Federal Park Camping and Looming Government Shutdown

[melhow]

The family (10 of us with four sites total) and I have our annual 12-day trip planned for Elkmont in the Smokies beginning October 2. I am sweating the very real possibility of a government shutdown effective Oct. 1.

From what I've read, the park would close all access except for pass-thru driving allowed on 441 between Tennessee and North Carolina, no stopping allowed.

I'm trying to come up with a good plan-B, but I'm hesitant to reserve other sites, mainly because I am unfamiliar with RV'ing in parks in the area outside of the Smokies. I also don't want to drop a bunch more cash on second reservations just to be hit with a cancellation fee if nothing happens with the shutdown.

What's your thoughts on the issue (the effect of the shutdown and alternate plan-making, NOT the politics behind what caused the shutdown)? Anyone else's plans going to be affected?

*Edited to hopefully not start a politics thread

[garmp]

Does anyone know is this shut-down affects the Military Famcamps?

[Wavesprite]

Quartermoon, they cancelled your reservation for 8 days from now and are returning your money?

[Quartermoon]

Quartermoon wrote:
There is hope - we have reservations at Double Lake National Recreation Area (full hook up camping) Oct 11th. They said it's business as usual since they are mostly run by a private contractor. They just won't have any Forest Service personnel on-site. All campers, day visitors, mountain bikers and hikers are unaffected. So it is a good idea to check before you assume anything.

Spoke too soon - Double Lake (the one in Texas) was told to close the gates. Refunds for upcoming reservations on the way.

The government shut down has finally affected me. Now I'm pissed ....

[LenSatic]

RVUSA wrote:

LenSatic wrote:

RVUSA wrote:
I know it's a tad early but what about the BLM land out by Quartzsite? I wonder if they will block that off?

It's a bit tough to cordon off 17% of the state. (That's the total BLM managed area in AZ. NFS is another 15%.) Even harder to enforce when you've been sent home because of the "shutdown". 😉

LS

Thats true, but the one short term area at Qz. had a gate if I remember right. I was thinking about the ones right there at Q.

They can lock the gate and dump and turn off the water, but there are other options. We camp about 20 miles from Q. 🙂

LS

[RVUSA]

LenSatic wrote:

RVUSA wrote:
I know it's a tad early but what about the BLM land out by Quartzsite? I wonder if they will block that off?

It's a bit tough to cordon off 17% of the state. (That's the total BLM managed area in AZ. NFS is another 15%.) Even harder to enforce when you've been sent home because of the "shutdown". 😉

LS

Thats true, but the one short term area at Qz. had a gate if I remember right. I was thinking about the ones right there at Q.

[monkey44]

Is anyone in Death Valley? Can anyone explain what's happening in that park?

We're on our way - heading down H-395 at present.

That seems a very tough place to shut down, as the state highways run thru it, and camping is allowed anywhere in the park -

SO, even shutting down the campgrounds (and there are private CGs as well) will stop no one from camping if we want to pull off and camp.

[LenSatic]

RVUSA wrote:
I know it's a tad early but what about the BLM land out by Quartzsite? I wonder if they will block that off?

It's a bit tough to cordon off 17% of the state. (That's the total BLM managed area in AZ. NFS is another 15%.) Even harder to enforce when you've been sent home because of the "shutdown". 😉

LS

[dpkimmel2001]

I've got reservations for later in the month in the Martinvsille Va area. My destination appears to be shut down at the moment. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything gets back to normal soon.

[amandasgramma]

RVUSA wrote:

WishWeWereCamping wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:

n7bsn wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:
If you're talking about in Arizona.....yeah, we will. They have 1.2 million acres and 55 employees working. I'll be glad to pay when they come around to collect or open their offices. 🙂 🙂

You are a baddd.... woman 😉

Will you bail us out???????

Maybe you could pretend that you're senile, if you are nice they might let you go. Hide your computer and your smart phone, if you have one.

What if she forgets where she hid them? :B

My husband thinks there's no "pretending" to be senile to it.. LOL LOL

[the_happiestcam]

melhow wrote:
and upon returning to the park was questioned by park services, rightly so, at the gate regarding getting back to camp. He only had his parking tag to prove he was camping, which sufficed, but he was advised he'd need more proof if he needed to exit and re-enter prior to the deadline to be out

Why would they need more proof? When there is no shutdown, they never require anything more than a hang tag. I usually leave any receipts in the camper.

