From breweries and vineyards to museums and farms, we share our camping experiences at Harvest Hosts locations. Here’s our review: pros, cons, and beyond.
In 2015, we met Don and Kim Greene, the founders of Harvest Hosts and fellow truck camper owners. Soon after we interviewed them, we learned firsthand how Harvest Hosts helps RVers find unique places to camp at breweries, vineyards, museums, and beyond.
Eight years later, we interviewed Joel Holland, the current Owner and CEO of Harvest Hosts. In addition to purchasing Harvest Hosts from Don and Kim in 2018, Joel acquired Boondockers Welcome, and showed his personal Cirrus 820 truck camper in beautiful Harvest Hosts locations.
Since our initial Harvest Hosts article, we have camped in dozens of Harvest Hosts locations across the United States and Canada. Here’s what we’ve learned after eleven years of using Harvest Hosts.
Harvest Hosts is a membership program that helps self-contained RVers find and stay overnight at unique locations across the United States and Canada.
With Harvest Hosts, businesses open their parking areas to RV travelers. Harvest Hosts are mainly dry camping experiences, but a few have power available. All of our Harvest Hosts experiences have been dry camping.
At the time of this writing, a Harvest Hosts membership costs $99 USD per year and includes unlimited stays at 5,858 locations. The Harvest Hosts membership can be upgraded to include an additional 3,375 Boondockers Welcome locations, 338 golf courses, and 1,112 campground partners.
When you are visiting a Harvest Hosts location, you’re expected to buy something from the local business where you’re parked for the night, whether it be a bottle of wine, a meal at a brewery, or a ticket to a museum.
Through Harvest Hosts, we have visited many amazing places that we might not have discovered otherwise. Looking back, we’ve stayed at a hemp farm, farmers markets, a military museum, an air museum, a cheese company, two drive-in movie theaters, and countless churches, museums, farms, vineyards, and breweries.
Every Harvest Hosts location I’m sharing today is one we’ve visited in our truck camper.
One of our favorite and most memorable Harvest Hosts was the National Soaring Museum near Elmira, New York—the “Soaring Capital of the America”. This is a museum and soaring airport dedicated to motorless flight. At the museum are displays of vintage and historical gliders and sailplanes.
The museum is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $5 for ages 7-17. Kids ages 6 and under are free. According to their website, visitors have the opportunity to take a real glider flight. We didn’t do that, but that’s a reason to return.
As far as our camping experience, our rig was about fifty feet from the airport runway. From that spot, we watched gliders take off—by being towed aloft—and land on Harris Hill where we were camping.
And right near the Glider Museum is the Curtiss Museum, and wouldn’t you know, that’s a Harvest Hosts, too! Both are highly recommended.
Near the border of Canada in Okanogan, Washington is the place that sticks out for Gordon, and the reason is simple—the pancakes!
The pancakes at Smallwood Farms; a nice breakfast before heading north into the Okanagan Valley
We have gone to Smallwood Farms twice because it is an ideal location to stage ourselves after visiting Torklift International in Royal City, Washington and before crossing the border to visit Northern Lite and Bigfoot in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
It’s easy pull-off the road with a defined spot for campers to park that’s scenic and quiet. Inside the Smallwood Farms store is a grocery area in addition to a restaurant where you can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. During both visits, we sat outside on the deck admiring the view of the mountains and the flowers in the field, and had fantastic breakfasts.
There’s a local, homegrown vibe to Smallwood Farms, and we felt like we were helping a local family by being there.
This was a delightful surprise because fellow truck camper owner, Riley Mitchell, is the Destination Experience Coordinator of the Boothbay Craft Brewery and Tavern. He and his wife, Sara, have a Cirrus 820.
When we pulled up, Riley greeted us and took us to our spot. Next to the Harvest Hosts spot is a full hook-up campground, so if you want hook-ups for the night, you can sign up and stay that way.
In addition to the brewery, they have a restaurant that serves wood-fired pizza. So, pizza, beer, and a place to camp—what more could you ask for?
When we asked Riley what we could do nearby, he suggested the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. We had a fun day looking for the trolls, and walking the gardens. I loved the colorful flowers and Gordon enjoyed taking photos.
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is a treasure! From walking the town to touring the Bluenose II sailing schooner, it was full of discovery.
From the Lightship Brewery, it’s hard to get to the downtown area. To do both, we parked in the visitor center parking area (pictured above), and walked down the hill into the town. Then we wandered through town and the historic waterfront admiring the boats and colorful homes and buildings.
A highlight was getting to step aboard the magnificent Bluenose II sailboat (above left). We were not able to take a cruise, but it’s free to look around and enjoy the schooner.
The overnight parking area for the Lightship Brewery
Once we walked Lunenburg for a few hours, we drove over to the Lightship Brewery. They have beer, but there’s also a take-out restaurant with scenic outdoor seating. We were able to see the skyline view of Lunenburg from our table. And after all the people left, we had the view to ourselves for the evening.
A hemp farm? Seriously. Yes, seriously. This was a fun and different Harvest Hosts experience. We stayed near the owner’s house, off to the side of their driveway, and next to acres and acres of hemp.
Since it was a family-run farm, we were able to talk to them about their farming experience, and why they got into hemp farming. They also allowed us to walk the fields and take photos.
It smelled… well, yeah, quite potent.
Take a look at the Harvest Hosts map and seek out places on your route that are different. One thing about Harvest Hosts is that it will vary up your trip and keep things interesting. It offers memorable experiences, not just places to camp.
On the Harvest Hosts website and app, the map is easy to use. It displays the different camping locations with different icons for breweries, vineyards, farms, and museums. When you click on the various icons, it takes you to a page with a description of the business, the host’s requirements, and whether it has electric or not. It also has reviews and photos from fellow RVers who have camped there. I love it when I see truck campers in the photos!
One wonderful recent addition to Harvest Hosts is that they have added the option for multiple night stays. Most hosts now offer this, making it possible to stay in the area and use your Harvest Hosts location as a base.
We recommend that you buy something nice to support the business—farm, brewery, museum, etc.—you are staying at overnight. As I’ve mentioned, most of the hosts we’ve visited have been family-run. Harvest Hosts is a way for those businesses to get more people to visit. More than one host we’ve visited has told us that being a part of Harvest Hosts has really helped keep their business going.
Pros of Harvest Hosts
Easy-to-use website and app
Quick responses through the app
Reserve stays in advance
Many hosts now allow multiple-night stays
Beautiful, quiet locations
Often feels like you have the place to yourself
Harvest Hosts membership sales happen throughout the year
Cons of Harvest Hosts
Sometimes hosts don’t respond
Churches and restaurants have the museum icon; more icons would be helpful to differentiate the locations
If you buy a few bottles of wine or get a meal and some beers, it could be an expensive visit
You have to arrive during business hours, and sometimes that cuts your day short
Some people may want electric; most locations are only dry camping
We’ve had such memorable stays at Harvest Hosts locations, and find ourselves using it at least fifteen to twenty nights a year.
The Antique Corral in Utah
We’ve also met up with other truck campers at Harvest Hosts locations since most places allow multiple RVs each night. It’s a fun way to camp with a built-in activity.
The biggest downside for us is that many hosts ask guests to arrive before closing time. With the way we travel, getting somewhere by 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. can be difficult. If you’re retired or enjoy arriving earlier in the day, that probably won’t be an issue.
A church in Nova Scotia that sold crafts made by local artists
The places we have stayed from coast-to-coast have been beautiful, private, and safe.
So, has Harvest Hosts become part of our camping lifestyle? Absolutely!
