Thousand Trails Cabin Pass: What Is It and Is Worth It?

I’ve had a Thousand Trails Cabin Pass since June 2023. Well into my second year of membership, the pass has proven valuable. I enjoy the perks of having cabins available for stays in many locations throughout the U.S. It’s saved me money and offered comfortable cabins for my family at destinations we want to visit. 

With the Cabin Pass, I can book up to 7 consecutive nights at qualifying cabins and cottages. There are restrictions, including a 14-day waiting period between stays and a maximum booking window of 60 days. And only so many cabins are available to members, so booking exactly what you want is not always possible. Still, the value is too good for me to pass up. 

So far, I’m happy with my membership, though there are drawbacks to keep in mind if you’re considering getting a Thousand Trails Cabin Pass.

Read on to learn more about what the Thousand Trails Cabin Pass offers and my experience so far.

What Is Thousand Trails?

Thousand Trails is a network of campgrounds in North America, with more than 200 campgrounds in the U.S. and British Columbia, Canada. The campgrounds generally offer several lodging options, ranging from RV and tent camping sites to cabins and cottages. Some provide unique lodging, such as yurts.

You can book Thousand Trails campsites and cabins nightly or become a member. RV campers have various membership types, including regional memberships, memberships with expanded locations, annual sites, and RV storage. 

The Thousand Trails Cabin Pass opens campgrounds to campers who don’t own an RV. The pass works for cabins and cottages rather than RV sites, but some members combine RV memberships with cabin memberships.

Thousand Trails Cabin Pass Locations

There are more than 125 Cabin Pass locations in 25 U.S. states.

Thousand Trails Cabin Pass sites are incredibly varied. You could stay beachside, in a valley, along a river or lake, or close to attractions such as the Las Vegas Strip or Walt Disney World.

Fiesta Key RV Resort is on the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys, with cabins overlooking the ocean. The resort is its own private island surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico with an on-site restaurant, beach, pool, and spa.

Thousand Trails Verde Valley is just over 30 minutes from Sedona, Arizona, and sits along the scenic Verde River with Red Rocks to the north, the Mingus Mountains to the west, and the Hackberry Mountains to the south.

Staying at Thousand Trails Campgrounds

In our first year as Cabin Pass members, we stayed at 10 Thousand Trails campgrounds: Yosemite Lakes and Russian River in California; Bay Landing, Lake Tawakoni, Lake Texoma, Lake Whitney, Colorado River, and Medina Lake in Texas; and Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida.

Each Thousand Trails campground is unique, though there are some typical features we’ve come to expect. Most are quiet and scenic, often on a lake or river, though Las Vegas and Orlando have more urban settings. Deer roam the tree-covered Texas campgrounds, and I spotted a fox at Thousand Trails Russian River. A mountain lion is rumored to stalk Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes, though we didn’t see it personally.

Most campgrounds we’ve visited are off the beaten path, often about an hour’s drive from city centers. For example, Thousand Trails Russian River is a little under 2 hours from San Francisco, and Thousand Trails Medina Lake is about 45 minutes from San Antonio. The Dallas-Fort Worth area Thousand Trails campgrounds — Bay Landing, Lake Tawakoni, Lake Texoma, and Lake Whitney — are all roughly an hour to an hour and a half from Dallas. Thousand Trails Orlando is about half an hour from Walt Disney World, and Thousand Trails Las Vegas is about 20 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip.

The distance is both good and bad. We’ve enjoyed contrasting busy city visits in the day with quiet campground nights, though it can be a drag to commute to attractions. We usually plan for some campground-only days during our visit so we can enjoy a slower pace.

These campgrounds have a completely different vibe from amusement park campgrounds like Jellystone Park — where my kids convince me at least once a year to pay over $250 for a weekend of sleeping on the ground with noisy neighbors.

Most of the Thousand Trails campgrounds we stayed at could easily be mistaken for state parks but with resort-style amenities like pools and pickleball courts.

We’ve entertained ourselves at Thousand Trails campgrounds with hiking, swimming, arts and crafts, mini golf, playgrounds, and wildlife interaction. Practical amenities such as on-site stores for essentials and laundry facilities are often available. Some campgrounds have cafes, though these are rare.

Although we appreciate the amenities, some campgrounds have seen better days. The pool in Las Vegas seemed to be perpetually closed, though the pools have been great at other campgrounds. I like to bring bikes along when we can and explore the trails.

Don’t expect perfectly manicured grounds or the latest technology. At one campground we visited, there were 8-track tapes in the lodge — I found them delightful, but they confused my kids. I love checking out the lodge libraries and found incredible vintage National Geographic magazines at Lake Tawakoni.

The miniature golf turf is usually faded, the roads bumpy, and the common areas are generally older facilities with dated decor. I question the safety of the fitness equipment, which, when available, usually looks like garage sale finds.

