Our recent trip to the Northern California redwoods was fantastic, except for one thing: mud. It rained on and off for four days -- not a lot, but everything was wet. We had all the right gear for hiking, and our stuff dried out (more or less) inside the trailer -- I have installed clothes hooks all over the place, and the trailer looked like a badly-administered garage sale. No problem there.We put up our awning, and tilted it away from the door to the trailer so that it drained downhill and away from the trailer. We have a non-absorbent rug that we spread out on the ground outside, in front of the door to the trailer, and we put an astro-turf welcome mat on top of that, and we have one of those boot wiper things -- it cleans not only the soles of the boots, but also the sides. Inside the front door of the trailer, we have a carpet remnant for wiping our feet.But the floor of the trailer still got pretty darn muddy, despite all of those precautions -- we had to sweep twice a day.So that is my question, especially for those of you who (unlike me) are from rainy territory -- how the heck does one prevent the interior of the RV from getting muddy? Maybe string up some sort of an extra tarp near the door somehow? (And if so, how??)Your advice will be appreciated -- DW likes to go to moist places, precisely because we live most of the year in a dull, dry climate -- so I am sure I will need to know how to deal with mud, sooner or later. And this is a particular problem for boondocking, since RV parks (and many campgrounds) have paved or gravel sites. Not out in the boonies, though.

my only idea is to have a strict, shoes off at the door step, rule. put a box for storing the shoes. get soft sole mocs for everyone...or those slipper socks. you've done just about everything else you can do already.

X2 on the shoes off at the door! No exceptions.

Don't want to track mud inside....then you have to leave the mud outside......shoes/boots off at the door.

We're pretty much always camping in the mud... We take 2 pairs of shoes each - hiking shoes and travel crocs. The crocs have no holes in them and can go through puddles without getting your feet wet. We wear the crocs around the campsite and when we go into the camper we take them off at the door. They slip off easily. We keep our hiking shoes in the truck and just sit in there to change shoes if it is raining. It took us many years to finally figure this out, but now we've got it down. :)

When rain is forecasted and I am not familiar with the campground I am going to, I usually bring a couple 4' x 4' sheets of plywood. I lie them near the entry steps under the rug/mat. This provides an elevated dry place to walk and take off shoes. I then lay a couple old towels down inside by entry and have no shoes policy. Seems to work for us with 2 kids and lab. If needed I dip dogs paws in dish pan with water before he comes inside.

I need advice on coping with a muddy campsite

25 Replies

cewillis
Explorer
Oct 14, 2013
Probably won't help you, but I have an awning over the door, and the basement design of my Apex leaves a very convenient (though small) indoor area lower than the main floor for leaving shoes - muddy or not.
mockturtle
Explorer II
Oct 14, 2013
Roy&Lynne wrote:
Believe it or not, living in Washington we get a lot of rain but little mud. The ground soaks water up like a sponge, so we might bring in wet leaves, but rarely mud. The worst mud I've been in was in Southern Calif when I walked into some mud and sank to my ankles.
Saying that, we always bring slip on shoes for inside and keep our boots outside.
That depends on where in WA you live. When we lived in the NE WA mountains, the mud after the spring thaw was awful.
profdant139
Explorer II
Oct 14, 2013
Yeah, I figured the sweeping was inevitable. But a lot of the ideas in this thread will cut down on the amount of junk that we track in, so that is a partial victory.
greenrvgreen
Explorer
Oct 14, 2013
Sandals for indoors ("thongs"), trail running shoes for outdoors, no socks for casual wear, even in snow. Most of the time around camp I wear my shoes unlaced as slip-ons. That way I have no excuse for not slipping them off the moment I step inside.

This is also the reason I got rid of my carpeting. Not only was it collecting and warehousing dust and pine needles, it was the main source of airborne dust. Instead I laid down rubber gym matting for added insulation, and use a mini-vac. And I tossed my air filer.

And I'm sorry, Prof, you're still going to have to sweep daily.
Roy_Lynne
Explorer
Oct 14, 2013
Believe it or not, living in Washington we get a lot of rain but little mud. The ground soaks water up like a sponge, so we might bring in wet leaves, but rarely mud. The worst mud I've been in was in Southern Calif when I walked into some mud and sank to my ankles.
Saying that, we always bring slip on shoes for inside and keep our boots outside.
Lowsuv
Explorer
Oct 14, 2013
You will discover when making a grid that Cedar is lighter in weight than doug fir or pine .
I just used deck screws to screw mine together .
For extra height you might use 2 x 4 Cedar for the tops and the stringer bottom s.
I had to elevate my 1 x 4 platform with extra spacers at each corner .
plus the 1 x 4 's flex a little .
Cedar when it dries out weighs about 1.6 # per board foot and Fir will weigh 2.1 # per board foot .
So the cedar will be 80% of the weight of the fir .
I also carry a couple of the rubber office entrance mats that have the "carpet " on one side .
These are Very Heavy but I owned a fleet of them already from when we owned our lumber company .
I place those rubber mats in front of my wooden step and use my full size witches broom to keep it swept .
profdant139
Explorer II
Oct 13, 2013
Lots of great ideas!! I like the raised grid -- it could go under the welcome mat for drainage.
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Oct 13, 2013
I wouldn't wear muddy shoes in the house and I don't in the trailer either. There is a rug just inside the door for shoes and it gets shaken everyday.
Impkitti
Explorer
Oct 13, 2013
We have a strict no-shoes policy, and a boot tray just inside the door. All shoes go into the boot tray when you take them off. It catches any mud or water on the shoes and they have a chance to dry before we put them a way.
Lowsuv
Explorer
Oct 13, 2013
I also carry a homemade grid type step that goes beneath the trailer steps .
It is just 1x4 screwed on top of 2x4's and is about 24 inch square .
It doubles as a stand to take a solar shower on .
It goes on every trip just like the EZ-UP Qwik-Shades .