Peace River RV Campground - Thousand Trails

Worst thousand trails. Be prepaird to be yelled at by staff upon arrival, led to a mud hole for a site. Then be prepaired to immediately go on a scavenger hunt that turns into a "lottery" as they call it to hopefully be lucky enough to pack everything back up and move to another site with a septic hookup. We know thousand trails doesnt have a reputation for 5 star sites and service but this was on the verge of comical. The only 2 good things I have to say about this place is the cell service is fast, and there is one employee named Christi (probably spelled it wrong, sorry) who was super professional, she definitely deserves to be recognized for her professionalism and great attitude.

Campground Name: Peace River RV & Camping Resort
Location: Wauchula, FL
Overall Campground Rating (1-5): 4
Maneuverability: No issues getting around with our trailer
Campground Notes: Sewer lottery in high use started after we arrived but we found an open FHU site. It appears many of the W/E sites will flood when it rains and always seemed to be pretty muddy. Strict noon check-in.

Site #: D7
Site Rating (1-5): 3
Site Notes: Full hook-up, 50 amp, grass site, picnic table, & fire ring. Medium sized spot, not too small but not large.

Amenity Rating (1-5): 4
Amenity Notes: Nice pool & hot tub, decent playground and mini-golf, laundry was very crowded when we went and could only do one load at a time but it was reasonably priced ($2 wash, $1.75 dry). Nice path along the Peace River and we were able to find a few shark teeth.

Reason for camping here: Thousand Trails winter shuffle
Miscellaneous Notes: Kind of in the middle of nowhere. Right off the highway but not too noisy at night.

Dates Stayed: 12/13/2020 – 12/20/2020
Price Paid: $0, with Thousand Trails membership
Weather: Beautiful weather during the day, low 70s, cooled off quickly when the sun went down.
Verizon Cell Quality: 2.6 Mb/s down, 9.8 Mb/s up
T-Mobile/Sprint Cell Quality: 33.9 Mb/s down, 19.1 Mb/s up
Mail: No issues, their mailroom accepts all packages and didn’t lose any like certain other Thousand Trail campgrounds. Also accepted outgoing mail. Staff was very friendly and efficient.

For reference we are pulling a 33’ long Jayco travel trailer with a 2016 F350 Crew Cab Short Bed 4x4 which is 22’ with hitch giving us a total length of 55’.
Verizon - two Google Pixel 2 XL on Verizon’s ‘Play More” unlimited data plans. For data we have an Inseego 8800L on Verizon’s expired prepaid unlimited hotspot plan. In areas of low signal we use a Netgear 6000450 MIMO antenna.
T-Mobile/Sprint – Alcatel Linkzone 2 on unlimited Calyx Institute Sprint/T-Mobile plan.
A review by sdplusztravels, a fulltime family of three living on the road in a RV. This review is our opinion and we have not been sponsored or compensated by anyone. Follow us on Instagram (@sdplusztravels) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SDplusZ/).

We stayed here 1 day on the way to another destination. The sites are pretty wide and the roads are straight and not real narrow. Almost all of them are dirt and grass so when it rains and your rig is heavy you may have a little issue pulling out if your tires are on the wrong part of the pad. It is close to the highway but you can pick a spot farther back if you want. Over all good camping experience and everything was easy to get into and out of.
Verizon cell was much better than ATT.
ATT down was close to 20 mb down but up hung under 2mb even with a mimo. I did not try a booster.
Verizon was 29 up and 15 down.

A solid TT campground. Gated so felt safe - as noted, it's backs on to a Walmart.

1) A few laundry sites dotted around the ground and they all worked.
2) Site was almost level and easy enough to back in to.
3) Office were friendly and helpful - lots of quarters available!
4) I was near the fence and didn't hear much in the way of noise or disruption.
5) And for wifi, I paid for a few days' access and it was fast enough for downloading and surfing.

Overall it was fine with no complaints from me.

We are Thousand Trails members so we did not pay a nightly fee. That changed our perception quite a bit. If we had to pay and still had some of the hassles, I don't think we would have enjoyed our stay as much.

First night we arrived after hours around 8pm. We had called earlier in the day and they said our paperwork would be in an after-hours box. But our paperwork wasn't there so we called the help number. The lady was friendly and informed us we just needed to find our own spot. We didn't have a map and drove around in the dark. It was tricky finding something open but we found spot C31 and parked for the night. It was only 30amp, water and no sewer, but it was a great spot for a night.

The next morning we signed up for the silly lottery system and walked around for an hour looking at all the spots available. We went back at 1pm and waited for our name to be called. We lucked out and our favorite spot was still available at C13 so we moved to get full hookups (50amp, water, sewer).

Other than those small issues, we enjoyed the campground. The kids played at the pool and rode their bikes around on the paved roads. We met several families and had nightly bonfires. Everyone we met walking around was friendly and happy to chat.

The location is a bit of a drive to the beaches or other fun things, but even just hanging out at the campground was fun for a couple days.

AT&T service was fantastic all hours of the day. Our Verizon hotspot struggled at nights as more people were using the Verizon towers.

From the check-in when I had to sign to pay a $50 if we didn't back in to a site, this Thousand Trails campground just seemed a bit odd. The park has a large number of sites, but many do not have sewer hook-ups. While we have stayed plenty of places without them, it seems unusual for a Thousand Trails park. For such a huge park, the laundry room seems inadequate, so we drove to Wauchula and found a good place--SuperMatt Laundry on Palmetto Street. (Reasonably priced and plenty of machines/space--I recommend!) We happened to come during a quite rainy time which also affected some of our perceptions. I also found the number of political flags, placards, et al uncomfortable.However, the access to Sebring to the east, Zolfo Springs to the south, Wauchula to the north, and Bradenton and Sarasota to the east, we spent quite a lot of time out of the campground.

We had a free Thousand Trails membership and booked 3 nights here. Season had just ended so the lottery system was not in play. You pull to the stop sign and check in. You are then free to drive around and choose the site you want from those available. Some sites are reserved and some are annual, all others are first come, first serve. The sites on the lake are gorgeous! Peaceful, roomy and quiet. Most sites have a fire ring and all have a picnic table. Sites by the river do not have sewage, but all sites have 30/50amp and water. The sewer sites are closer to the highway, and some are pretty sunny. Towards the back of the sewer sites there are beautiful shade trees and it’s a bit quieter, but those sites fill quickly. There is s lot to do on site. Pool, hot tub, mini golf, pool tables, bocce ball, horseshoes, pickle ball, clubhouse. Beautiful porches with swings. There is a laundry room, and two bath houses that are great! Each shower has its own “room” with a door that locks. We will go back, but try to get in towards the back of the roads and away from the highway.

This is one of the three regular Thousand Trails (TT) campgrounds in Florida. It is a campground and not a resort (free for full TT members). Okay pool area. Has only two bathhouses (each with two showers, and one is in the pool area only). The lower area has been swamped literally with over flowing river and muddy spots. The only way the lower area can be used is if it was completely paved, as any RV will sink into any spot (but its not paved). This is claimed as the new campground area and is not available, but do think it was planned; so reservations are limited now.

You will be parked in the J area when you arrive, and then draw from a lottery for regular flat Full service spots (prime time winter florida!!). Free honey wagon is available if you stay two weeks in J area.

The community is very rural and limited, though a nice state park is nearby (encourage a yearly park pass to come and go there). The local library will give you a membership card, and you can borrow two DVD per day. The big town (Sebring) is about 45 minutes away east with all the shopping and movie theaters. (not a bad drive).

The camp spots next to the main road are highway noisy, so be prepared for that. Suggest taking the J area, and picking a better spot later.