Did you notice..........

.... I noticed that in very Northern Kalifornia there’s very little available public camping spaces available .... Spent last night at a Best Western and it also was very busy.... Might be a result of people not being able to vacation by air?...

Anybody know if westernrvparkowner is okay? He hasn't posted since April, and I recall that he was worrying whether to even open up this year or not. I'm wondering how he and his park are making out this summer.

GordonThree wrote:
Camping opened here in Michigan late June, before that only boondocking and a few private parks that decided they were above the law.

Rustic federal forest campgrounds (no amenities, no hook-ups) I've frequented in years past and had no problems getting sites on weekends are now stuffed, even mid-week.

Definitely a large surge in the popularity of camping.

A lot of it has to do with regional or state differences responses regarding C-19. Here where we are in PA this state park is really not much more crowded now than the typical July weekends in prior years. I'm sitting here right now watching folks pull out and not many new tags have been posted. I think it may be us and around 12 or so others tonight out of @ 300 sites. This is a very popular state park. Another reason it might be getting light use is the cell service is terrible. The only reason I can post this is the cell tower is not overloaded at present. It typically is on Fridays and Saturdays. How do you camp without your phone and internet? Oh the humanity.

In contrast right down the road about 5 miles is a huge RV resort type campground with pools,goofy golf, all the junk. It was an absolute packed madhouse Saturday when I drove past.

My take is most of the new buyers / C19 campers have to have hookups and fluff. Roughing it in any sense of the term is not an option in most cases.

Camping opened here in Michigan late June, before that only boondocking and a few private parks that decided they were above the law.

Rustic federal forest campgrounds (no amenities, no hook-ups) I've frequented in years past and had no problems getting sites on weekends are now stuffed, even mid-week.

Definitely a large surge in the popularity of camping.

We have been camping since late May and have had no problems getting into a CG when we wanted to. Right now we are alternating 4 days or so boondocking with a couple of days in a private CG to use their tanks and water and otherwise enjoying FHU. We started in FL and have been in 9 states so far, Missoula coming up after boondocking just north of YNP.
I have no idea what it's like in the NE or the Left Coast right now. NM is now to be avoided but we got thru before the governor cracked down again.

wapiticountry wrote:



There was another thread running, before it got sent to the Siberian prison camp of "around the campfire"


buying tulip bulbs in Holland during Tulip Mania in 1636. This too shall pass.

Thats funny stuff, thanks.
I posted yesterday in a thread that apparently also went to the Siberian camp about a small mom and pop dealer I know where I am at here in PA, who sold most all of his new stock and every used unit he had during April and May. Since then sales have dropped off to worse than they were in Jan and Feb which was not bad but down 20% from the year prior according to his numbers. He also told me he had more than one or two new buyers call a month after purchasing and ask if he was interested and what would he offer to buy back new units. Craziness. The dealers probably love this. Folks not knowing what they're doing, folks not knowing an issue with a new rig thats right in front of their nose, etc. Probably makes it easy to get them off the lot, but it sounds like it already has petered out or is well on its way to doing so.

garyhaupt wrote:
Can't speak for any place else, but here in BC you cannot get a camping spot for love nor money. Anywhere within driving distance of a city is packed..and forestry sites..packed. any lake...packed....and any wide spot on a back road has a camper in it.

The other thing...most of these campers are new to the game. And how did they become campers extraordinaire? They went and bought...everything and anything that will sleep people. Tents..tent trailers, trucks n campers, A, B, C's...and few (none) had the cash, so...debt. Like crazy debt.

I am on an off-road camping FB page in BC and everyday, all day....where can I find camping? How do I get fresh water when camping in my new....? How and where do I dump?


Gary Haupt

There was another thread running, before it got sent to the Siberian prison camp of "around the campfire" that offered one explanation of why there are so many new people RVing. That explanation is they have had their normal vacation plans cancelled by travel restrictions and they are going to take a vacation come hell or high water. Contrary to the beliefs of a few on these forums, many, many normal average people have a lot of disposable income. They spend 10s of thousands of dollars on vacations every year. This year, those 10s of thousands are being spent on a camping trip, because what else can they do? Next year, the camping equipment will begin to rot away in the basement or storage building and they won't give a darn. If they bought an RV, a percentage will like it enough to keep it around, the rest will sell them for a loss, shrug their shoulders and plan their trip to Europe.
Nothing new, been happening forever, people jump on the flavor of the day. See Beanie Babies, Precious Moments, trading Cadillacs for Pintos in the 70s, buying tulip bulbs in Holland during Tulip Mania in 1636. This too shall pass.

Can't speak for any place else, but here in BC you cannot get a camping spot for love nor money. Anywhere within driving distance of a city is packed..and forestry sites..packed. any lake...packed....and any wide spot on a back road has a camper in it.

The other thing...most of these campers are new to the game. And how did they become campers extraordinaire? They went and bought...everything and anything that will sleep people. Tents..tent trailers, trucks n campers, A, B, C's...and few (none) had the cash, so...debt. Like crazy debt.

I am on an off-road camping FB page in BC and everyday, all day....where can I find camping? How do I get fresh water when camping in my new....? How and where do I dump?


Gary Haupt

#1Flyboy wrote:
.... How busy the campgrounds are? PACKED! And are there any new campgrounds in the pipeline to alleviate the issue?

Perhaps depends where you are, and what major attracton(s).

I've been trying to go to my favourite CG inside Rocky Mountain National Park. Multiple reservations made over the course of the booking windows, and so far 3 of them have been cancelled with a refund, and an active notice that one coming up at the end of July into August may be cancelled as well. So they are far from busy. They haven't really opened for the season, and all of the notices received were due to safety notices due to Covid-19.

As an alternative, stayed in a private RV park in Estes Park. Made a reservation thinking they would be packed. They weren't. There were a goodly number of sites available when I arrived there, and through that weekend.

Conversely, had a reservation at one of the more remote campgrounds within the Colorado State Forest SP, and it was full. Not just the campground I was in, but the 2 other ones that were nearby within the SP system.

Reservations at another SP campground coming up soon, will be interesting to see if it's full or not.

No. I doubt that after this current economic fiasco you'll be seeing any governments making huge expenditures for new campgrounds and probably huge cuts to maintenance and upgrade of existing ones. The private sector knows that campgrounds are not exactly the best move when it comes to where to invest money,far from it.


We have been in a PA state park campground since Wed, we do two weeks here every year in July for the last 12 years. Its no more packed than any other year. If anything there are more folks with tents. 3 of the 12 fullhookup sites sat empty all weekend with no tags so I don't think they were no shows.