Wi-Fi isn’t a sure thing and varies by location, though you can usually get free and reliable Wi-Fi at facility buildings such as the welcome center or lodge. Forget about room service — though you might get free coffee and doughnuts at the lodge, like we did once.

It’s also clear cabins aren’t the main attraction at these campgrounds. At the campgrounds we’ve visited so far, most of the space is devoted to RVs, and the campgrounds are sometimes referred to as RV resorts. 

Cabins generally range from 4-person, pet-friendly cottages to tiny, 8-person homes with lofts. Pets are often welcome, though pet-friendly cabins aren’t guaranteed to be available. We’ve encountered situations where we wanted to bring our dog but couldn’t find a pet-friendly cabin large enough to accommodate our family.

What you get depends on the site, but all of the cabins we’ve stayed in had heat and air conditioning, a nearly full kitchen (everything but an oven), a full or queen bed, and a sofa bed or bunk beds or both.

How the Thousand Trails Cabin Pass Works

With the Cabin Pass, members can book cabin and cottage stays at participating Thousand Trails locations. Stays can be as long as 7 consecutive nights — if you can find availability for that many. More than 125 qualifying campgrounds throughout the U.S. offer Cabin Pass accommodations.

Reservations are available as far as 60 days out. If a cabin is available for your selected dates, you can book it with no campground fees. You can only have 2 bookings at a time, but you can make your next booking as soon as you check in to a new stay. 

Though you can stay for up to 7 consecutive nights, you can’t jump from campground to campground. No matter how long or short your stay is, there is a 14-day waiting period between stays. Also, you can only book 1 holiday per year. For example, if you stay in a cabin for Thanksgiving, you can’t stay for Christmas.

Availability isn’t guaranteed, so you may find that there isn’t a cabin available for the dates or locations you prefer. Thousand Trails campgrounds generally have specific cabins or cottages allocated to Cabin Pass membership. Additional cabins may be available at the same site to retail (per-night) customers but not to Cabin Pass members. 

When the Cabin Pass cabins or cottages are booked, they are no longer available to other members. And the Cabin Pass sites aren’t necessarily the same as what nonmembers can book. That means you could be in a cabin that’s not as nice as the cabins available to retail customers — or retail cabins could sit empty even though you couldn’t get a stay as a member. 

Thousand Trails Cabin Pass Costs

The Thousand Trails Cabin Pass costs $1,695 annually if you pay in full. I paid $1,495 for my pass in 2023 and $1,695 in 2024.

If you prefer to finance your pass purchase, you can make a $446.25 down payment and 11 monthly payments of $141.25. The financing option has a 20.41% APR — on par with credit cards. You can probably find a better way to break up those payments, like using a credit card with a 0% introductory APR.

Some campgrounds require a refundable deposit — generally $100 — and pet fees of around $10 per night for pet-friendly cabins. Linens may be included, or you may have to pay a linen fee if you don’t bring your own. Depending on the campground, you may encounter other costs, such as laundry, boat rentals, and firewood.

Thousand Trails Cabin Pass Reservations

Cabin Pass members can make reservations in 3 ways: with an online booking, via online chat, or by calling 855-605-4519.

I’ve made most of my bookings using the online reservation system. I can log in to my account to input my travel dates, desired location, preferred accommodation, and the number of guests. Based on that information, the system shows me campgrounds with availability.

After I click on a campground to reserve, it takes me to the campground’s page, where I again enter my information and get to the reservation page.

Sometimes, cabins aren’t available for the exact dates or locations I want. When that’s the case, the online booking system tells me to adjust my dates. It offers suggestions for when the cabin is available for the nights I want to stay. I can also pull up an availability calendar to see where I could fit in.

The online chat is helpful when I encounter booking issues or want an agent to help me play with dates. This was great when I wanted to get into an Orlando cabin and planned to book at the 60-day mark. The cabin I’d hoped to reserve wasn’t available, but the agent on chat advised me I could adjust my booking to a day earlier to get in a different cabin.

Why I Bought a Thousand Trails Cabin Pass

I learned about the Thousand Trails Cabin Pass while exploring lodging near Yosemite National Park. I was going to book a resort or roadside motel but found Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes appealing.

Once I factored in taxes and fees, I was looking at a cost of $750 for 2 nights at Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes. Comparatively, the Cabin Pass was $1,495 when I bought it. I figured getting about half the value of the pass over 2 nights with the rest of the year to get another $750 out of it would be fairly easy, and that proved to be accurate.

I liked the idea of paying a lump sum for a whole year of stays at campgrounds. Rather than paying $750 for 2 nights and walking away, I paid double that to get many more nights out of the pass.

Hot Tip:

I paid for my Thousand Trails Cabin Pass using my Chase Sapphire Reserve^® both years, which earned me 3x points per $1 on this travel purchase.

