How Does Thousand Trails Really Work? March 2025 Update
How Does Thousand Trails Really Work?
Including just released March 13th, 2025 updates and pricing.
Written by Nancy Carter of Making My Own Lane
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Updated 3.13.25
Camping is expensive, right? Even state park campgrounds on the east coast run about $50+ a night, and many other campgrounds are closer to $100 a night.
Using $50 a night as a low average, the cost to live in my RV for a month would be at least $1,500 a month. Not including the cost of diesel, tolls, and repairs. Maybe this full-time RV life wasn’t going to be such a great idea.
In my Starting My Full-Time Adventure blog post, I left one thing out. How would I be able to afford to pay for a place to sleep every night?
I had heard about Thousand Trails, looked into it, and decided to buy a Southeast Zone pass (currently $755 for one year) with the Trails Collection option (+$450). This gave me over 20 campgrounds in the Southeast that I could camp “for free”, or just the cost of the yearly dues. Adding the Trails Collection added over 100 campgrounds, all over the country. Total cost for the year is $1,205.
You can add additional zones around the US for $125 per zone.
The Zone pass does have limitations, and it gets confusing very quickly. Basically, you can stay for 14 days in a park, then you have to leave the system for 7 days.
You can make your reservations up to 60 days in advance, which sometimes makes it challenging to get into the park you want.
So, with the Thousand Trails Zone Pass and Trails Collective, I had a place to stay for up to 3 weeks a month. But what about the 4th week? It was still going to cost me over $350, and a lot of headaches trying to find other campsites.
It can be confusing, but if you keep track of your booking window, and book as soon as your are able to, you will have more sites available to book.
Or I can help you get the best deals on the available Thousand Trails Camping Pass and Membership programs.
I have found the best way to use the program is to plan your travels and adventures as far in advance as you can.
Last year I found this pretty easy, as I knew the exact start date of my trip.
I did have a change of plans half way through my trip last year, but it was very easy to make the changes through Thousand Trails. Even when it was a short notice change due to bad weather.
Thousand Trails was amazing and able to book me earlier into a safer campground. You can read more about some of the changes I had to make here.
Thousand Trails Adventure Membership with Trails Collection Plus
I spoke to a Membership Specialist, who explained the Membership packages and prices.
My first thought was, “this is ridiculously expensive”.
But after sleeping on it and crunching some numbers, based on the low-ball amount of $50 a night in camping fees, it would cost me over $18,000 to camp every night for one year.
While some campgrounds around the country are starting to charge extra for electric, Thousand Trails includes all of my electricity, water, and waste management as well.
And suddenly the Adventure Membership didn’t seem so ridiculously priced. Honestly, it would pay for itself in about three months.
And there were so many other benefits.
The 3 Biggest Reasons I Decided to Buy a Thousand Trails Adventure Membership with Trails Collection Plus.
I can stay up to 21-nights in any Thousand Trails or Encore park across the country. Currently there are are almost 200 campgrounds in the system, with 40 of them being in Florida (where I love to spend the winter!), with a 180-day booking window in the Thousand Trails parks.
I can travel from park-to-park-to-park in either Thousand Trails or Encore campgrounds.
I can book up to 180 days in advance for Thousand Trails or up to 90 days in advance for Encore through the included Trails Collection Plus program, only available to Adventure Members.
Some of the other benefits of the Adventure Membership are:
- Free RPI for one year - RPI is an affiliate of Thousand Trails and offer parks for as little as $10 per night. These campgrounds help to fill the gaps in the mid states.
- Cabin Rebate Stays - one week per year.
- Get Away Cabin Stays - one week per year, which you can trade in towards a condo or a cruise.
- Family Benefits
- Four non high-use weeks per year at $29 per week and two high-use weeks per year at $99 per week.
NO ANNUAL DUES!
Check out the Newest Thousand Trails Membership Plan - Explorer.
Stay up to 21-nights in any Thousand Trails, with a 150-day booking window in the Thousand Trails parks.
Travel from park-to-park-to-park in all 82 Thousand Trails campgrounds.
It includes Trails Collection program, giving you another 120+ parks to stay in.
The difference between the Trails Collection Plus and the Trails Collection is the booking window time and the amount of time you can stay.
The Trails Collection Plus, available only with the Adventure Membership, has a booking window of 90 days, and the Trails Collection has a booking window of 60 days.
With the Trails Collection, you can stay up to 14-days. After that, you can go directly to a Thousand Trails Park, but you can only return to a Trails Collection Park after being out of the Trail Collection System for seven days.
With the Trails Collection Plus, you can stay up to 21-days. After that, you can go directly to either a Thousand Trails or an Encore Park.
Some of the other benefits of the Explorer Membership are:
- Free RPI for one year - RPI is an affiliate of Thousand Trails and offer parks for as little as $10 per night. These campgrounds help to fill the gaps in the mid states.
- Cabin Rebate Stays - one week per year.
