Hookups are the utilities at your RV site: electric (usually 30-amp or 50-amp), water, and sewer. 'Full hookup' means all three; partial usually means electric and water; dry camping means none. Match the electric service to your rig's plug, carry the adapters anyway, and don't pay for sewer at every stop — a dump station on departure covers most trips.
Every campground listing speaks the same shorthand — full hookup, W/E, 30-amp, dry — and nothing marks a first-season RVer faster than guessing wrong about what those mean for their rig.
Five minutes here settles the vocabulary for good, and with it, which sites you actually need to book.
The three utilities
Electric is the one that runs your life: air conditioning, outlets, converter. Campground pedestals commonly offer 30-amp service, 50-amp at larger sites, and sometimes a standard household outlet for light use. Your rig is built for one service — know which — and carry adapters both directions, because pedestals don't rearrange themselves for you. Air conditioning is the big draw; one AC unit on a hot afternoon is most of a 30-amp budget.
Water means a threaded spigot at the site feeding your fresh line — use a drinking-water-rated hose and a pressure regulator, always. Without a site spigot, you fill your tank at the campground's potable fill before parking.
Sewer is a ground connection for your waste tanks, and it's the least necessary of the three for short stays: tanks hold days of normal use, and nearly every developed campground offers a dump station for departure day instead.
Reading site labels like a local
'Full hookup' = electric + water + sewer at the site. 'Partial' or 'W/E' = water and electric, dump station on the way out. 'Electric only' is common at state parks, where hookup type is a big driver of the nightly price. 'Dry camping' or 'no hookups' = self-contained on your tanks and batteries.
Public campgrounds skew toward partial or electric-only — military FamCamps are a notable exception with strong full-hookup availability — while private resorts skew full-hookup. Federal listings on our campground pages show reported hookup details per site area where the catalog carries them.
The honest question for each stop: what do you need at the site versus what the campground provides centrally? A weekend with full tanks needs electricity at most.
Booking with hookups in mind
Hookup sites are the scarcest inventory in most public campgrounds — they sell out first and release rarely, so alerts and cancellation tactics earn their keep on exactly these sites.
And before any of the utilities matter, the rig has to physically fit the site — length limits are their own trap, covered in Will your RV fit?.
Key takeaways
- Full hookup = electric + water + sewer at the site; partial = water/electric; dry = tanks and batteries.
- Know your rig's amperage, carry adapters anyway, and remember AC dominates a 30-amp budget.
- Sewer at the site is a convenience, not a requirement — dump stations cover normal trips.
- Hookup sites sell out first at public campgrounds; they're prime territory for availability alerts.
Frequently asked questions
What does full hookup mean at a campground?
The site has all three utilities at the pad: electrical service (commonly 30- or 50-amp), a potable water spigot, and a sewer connection for your waste tanks. You can run indefinitely without moving the rig.
What's the difference between 30-amp and 50-amp service?
Total electrical capacity. 30-amp suits smaller rigs and runs one air conditioner with careful load management; 50-amp supplies far more power for larger rigs with multiple ACs and heavy appliances. Use the service your rig is built for, with adapters as fallback.
Do you need sewer hookups?
Rarely, for short stays. Holding tanks handle several days of normal use, and most developed campgrounds provide a dump station for departure. Site-side sewer is a comfort feature for long stays, not a requirement.
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