Paying for public campgrounds

cash

Check...because I put a $20 bill in one once and never did give me any change back:)

Seriously check... cuz we've seen kids trying to fish money out with coat hangers. And easier to reconstruct your travels at a later date.

We always pay by check in an unattended iron ranger. Case in point, two years ago we camped at Wilderness Gateway along the Lochsa River in north central Idaho. A friend was a CG host at a nearby CG and let me know, after telling her that our check, written 6 months back, had not cleared. She said theives came through and busted into the iron ranger, ripping open all the envelopes and taking only the cash, leaving checks all torn up. Sadly that was a free night for us and at such a nice campground. I would gladly pay for that night if we ever went up that way and met with the ranger. FS has a small budget to keep their CGs nice.

We pay by check as we don't usually carry cash.

We always have written a check. There are usually instructions on to whom it should be payable.
This has two advantages.
I does not deplete our supply of cash
And
If the box (or iron ranger) gets broken into (as happened once), the check is of no value to these cretins.

Matt

Paying the iron ranger is the only thing I still use checks for. Not for any purpose, other than the amounts seldom total up to a convenient cash amount.

Some may think, ah by paying check, if the ranger/manager claims to have not received payment I can void that check and write another one. Well, at least my bank charges quite a sum to void a check, and it's a process. Lost money either way.