is simply not a less expensive way to travel and stay in campgrounds with hookups. Our membership saves us thousands of dollars every year.

Each upgraded membership level includes different benefits, and of course different costs. Thousand Trails doesn’t really publish their upgraded membership prices so we’ll give you an estimate for each type. There are often promotions and discounts so I think of it as a little bit like an MSRP.

In addition, Thousand Trails will finance memberships, generally with about a 10% down-payment. Of course, if you go the financed route you’ll have to pay interest. On the flip side, you’ll be able to spread the cost of your membership over several years.

Finally, new upgraded memberships can be resold. So, when you no longer need your membership, you can sell it on the resale market and get some of your money back! You can also will them or transfer to a family member.

Let’s move on to the details of each upgraded Thousand Trails membership type.

Elite Basic Thousand Trails Membership

The Thousand Trails Elite Basic membership provides access to all 81 Thousand Trails campgrounds. With a 120 day booking window, 21 day stays and park to park privileges, this is a great membership for full time RVers. You get the advantages of three week stays and park to park travel at the lowest price point of the upgraded memberships.

Elite Connections Thousand Trails Membership

The next Thousand Trails upgrade level is the Elite Connections membership. In addition to 21 day stays and park to park privileges, the Elite Connections membership has a 180 day booking window for reservations. So, if you plan ahead, this ensures that you will be able to get the reservations you want, even in busier areas.

Adventure Thousand Trails Membership

The Adventure membership is a new offering that adds even more benefits. In addition to 21 day stays, park to park privileges and a 180 day booking window, the Adventure includes an extra holiday reservation and the ability to add an extra week to your stay during high use periods. Even better, the Adventure membership has an optional add-on called Trails Collection Plus.

Trails Collection Plus add-on provides access to the 100 plus Trails Collection parks with 21 day stays, a 90 day booking window and park to park access within the Trails Collection. It is only available to Adventure members.

Trails Collection Plus is my favorite part of the new Adventure membership for a few reasons. First, the 90 day booking window means that Adventure members will have first dibs on Trails Collection sites because all other Trails Collection memberships have a 60 day booking window. This is definitely an advantage especially in areas like Florida in the winter.

Second, adding Trails Collection Plus to the Adventure membership means that you have 21 day stays with park to park privileges for all 190 plus Trails Collection and Thousand Trails campgrounds!

Third, you could easily spend a good amount of time in areas like Phoenix, Yuma, southern Texas or Florida where there are multiple Trails Collections parks to choose from. Finally, Trails Collection does not (currently) have high use restrictions so you can stay for 21 days even in the peak season.

Thousand Trails Membership Restrictions

At this point, you must be thinking, what’s the catch? So, before we go any further, let’s talk about the restrictions.

There are some restrictions that apply to all new Thousand Trails memberships. Honestly, these restrictions are a good thing. Yes, it’s true that they limit how much you can use a park that is in high demand. They also give all members a chance to visit the parks in the high season.

• Holiday Reservations
  • You can only have one holiday reservation on the books at a time. Adventure members can have two holiday reservations at a time. Thousand Trails holidays are: Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
• High Use
  • During peak season in some areas specific parks are considered “high use”. This means two things. First, all stays at high use parks are limited to 14 nights. Second, you can only have two high use reservations on the books at a time.
  • There are 16 parks with high use restrictions:
    • Hershey (PA) 7/1 – 9/15
    • Lake and Shore (NJ) 6/1 – 9/1
    • Orlando (FL), Peace River (FL), Three Flags (FL) 12/15 – 4/1
    • Thunderbird (WA), Grandy Creek (WA), Seaside (OR), Whalers Rest (OR), Bend-Sunriver (OR) 6/15 – 9/15
    • Mount Vernon (WA) 6/1 – 9/15
    • Las Vegas (NV) 12/4 – 3/15 (two day “pass through” reservation available)
    • Turtle Beach (CA) Year Round
    • Palm Springs (CA) 12/1 – 3/31
    • Verde Valley (AZ) 2/28 – 4/30
    • Morgan Hill (CA) 6/15 – 9/15
• 28 Day Restriction
  • Two parks currently have a 28 day restriction in the high season. Once you stay at one of these parks during the 28 day restriction period, you can not return to that specific park for 28 days.
  • Parks with a 28 day restriction: Palm Springs (CA) from 12/1 to 3/31. Mount Vernon (WA) from 6/1 to 9/15.
• Fees for upgraded amenities
  • A few Thousand Trails campgrounds charge $3.00 to $5.00 nightly fee for upgraded 50 amp sites. This is by no means the norm. The vast majority of campgrounds do not charge any nightly fee for members.
• Tent Camping
  • Another thing worth mentioning is, if you plan on tent camping at Thousand Trails campgrounds, all stays are limited to 7 days. It doesn’t matter what type of membership you have.

Now that we’ve covered the restrictions, let’s take a look at the Trails Collection.

Trails Collection

Trails Collection is an add-on membership that provides access to 113 more campgrounds across the US for $330 per year. It can be added to any Thousand Trails membership including the Camping Pass.

