Has this ever happened to you???

[mdstudey]

Having come off a three month trip staying in public and private campgrounds. One campground called Verlot (Forest Service CG) near Granite Falls, Wa. was the most interesting. When we pulled in the hosts was cleaning up a site that had squatters on it. They had to have the local Sheriff and Ranger remove them. I was shocked by how many campfires had also been left burning. In our campsite there was food dumped on the ground (bear area). We had our generator locked up on a cable all day, then my husband took it off to tie the dog out. He moved the generator UNDER the trailer. We had our bumper rack down with bicycles on it and he had shoved it way past that. Middle of the night dog starts barking and I looked out the windows, did not see anything. They got under the trailer and took the generator. I wish I would have let the dog out, she would of had their a*!. In other campgrounds no thief s, but really inconsiderate people. We had one lady (at Verlot while breaking in new generator) get mad at us because we were running our generator in the afternoon. She came flying around the back of the trailer and started yelling at my husband. She startled the dog which in turn barked, growled and jumped up. So now we are rude and have a vicious dog. She pulled her truck in-between us and her and cranked up her radio so loud that every one in the campground could hear it. Another camper asked her to turn it down and she refused, so then the host became involved. They made her turn her music down and told her if she did that again they would boot her. They came to us and asked us to turn the generator off once our batteries charged and hugged the dog. Very strange woman. Most people in other places were pretty good. Used bear boxes or packed stuff into their cars and kept their camps clean at night to keep the bears from invading. The thing that bothered me the most was campfires. With California on fire and other fires burning in the west, you would think they could put 2 and 2 together.



All said, I would even camp at Verlot again. Funny thing, no one in private campgrounds had campfires.

[Susan C]

We have not run into this situation but have run into the exact opposite. We were staying in a private campground and it was Sunday. Checkout was not until 1PM. It was about 10 AM and whoever had rented the campsite for Sun night had checked in and was hassling us to get off the campsite. We explained to this lovely person that check out was not until 1 PM. He said “Oh nobody ever stays that late”. OH my how rude. I would never even consider doing this. Anyway we took our time while they cooled their heels. We blame the campground for allowing him to check in before 3 PM but I’m sure they warned him that we may still be there.

[formerFR]

We're always glad that most rv parks and campgrounds, while all with a stated 'check in' time, will usually allow us to go ahead to our site(sometimes with the caution that the prior tenant may not yet be gone... but we've rarely every had that issue happen, and the only time I can remember, it was a short wait).

Parks and campground have to have a specific 'check in' time, I suppose, because we're all on different schedules of arrival and departure, and there needs to be time between the two, at least a little - just like a hotel room, though a site rarely needs 'cleaning', right?!
What shocks me sometimes is that some have stated check in times that are 3 or even 4pm! What??! oh my! Don't hurry!

[bobsteele]

I had a similar situation in Table Rock State Park in Branson, MO. When we arrived there was another camper on our reserved spot and . . . of course . . . no one around. We had to set up in another spot and then set up again the next day in the reserved spot. Very annoying!

[Fluffywhitedogs]

I often camp for dog events, and they usually run until well after checkout time on Sunday. I always mention this when checking in and ask if there’s an overflow lot where I can park the trailer until I get back and almost every place I’ve done this, they say “don’t worry about it, we won’t put anyone there for tonight”.
I guess if I was scheduled to leave on Friday that would be a different story... And I would NEVER just stay without prior arrangements...

[glsimms]

Sadly, I think that as the RV industry continues to grow and with more people owning them, I think we may see more of these stories..... JMO

[wabakami]

Originally Posted by glsimms

Sadly, I think that as the RV industry continues to grow and with more people owning them, I think we may see more of these stories..... JMO

Yup, I don't think you are too far off on that statement!

Geoff

[RMWSierra]

We often wish to enjoy our camping experience until the very last minute. Because we know that we want to stay late on the day of our departure, we reserve the site for another day and then can pack up and leave at our leisure! This way the campground is compensated for an extra day and no one is waiting for us to get off the site!

