had my fill of campgrounds

profdant139 wrote:
goducks, I wish that the "lake trick" worked in California -- unfortunately, lakes are so scarce that we have more drunks than lakes. So there are plenty of dry land party people. Based just on my own experiences, the problem seems somewhat worse in areas open to off road vehicle use. I am sure that there are polite and quiet off-roaders -- but since we can't hear them, all we hear are the other ones, and they give the whole crowd a bad name, which is very unfair to the good citizens. (This is like the bad reputation given to pit bulls -- most are wonderful dogs, but a few are not, so the RV parks ban all pit bulls. But nobody bans Chihuahuas, even though they can be noisy.)

The other rule of thumb is that as you get further away from big population centers, the percentage of drunk campers decreases. That's not surprising -- even drunks know that the less they drive, the better! ;)

Totally agree about the ATV crowd. They're just as bad as the boater crowd. Look at how toy haulers are decked out. Nice outside speakers plus a subwoofer. A definite crank it attitude. Most ATV/ wake boat types are younger and that also tends to up the party ante.

When we're looking for lakes to camp at we look for the 10 mph speed limit or no motors allowed types. It's no guarantee but it's a start. The fishing crowds seem to be a bit quieter.

It may be regional thing too. I've read on here about State parks being magnets for loud drunks. I find the opposite here in Oregon. State parks are noisy as a whole because they tend to have water and elec plus showers and that is popular with the family crowd. But most state parks, at least the ones I stayed at have been pretty tame. Just lots of kids and dogs.