Most of the Trails Collection parks are included in the membership with no additional nightly fee. There are 17 premium Trails Collection parks that charge a nightly fee of $20 for members. We have found it to be worthwhile. Voyager RV Resort, in Tucson, for example, has a restaurant with a bar and outdoor seating, a hotel, a 9 hole golf course, several swimming pools and an amazing variety of other activities all onsite!

Currently, there are no high use or holiday restrictions. However, two Trails Collection parks, Sunshine Key and Fiesta Key have a 28 day restriction. Also, most of the Trails Collection parks in TX and AZ are 55 plus.

Once you add Trails Collection to your membership, the additional parks show up in your account and you can make reservations online.

Trails Collection Benefits

• Parks Included: 113 plus Encore campgrounds and RV resorts across the US.
• Stay Length: 14 days in / 7 days out. Once you stay at a Trails Collection park, you can not go to any other Trails Collection park until 7 days have passed.
  • Thousand Trails members with park to park privileges can go directly from a Trails Collection park to a Thousand Trails park and vice versa. You can not go directly from a Trails Collection park to a Trails Collection park.
  • Camping Pass members must always be out of the system (both Thousand Trails and Trails Collection) for 7 days after a stay.
• Booking Window: 60 days ahead of a stay.
• Nights per year: Unlimited. (Except as limited by the requirement to be out of Trails Collection parks for 7 days after a stay.)

Trails Collection Plus

Trails Collection Plus is a new offering that is only available to Adventure members. It works the same way as the Trails Collection add-on but has more benefits. You get a 90 day reservation window, 21 day stays and park to park privileges within Trails Collection. Trails Collection Plus is $630 per year.

When you add Trails Collection Plus to the Adventure membership you get 21 day stays with park to park privileges at all of the Thousand Trails and Trails Collection parks throughout the country. That’s over 190 campgrounds and RV resorts!

What Are the Thousand Trails Campgrounds Like?

Between Thousand Trails and the Trails Collection there are almost 200 RV resorts and campgrounds. There are some that I absolutely love, some that are a good basic place to make our home base for a few weeks and others that I’ll probably never visit. For instance, if a park doesn’t have good network service, it is immediately off my list.

If you are looking for the Ritz, move on, Thousand Trails is not for you. On the other hand, if you’d like to save a lot of money and visit good basic and safe campgrounds with plenty of amenities throughout the country, keep reading.

Since they are two different memberships let’s take a closer look at the Thousand Trails and Trails Collection parks separately.

Thousand Trails Campgrounds

The 81 Thousand Trails campgrounds are mostly located up and down the coast and in the southern part of the country. So, there is a large area of the country where you will not find any campgrounds at all.

One question I am often asked is: Do Thousand Trails parks have full hookup sites? Yes, in fact there are Thousand Trails parks that only have full hookup sites. Others have only water and electric sites. In six years of membership, I can count the times we have not had full hookup sites on one hand. That said, we try to visit parks that have mostly full hookup sites.

The vast majority of Thousand Trails campgrounds are first come first serve. This means that you get to choose your own site when you arrive! This is one of my favorite things about Thousand Trails because it means that I can choose the site that works best for me.

If I had to generalize, I would say that Thousand Trails parks are more like campgrounds than fancy RV resorts. You are more likely to find graveled sites although some have new completely paved full hookup sites. Some campgrounds have huge sites and others are much closer together. In the same way, some campgrounds are very rural and some are located close to shopping and attractions.

It’s difficult to describe all Thousand Trails campgrounds because there are so many of them. Each campground has its own personality. What I can say is that we’ve always found a site that works well for us. They’ve ranged from awesome big or water view sites to more basic, and perfectly functional, places to spend a few weeks. And of course, the price is right!

In general the Thousand Trails campgrounds will have the following amenities.

• Pool (or several – some have an all ages pool and an adult pool)
• Hottub (or several)
• Family lodge and adult lodge.
• Playground.
• Pickleball and/or tennis courts.
• Mini-golf
• Pool tables
• Laundry
• Bathroom & shower facilities.
• Dump station
• Gated access. (Only campers and their guests will be able to enter the park.)

You may also find walking paths, fishing, boating, volleyball courts, shuffleboard, tire refill stations, food service or camp stores, depending on the location. Whalers Rest even has a small disc golf course on site. Gettysburg Farm RV Campground is on a working farm and Rancho Oso has horseback riding available right from the campground.

Trails Collection Campgrounds

The Trails Collection includes 113 campgrounds and RV resorts. Again, with so many parks to choose from, it is difficult to describe them all. In the southern part of the country, Trails Collection parks are likely to be snowbird parks in more populated areas which are closer to shopping and attractions. They are also more likely to be paved and have full hookups. The sites may also be tighter. The Trails Collection parks we have visited in the northern parts of the country have been more campground like.

Like the Thousand Trails campgrounds, you’ll find a variety of amenities. However, you should be aware that some of the Trails Collections parks, particularly in AZ and TX are 55 plus resorts and are more adult oriented.

