Neighbors...

[chris_nc]

Hey everyone. I'm posting this based on an experience just this weekend, and I'm curious about your thoughts.

Campground neighbors. For the most part, I really don't have bad experiences with my campground neighbors. Most folks are friendly, respectful and want to have a good time and enjoy their weekend getaway. If I do have someone or a group that's just out of control, I may take a walk to visit the campground host. Chances are, others have complained, and they are equipped to deal with the situation.

This weekend was different situation. A dad and the kids set up next to us, and all seemed to be having a good time. However, at one point, the dad decided to take the hatchet and start chopping branches off of small trees to use as kindling. After whacking at a couple different trees for a while, he stopped But then came back later and started up again. My initial thoughts were to say something, but I decided to let it go. Should I have used the situation as an education opportunity? It wasn't terrible, but it is one of the first rules of camping and treading lightly - use only downed wood. The next morning he sort of made up for it though when I overheard him instructing the kids to canvass the site, and pick up any trash no matter how small or if it was theirs or not.

What campground neighbor situations have you encountered and how did you handle it?

 

[tacoclifford]

I was a park ranger at a New York State park with a campground. It was an absolute disaster. We would fight with people all night. People were always loud. They would always get wasted and trash the place. We would have to kick people out, fine people, ban people. It was a disaster. I really felt bad for the families that came from far away with campers or even just tents and have to contend with the nonsense. The issue was that this campground was about an hour north of a major city. It seemed we got all the rifraf from the city.

The worst expierence Iv myself expierenced was in Pulaski New York. Me and a buddy of mine were fishing all weekend in the area. It’s big town based around a river called the salmon river off of Lake Ontario. But anyway, this campground we were at was next to a field that was seperated by a thin tree line. Someone was riding some sort of atv all night long. Keeping everyone up all night. A lot of us talked to the person in charge and they solved the issue. Turned out, it was a worker that was drunk riding an atv all around the area all night. they did make it right and gave us an extra night which was really nice.

 

[chris_nc]

I was a park ranger at a New York State park with a campground. It was an absolute disaster. We would fight with people all night. People were always loud. They would always get wasted and trash the place. We would have to kick people out, fine people, ban people. It was a disaster. I really felt bad for the families that came from far away with campers or even just tents and have to contend with the nonsense. The issue was that this campground was about an hour north of a major city. It seemed we got all the rifraf from the city.

The worst expierence Iv myself expierenced was in Pulaski New York. Me and a buddy of mine were fishing all weekend in the area. It’s big town based around a river called the salmon river off of Lake Ontario. But anyway, this campground we were at was next to a field that was seperated by a thin tree line. Someone was riding some sort of atv all night long. Keeping everyone up all night. A lot of us talked to the person in charge and they solved the issue. Turned out, it was a worker that was drunk riding an atv all around the area all night. they did make it right and gave us an extra night which was really nice.

Yikes! That's crazy. For the most part alcohol is prohibited in the campgrounds that I go to that are fairly close. Not that people don't still enjoy a beer by the fire in the evening, but enforcement of the rule for folks that are out of control seems to be fairly well in order. Primitive camping, particularly in the OHV park areas is a completely different story sometimes.

 

[tacoclifford]

Yikes! That's crazy. For the most part alcohol is prohibited in the campgrounds that I go to that are fairly close. Not that people don't still enjoy a beer by the fire in the evening, but enforcement of the rule for folks that are out of control seems to be fairly well in order. Primitive camping, particularly in the OHV park areas is a completely different story sometimes.

Yea it was crazy. The funny thing was that alcohol was prohibited! It might not have been as bad as I remember but it was quite the expierence. It’s interesting to me that it was only like this on the weekends. Monday-thursday, it was a peaceful place on the edge of a lake. But this place is deffinately out of the ordinary. Iv never stayed at a site that was anywhere near as bad as this.

 

[RedRob]

Chris_nc, I think I would have kept quiet and felt bad about it. That’s a tough call.