Looking for unique overnight RV camping experiences? How would you like to wake up on a vineyard in California or on a farm in Florida? Harvest Hosts is a membership program that offers RVers unique camping opportunities across the United States and Canada. We have been members since 2015 and absolutely love the program. If you are looking for a different type of RV camping experience, read our Harvest Hosts review.
Harvest Hosts Review
What is Harvest Hosts?
The way we describe Harvest Hosts to friends is that it’s an RV membership program that offers a different kind of RV camping experience. Instead of spending the night at RV campgrounds, you can patronize a local business and spend the night on their property. Businesses include wineries, farms, and museums. Keep in mind that most hosts provide a space on their property to park the RV overnight. Don’t expect to have water, electric, sewer or bathrooms. We have stayed with hosts that provide electric and/or water, which is a nice surprise.
Harvest Hosts Membership Costs
For $49/year, members have access to a listing of 600+ hosts around the United States, Canada and Mexico. Each host listing contains information such as GPS coordinates, max RV length, number of spaces, pet policy, facilities and more. Harvest Hosts offers a 100% money back guarantee.
Note: the $300 lifetime membership option is no longer available.
What We Like about Harvest Hosts:
More Than Wineries. We’ve stayed with quite a few hosts since 2015 and very few have been wineries. Others hosts included a trading post, dairy farm, flea market, produce farm and museums. Each host has their own unique charm and we always enjoy our stay, even down wind from the cows at the dairy farm.
Not Always a One Night Stand. The guidelines state that members are limited to one night with each host. We’ve found that after we arrive and meet the owners/managers of the property, they typically invite us to stay longer if we want to. We were able to stay for three nights at the winery in Paso Robles and two nights at the air museum in Pueblo because it was during the week and they had the space. Some hosts are only open on weekends which can limit the number of nights a member can stay.
Support Local Businesses. Members are asked to make a purchase during their stay and there is no minimum. We find staying with hosts to be a great way to shop local and support small businesses. Instead of going to a chain grocery store to buy produce, we can visit a local farm and buy directly from them. It’s also offers us the opportunity to learn about their story and their products.
Dog Friendly Hosts. Each host page includes information on whether they are pet friendly. A red dog icon means the host allows pets. Read the description for additional information about pets, such as leash requirement and business pets on property. It goes without saying that members are expected to pick up after their pets.
Meet Fellow RVers. Harvest Hosts members are awesome! We’ve met some great people along the way that we stay in touch with. There have been times where we are the only members on property and that’s pretty cool too.
Peace and Quiet. The hosts we’ve stayed with are typically outside the hustle and bustle of the city. Once the business is closed for the day, the parking lot is empty and silence falls over the property. We take advantage of those peaceful and quiet times to enjoy a good book, watch the sunset or star gaze. We have not run into a situation where the area was so remote we could not get cell coverage.
Beyond a Directory. The website includes comments, photos and videos submitted by members. You can search for hosts by location or along a route. There is also a trip planning feature where members can add hosts to a trip and refer to it at a later date. Oh, and there is now a mobile app for Android and iOS devices.
Rigs of all sizes. About 85% of the hosts can accommodate RVs of any size and 90% can accommodate RVs up to 44′. Each host’s page has a section that shows the size limit.
Referral Program. Members earn $10 month for each new member sign-up. New members referred by the existing member will also receive a 10% discount. Members can also earn a one year membership for each new host sign-up. If you decide to sign up for Harvest Hosts after reading our post, you can use our Harvest Hosts referral link to receive a 10% discount.
What We Don’t Like:
More hosts please. Some states/regions have more hosts than others and we wish there were more everywhere. The good thing is that new hosts are added every month and we’re notified of those via the member newsletter. As we travel, we also encourage businesses that can accommodate RVs to join the program.
Overall:
We would recommend Harvest Hosts to RVers looking for unique dry camping opportunities across the United States. It’s a great way to visit areas off the main road, discover new experiences and test your dry camping skills. At $49 for a single year membership, it’s more than worth it. Some of our favorite RVings experiences have been with a host.
Receive a 10% discount by using our Harvest Hosts referral link.
Harvest Hosts Video Review
We filmed a video about our Harvest Hosts experience when we were traveling in our Class A motorhome.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 9, 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Hi are there hook ups for water / elec / dump stations ? For any harvest host members.
This sounds like a lot of fun. Do you pay the camp host if so what are usually the cost ?
Terri – there is no cost to stay with the host, however it is expected that you patronize their establishment. There isn’t a minimum and typically we only go to hosts that we would be interested in purchasing something from. That said, if you don’t drink but want to stay on a vineyard, for example, then consider buying a bottle for a friend.
We are now overnighting at our first Harvest Host site. Thanks for the discount link. Looking forward to many more interesting stops across America!