Camping on Holidays??

[reubenray]

What is the draw for so many campers during the Holidays?

We thought about doing this the week of Thanksgiving to get out of the house. But the state parks are full. Being we never had any kids I am imagining an invasion of kids at these parks. I don't think I have ever seen a totally full campground. Being we don't have kids we usually avoid the campgrounds that cater to them.

[Bears_Den]

We have two holidays that we spend at home with family and friends, Thanksgiving and Christmas. All the others are camping holidays or some other form of travel. Our two boys are grown but we still enjoy camping with kids in the area. We were at FW on one occasion and a little boy rode up and asked us we had any kids, DW and I just chuckled and on another occasion we watched a little boy riding his bike, get off of it and drop his shorts to take a pee right in the middle of the road.. You can't help but enjoy being around them they always bring a smile to our faces.

[RGar974417]

We did alot of weekend and holiday camping when the kids were young.Now that they are gone,we avoid weekends.Our camping usually goes from a Sunday to a Wednesday or Thursday and avoid the crowds,the kids,the drunks,the noise and everything you find camping on weekends and holidays.

[JamesBr]

Like any destination away from home, holiday weekends are exended breaks from work for adults and school for kids. Kids or not in the family, its a good time to take advanatage of a trip away from the normal schedule at home and relax a bit.

So I fully expect any holiday weekend either camping or going to any other recreational destination to find holiday weekends busier then others.

[wannavolunteerF]

We have camped as a family - 3 generations- for a number of Thanksgivings. either in state park or on private land... tend towards state park as no water on private land. Not sure what we will do this year.

We have also camped a number of Easters. If missing church is a concern, for Easter, it is usually pretty easy to find somewhere nearby that is having Sunrise Service.. and when camping in a state park it is easy to find somewhere that you can have your own private time to reflect on the glories of our world.

[modern_family]

I am on the other side of this. Our kids are younger (10 and 7). This will be our 2nd year out of the house for Thanksgiving (after hosting some family and friends for almost 14 years) Last was a huge success and the kids could not have been happier being out of the house, than just waiting around to eat and be bored like any other week-end (no cousins or family close by to play with)

Everyone at the campground was great! Yes, it was full, but full with mostly locals that had alot of traditions after going every year and invited us to everything! Being in tampa, we dont get to enjoy the cooler weather, so an opportunity to go just a little more north during the "winter" is a plus. This year we are not going too far north (Jacksonville) but, still more fun than being in the house, IMO. (and maybe 5-7 degrees cooler!)

Not being retired, holidays are our only time we camp, we only know "crowded" campgrounds, but everyone their is enjoying their holiday week-end, like a small town celebration.

[Krease]

We are actually traveling out of state to spend Thanksgiving with family. Instead of being cramped up and staying in their house, we are staying at a local state park. I love family, but I like to have my own space too.

The weekend before Christmas we're staying at James Island county park for their festival of lights. That campground is usually booked up 6months or more in advance around the holidays, for likely I suspect the same reasons.

[love2rvcamp]

We camp at Thanksgiving up in North GA mountains at Riverbend RV park. It is a great time for all as the campground does a family style Thanksgiving dinner. They provide the meats and everyone in the campgrounds brings sides and desserts. My entire family camps up there and there are several regulars that come every year. The last time there was about 140 people. Fun memories for the kids.

Christmas we alternate at home and up in Pigeon Forge at Pine Mountain RV Park. My kids are older 19 and 15 and they still love to go at Christmas. We have a small tree and hang up the stockings and Santa even comes. They love the area, going to Dollywood, over to Gatlinburg and going tubing in the snow and coming back to the campground and going swimming. Also fun memories being made. They are actually bugging us to go this year and it was not the year to go. So more than likely PF here we come for Christmas.

We enjoy the time with the kids and family and you get a longer camping time since kids are out of school/college.

[washley1]

reubenray wrote:
I would have thought camping over the holidays it would be extra quiet, but apparently not.

I am glad you asked the question here, and got so many good answers. For someone like yourself that's new to this world, I guess we "old timers" can actually teach you a lot. That's the beauty of forums like this. And even though I have spent my whole life camping I still learn some mighty useful stuff by popping on here almost nightly! Welcome to the family!!

[reubenray]

I would have thought camping over the holidays it would be extra quiet, but apparently not.

[mosseater]

I am continually suprised at the number of people who refuse to camp over holidays. I have to admit, I was worried the first few times, but after camping on all the major summer holidays for five years (in State Parks, no less!) we have had exactly zero problems with sites or traffic or crowds. I had one issue with someone squatting on our site when we arrived late on Columbus Day two years ago because they did't check the reserve list on the kiosk board on the way in, but that was simple ignorance on their part and they kindly moved to another site so we could have ours, which was reserved for over 8 months. Maybe we've just been lucky so far.

[Bonefish]

Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years is our favorite time camping in TX. Lake Brownwood for Thanksgiving with our children to come. New Years either Davis Mts SP or South Llano. This year we will not be going camping for Thanksgiving & will really miss doing it. Davis Mts SP is closed for repairs, might try Big Bend after Christmas. Most of our counties have burn bans that keeps us in after the sun goes down. Other holidays we stay home.

Sharon

[Crowe]

Like others have said, for some of us it's the only time we can go. There are many that may live too far away from family to visit so to be with others they camp. And some have the families from he!! and want to avoid them at all costs, so they camp!

[Jim_Shoe]

I'm retired and can go any time. Unless I'm on an extended trip, I try to avoid them, both to miss the crowds, and leave a spot for some family that's still working. Its kind of tough to avoid them all since we now have a three day weekend nearly every month. April, June and August are the exceptions, but lots of working folks are on vacation anyway.

[knshook]

We started spending every other Christmas camped on the N. Ca. Coast as a way to tone down the Christmas hype ( my own 🙂 and to not force our married children to always have to choose between families.
Some of my fondest memories of Christmas involve sitting by a campfire,under the stars while listening to Silent Night just as it turns midnight. Magical!