Harvest Hosts

[Barnabas]

Just did a search here, typed in Harvest Hosts and found a very small number of posts regarding the program, and none within the last fifteen months. It must not be that well known among the camping community and perhaps that's why Harvest Hosts isn't brought up here on the forum. Many times I'll be in conversations at a place I'm staying and when I bring up Harvest Hosts, usually to respond to "So, where have you stayed/been?", the folks are unaware of the prospect. It could be that they only camp regionally and venture out on a big trip once a year so really haven't needed or wanted to consider the program, or could be that they flat out never heard of it. The latter is what I've come across much of the time so I'll share some about the program and my experiences in staying at Harvest Host locations, and guide them over to the website, which incidentally is an incredibly helpful and intuitive website. In short order I can have a trip planned out to so many regions within our nation and for the one night stops along the way I nearly always have a Harvest Host location that is convenient to our travels, along with each and every time at a Hosts location being a fantastic experience, very diversified and each enjoyable in their own way. At wineries we'll get one or two bottles of wine and perhaps dinner if possible, and at farms we soak in the tranquility of the location with some having wares or homemade goods for sale... goats milk soaps/lotions made on site or locally made items that strike our fancy. Some stops are at markets and here we'll stock our refrigerator as I plan this type of stop for this purpose. We need to get groceries anyway right? So locally raised grass fed meats among the other local products add diversity to our menu and tremendously add to the adventure of traveling the nation. These are the three categories that we most often use, wineries/farms/& markets, though other Hosts in the Attractions category are considered too. We simply enjoy the categories I mentioned more is all. And know that not all Hosts have something to sell or are a "business" per se. Some farms we stayed at were working farms that have enough land and area to accommodate RVs and do so without having a "gift shop". These have been in some of the most beautiful areas of our nation, and are an incredibly relaxing way to spend a night. The Harvest Host website is very helpful in trip planning as we can narrow our search to our liking, along with reading and adding to the reviews that folks provide. The hosts we have met have been some of the nicest people and we've had some engaging conversations along the way, and at times were sad to leave the following morning sometimes shedding some tears as we leave a farm. In my planning I've found that 25 miles off my route is a convenient start, and at times I'll extend that further out depending on our plans or lack thereof. We usually leave somewhere between 8AM-12PM and arrive early to mid afternoon so we have an opportunity to enjoy the stop. Anyway, I thought that I would add to the information on Harvest Hosts should someone use the Search function and not find something recent or useful. Happy Trails!

[geotex1]

No, just the opposite. HH and BDW are kept low key.

[Steven@147]

Here on the forum we were talking about HH a couple months ago. I heard HH and BDW joined forces but are being kept separate.
We joined HH recently and our first use was at Whippoorwill Farms in Ridgeland SC. A 40 acre organic farm with RV 30/50 amp power and water services. About 6 sites but only two with 50 amp power. All sites gravel and plenty of room for our 37' rig. It was a great stay, took me back to my childhood growing up on a farm, chickens running all over the place. We got up with the roosters!!! HAHAHA!!
The site did cost us $45 for the power and water and we were ok with that, rather they get it than a commercial campground, it was hot that night. It would have been free if we boondocked. Bought a dozen eggs and 2# of bacon from them. Most HH sites maybe boondockers and no cost for over night.

[jakev383]

We stayed at two Harvest Host locations in the last few days on our trip to the Grand Canyon. I'm glad we finally did - we bought our membership with them specifically for a Grand Canyon trip, then everything shut down and all our reservations last year were cancelled so when it renewed I was looking at it as a waste since we had not been able to use it yet!
We're not really drinkers, so staying at breweries and wineries is not high on our list, and cuts out like 70% of the locations
I didn't get a picture of the first location (Stafford Air and Space Museum), but we stayed at the Route 66 Junkyard and Brewery last night. We ate some decent BBQ there, but the owner had a sign right on the front door stating that Harvest Host campers were under absolutely no obligation to purchase anything.
Both were boondocking only, which was fine with us.

[Ynot4me2]

We're part of BDW and use it. I'm was thinking of trying out HH to compare the 2 but then we got an email saying they are now together and that they might come out with a possible rebate for those who have both. So we will wait and see.

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[Skiddy]

COVID has put a damper on using HH. Close to us there is a host that is why we bought a membership, we had stopped to shop at the location before we knew they were on the HH network. This host is the poster child for HH, country setting, gravelled sites (3 in total), very well spaced out and lots of room to walk around. Trees, with shade. Absolutely excellent.
Most of the other locations we might use are terrible. Basically the corner of a paved parking lot. With no shade and temps in the 30ºC range, the good news is you can’t hear the generator running for the ambient traffic noise.

HH needs a rating system for their hosts, like that used by GoodSam. I’m sure there are some very nice HH locations, like the one we know of. Once travel is resumed we will be rethinking our membership.

[jleonard]

We have stayed at 3 Harvest Hosts and all have been fine. None of them had power or water but that was expected. All were unique to say the least.
One was the Tallahassee auto museum, one was a pub with great beer and pizza, the other was a winery where we bought too much of their wine.

[Fsalmy]

We see both sides - We are members and use HH sites as we travel. Have thoroughly enjoyed our stays with each place offering something unique. We are also hosts with 5 grass sites on our farm. This past weekend, we hosted 2 groups on Friday night and 3 on Sat night (two were in a buddy site). We also have a guest cottage for those that want a more conventional stay or want to take a break from their RV. We do offer organic farm products for sale.

We used to be with Boondockers Welcome, but cancelled our membership/hosting last year when they changed some host guidance/requirements to something with which we did not agree. HH has acquired BW, but plan to operate separately for the time being and the owners have assured us they will not be taking on the former BW requirements.

Can't count how many HH folks we have hosted, but absolutely everyone has been extremely pleasant, respectful and fun to talk to. The downside is that if we get to talking during farm chore time, chores often get delayed by an hour, two or even three.

For selfish reasons, we would love to keep it on the down-low for when we travel, but word is getting out there. Right now, we could literally host every night of the week from Apr-Oct.

As far as a rating system, there are reviews available that can help guide your selection.

[ThePowells]

We haven't camped at a HH site yet, but after we joined, I started looking and found several opportunities for day trips. We took a day trip to the two closest ones and had a great time at the first, but the second was open by appointment only which was (nor expected) on the HH site, but both were 100% positive about the HH experiences.
I just wish that there was a "filtering" system and an "ignore" ability. We have a 42 foot 390RK and don't need to be repeatedly looking at sites limited to 35 feet, and the slide only selects a size and below rather than weeding out the shorter spots. Otherwise, it has been great.

[Mgriff]

We just joined Boondockers in May because we traveling from NY to TN.I'm glad we did we stay at place out side Roanoke ,Va Whiskey Distilery resturaunt heading to Tn and on the way back we stayed at farm out side Shenandoah National Park .Which we will be going back to stay and check the area out.