"Me" Generation Ruining Campgrounds - Rant

[raineman]

Been having a tough time lately with the "me" generation having a negative impact on camping. It seems these people are taking over. In the last 3 weeks, we have had drunk domestic violence, barking dogs, an actual wedding and reception at a site and lastly just some trash that could care less.

The episode with the dogs and the wedding / reception was at Lost Dutchman Campground in AZ, normally a quiet cg. In both cases the usual multiple camp hosts were no where to be found. I think many were snowbirds that have left for the season. There was no ranger on duty after 5. So we were basically left to the wolves. The dogs finally stopped barking around 8PM after a day of nonstop barking (yappers ).

Then at another site geniuses decided to host a wedding with full tuxedos and gowns and 20+ people at the site. Music so loud that we could not even talk at our site. F-bombs were heard the whole time over the music. Called the Pinal County Sheriff and they refused to come out saying it was the ranger's issue even after acknowledging that there was no way to contact a ranger. Nice. I eventually went over and asked for them to turn the music down only to be met by drunken idiots that wanted to fight. Being sober and 200 pounds and armed and capable of handling myself, I still stayed in my truck instead of following my first instinct. We suffered the whole night from these fools and they later came through our site messing with our stuff in retaliation. I spoke to the ranger the next day. He went to talk to them and did nothing.

Our last episodes were in the Tonto National Forest at Sharp Creek Campground. We knew there was trouble brewing as soon as the truck pulled into the next campsite. Despite being a family, a couple with their 12 yo (guessing) daughter and dog, instant loud music and trash flying everywhere. The host did stop by and they were quiet off and on.....until 6:30 the next morning when we were all woken up by loud music being cranked. They were gone on their own by 8 AM, but left behind what looked like a war zone. Trash covered the site including human and dog feces. Fire was left roaring. Leaving a roaring fire in a National Forest is pretty dangerous not to mention stupid. It took the host 2 hours to clean it all. Great lesson to teach your 12 yo daughter, right? The host did say that a fine would be sent to the address on record for whomever rented the site. But I am doubting people like that give a darn about that. They will ignore it.

During all this, another site a few spaces down, had a couple that got wasted and began fighting during the night. This included throwing things and physical altercations and screaming profanities until 4AM. The local sheriff and forest ranger finally showed up around 8AM to kick them out. Great help. Not.

I hope this is just a streak of bad luck and not a sign of things to come. What a way to have trips ruined. The one common theme amongst all the offenders was age. Each incident involved people in their 20's or early 30's (guessing by appearance of course). Alcohol was also a culprit in each incident other than the barking dogs. The dog owners didn't need alcohol. Stupidity seemed to come naturally for them. We are dog owners but do not allow our dogs bark non-stop. Hoping the next trip is event free.

[sdennislee]

Sure hope it gets better for you. Sounds like you had a run of bad luck with bad neighbors

[rollingslow]

Good luck but dont bet on it..summer camping season is here and it will be worse not better i'm thinking

[raineman]

Originally Posted by rollingslow

Good luck but dont bet on it..summer camping season is here and it will be worse not better i'm thinking

You are likely correct

[the_vfox]

The "Me" generation of campers chaps my rear end.

That is one reason we avoid holiday weekends, all the me people.

If I was king for a day, I would dish out some wall to wall counseling

[Mr_D]

At our favorite campground we had a neighbor that let his dogs run loose although close by and pretty well controlled. Owner went out to fish about dusk, and sure enough he found one of his dogs "land mines"!! Instant karma!

Anther time there was a group of Ukrainians next to us. They parked head in, set up tarps, lights, tables etc. Turned on the outside lights that they brought with them, (which shined directly on our site), fished at all hours of the day/night (illegal after dark there) then proceeded to do their dishes and clean fish at a site across the road from them. One problem is is that the campground has NO facilities for tent camping so all water is supposed to go down the sewer. After several times of this the management got tired of the complaints and banned them completely.

