Virginia State Parks and dogs

The VA State Parks we visit are always full. We were at one last weekend and I think there were 2 open sites. They were calling for rain on Sunday and with the liberal cancellation policy you can call up until 4pm on Friday to either change dates or cancel entirely. People do camp based on weather especially if they are in a tent and probably utilize this liberal policy to their advantage before heading out.

Va has had the pet fee for many years. If the parks were fuller before, it was because the economy was better.

Oaklevel wrote:

dahkota wrote:
From the replies here, it seems the fee is working; some people with dogs are no longer going to the state parks.

We camp a lot in MD, VA, and PA. MD and PA do not charge an extra fee for dogs but limit the sites by location where one is permitted with dogs. This causes a problem for us as often, all pet sites are taken, often by non-pet owners. This is not a problem in VA. An extreme example is Assateague State Park which, until this year, had exactly six pet sites out of a total of 350 sites. One had to book almost a year in advance to get one.

No the fee is not working being overpriced I stopped by our local State Park this afternoon talked to a Ranger & camping is down since the fees......plenty of open sites, before the fees they were full these late April early May weekends & plenty of room for Mothers Day weekend....unless they have a last minute rush ..... I'm sure some of the other parks are different....... (The other part of it is there are Corp Parks & private campgrounds very near by & cheaper)

There are not many if any totally full CG's this time of year in this area.
Check the capacity during peak season if you really want to see if there are vacancies. I can pick up the phone and go anywhere I want this time of year.

Just pulled up Fancy Gap KOA (which are known to be overpriced). Without the 10% KOA discount, their prices for FHU, cable and wifi range from $35.95 - $45.00 (has a fenced in pet yard included). And this place is right off the BRP...has many more ammenities than what most state parks will have.

Even at Topsail in Destin Florida and paying $42/night for FHU and cable tv (and a paved pad) is a better deal. And no extra charge for dogs.

dahkota wrote:
From the replies here, it seems the fee is working; some people with dogs are no longer going to the state parks.

We camp a lot in MD, VA, and PA. MD and PA do not charge an extra fee for dogs but limit the sites by location where one is permitted with dogs. This causes a problem for us as often, all pet sites are taken, often by non-pet owners. This is not a problem in VA. An extreme example is Assateague State Park which, until this year, had exactly six pet sites out of a total of 350 sites. One had to book almost a year in advance to get one.

No the fee is not working being overpriced I stopped by our local State Park this afternoon talked to a Ranger & camping is down since the fees......plenty of open sites, before the fees they were full these late April early May weekends & plenty of room for Mothers Day weekend....unless they have a last minute rush ..... I'm sure some of the other parks are different....... (The other part of it is there are Corp Parks & private campgrounds very near by & cheaper)

fishing licenses in VA are also overpriced. If you fish only gaston and Kerr in VA (or other boundary waters) a VA license costs $36 for a resident. you can buy a NC non-resident for $30 and fish those two lakes using that.
Non residents cost jumped from $36 to $47. there was a proposal a few years back to raise that cost to $85, but saner heads prevailed.
bumpy

From the replies here, it seems the fee is working; some people with dogs are no longer going to the state parks.

We camp a lot in MD, VA, and PA. MD and PA do not charge an extra fee for dogs but limit the sites by location where one is permitted with dogs. This causes a problem for us as often, all pet sites are taken, often by non-pet owners. This is not a problem in VA. An extreme example is Assateague State Park which, until this year, had exactly six pet sites out of a total of 350 sites. One had to book almost a year in advance to get one.

Lantley wrote:

jnharley wrote:
Virginia State Parks are pretty expensive, more than you can pay for a private campground. However, they are very nice. Lived in Virginia for 20 years and still stop into one of our favorites, Pocahontas State Park, when we are in the area. The previous post stated that the number one complaint was barking dogs, not piles of poop. A constantly barking dog can ruin a camping outing.

Even a barking dog requires more effort,from the CG staff.
From barking to piles,to enforcing leash rules. Having dogs requires more effort.
All these dog issue could be eliminated by simply banning dogs altogether. I'm sure there are many camper that would be more than happy is pets were banned.
I'll take the fee as a compromise and gladly pay if it allows my dog to to camp with me.

But many campers themselves are worse than dogs. Especially some of the kids. Not all kids misbehave badly as neither do all dog owners or dogs. Deal with them all independently.

You are right, they are pretty expensive compared to other state parks. By the time you pay the camping fee, registration fee and perhaps a dog fee, you are pushing $35-40 for a night for just W/E. $30 for no hook ups.

If the prices were based on 2 occupants and then there was a charge for $5 for each additional occupant (human), then more people would be concerned about it.

And yes I have a kid and a dog.

Cecilt wrote:
VA state parks need money like any other state. I would rather they charge for a dog than raise rates for non dog owners

I would find it more fair if they charge per occupant (human/non human). I 'm ussually more offended by people with several kids on a site than I am with someone that has a dog.

I would say their staff spend more time cleaning up after the humans in the restrooms than they do picking up dog poop.

Our close by Virginia State Park is run down, out dated the bathhouse is a wreck, and the sites are very small...... but they can put hundred of thousands of dollars into a horse riding, & trailer parking area & stalls...... For us a state park can be over $40 per night with the dogs our local campground is $30 per night $17 during the week if you have passport america............

We are not part of the 100% that does not take care of their dogs..........

VA State Parks is $5 per dog per night what ever their meaning of max? $15 per dog or per stay??? Just a revenue maker

Why do I want to pay up to $40 extra for a weekend to stay in a State Park when I can in the same area go to a campground full hookups, huge sites, cleaner, no extra fees for much less.

The only way they will drop the fees is to quit going to them......... we quit!!