Campground Etiquette

[melvonnar]

Business must be slow in a park I was in last summer C.O.E park in Tionesta Pa.
This is a large park with aprox. 200 sites.
There was a group of about 25 campers in one loop of the campground having a get together; We all no this group; noisy and drunk all night and sleep all day; radios blaring kids yelling (all night). cars and trucks tearing through the park;
when they were packing to leave I overheard the rangers welcomming then back next time.
Complaining to the rangers sometimes is frutles.
another time we were in a campground a volunteer host called the ranger about some drunks in on of the sites causing problems for all the other campers; the rangers refused to come.
If you camp long enough you will run into it all.
%99 of campgrounds don't have a problem, but you always remember the ones that do.

[HD4Mark]

Think I have posted this before but it is a great story. In the CG we visit every winter one year some college kids came in for spring break or something camping in tents. They were a good distance from us so not much of a bother but the folks near by were not so lucky. They partied late into the night I guess. The next morning one of the closer by campers got revenge. About 6am he ran through the tent sites banging pots and pans together while yelling woohoo in a similar fashion to the partiers the night before. That must have made the old hangover much easier to take

On the other side of the coin. One year in the same CG our site was next to a sidewalk that went to the "clubhouse". Many campers apologized for going through our site. We simply told them there is no problem we picked the site next to the sidewalk and they were welcome to go through.

[Chuck 1935]

I have found that in public campgrounds, on weekends, there will probably be parties. I really don't mind the smoke and noise and drunken singing. If they start cursing and invading my campsite, now we have a problem. But fortunatly that has never happened. In California the park do right people are diligent about any late night ruckus and will show up and tell them to quiet down.

[SlyFox]

Originally Posted by HD4Mark

Think I have posted this before but it is a great story. In the CG we visit every winter one year some college kids came in for spring break or something camping in tents. They were a good distance from us so not much of a bother but the folks near by were not so lucky. They partied late into the night I guess. The next morning one of the closer by campers got revenge. About 6am he ran through the tent sites banging pots and pans together while yelling woohoo in a similar fashion to the partiers the night before. That must have made the old hangover much easier to take

On the other side of the coin. One year in the same CG our site was next to a sidewalk that went to the "clubhouse". Many campers apologized for going through our site. We simply told them there is no problem we picked the site next to the sidewalk and they were welcome to go through.

Oh isn't that sweet the part about the partiers did not get to sleep in! Sometimes you have to make the point. Good one.

[Monacoach]

The next morning one of the closer by campers got revenge. About 6am he ran through the tent sites banging pots and pans together while yelling woohoo in a similar fashion to the partiers the night before. That must have made the old hangover much easier to take

I like this revenge tactic however I would guess the kids didnt hear a thing. I rememeber my younger days and the next day nothing including an earthquake would wake me.

[bldrbob]

I forgot about windchimes.Somehow in the middle of the night they got all tangled up so they didn.t chime any more.

[dsbike]

A few years back my wife & I were tent camping in Joshua Tree National Park, we had gotten there early in the day & set up camp. There were other vacant sites near us. In the later part of the day a group of 4 college age girls set up in the site behind us. All was quite until about 9pm when a group of college age boys moved into the site in front of us. They didn't know each other but it didn't take them long to meet & start to party & get very loud. The only other site near them was ours. At about 1am I had had enough & wearing only my shorts this 50+ hairy man walks up to thier camp & politley asked them to quite it down as my wife & I could not sleep with thier loud partying. They were all quite surprised to see this hairy man older than most of thier parents standing in thier campsite in front of thier fire & settled down as soon as I left. In the morning they were all quite pleasant to my wife & I. However we found a different campsite with the big rocks that this campground is known for to camp in. That night we slept very well with no noise from anyone except the wilderness. A little bit of surprise & kindness can go along way.

[bldrbob]

While in Fort Wilderness with a boyscout troop I got a knock on the door at 2 am. The woman asked if the tent full of boys next to me belonged to our group. She said they had been there for two days and would like to get some sleep.I checked and they were all in the rest room excited about Dizzyworld.The second night they slept well.

[Barlow46]

Originally Posted by Parkerrs

I know some people are more sensative than others to noise and or have a lesser insulation factor on their unit or it's windows, but nothing gripes me more than one guy in a Florida CG last year. I waited until 8:30a.m. since it was a Sunday, did the procedure I described above the afternoon before. I dropped the jacks, started the coach and pulled out of my space. The DW was waiting with the toad and pulled up immediately as I locked the brakes, 3 minutes to hookup ( no place at entrance of CG) and was re-entering the coach to pull off when the guy from 4 spaces down walks up. " You know you should have shut that thing off to hook-up, you woke my wife from a dead sleep!". Excuse me but it's 1 1/2 hours after quiet time and the whole process was under 5 minutes, the idle was quieter than the shut down/restart. I try to be as courteous and mindful of others as possible but some people want you to live according to their whims and/or convenience. I'll not rant any more about it, but it was the only time in 25 years of camping that anyone has complained about one of my actions.

In all honesty, I must say that I agree with the guy from 4 spaces down. Why would you not shut down the engine regardless of the time of day as you were still in other campers front yards. You would have saved some fuel and an idle is no quieter than a shut down or a restart. Otherwise, thanks for being courteous and mindful of others.

Now, one of my pet peeves is the cell phone...not the phone itself, just the person who thinks that they have to talk twice as loud for the person on the other end to hear. Most cells phone mics can pick up a whisper and there is no need to shout into it as many do in campsites and restaurants. If you feel the need to talk long and loudly, please take it inside if you are camping and outside if you are "restaurant...ing".

[Superslif]

Yes, when reserving a campsite, you might have to look around at the other sites and envision "what if" you get a rowdy / loud group next to you. We like state parks, but here to there is a chance you get a loud bunch.....But for the most part, we have been lucky.....over the years....

[TXiceman]

Seems the worst time for loud groups and drunks is holiday weekends or as I call them amateur weekend. Often these groups only camp these few holidays and they seem to think the whole reason to camp is to see how loud and drunk you can get.

We had one group, years ago that were pretty bad and up to 2 or 3 am. Our neighbor was up really early the next morning and being the kind and thoughtful person he was, made a couple of big mugs of coffee and was over banging on their door at 0630 and very cheerfully offered them fresh hot coffee. They were not please at all, but apparently did get the message.

Ken

[Superslif]

Seems the worst time for loud groups and drunks is holiday weekends or as I call them amateur weekend. Often these groups only camp these few holidays and they seem to think the whole reason to camp is to see how loud and drunk you can get.

I agree, I call them "The Un-Professionals". Usually tent city or 12 people on a site where a state park says are limited to 5-6 per site....

I have 5 week long trips reserved for the summer, which 3 of them will be very quiet during the weekdays.

[Lorna]

Originally Posted by Superslif

... I call them "The Un-Professionals"...

We call them "weekenders". Wouldn't that include you?

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by Lorna

We call them "weekenders". Wouldn't that include you?

I have to jump in here.
Week enders are those that work (but not always) through the week, get drunk and roudy on the weekends; then take all week to sober up, so they can do it all over again the next weekend.---- Now everyone knows what the true defination of a weekender is.