Boondocking safety
Being from the south and traveling often "out west", I'm somewhat sceptical of boondocking in out-of-way places even though I really love the idea of being alone, and many sites are awesome. Have any...
Forum Discussion
The closer you are to town and on the weekends in particular the more problems you will have with noisy and unruly people at a campground. Think about the city parks in your neck of the woods.
Hunting season is also a time when there is a lot more partying going on in the campgrounds which is great mix of immaturity, booze, and firearms. We avoid areas completely when they are open to hunting.
The further away from towns you are the quieter it will be and the safer it will be. Fewer people makes for fewer problems of any kind. It is those places that are less than an hours drive outside of a town that I have found to be the worst. People get outside the city limits and often think that anything goes and are not able to regulate their own behavior. This is still going to be a weekend problem most of year.
I saw a big difference in terms of vandalism when the USFS was forced by the Nixon administration to open up the forest trails to motorcycles and the same has happened with Bush forcing the park service to open up places like Yellowstone to snowmobiles.
We have always avoided travel and camping places in July and August and the good thing about the west is that this still leaves 7 months with good weather and far fewer people on the roads and in the campgrounds.
Hunting season is also a time when there is a lot more partying going on in the campgrounds which is great mix of immaturity, booze, and firearms. We avoid areas completely when they are open to hunting.
The further away from towns you are the quieter it will be and the safer it will be. Fewer people makes for fewer problems of any kind. It is those places that are less than an hours drive outside of a town that I have found to be the worst. People get outside the city limits and often think that anything goes and are not able to regulate their own behavior. This is still going to be a weekend problem most of year.
I saw a big difference in terms of vandalism when the USFS was forced by the Nixon administration to open up the forest trails to motorcycles and the same has happened with Bush forcing the park service to open up places like Yellowstone to snowmobiles.
We have always avoided travel and camping places in July and August and the good thing about the west is that this still leaves 7 months with good weather and far fewer people on the roads and in the campgrounds.