[RVUSA]

wbwood wrote:

melhow wrote:
Morning all - as a follow up to this thread, my husband went up early and is now being evicted from Elkmont. The rangers indicated the campers have to leave in a timely fashion, which translates to 48 hours from 12:01 Am this morning. The rangers also indicated that all three campgrounds in the Smokies that have not already been closed due to sequester (Elkmont, Cades Cove and Smokemont) are booked full this weekend, which translates to 501 campsites being emptied and spilled into the surrounding area, which is also booked full due to this being high season.

So, long story short - If you were planning a trip to the area for the next two weeks and don't already have alternate plans, I'd probably just cancel. Everything I heard on the news indicates the shutdown will last, at the minimum, one week, but more than likely will extend until the 17th.

This will be devastating to the area. What a shame.

We had reservations for Cades Cove for this coming weekend. In light of the possible shutdown, I made reservations on Sunday for a cabin in the Wears Valley area instead. I was going to cancel my reservation at Cades Cove on monday, but decided to wait until Tuesday (10-1-13) to see if the shutdown happened. I was going to try and save my $10 cancellation fee. I called Recreation.gov this morning and they told me they are handling it on a day by day basis. They said the shutdown could end the next day.I explained to the lady that my reservations were for 3 days away. They would not offer a full refund. Kind of crappy if you ask me. They want you to wait it out. But if I do and cancel on Thursday, then I loose a days fee. I hung up and went on their website and canceled. Then later, their site went down. Guess I got in there in the knick of time. Lost $10 on it. Oh well.

i wonder if you could get a rain check.

[RVUSA]

WishWeWereCamping wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:

n7bsn wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:
If you're talking about in Arizona.....yeah, we will. They have 1.2 million acres and 55 employees working. I'll be glad to pay when they come around to collect or open their offices. 🙂 🙂

You are a baddd.... woman 😉

Will you bail us out???????

Maybe you could pretend that you're senile, if you are nice they might let you go. Hide your computer and your smart phone, if you have one.

What if she forgets where she hid them? :B

[wbwood]

melhow wrote:
Morning all - as a follow up to this thread, my husband went up early and is now being evicted from Elkmont. The rangers indicated the campers have to leave in a timely fashion, which translates to 48 hours from 12:01 Am this morning. The rangers also indicated that all three campgrounds in the Smokies that have not already been closed due to sequester (Elkmont, Cades Cove and Smokemont) are booked full this weekend, which translates to 501 campsites being emptied and spilled into the surrounding area, which is also booked full due to this being high season.

So, long story short - If you were planning a trip to the area for the next two weeks and don't already have alternate plans, I'd probably just cancel. Everything I heard on the news indicates the shutdown will last, at the minimum, one week, but more than likely will extend until the 17th.

This will be devastating to the area. What a shame.

We had reservations for Cades Cove for this coming weekend. In light of the possible shutdown, I made reservations on Sunday for a cabin in the Wears Valley area instead. I was going to cancel my reservation at Cades Cove on monday, but decided to wait until Tuesday (10-1-13) to see if the shutdown happened. I was going to try and save my $10 cancellation fee. I called Recreation.gov this morning and they told me they are handling it on a day by day basis. They said the shutdown could end the next day.I explained to the lady that my reservations were for 3 days away. They would not offer a full refund. Kind of crappy if you ask me. They want you to wait it out. But if I do and cancel on Thursday, then I loose a days fee. I hung up and went on their website and canceled. Then later, their site went down. Guess I got in there in the knick of time. Lost $10 on it. Oh well.

[WishWeWereCampi]

amandasgramma wrote:

n7bsn wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:
If you're talking about in Arizona.....yeah, we will. They have 1.2 million acres and 55 employees working. I'll be glad to pay when they come around to collect or open their offices. 🙂 🙂

You are a baddd.... woman 😉

Will you bail us out???????

Maybe you could pretend that you're senile, if you are nice they might let you go. Hide your computer and your smart phone, if you have one.

[amandasgramma]

n7bsn wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:
If you're talking about in Arizona.....yeah, we will. They have 1.2 million acres and 55 employees working. I'll be glad to pay when they come around to collect or open their offices. 🙂 🙂

You are a baddd.... woman 😉

Will you bail us out???????