Camping Around the Big Theme Parks of the US

[DonnaR57]

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (Mall of America's Nickelodeon Universe)

Lebanon Hills Campground, Dakota County, St Paul
Note: About 8-9 miles from the mall at Bloomington.

Cleary Lake Regional Park Campground, Three Rivers Park District, Prior Lake
Note: About 20-21 miles from the mall.


ATHOL, ID (Silverwood)

Farragut State Park, Athol
Note: About 11-12 miles from Silverwood.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (North Pole Colorado)
Note: This might also be a base if going to Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, the Air Force Academy, or the Olympic training site.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs


LAS VEGAS, NV (Adventuredome at Circus Circus, The Strip)

Red Rock Conservation Area
Note: About 20 miles from Circus Circus.


TUCSON, AZ (Old Tucson)
Note: Old Tucson isn't a theme park with a lot of roller coasters and other rides. It's a look back onto an old movie set, where a lot of old Westerns were filmed. It is still a working movie/TV show set, but also open to the public. Nearby are the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and the western portion of Saguaro National Park – which has no campgrounds of its own.

Gilbert Ray Pima County Campground (near Saguaro NP West)
Note: Waddayaknow, a public campground is less than 2 miles away from Old Tucson!


TURNER, OR (Enchanted Forest)

Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity
Note:About 21 miles from EF.





Donna

[BillyGr]

A suggestion would be to add other Six Flags parks (particularly Great Adventure in NJ, as while I don't know about camping in that area, I do know that it is difficult to even find hotel lodging in that vicinity) - possibly Six Flags New England as well (with a reminder note that the 17 days starting the 2nd Friday after Labor Day in September also features a multi-state fair, known as the Big E in the next town which makes lodging of any type harder to find during that timeframe).

[DonnaR57]

Thank you for the suggestion. I did try to find some around Great Adventure and New England, but came up with only stuff that was commercial in nature. The purpose is to list public campgrounds (which rarely close permanently like commercial ones do) that are within a reasonable distance. If I recall the research on Great Adventure, the nearest was something like 40 miles away.

Update: I checked back in my notes. Massachusetts (Six Flags New England) has a definitely small amount of public campgrounds anywhere. When I was researching interstates and US highways, that was evident right away. Connecticut was similar!


Donna