Second Vehicle Fees?

In the case of any of the beach CG's they are one in the same. I wait for them, they'll be waiting for me.

SCVJeff wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

GramaofAAAA wrote:
I camp hosted summer's of 14&15 in the Mt Hood National Forest. We never charged for the toad. Our handbook stated "if it was towed into the park" no charge.

X2

If towed into the park you shouldn't be charged, if driven in you could be.

Thats what I've seen

What I find annoying is MH drivers that drop the towed once to the camp sight! Typlicly one lane one way road tied up for 5 to 10'minutes! :S

What is so hard about dropping earlier where the road wider and others can easly passed. :h

As mentioned, often, if it's not TOWED into the CG, it's charged as a separate vehicle. In the case of many of the California beach CG's there simply is no place to unhook anywhere else.

What's the difference between a 2 min unhook of a car as opposed to unhooking a TT, 5W, or anything else towed in needing to get set up? That is often 15 mins+ before the tow vehicle can be moved. Having said that anyone requiring "5-10 mins" to unhook a toad needs to pick up the pace... Allot. It just ain't that hard.

Well the toad disconnect typically takes place in the middle of the single lane oneway road, while the trailer disconnect happens in the camp site.

rhagfo wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

GramaofAAAA wrote:
I camp hosted summer's of 14&15 in the Mt Hood National Forest. We never charged for the toad. Our handbook stated "if it was towed into the park" no charge.

X2

If towed into the park you shouldn't be charged, if driven in you could be.

Thats what I've seen

What I find annoying is MH drivers that drop the towed once to the camp sight! Typlicly one lane one way road tied up for 5 to 10'minutes! :S

What is so hard about dropping earlier where the road wider and others can easly passed. :h

As mentioned, often, if it's not TOWED into the CG, it's charged as a separate vehicle. In the case of many of the California beach CG's there simply is no place to unhook anywhere else.

What's the difference between a 2 min unhook of a car as opposed to unhooking a TT, 5W, or anything else towed in needing to get set up? That is often 15 mins+ before the tow vehicle can be moved. Having said that anyone requiring "5-10 mins" to unhook a toad needs to pick up the pace... Allot. It just ain't that hard.

It doesn't matter what any of us think, each CG has their rules. Either go there or somewhere else

Many parks will charge double if you have disconnected the towed vehicle from the motorhome and then both drive in. That's considered two separate vehicles. If you leave them connected they'll only charge for one vehicle.

As far as driving in the camping unit - truck & trailer or motorhome and car and then also driving in a separate vehicle for siteseeing, then it's perfectly logical to charge for the extra vehicle. I see no problem with it.

As stated earlier, when folks try to cram multiple units on a campsite it gets out of hand. It affects your neighbor's views and space and also puts vehicles hanging out in the road or parked on the precious grass. That's another reason some parks require you to park only on the parking pad in order to avoid all these issues.

accsys wrote:

Need-A-Vacation wrote:

accsys wrote:
MI State Parks charge for the MH and the toad, even though the MH obviously is just a camping unit and will not be driven in and out since you have a toad for that. I have quit visiting MI state parks. It's much less expensive for a FHU private park. If you are a resident and use the parks enough to warrant an annual pass, it wouldn't be so bad but for a visitor to the state it is definitely not tourist friendly. JMHO!!!

Is there a permit or vehicle pass to get into Fl state parks? Not sure about your state, or others, but in Mi that vehicle permit helps fund our state parks. As mentioned, that is what the charge is for.

If you are staying in the campground in a Florida State Park, there are no daily user fees or vehicle fees. You also get at least water and electricity (30 or 50 amp) at each site (unless it is a tent site) and many have FHU sites all for less than MI charges (without the vehicle fees) for a campsite that may have electricity. I cannot see why anyone would stay in a MI state park. They are nice but not any nicer than many others we have stayed in in other states with much more reasonable fees.

Maybe they stay there because Michigan is much nicer in July than hot, sticky, bug infested, hurricane can hit any moment Florida. Vehicles fees or not, I am pretty confident that the powers to be in the Michigan State Park system aren't going to lose any sleep over the fact you think Florida's parks are superior to theirs.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Our policy is one RV and one personal vehicle per site. Motorcycles are OK(reasonable number, determined by management) unless there is a motorcycle trailer AND a personal auto. It isn't about the revenue, it's about discouraging people from bring a fleet of cars and clogging up the roads.

travelnutz wrote:
As usual, the few spoil it for the many in life, living, and recreation. Michigan has over 100 state parks with CG's not even including the huge number of state park/DNR recreational vast areas with primitive camping allowed. Most are on the water and/or have miles of trails for pedal bikes, or motorcycles, or even dune buggies/quads. The state parks are very popular and have high occupancy numbers. After years of having state park users come in with 6-10+ in a motorized tow vehicle, van, converted bus, etc with a towed trailer having 2-6 off road and/or road legal motorized vehicles (motorcycles etc) and/or 2-4 vehicles while only paying for one site fee/day, something had to be done as the site crowding and tremendous noise got out of control. Some came with a CC truck or van etc with 3-6 tents and the motorcycles in the truck's bed and 1-3 other pickups with 2 motorcycles in the bed and all stayed on the one paid site. What a mess!

