Idaho raising rates at selected state parks

spoon059 wrote:

Bags4266 wrote:
What I don't get is everyone is suppose to be unemployed

In my state, unemployment pays about $54,000 a year. That's more than a lot of full time jobs in the rural areas, more than a lot of retirees make too. Besides the fact that there is very little incentive to actually go find work, it provides plenty of money to go camping.

What state is that? That is over $1000 per week. Or does that include the$300 per week the fed is paying?

Bags4266 wrote:
What I don't get is everyone is suppose to be unemployed

In my state, unemployment pays about $54,000 a year. That's more than a lot of full time jobs in the rural areas, more than a lot of retirees make too. Besides the fact that there is very little incentive to actually go find work, it provides plenty of money to go camping.

I'm not an Idahoan, but we have family roots there and I'm a fan.

If I lived there, I would see this as a win/win. Motivating the out-of-staters to go to the private parks is good for their businesses and opens up more room at state parks for the locals.

That type of fee increase will discourage me from future visits to Idaho State parks. I don't blame them for the hikes, tough when locals can't get in their own campgrounds. But jacking rates up twice as much says a lot. Oregon appears to want and appreciate my out of State tourist dollars.

I don't recall what other state we were visiting, but the nightly rate for a non-resident was double and that was a couple of years ago.

We don't visit our state parks during peak times because you can't get a reservation, yet I don't think it's fair to increase rates so that it discourages out of state visitors.

Bags4266 wrote:
It's horrible, covid campers and families out for the weekend kill your chance for a spot. Gas prices over 3.00 a gallon. What I don't get is everyone is suppose to be unemployed

Not so. There are still a lot of FS CG's that have plenty of room even on prime holiday weekends.

Makes it hard to find a good spot but isn't it great. These people are getting the things that we all RV/camp for. Making memories and bonding as families. Sure covid may be the reason why but the result is the same. Teach them as some of them are the future of RVing.

time2roll wrote:
Sells out in an hour? You have 3 to 5 minutes in CA for anything good.

3 to 5 minutes? Try for FL in the winter, it is microseconds.
The weekend warriors are not a new thing. Most all of us were them not so long ago, just book earlier.
We go Sunday and come home Friday, problem solved.

This is nothing. State and Federal Budgets are a mess, some a lot more than others, and no bureaucracy generates one dime of income, that comes from taxes and fees. The can can only be kicked down the road so far, and since March 2020 they've been kicking continuously. This bubble will burst soon and make 2008/2009 feel like it was just a small bump in the road.

Bags4266 wrote:
It's horrible, covid campers and families out for the weekend kill your chance for a spot. Gas prices over 3.00 a gallon. What I don't get is everyone is suppose to be unemployed

Welcome to the new world of RV'ing. Covid/unemployment or not things aren't changing anytime soon. Probably won't change for years.
This problems been building up for the last 10 years.