Campgrounds that are Family-Friendly

The Smoky Mountains

We’ve been to a fair amount of campgrounds over the few months on the road. Most of them are pretty family-friendly, and I have a compilation of things to look out for when searching for them. 
Your best campgrounds will most definitely be KOAs. These are more expensive, but you can count on a well kept campground. Their play area for kids is normally great, as well as their pool. Clean bathrooms are always a part of the KOA experience. 
Another type of campground is the Good Sam endorsed campground. This kind of campground can really vary in cleanliness, levelness of sites, friendliness of staff, etc.. You’ll want to do your research before you book a Good Sam endorsed campground. We've been to Camp Lake Jasper and Big Texan RV Ranch, both Good Sam campgrounds, and we liked them both. On goodsam.com, they review each campground based on facility, restrooms and appeal. 
The last type of campground is privately owned and not endorsed by a large organization. These campgrounds can also vary in quality, so take a look at reviews before you book a campground like this. Note: You can look at reviews for KOAs and Good Sam campgrounds as well, but especially look at them with this kind of campground.
Here are some reviews that you will see that will be a clue that you should probably not go to this campground. 

Comment 1: Yikes. We heard coyotes all night while we stayed here. Don’t go here!

Comment 2: I’ll never go here again! The sites were very uneven, and our automatic leveler couldn’t do it’s job.

​Comment 3: The bathhouse is awful here! They were smelly, dirty, and outdated. Also, the staff was unapologetic and had a “Just man up” attitude about it.
The warning signs for bad campgrounds are listed here:

Noise Pollution

Uneven Sites

Dirty Bath House 

Bad Customer Service

Again, these are warning signs to look out for. The reviews are a good indicator of the quality of the campground.

-Woodsman Will-

Slides at the KOA.

Marshmallow fighting at the Chattanooga KOA.

Bouncing on a KOA bounce pillow.

Our Stone Mountain campsite.