I agree with both of these comments. Many of our NF campsites have parking spurs that are 20-24ft long and only 10ft wide. It's amazing how a group can try to cram 6 vehicles into that space - of course, it ends up with vehicles sticking out into the road, half off the spur, or even worse, parking in other people's campsites because "well, you have extra room on your spur, so what's the problem".

Need-A-Vacation wrote:

accsys wrote:
MI State Parks charge for the MH and the toad, even though the MH obviously is just a camping unit and will not be driven in and out since you have a toad for that. I have quit visiting MI state parks. It's much less expensive for a FHU private park. If you are a resident and use the parks enough to warrant an annual pass, it wouldn't be so bad but for a visitor to the state it is definitely not tourist friendly. JMHO!!!

Is there a permit or vehicle pass to get into Fl state parks? Not sure about your state, or others, but in Mi that vehicle permit helps fund our state parks. As mentioned, that is what the charge is for.

If you are staying in the campground in a Florida State Park, there are no daily user fees or vehicle fees. You also get at least water and electricity (30 or 50 amp) at each site (unless it is a tent site) and many have FHU sites all for less than MI charges (without the vehicle fees) for a campsite that may have electricity. I cannot see why anyone would stay in a MI state park. They are nice but not any nicer than many others we have stayed in in other states with much more reasonable fees.

Jim & Betty wrote:
Never had to pay extra vehicle fees when towing my Jeep.

JimR

we have. haven't been to one in a few years but Michigan state parks used to charge a daily entrance fee for our MH and Jeep. on one 1-night stay we managed to convince them to waive the fee for the Jeep but we had to promise not to unhook it from the towbar. when I pointed out that we had to unhook in order to back in they made us promise not to leave the CG with the Jeep. that's been the only instance where we ran across a 'toad fee'.

Why are all motorized vehicles entering a Michigan State Park CG required to have an entry permit?

As usual, the few spoil it for the many in life, living, and recreation. Michigan has over 100 state parks with CG's not even including the huge number of state park/DNR recreational vast areas with primitive camping allowed. Most are on the water and/or have miles of trails for pedal bikes, or motorcycles, or even dune buggies/quads. The state parks are very popular and have high occupancy numbers. After years of having state park users come in with 6-10+ in a motorized tow vehicle, van, converted bus, etc with a towed trailer having 2-6 off road and/or road legal motorized vehicles (motorcycles etc) and/or 2-4 vehicles while only paying for one site fee/day, something had to be done as the site crowding and tremendous noise got out of control. Some came with a CC truck or van etc with 3-6 tents and the motorcycles in the truck's bed and 1-3 other pickups with 2 motorcycles in the bed and all stayed on the one paid site. What a mess!

Therefore, the rules were very smartly changed to require each and every motorized vehicle entering a state park or CG to have a valid motorized vehicle entry permit. Problem solved! The new rules work and work extremely well for all CG users now. Of course, the innocent got additional charges due to no fault of their own like is the norm! It's your peers who are to blame for rule changes to fix problematic issues, not the a state park or national park, or city/county park etc. Some people are just plain cheap and won't pay their own way so enforced rules and mandated fees keep them out and that's the way it is! Excuses don't cut it and most do not care as the state parks have increased in usage now and deficit operation has turned to 100% self-funded and a very healthy financial condition.

Michigan State Parks are very well maintained and staffed and are very healthy financially too now. You can buy a resident entry pass to any and all anytime for a whopping $11/year per vehicle or a non-resident entry pass with the same privilege's for $29/for the year. Or, you can buy a daily pass for $9. You decide which is in your best value (bang for the buck) interest! Sometimes, you do what has to be done for the best outcome:

Michigan State Park Camping Rules today: copied and pasted

•Check-in with staff at campground office or follow posted registration instructions.
•Complete registration and occupy campsite for a portion of every day. A member of the camping party is expected to stay overnight on site in order to meet the occupancy requirement.
•Campers must have a motor vehicle permit for entrance into any state park or recreation area.
•Camp only in designated site.
•Only one tent and one trailer are allowed per campsite.
•No more than six individuals are allowed per campsite.
•Build campfires in designated fire ring only.
•Horses allowed in designated campgrounds only.
•Dogs are allowed on a leash no more than six feet long, they must be attended at all times, and are not permitted on swimming beaches.
•Fireworks are not permitted.
•Discharge of firearms, air guns, slingshots, or arrows are not permitted in campground boundaries.
•Radios, generators, or other amplified devices may not be used in a manner that creates excessive noise.
•Camping permits begin at check-in time of 3 p.m. on the first day of camping.
•Checkout time is 1:00 p.m.
•Camp for up to 15 consecutive nights in any separately administered campground. Combined multiple reservations that exceed 15 nights could result in a mandatory reduction of the combined stay so as not to exceed the 15-night limit.
•No more than 2 vehicles in addition to the primary camping shelter.
•A responsible person 18 years of age or older must register for a site.