[HappyCamper1962]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

It may very well be that they ran into some sort of issue preventing them from getting back in time to break down their camp. It happens. In that case, treating their items gently when moving them (not just tossing them off the site) would be appropriate, and probably appreciated. Tim

If that happened, then they should have called the campground to let them know and they would have likely given the staff permission to take things down so that someone else could move in.

It is rare for us to run into flagrant rudeness when camping, but it does occasionally happen and agreed, very disappointing.

[bikendan]

We see less of this kind of behavior by avoiding camping in the summer, weekends and holidays.
We practiced this WAYYY before we retired, while we were still working.

[mjones12]

A nice campground near us has a checkout time of 4 pm on Sundays only. Very nice for weekend campers who live nearby and can stay late.

We are not weekend campers but try to schedule our trips there to end on Sunday. Really nice to eat lunch and then leisurely start packing up.

[KyDan]

You make it sound like this overstaying on campsites is common but we just spent 6 weeks on the road, 13 different states, 21 different campgrounds and not a single problem like this.
I'm not ready to lease a full time site just yet.

[itat]

I don’t share the negativity of many posters on this thread. We’ve never had someone occupying a reserved site upon our arrival. Of course, we rarely get to our destination before 4pm so that might play a role.

We camp almost exclusively at Provincial Parks and KOAs here in Ontario. Week long trips are usually at a Provincial Park from Monday to Friday, occasionally the starting Sunday too. We avoid summer weekends at Provincial Parks but will camp there on weekends before and after the school year. We’ve never had an issue on weekends at the KOAs we use regularly. We almost never camp on a long weekend when the party crowds are always out.

My DW is now self-employed and the last time we did a trip of more than a week was back in late-July and early-August of 2013 when we went to the Canadian east coast. Almost all nights were at KOAs except for Fundy National Park and Mactaquac Provincial Park in New Brunswick. We had reserved sites every night and had no issues.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by mdstudey

Having come off a three month trip staying in public and private campgrounds. One campground called Verlot (Forest Service CG) near Granite Falls, Wa. was the most interesting. When we pulled in the hosts was cleaning up a site that had squatters on it. They had to have the local Sheriff and Ranger remove them. I was shocked by how many campfires had also been left burning. In our campsite there was food dumped on the ground (bear area). We had our generator locked up on a cable all day, then my husband took it off to tie the dog out. He moved the generator UNDER the trailer. We had our bumper rack down with bicycles on it and he had shoved it way past that. Middle of the night dog starts barking and I looked out the windows, did not see anything. They got under the trailer and took the generator. I wish I would have let the dog out, she would of had their a*!. In other campgrounds no thief s, but really inconsiderate people. We had one lady (at Verlot while breaking in new generator) get mad at us because we were running our generator in the afternoon. She came flying around the back of the trailer and started yelling at my husband. She startled the dog which in turn barked, growled and jumped up. So now we are rude and have a vicious dog. She pulled her truck in-between us and her and cranked up her radio so loud that every one in the campground could hear it. Another camper asked her to turn it down and she refused, so then the host became involved. They made her turn her music down and told her if she did that again they would boot her. They came to us and asked us to turn the generator off once our batteries charged and hugged the dog. Very strange woman. Most people in other places were pretty good. Used bear boxes or packed stuff into their cars and kept their camps clean at night to keep the bears from invading. The thing that bothered me the most was campfires. With California on fire and other fires burning in the west, you would think they could put 2 and 2 together.



All said, I would even camp at Verlot again. Funny thing, no one in private campgrounds had campfires.

The Verlot campground is about an hour from my house. It's in an area that't been overrun with "Meth Cooks" and homeless. These campgrounds are overseen by "Hosts" that have to wait for law enforcement to arrive before anything can be done beyond verbal. The Forest Service is in the process of shutting down one of these campgrounds due to the depredation of both homeless and such.

Law enforcement in these campgrounds can be a bit of an issue too. The Forest Service office is based in Everett but just an administrative office. Ranger Offices, where the Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers are based are in Darrington and it may take hours for a response. The County Sheriff Deputies are often far away from the NF area, patrolling their main responsibilities in the surrounding counties.