Upgrading Our Camping Experience

The Cabin Pass appealed to me because we enjoy camping but I’m not always on board with sleeping in a tent. The window of favorable tent camping weather is far too small in my home state of Texas between the brutal summers, practically year-round mosquitos, and occasional deep freeze that shuts down the whole state. 

Sure, we could pack up our camping gear and seek campgrounds in areas with more comfortable camping conditions. But that’s a lot of work, and we generally stay in hotels when we travel instead.

It’s nice that with the Cabin Pass we don’t have to haul our camping gear or worry that temperatures are pushing triple digits — we can sleep in a tiny house with real beds and a bathroom just steps away.

Savings on Lodging

Another appeal of the Cabin Pass is replacing paid hotel stays with cabin stays we don’t have to pay anything extra for. 

The real value of the Cabin Pass is cabin stays at destinations where we’d otherwise need to pay for a hotel room. Knowing our lodging costs are covered, we’ve built family trips around Thousand Trails campground locations. Those bookings can sometimes be challenging to achieve because we have to align our travel dates with what Thousand Trails has available. That can be a tall order at popular destinations with limited availability that might not align with when we can travel or when flight prices are low.

With flights or longer road trips, it’s not as easy as hopping in the car for a few weekend nights at a nearby campground when Thousand Trails has an opening. Still, we’ve saved thousands on out-of-state trips booked with Thousand Trails compared to what we would have spent on hotel stays. And with a kitchen in all the cabins we’ve stayed in, we’ve reduced food costs by making some of our meals.

The most significant limitation is there aren’t Thousand Trails Cabin Pass locations everywhere we want to go. They are in 25 states, which is pretty good but not nationwide. It’s not like we can entirely eliminate hotel costs using the Cabin Pass — it’s location- and availability-dependent. 

Also, the Cabin Pass doesn’t work great for road trips with multiple destinations because you can’t do 1 or 2 nights at a destination and then go immediately to the next destination for another few nights. You have to take a 14-day break in between cabin stays.

Bottom Line:

The Cabin Pass can offer lodging savings, but it’s unrealistic to use the pass to cover all your potential lodging costs.

Is the Cabin Pass Worth It?

The math checks out on Cabin Pass value for me, though how much value you get from it depends on how frequently you can use it.

Our stay at Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes would have cost around $750, about half of what I paid for my first year of membership. It only took us about 3 months to make back the value of what we paid in the first year with 2 more stays at nearby campgrounds that would have cost us about $400 each.

Let’s do the math on the value I’ve gotten from the Cabin Pass.

The first year I purchased my Cabin Pass, we stayed 45 nights, close to once per month, for an average of nearly 4 nights per stay. Let’s say for all of those nights we would have paid $150 to stay at a hotel instead. If we were to do a 4-night stay ($600 value) every month, that would be $7,200 annually.

With a Cabin Pass cost of $1,495 last year, we saved about $5,700 on lodging costs over our first year of membership.

We’re on track to save thousands again in our second year of Cabin Pass membership. In the first 5 months, we’ve stayed 10 nights and have another 11 nights booked — roughly $3,150 in value so far compared to the $1,695 membership fee we paid this year. We’ve already saved about $1,400 and still have 7 months to go.

Bottom Line:

The Thousand Trails Cabin Pass has helped my family save thousands on lodging costs over the past year and a half, and we’ve enjoyed its flexibility.

Cabin Pass Pros and Cons

These are the main points to consider if you’re interested in a Thousand Trails Cabin Pass. The positive aspects are compelling, but it’s important to understand the limitations and drawbacks.

Cabin Pass Pros

• You can pay once to stay at cabins for a year.
• Cabins may be more comfortable than other lodging, generally offering kitchens and space for at least 4 occupants.
• Campgrounds are often scenic and park-like, offering amenities such as pools, gaming, and recreation.
• You can stay for up to 7 consecutive nights with no nightly fees.
• There are more than 125 Cabin Pass locations in 25 states.
• Thousand Trails staff are often very welcoming and kind.

Cabin Pass Cons

• It’s unrealistic to replace all your lodging costs with the Cabin Pass.
• You can’t book more than 60 days in advance.
• You must take a 14-day break between cabin stays.
• Bookings are subject to limited availability, so a cabin may not be available when and where you want it.
• There aren’t Cabin Pass locations in every U.S. state.
• Retail cabins unavailable to Cabin Pass members may be nicer or larger.
• You have to be comfortable staying in a campground that’s primarily an RV resort.

Final Thoughts

The Thousand Trails Cabin Pass has been a good choice for me. It’s saved me money, and I enjoy planning all the places we can go and stay at no additional cost. Our cabin pass has made trips to Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Orlando far more affordable than they would have been if we’d stayed in hotels, and we like the quiet campground resort experience that Thousand Trails offers.