Ingrid's Corner

5 Ballparks For An RV Tour Of America’s Pastime

by Ingrid

Some of our best travel adventures were conjured up around a campfire. I love sitting around a campfire with friends sharing past and future travel tales. More times than not, those discussions lead to great ideas centered around RVing. We recently had a fun get together with folks that are huge Cubs Fans which lead to more RVing ideas; combining two passions.

For many people around the country, few things are more appealing than a summer ballpark tour. Baseball may have declined somewhat in popularity, but it remains America’s pastime, and its ties to the summer season are unbreakable for many. And for that reason, it occurred to us that this same idea of a ballpark tour might just make for the perfect RV trip for a lot of families and individuals alike.

For the true baseball fanatics out there, it may be appealing to take this idea all the way and visit every single big-league stadium in the country over the course of a summer. My sister and one of her sons are attempting to do this. That’s awfully ambitious for most people though, so perhaps a cross-country itinerary featuring five beautiful and significant parks might be more feasible.

1. Oracle Park – San Francisco, California

Consistently ranked among the best ballparks in America, Oracle Park is tough to beat. The stadium (formerly known as AT&T Park) sits right on the edge of the San Francisco Bay and may be best known to a lot of baseball fans as the place where Barry Bonds once rained home runs into “McCovey Cove” over the right-field stands. Fans used to cluster in the bay in kayaks in the hopes of retrieving one of his legendary blasts. Even now though it’s a beautiful, fun place to watch a game, and it helps that the home team Giants tend to be very competitive.

2. Coors Field – Denver, Colorado

The drive from San Francisco to Denver is no joke, but you can spread it out over a few days and enjoy some lovely sights in Nevada and Utah along the way. For that matter, once you get into Colorado, you can even take some time to tour the delightful mountain towns that I’ve written about before. But to continue the ballpark tour, you should ultimately end up in Denver, where you can watch the Rockies at Coors Field. There’s just something special about seeing baseball in such a laid-back beautiful city. And for many, it also won’t hurt that Denver’s famous craft beer scene has pumped some excellent options into the stadium concessions (even if the venue is named after a big-name beer).

3. Wrigley Field – Chicago, Illinois

From Denver, it’s about a two-day drive to Chicago, and it’s not the most eventful of drives. However, stops in Lincoln, Nebraska and Iowa City, Iowa – both lovely towns – can break up the drive before you eventually reach the Windy City. There, you’ll be treated to a game at the most historic, and perhaps most beloved stadium in Major League Baseball: the Cubs’ Wrigley Field. Known for exuding a palpable sense of the past, as well as for its unique, ivy-covered outfield wall, Wrigley is a place even casual sports fans should strive to visit at least once in life.

As long as you’re in town, you may as well visit Guaranteed Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox. It doesn’t have the charm or history of Wrigley, and lately, the Cubs have been the better team, but it’s a comfortable modern stadium, and perfectly pleasant on a nice day.

4. PNC Park – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

With the right timing, you can drive on to Pittsburgh in either one long single day – or if you’d prefer, you can always make a stop in Michigan or Ohio along Lake Erie (or stop in to see the Cleveland Indians as you pass through!). Either way, Pittsburgh’s PNC Park is a great next stop for a few reasons. One is that Pennsylvania is one of just a few states to have recently legalized online sports betting, which adds a whole new type of fun to see a game. You can find MLB game odds online and place a bet on a Pirates game, and even a tiny amount can give you a feeling most American sports fans have never had. The other reason to consider PNC Park though, whether or not you’re interested in the betting angle, is that it’s simply one of the prettiest stadiums, in any sport, in America.

5. Fenway Park – Boston, Massachusetts

If you’re all about the baseball and you’re enjoying the trip at this point, there’s something to be said for passing through a number of East Coast cities at the tail end of the tour. From Pittsburgh, you can drive just four hours to Baltimore to enjoy a game at the low-key but pleasant Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Then you can pass back through Pennsylvania, seeing the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, before hitting both New York destinations – Citi Field in Queens for the Mets, and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx for the Yankees (though keep in mind having an RV in some of these East Coast cities won’t be easy). Whether or not you take this multi-city detour though, you should wrap up your trip at Fenway Park, where the Red Sox play. It’s not the most comfortable of stadiums, but it’s the only one that might match Wrigley Field for history, meaning there are few better places to toast America’s pastime.

RV Park ideas in Chicago and Denver

When visiting Chicago, we usually stay about an hours drive outside of the city and then take the train into Chicago. The Paul Wolff Campground is a relaxing spot to return to after a day of fun in the big city.

Denver – We’ve stayed at a bunch of places around Denver and anyone of them would make a great home base to explore and take in a baseball game … Chatfield State Park, Cherry Creek State Park, Bear Creek Lake Regional Park, Dakota Ridge RV Park.

23 thoughts on “5 Ballparks For An RV Tour Of America’s Pastime”

  1. Not a big baseball or sports fan but we used to go to minor league games in VT. We took Tom to a few games in Montreal. Dave and our late friend Les ended up on the jumbo screen, Dave was sleeping and Les had a baseball glove on his head. Looking forward to sitting around a fire and talking with you two again.

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    1. We have several friends and family members who are really into baseball like the couple we recently met. I myself am not a huge fan but have enjoyed attending a game at Coors Field. Can’t believe the summer is winding down already. We’re heading into the UP today for a few days to explore and hoping summer in the northwoods will hang on a while longer. Look forward to connecting with you guys this winter!

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  2. Love the post – you got me with baseball. One of the things I’d love to do is see a ballgame in each MLB city\stadium. So far I have 11 cities, though a couple of the stadiums have long been demolished. I ‘ve seen several games at Wrigley and it’s a great venue, probably the best ballpark where I’ve seen a game. This summer I was able to get to four games in four cities, it was a good summer. Thanks for the ideas – keep on rolling and enjoying the northwoods of Hayward. There is still a little bit of summer left. Enjoy.

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    1. Hi Clay, my sister and one of her son’s are doing just that … every summer they visit several new to them ballparks. I think they are halfway through the list and having a blast doing so.
      I’m squeezing out as much summer as I can in the northwoods. We’re already feeling those cooler breezes. Today we head into the UP for a week of explorations. Cross your fingers the weather holds out.

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  3. Love the post! As a baseball fan that grew up near the Atlanta Stadium I would love to visit all of these. Got to go to Coors Field this summer while in Colorado, but had not gone to nearly as many as I would like. I have to admit, so far, Fenway is my favorite. My bucket list keeps growing.

    By the way, thanks for your excellent posts about Colorado mountain towns. Got to visit several and had a blast. Can’t wait to go back.

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    1. I went to my first baseball game at Coors Field. Glad you found my Colorado Mountain Towns series helpful. Amazing how many times I find myself using my own blog for reference 🤣.

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  4. Perfect list! We went to Oracle Park on our recent trip to San Francisco and it is spectacular! Target Field in Minneapolis is also a great one…fantastic views of the skyline from the third base side.

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  5. Great blog. We try and visit both minor league and major league parks when traveling thru an area. Just saw the Cardinals play at Busch Stadium last week in St. Louis.

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    2. We have a friend whose family is on a quest to see the Yankees, their “home team,” play in every stadium. Because the siblings are spread throughout the country with different work and family situations, the quest is a multi-year event. But they’re making great progress and, wow, are they having tons of fun with it! Great post, Ingrid!

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      2. Hi Mary, my sister and her son are trying to visit every major field in the country. Sometimes they’re barely in a town 24 hours before catching another flight to the next stadium. I think they are more than halfway through the list, but it is taking a few years.😊

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