Tip: RV Trip Wizard is a great way to find all of your RV membership club campgrounds along your travel routes. Plus everything you need to plan an awesome RV trip is all in one place, from RV safe route planning to campground reviews.

A Few Things to Think About When Considering a Thousand Trails Membership

Will you use the Thousand Trails and Trails Collection campgrounds?

Of course, a membership will only save you money if you use it. So, before purchasing, take a look at the campground map. Are there Thousand Trails or Trails Collection parks in the areas that you will be visiting?

Next, take a look at reviews for the parks you would like to stay at. We all have different priorities in terms of what is important at a campground. If you need a network connection, check the reviews and/or your service provider data map. Maybe you want full hookups. Some Thousand Trails parks are all full hookup sites and some only have a few. What you need to determine is: are the campgrounds a good fit for you?

Finally, how much will you use the Thousand Trails campgrounds? You’ll want to estimate how many nights you plan to stay per year and how many years you plan to RV. Once you do this, you can use our Thousand Trails Cost Calculator to find out your nightly camping cost with a Thousand Trails membership and compare it to how much you would pay without a membership.

How do you make reservations with a Thousand Trails membership?

Thousand Trails and Trails Collection reservations are very easy to make. All you need to do is log in to your account to see availability and make, change or cancel your reservations.

However, there are times that you’ll need to call member services about a reservation. Thousand Trails uses a callback system. When you call, you leave your number and they call you back. This is something that people either love or hate – you’ll have to decide for yourself what you think about it. On one hand, you won’t have to sit on hold. On the other hand, if you are traveling and in and out of cell phone range it can be problematic. Fortunately, we rarely find that we need to call.

Booking Window

Of course, the further ahead you can book, the easier it is to get exactly the dates you want. So, if you know that you want to spend time in areas with a busy season you might want a membership with a longer booking window. In contrast, if your travel tends to be in the shoulder season, a shorter booking window may work for you.

We have a 120 day booking window for most parks and a 90 day booking window for the rest. During 6 years of membership, we have never had a problem booking the parks we wanted. This holds true even in the peak season. Although, we do try to make our reservations as early as possible.

We also have the Trails Collection, which has a 60 day booking window. For the most part we have had good luck getting reservations. However, it is difficult to make a reservation with Trails Collection in the peak season in busy areas like Florida or Southern California in the winter. I suspect that it will only be harder going forward because the new Trails Collection Plus has a 90 day booking window.

That said, we will definitely be keeping the Trails Collection. Here’s why: Even if we only use Trails Collection for 14 days, it more than pays for itself. ($330 divided by 14 is $23.57 per night) Plus, shoulder season is a great time to travel through popular locations! Not only can you check out the area without the crowds, but you should be able to easily get a Trails Collection reservation.

Thousand Trails Membership Levels and Cost – Quick Reference Comparison Chart

How Do I Join Thousand Trails?

Camping Pass & New Upgraded Membership

Thousand Trails Member Specialists, Brandy and Jim Reneau can help you get the best price and the membership that fits your camping style. Contact them via email at brandy_reneau@equitylifestyle.com or by phone at (770) 622-4188. Tell them Towing Home sent you:)

You can also buy a Camping Pass membership online at the Thousand Trails website. This link will get you $100 dollars off the Camping Pass.

Resale Upgraded Memberships

Although we did not discuss resale memberships in this article, they are a good way to save money on a Thousand Trails membership. They are a lot more complicated and you’ll need to know exactly what you want – and make sure it is included. Anyone buying a resale membership should verify what is included in the specific membership directly with the Thousand Trails membership department.

We highly recommend using a broker to purchase a resale (used) membership. The Campground Membership Outlet is the broker that we used and it was a great experience. You can contact Kimberly at kimberly@membershipoutlet.com or by phone at 800-272-0401.  She really knows all of the ins and outs of the Thousand Trails memberships and can help you find the best membership for you and make sure the process goes smoothly. It doesn’t even cost you anything extra! Tell her Towing Home sent you.

Is Thousand Trails Worth It?

Yes, absolutely. As full time RVers, our Thousand Trails membership has saved us tens of thousands of dollars over the years. I simply can not think of a more economical way to travel by RV full time. We love our membership and our nightly cost over the past 6 years is now under $5.00 per night at Thousand Trails and Trails Collection campgrounds. My only regret is that we didn’t buy it sooner.

Seriously, you can camp at Thousand Trails campgrounds throughout the country without paying a nightly fee! That’s pretty cool. It enables you to really explore an area before heading off to your next destination. Here’s the thing though, a Thousand Trails membership will only save you money if you use it. So will you use it?

See for yourself how much you could save with our Thousand Trails Cost Calculator. Or head over to Thousand Trails, get $100 off a Camping Pass and try it out for yourself.

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THANKS FOR READING!

We’ve been full-time RVers since 2012. Over 127,000 miles and 47 states later, we are still towing our home around the United States.

On TowingHome we share what we have learned along the way; what we love (and what we don’t) about the RV lifestyle, tips and tricks, our favorite campgrounds, places and gear.

We hope that it makes your journey a little bit easier.