We had family that retired and did some trailer exploring using the 1000 trails camping pass. We visited them and stayed in a cabin. There we learned about the Cabin Pass, an annual pass to stay at any of their cabins, that was just launching. We bought in for a year and set out to visit as many as possible. It started off great and definitely was a good value, but as the year want on, it got more and more difficult to use. The website is just straight garbage and makes it really hard to book a site and we struggled with not being able to book cabins at all. At first, this wasn’t a huge deal because we could call in and do the bookings. The last few months though, nobody would ever answer the phone and it was just impossible for us to book a cabin.
Because of this, our review is mixed. Other than one really bad cabin in Palm Springs, we enjoyed our visits everywhere and it definitely saved us money with how much we travel, but the inability to use it for several months at the end was pretty awful. I would happily do the Cabin Pass again, but only if they have figured out the system enough that it actually works.
Below are reviews of some of the cabins we visited that will give you an idea of what is offered and whether these locations would be a good fit for you.
Florence, Oregon
Florence was the first time we visited a 1000 Trails cabin. It impressed us enough to buy the pass. It is in a convenient location to the dunes just south of town. There are only a few cabins on site so I am guessing this location has gotten a lot more difficult to book as more annual passes have been sold.
The cabins are located in a beautiful forest that kids enjoyed exploring
The amenities at this location include a ice outdoor pool and hot tub, but it was a real bummer that they closed at 5:00. Because we like to spend our days exploring and not hanging out at the pool, it was difficult to enjoy the pool when we normally would. There is also a nice playground that our kids enjoyed.
Since I don’t get to escape work when we travel, it was a big downside for me that there was no wifi at the campground except at lodge, and the lodge closes at five or six. This was a big issue for me because there was no phone service at the site.
Newport, Oregon
This location was another along the Oregon Coast. The cabins are within walking distance of the beach which was a huge advantage, but the downside is the cabins are 15 minutes south of town, where a lot of the attractions are. So, plan on some driving if you visit this location.
We enjoyed the loft layout of this cabin as it opened it up a bit and made it comfortable.
This site has a nice indoor pool and hot tub, which is a big perk in rainy Oregon. Once again, these closed early though, which was a real bummer.
The site also offers pickle ball and mini golf, but you can only check out equipment before 6:00 pm.
Lake Minden
Lake Minden is kind of a random location about 25 minutes north of Sacramento
The 1000 trails site has a large number of cabins., most of which appear to be new. The cabin we had was a pretty common model for six people that is two bedrooms on either side of a living room and kitchen.
Unfortunately, the actual site here was pretty run down. It had what looked to be a nice mini golf court, but it had been neglected and was covered in spider webs. The volleyball net was broken. The horseshoes were fine.
There was no equipment to use in the lake. We had to go to Walmart, which isn’t close, to buy some toys for the lake.
The lake had a small beach that was overgrown with weeds and thorns. While the adults didn’t care for it, the kids loved it. The water was shallow and easy to play in and the kids didn’t mind that it was quite dirty.
I did enjoy seeing the ducks, egret and Great Blue Heron that visited while we were at the lake.
There was an on-site restaurant, but it was overpriced and not great quality. My Carne Asada burrito was 80% beans and rice with a few chunks of meat and no guacamole or pico.
This site was supposed to have wifi, but it did not work. The staff said it had been down for a month. Again, this made it very difficult for me trying to handle a work emergency that occurred while we were there.
LANCASTER CIRCLE M
This huge site in rural Pennsylvania was one of our favorites. It was a really nice property with a ton of cabins and camping sites in a beautiful setting on the river.
We had cell service here, but no wifi.
The amenities here were great. There were nice pools–indoor and outdoor, but I would have liked a hot tub.
There was also a store and arcade, but they closed too early so we rarely got to use them. The restaurant was only open weekends so we didn’t try it, but we heard it was good.
The location was 15 minutes from town, but the drive was pleasant through farm country. There was also easy access to Amish Country, which is why most people visit Lancaster County.
The cabin itself was okay. It was clean and well maintained, but the bed was not very comfortable and the TV kept going in and out
Probably our favorite part of this location was the community like feel. Our kids loved playing with neighbors throughout the week and enjoying more time at the camp site than we usually do when we stay at cabins.
PIO PICO
This is the location for visiting San Diego, but it definitely felt a bit far from San Diego and wasn’t really worth the drive. in fact, we visited San Diego again while we had the pass but opted to pay for a hotel to avoid all the driving.
While the last little bit of drive is scenic, it is mostly through town and it was common for us to get stuck behind trucks, making the drive even longer.
The site itself was pretty nice with good accommodations. We enjoyed the pools, playground, and activity center
We saw a couple tarantulas around the site, which we enjoyed, but others might not like too much. Some of the workers told us that during the right season, there are tarantulas everywhere.
Our cabin was clean, but very dated and a little run down. The layout was also the worst we had seen with bunk beds in the hallway. The, ladder was always in the way and a real pain. This layout was not what was shown in the picture and was really disappointing
There was no cell service and no wifi at this site. We paid for internet through Jabba, but that was expensive and provided very spotty connection that made working impossible.
YOSEMITE
Like many of the other locations, there was no cell service or wifi at the cabins here.
Our cabin was clean and nice, but the cabins and campsites are packed in tightly and I wouldn’t want to spend any time hanging out at the cabin. Luckily, you don’t go to Yosemite to spend time at a campsite so we also didn’t use any of the accommodations, but they looked nice from what we did see.
The site is a beautiful setting in the trees with a convenient gas station right at the entrance. It is only 6 miles from entrance to Yosemite National Park, but ends up being about 40 minutes drive to Yosemite Village
ORLANDO
This was probably my favorite Thousand Trails cabin we have stayed at. The resort area was huge and very well maintained. There are a ton of cabins, which are painted pastel colors, adding to the tropical feel of the location. There is a pond and small stream where you can look for alligators; though, we didn’t see any during our week there. We were lucky to see a deer walking around a cabin which was fun.
Our kids loved the pool and playground area. There is a fun little kids pool that the kids enjoyed. The only downside was the worker there enforcing crazy rules. It was bizarre and super annoying that we couldn’t have any fun with our kids. They couldn’t even jump into the pool and I couldn’t lift them out of the water or play really at all. I have never been at a pool with rules as strict as this worker was claiming.
The kids loved chasing the lizards around even more than any of the amenities though. In addition to lizards, they also caught some frogs and some of the biggest grasshoppers I have ever seen.
The cabins were the most spacious we have stayed at. The cabin we stayed in had two bedrooms and a loft. We slept 7 people very comfortably. This is also the only cabin at any Thousand Trails property we have stayed at where the bed was actually comfortable. Every other location we have stayed the beds range from barely tolerable to worse than the floor.
Palm Springs
We had the same cabin layout that we had in San Diego, which we really do not like. The bunk beds in the middle of a narrow hallway are very inconvenient because you have to move the ladder in and out of the hallway.
These cabins were maintained much better than San Diego’s though. It was very clean and felt newer.
The big downside to this cabin was the beds. The futon was actually really comfortable, but the actual beds were absolutely terrible. They were by far the worst beds I have ever slept in. After the first night of rough sleeping and a sore back, we actually went to the store and bought mattress pads, which made it barely tolerable. Even with the added pads, we still left a day early because we didn’t want to sleep another night on those beds (and there isn’t that much to do in Palm Springs).
