For example, a park which is suited to a one-night stop-over, but have basic amenities, may rate higher than a park which is more geared to longer stays and has more amenities - the one-nighter may have less services but these are in excellent condition, whereas the longer-stay park may have more services but they are not well kept or not clean and would spoil a long stay.

So, you can see that the Park Rating is more suited to picking the quality of a park, rather than just "brownie points" for more services.  Where a park is suggested for a "long stay", "week or more" etc. it can also be good for overnight or short stays. The converse, however, is not true - a park suggested as good for an overnight or short stay could not also be suggested for a longer stay.

The Campground Rating for national park campgrounds takes into account the facilities and cleanliness of these. The facilities available can be varied, from a single bush toilet to hot showers and free BBQs. The area may also not be suitable for caravans. These campgrounds are easily identified by the word "campground" at the index. Roadside rest areas are also listed and can be rated.

To read how AAA Tourism rates caravan parks and defines their STAR classifications, click here and follow the Star Ratings links. It is interesting to note that AAA Tourism has since removed the text that explained that caravan parks are given 2 weeks notice of the AAA assessor visiting their park. Hmmmm.