[PeaceOwl]

Camping is getting very popular these days with the young people, and we try to stay away from places like party beaches, especially near colleges, or popular spots close to large towns. They are staying up a tad later than us old folks, Lolol

[luckyd]

You are in for a big surprise!!!!!!!!

There are a lot of people in the 60's and 70's that feel they
"own the world".
Camping etiquette is not just slowly going downhiil......it is on a fast track.

Pets, grandchildren, crowding your site, etc.

When you try to talk to these people they become very beligerent.
Talk to the park management and they will ignore it until they shut down.

This appears to be the coming trend.
Not sure how to deal with it.

[Mike and Cha]

We have experienced the same thing, guess we just give them too many of our tax dollars and they seem to feel entitled to do whatever they want. I wonder why they don't have jobs, as it is obvious that some of these people aren't on vacation.


We had one experience where there was a domestic violence with three couples in one RV that resulted in two people being stabbed and 4 of them going to jail. Other campers tried to assist them during the brawl but the whole group turned on the good campers and they retreated while the drunken idiots continued to assault each other until the local Police showed up as there were no rangers on duty.


In Oregon we had a group of guys show up after the Ranger station closed. They set up camp with the radio blaring, started a huge campfire and then started drinking. Pretty soon they were urinating into their campfire and yelling, cussing until 3am. Then they left before 8 so they didn't have to pay for the spot as they were all laughing about how stupid the rangers are. Of course they left all their trash behind for others to pick up.


Unfortunately I think it's a trend not just an unlucky one time experience.

[R2Home]

I wonder if all of these 'issue' are just related to National Park camp grounds? We just completed a seven week trip to the 'lower 48' from Alaska and did not have any of the 'issues' that have been discussed here. However, we did not stay at any National Park camp grounds.
It does make one wonder what goes though the minds of some people!

[adamfolger]

Well folks, I am the security / camp host [ moderator edit ] and I can promise you that crap won't float here. I give idiots one chance to correct their ways and then it's pack it up and don't come back, and there is no refund. The local PD will escort them to the Gate and yes we have big black iron gates in and out. [ moderator edit ] Good people welcome ...bad guys beware the gate keeper!

[V3600]

To the OP - the Lost Dutchman State Park has far too many excellent reviews and needs your negative review to set the record straight and warn future campers.

http://www.campgroundreviews.com/regions...man-state-park

[Arch Hoagland]

raineman....Wow you have really had a run of bad luck!!

Hang in there, it can't get any worse.

We've been RVing for 40 years and haven't had that many problems so I'm hoping your luck will improve.

[sirpurrcival]

I'm afraid that what we see in campground is only a symptom. The behaviours and attitudes described are represented all over the place. Parking lots, restaurants, movie theaters, you name it. It seems that people really don't care about their impact on their neighbours or environment anymore (to be fair there has always been this kind around but now they seem to be in far greater numbers).

One thing that I will say has changed over the years is this use of Campground Hosts and "Park Rangers". When I was a kid, it always seemed as though the Ranger was 30 to 40 ish, in full uniform and had the look about him that you really didn't want to cross him. Now it is usually one of the following. A 60 ish something pair of civilians who are basically their to check registrations and sell firewood. They are completely without the will or the authority to try and enforce regulations. The other is the fresh faces 19 year old who wears a park shirt and is about as confident and competent to deal with bad behaviour as I would have been at that age. That is to say, not. And who can blame either when it comes to it? For one, they are looking for some cheap accommodation and perhaps a little pay for a couple of months. The other is often a summer student just trying to get next year's tuition. If I were them, I probably wouldn't be too inclined to take on a bunch of drunken yahoo's who are playing their music too loud either if I was getting some part time summer wage (assuming that they are even on the grounds at the time). In most parks now, there are no "staff" anywhere around after 6:00 p.m. (8:00 if you are lucky).