Colorado State Parks

[Wildcants]

Fruita State Park in Grand Junction, C0. We have had nothing but problems here. The employees are rude and ugly. Out of the 7 Colorada State Parks we have stayed in (the last 3 months), they have changed their mind about permits, where to attached permits and what tags go on what vehicle.

We have been told sites where not open and then go on line and reserve a space.

I would not recommend dealing with Colorado State Parks unless you just stay 'Yes, how much more money do you need now. How many stickers can I glue on to my property.

[Busskipper]

Fruita, lets look at the CG and the info available;

Fee's

Web Site


Map

Video -- Sure looks Good

Reviews

One more review

If the staff was rude then they should be reported, but it sure looks like a nice spot to me.

JMHO,

[RedRocket204]

Wildcants wrote:
This is the OP..out of the 7 co state parks we have stayed....Fruita personnel is where we are having all this harassement problems. Mostly with a person named Shannon...good thing I don't carry anymore.

Wildcants wrote:
Our problems, here at Fruita State Park in Grand Junction, Co., has nothing to to with bears and everything to due with this Shannon person and her bosses, Pete Furman and Aaron Fero.

Also,we do not have Colorado license tags. According to one man in this park (local)"the lady at the window just gave him his Colorado state park pass" because she felt he had paid enough. Seems if you have Colorado tags you get free stuff. We purchased a pass and only will us it for 2 months, locals can use their pass (easier) for the full year. Now who is paying for these parks.

Colorado people are nice, only, if you are standing their with your wallet open.

Wish I was not feeling this way.

You are classic. Generalizations and no specifics of what happened always reminds me there are two sides to the story. If these 3 people are not treating you nice, makes me highly suspicious of your actions. You are probably getting the treatment back that you initially cast out yourself. If this thread is any indication, especially the "good thing I don't carry anymore" I'd be willing to bet you get way out of line with your mouth.

And for your generalizations of people in CO...please pack up and never return. I'm sure all of us Coloradans feel that way :R

[Mr_Beebo]

I too was willing to go along with the OP and hold out for details until the "Glad I don't carry" comment. I also own firearms, and you lose your credibility when you start making irresponsible statements like that.

[patperry2766]

You still have not provided specific information about what problems you encountered, but just spewing names and "open wallet" comments without providing details.

[OH48Lt]

We had a great experience at 2 CO state parks while camping there last year. YMMV. The 2-pass system can be improved upon, but it works and the policy seems clear.

I don't have any problem with out-of-staters paying a bit more for their use of the parks. I'm sure a portion of state parks budget is paid by taxpayers in that state through the collection of other taxes, like income tax, sales tax, etc.

What I object to GREATLY is the OP's statement "good thing I don't carry anymore". I am a big pro-gun advocate, but that statement is reckless and casts a bad light on the 99.999% of law-abiding citizens who carry.

[Wildcants]

Our problems, here at Fruita State Park in Grand Junction, Co., has nothing to to with bears and everything to due with this Shannon person and her bosses, Pete Furman and Aaron Fero.

Also,we do not have Colorado license tags. According to one man in this park (local)"the lady at the window just gave him his Colorado state park pass" because she felt he had paid enough. Seems if you have Colorado tags you get free stuff. We purchased a pass and only will us it for 2 months, locals can use their pass (easier) for the full year. Now who is paying for these parks.

Colorado people are nice, only, if you are standing their with your wallet open.

Wish I was not feeling this way.

[patperry2766]

RedRocket204 wrote:

patperry2766 wrote:
I do have to agree with the OP to a certain point about the inconsistencies between parks. Mueller SP were sticklers about all food and ice chests being inside a locked vehicle at night since we were in a pop-up whereas Ridgway SP said it was Ok to leave the inside the camper.

That can be as simple as wildlife problems at the one site that the local rangers are trying to control. I personally do not see that as
an inconsistency between the two locations.

Both campgrounds are in bear country according to the park rangers, and that was the reason given at both parks. Outside of this minor inconsistency, they were both awesome parks and I have nothing but high praise for both of them.

