USFS (and alikes) safety?
Admittedly, I've never been to a USFS. Is it safe to leave trailers all day long while you visit surrounding places?
Forum Discussion
We boondock as much as possible, and utilize public campgrounds whenever necessary over commercial campgrounds (we've stayed in a couple scary commercial parks over the years) and don't worry much about safety, but as noted above, you need some common sense...
The last accident I (well... my vehicle) was involved in was in a US National Forest campground. We were enjoying a nice campfire with friends when BANG! Someone not paying attention backed into my Jeep... $800 damage!
We've never felt threatened in a public campground of any type. We have felt threatened boondocking twice, once when what sounded like drunken partiers not far away (we didn't see 'em at all) started unloading their weapons the noisy way... we packed up and left!
The second time was boondocking near Quartzsite, AZ in late Spring. Most of the 14 day areas were already mostly vacant, and we parked at the extreme edge of the area as far from the road as possible. A little after sunset I heard a noise outside, but decided to ignore it as it didn't bother the dog, but a few minutes later there is a knock on the door. I was totally surprised, and glad the dog was acting like he was a trained attack dog. They guy asked for water, we gave it to him and he left... the whole time the dog barking and me holding him back.
I've never felt good about the scenario, and wonder what might have been if our 100lb dog hadn't been ready to attack.
The last accident I (well... my vehicle) was involved in was in a US National Forest campground. We were enjoying a nice campfire with friends when BANG! Someone not paying attention backed into my Jeep... $800 damage!
We've never felt threatened in a public campground of any type. We have felt threatened boondocking twice, once when what sounded like drunken partiers not far away (we didn't see 'em at all) started unloading their weapons the noisy way... we packed up and left!
The second time was boondocking near Quartzsite, AZ in late Spring. Most of the 14 day areas were already mostly vacant, and we parked at the extreme edge of the area as far from the road as possible. A little after sunset I heard a noise outside, but decided to ignore it as it didn't bother the dog, but a few minutes later there is a knock on the door. I was totally surprised, and glad the dog was acting like he was a trained attack dog. They guy asked for water, we gave it to him and he left... the whole time the dog barking and me holding him back.
I've never felt good about the scenario, and wonder what might have been if our 100lb dog hadn't been ready to attack.
