Camping Altercations?

dewey02 wrote:

jdog wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:

jdog wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
When our kids were still at home my brother and I always took our families in the fall to the NF. We would camp and ride 4-wheelers for a week. We always stayed at the same spot at the end of a dead end road. We went up one morning and put up our tent and put the chairs around the camp fire ring then headed back for the travel trailers. My brother was first back because he lived closer. When he got there the tent and chairs were thrown out in the woods and three men and three trailer (from out of state) were set up in our spot. It got really ugly and they were threatening him. He told them they better sleep with one eye open. He was still mad the next day and went back with a couple of friends but they were gone. They had told him they were staying for a week but I guess they changed their mind. We always teased him about it, said you might be a redneck if you ever got in a fight over a camping spot.

Per the National forest service rules, you are required to occupy the site and not just leave something there to "reserve" the spot. What did you expect to happen?

That's nonsense. We had occupied the site by unloading our first load. You are saying you cannot leave camp. We setup camp (tent, chairs, firewood, tables)and went after the rest of our stuff. What about people that have camp setup and go out to hunt. Is it OK to throw their stuff out in the woods and move into their site.

Sorry, I was thinking of a Forest service camp site. Were you setting up a camp that was out in the woods like a deer camp and not a Forest service a camp site?

Boondocking on the NFs is allowed and common courtesy would dictate that if a site is taken, the second group should find another dead end road to camp on (there are lots of them). If at a campground, almost all require a fee. Once you've filled out the envelope and posted your tag, the site is yours. The rules are that you have to occupy the site that night with your person. This is to prevent someone coming on a Wednesday or Thursday and leaving a tent or trailer (even if they pay for those days), and then returning with their family for the weekend, when the campground may be full, effectively having guaranteed themselves a site. Since JnJnKatiebug did personally occupy the site that evening, he would have been ok even in a NF campground.
-Retired USFS recreation program manager