The people at Ridgway were great about moving sites for us because we were staying in Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground by the river, site #267 to be exact and the mosquitoes were unbearable to the point of not being able to go outside without being swarmed. For some reason, my wife and son are quite tasty to them. They called the central reservation office, and got us moved to Dakota Terrace, and even refunded us the difference between the two parks.

For those that are unaware: According to the Park Ranger at Mueller, there is a two strike policy against bears in the campground. First time, the bear is tagged and relocated. If the same bear is seen again in a campground, it is euthanized. We didn't want to be responsible for any of our actions to lead to the death of a bear, so we obligated their requests.

[Wildcants]

This is the OP..out of the 7 co state parks we have stayed....Fruita personnel is where we are having all this harassement problems. Mostly with a person named Shannon...good thing I don't carry anymore.

[Wildcants]

Thank you tsetsaf...if you look at IDman's past posts you will see that is a complainer. Guess his complaints are important and mind are trivial......

[Thom02099]

Wildcants wrote:
Fruita State Park in Grand Junction, C0. We have had nothing but problems here. We have had nothing but problems here. The employees are rude and ugly. Out of the 7 Colorada State Parks we have stayed in (the last 3 months), they have changed their mind about permits, where to attached permits and what tags go on what vehicle.

We have been told sites where not open and then go on line and reserve a space.

I would not recommend dealing with Colorado State Parks unless you just stay 'Yes, how much more money do you need now. How many stickers can I glue on to my property.

Could the OP elaborate a bit more, than "we had nothing but problems"? What sort of problems, aside from perhaps not understanding the Colorado permit system(s). Problems with the site? Problems with the utilities? Problems with the restrooms? Problems getting around the park? More details than just an open ended rant would probably elicit more favourable responses.

Having camped at various Colorado State Parks for the better part of 35 years, I can honestly say I've never encountered any problems that would cause me to give an unfavourable review of a park. Yes, there can be quirks about each park, and that's applicable to private ones as well as USFS/BLM/COE, whatever parks. Rules can vary from park to park to a degree; one park may be in bear country and as such, they can be sticklers for not leaving food out, versus a park that's not in bear country and so is a bit relaxed in that particular rule.

To condemn an entire park system, without some more factual information, is unfair to the park system and to potential users. If it's so bad, tell us why!

[tsetsaf]

IDman wrote:
You are not very articulate in your comments, but your complaints seem rather trivial to me. I would like to hear what REALLY happened to make you upset!

Nothing like a great example of the quality responses only found at rv.net. Can we bookmark this response as an example during the near weekly complaint threads about the reduction in civility on this forum?

I too had issues with poor customer service at a CO SP. Op is entitled to his opinion.

[RedRocket204]

patperry2766 wrote:
I do have to agree with the OP to a certain point about the inconsistencies between parks. Mueller SP were sticklers about all food and ice chests being inside a locked vehicle at night since we were in a pop-up whereas Ridgway SP said it was Ok to leave the inside the camper.

That can be as simple as wildlife problems at the one site that the local rangers are trying to control. I personally do not see that as an inconsistency between the two locations.

[patperry2766]

I do have to agree with the OP to a certain point about the inconsistencies between parks. Mueller SP were sticklers about all food and ice chests being inside a locked vehicle at night since we were in a pop-up whereas Ridgway SP said it was Ok to leave the inside the camper.

Other than that, we had a wonderful time and the people at Ridgway were great about getting us moved to another site when we were having issues with the mosquitoes by the creek.

[Busskipper]

Wildcants wrote:
Fruita State Park in Grand Junction, C0. We have had nothing but problems here. The employees are rude and ugly. Out of the 7 Colorada State Parks we have stayed in (the last 3 months), they have changed their mind about permits, where to attached permits and what tags go on what vehicle.

We have been told sites where not open and then go on line and reserve a space.

I would not recommend dealing with Colorado State Parks unless you just stay 'Yes, how much more money do you need now. How many stickers can I glue on to my property.

IMHO, your experience is the EXCEPTION! We have never had an issue and have enjoyed many of the Great State Parks in Colorado, I always recommend them and have never heard a complaint.

JMHO,