Years ago I used to camp on the Mountain Loop highway with my family but no more. I don't feel like sitting up all night in a lawn chair with a shotgun across my lap to keep my gear from being stolen. Even with regular patrols the cars at trailheads and the Ice Cave attraction are regularly plundered. To top it off, Cell Coverage is non existent. In an emergency one can either drive to the Verlot ranger station (if they're open) or to Silverton where there is an emergency radio to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office (via a repeater on a nearby mountain).


As for someone with a tent in my reserved site? Ever hear the expression "pull up stakes". I believe I'd do so and merely pull it clear of the site and stack the rest of the gear with it. A lot of people do what they do because they've been getting away with it all their lives.

Similar story. In my neighborhood someone "squatted" in a bank owned house. They in turn rented out individual rooms. The entire neighborhood complained about the garbage and obvious drug sale traffic in and out of the house. The HOA complained to the Bank that did nothing. Complaints were filed with the Police and they couldn't do anything. This went on for several months.

One day a group of homeowners waited until the illegal occupants had left for the day. When the house was clear of people they went in and moved everything out to the curb. Every single possession, piece of garbage, and so forth. A locksmith came in and changed the locks and keys given to the Real Estate Agent overseeing the property for the Bank. After a week the junk at the side of the street was hauled off to the dump.

Problem solved and a nice new family moved in a couple months later.

BTW, the pro-active homeowners were all very capable men and were seven strong. More than able to handle any trouble that might arise while clearing out the house.

[kennyairport]

We stayed at Black Forest campground in Brevard N.C. check-in is 3:00Pm but check-out was 12:00pm and you don't want to get there early. The entrance road is just wide enough for a trailer and steep incline, no room to maneuver. I was surprised that they did not have a stop or go light at the entrance. Owners said entrance road was county owned and has refused to widen it for them.
Nice place and friendly people.

[doc73]

When we went to a Koa in Nashville a few months ago we arrived to find our site occupied by the person after check out. The camp staff had them pay for the late check out and gave them the boot.

I wasn't upset just never had it happen before.

[Kayak]

I never reserve non electric sites anymore because several times in the past I have had campers close by run there generators off hours and frequently.One time also in the Adirondacks they put their smelly generator on my site and ran it .

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

Everyone is entitled now to do what they want when they want to. At least that's what they think. No more respecting rules. Rules are for others not them!

RIGHT ON Deuce !!!

[cduemmel]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Similar story. In my neighborhood someone "squatted" in a bank owned house. They in turn rented out individual rooms. The entire neighborhood complained about the garbage and obvious drug sale traffic in and out of the house. The HOA complained to the Bank that did nothing. Complaints were filed with the Police and they couldn't do anything. This went on for several months.

One day a group of homeowners waited until the illegal occupants had left for the day. When the house was clear of people they went in and moved everything out to the curb. Every single possession, piece of garbage, and so forth. A locksmith came in and changed the locks and keys given to the Real Estate Agent overseeing the property for the Bank. After a week the junk at the side of the street was hauled off to the dump.

Problem solved and a nice new family moved in a couple months later.

BTW, the pro-active homeowners were all very capable men and were seven strong. More than able to handle any trouble that might arise while clearing out the house.

You know, I really never thought of it this way, but when reading your story, i saw a point. If the bank/police/etc won't do anything about illegal squatters taking up residence, I imaging the same bank/police/etc won't take issue with people actually moving them out either.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by cduemmel

You know, I really never thought of it this way, but when reading your story, i saw a point. If the bank/police/etc won't do anything about illegal squatters taking up residence, I imaging the same bank/police/etc won't take issue with people actually moving them out either.

A guy I work this said his parents had similair problems with squatters in rental properties where people wouldn't leave when they had new renters ready to move in.

I guess they would simply go in when the people weren't there and move all their stuff to a self-storage unit. He said a few times they had to go to court and pay a fine, but in the meantime, they had the new renters moved in and paying rent rather than the squatters there living for free.