- Get Away Cabin Stays - one week per year, which you can trade in towards a condo or a cruise.
- Family Benefits
- Two non high-use weeks per year at $29 per week so you can actually stay four weeks in one park, if you want.
NO ANNUAL DUES!
Thousand Trails Membership Plan - Journey.
Stay up to 21-nights in any Thousand Trails. with a 120-day booking window in the Thousand Trails parks.
Travel from park-to-park-to-park in all 82 Thousand Trails campgrounds.
It includes Trails Collection program, giving you another 120+ parks to stay in.
Some of the other benefits of the Journey Membership are:
- Free RPI for one year - RPI is an affiliate of Thousand Trails and offer parks for as little as $10 per night. These campgrounds help to fill the gaps in the mid states.
- Cabin Rebate Stays - one week per year.
- Family Benefits
- Two non high-use weeks per year at $29 per week so you can actually stay four weeks in one park, if you want.
NO ANNUAL DUES!
By working directly with a Membership Specialist, I was able to save money off the original cost of the package.
Does Thousand Trails Work All the Time?
If I decided to stay in their network every night, yes it would.
However, there are places that I went and that I want to go that are not near a Thousand Trails or Encore park.
Either there aren’t Thousand Trails/Encore parks where I am going, or there was a specific park I wanted to stay in, like the one on the beach in Assateague National Seashore, or in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Many of the campgrounds within the system are located on the east and west coasts. So when I travel to many of the national parks in the midwest, I will be paying for places to stay, or I can look for available RPI campgrounds that average $10 a night.
When I first plan out a trip, I always look for the Thousand Trails/Encore parks along the route first. Then I fill in with state parks, and Harvest Hosts.
**UPDATE State Parks have become a LOT more expensive - more expensive than the $30 a night I would spend in a Harvest Host location. So now my planning is Thousand Trails/Encore, Harvest Hosts, state parks.
You can save 15% off your Harvest Hosts Membership by clicking here.
In 2023, with the 40 campsites I chose to stay in, 14 of them were Thousand Trails or Encore campgrounds. Overall I spent about 188 nights at a Thousand Trails/Encore campground, and I wasn’t even “full-time” until May!
Most years I think I will end up spending about 300 nights within the Thousand Trails system.
My guestimate is that I will spend less than $2,500 on all of the campgrounds for the year, saving money by staying in Thousand Trails/Encore parks whenever possible.
What Are Thousand Trails/Encore Campgrounds Like?
Every campground was different. I felt very safe in every place I stayed. Most were gated and required a code to get in.
Many parks have planned activities and fun things to do, including pools, lakes, even golf courses, as well as access to camp stores, laundry facilities, bathrooms, and hot showers. Most offer full hook ups, including electricity and water. Some have dump access right at your campsite. All of the ones I have stayed at offer dump stations. All included in your campsite admission.
It’s easy to meet people, if you want, and easy to make friends that you will continue to see, as many of Thousand Trails members "bounce" around from park-to-park across the country.
I haven’t had any problem reserving the campgrounds I want, when I want them. An advantage of a longer booking window that comes with the Adventure Membership.
I could have chosen a membership with shorter reservation booking windows and without the Trails Collection Plus. But as someone who was planning on using this program for at least the next 5 years as I travel the country in my RV full-time, it’s a no-brainer to have the largest booking window with the longest stays available to me.
Get out and camp! Let me help you get the best deal on a Thousand Trails Camping Pass or Membership.
What’s It Like Having to Move Every Two or Three Weeks?
This is my first year staying in the system. You can read more about staying at Thousand Trails/Encore parks in Florida in the winter here.
But, moving every few weeks to stay somewhere for “free” is a good thing for me. I like the ability to stay in different places and see different people, and it helps me to keep my personal belongings in check, as I have to pack them up every so often and move.
Is this life for everyone? No, I don’t think it is.
Does it work for me right now? Absolutely!
How much is a Thousand Trails Annual Site?
You can also get for an annual site.
This means that it is your site for the year, and you can come and go as you please.
There are different site tiers, like regular and premium sites, and each Thousand Trails park charges different prices.
Once you find a Thousand Trails Park you like that you may want to get an annual site, contact that park directly to see what is available and how much an annual site costs. From my experience, an annual site can range from $8,000 to $12,000 a year.
Thanks for joining me as I learn more about this full-time RV life.
If you have any questions about the Thousand Trails system or would like to leave a comment, click here.
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Hi there! I'm Nancy.
In 2023, I ditched my heels for hiking boots, sold my house, and decided to travel the US full time in my 2005 Lazy Daze Class C RV.
I love to share the places I travel to and what it's like to live in an RV full-time.
If you have ever thought about hitting the road and traveling in an RV, either in your free time or full time, you are in the right place!
Follow along for weekly blog posts about my adventures as I travel the US with my two dogs, Rufus and Willie, and my cat, Katie.