Hi all, we are visiting Grand Teton NP in early June and I had a question about the first-come first-served RV campgrounds within the park. If we manage to get a spot by waiting early in the morning, will we keep our spot even if we want to head out in our RV to check out other areas of the park during the day? Or will the rangers assume leaving the park means giving up your spot and assign it to someone else? I am not familiar with how it works.Thanks!

Would depend on the site. If it's a paid site just first come first serve the ranger\host should keep people off of evict people from your site if they move in while you're out.If it's just dispersed camping where your gear basically holds the site I would buy a $20 tent at Walmart or thrift store and set it up on the site.

maddog348 wrote:toedtoes ~ HAHAHAHAHA ~ Even had our ice chest taken out of 'bear box' now have lock system for that too.JM2¢ ~~ YMMVTheft of stuff is different than usurping a site. Ice chests are a popular theft item - I've known several people who have had that happen. But I don't KNOW anyone who had their campsite taken, and only saw it happen once in a campground where I was staying.

Did campsite squatters recently become en vogue or something? I can't say I've ever had or seen the issue, nor worried about the possibility. First come first serve is no different than reserved as I see it or anything else. If you paid for the site for a week, leave and return during the day and some idiot is on it, tell them to move. If they refuse then call the ranger, host, or management and they'll make them move. I've yet to see a Fed or State campground where there was not some method used to mark a site as occupied or reserved, such as a tag on a post.

BillyBob Jim wrote:Did campsite squatters recently become en vogue or something? I can't say I've ever had or seen the issue, nor worried about the possibility. First come first serve is no different than reserved as I see it or anything else. If you paid for the site for a week, leave and return during the day and some idiot is on it, tell them to move. If they refuse then call the ranger, host, or management and they'll make them move. I've yet to see a Fed or State campground where there was not some method used to mark a site as occupied or reserved, such as a tag on a post.No it happens. Most will honor chairs, and tables left on the site. But there are those that will push those to the side. It really is a problem in some places.

First-come first-served campsites: how to keep my spot?

bilmarde
Explorer
May 15, 2019
The first come first served campgrounds in the Tetons are the Colter Bay Campground and Gros Ventre campground. Both are very big and when I worked in the park a few years ago they hardly ever filled. There is also the Colter Bay RV park which is usually sold out months in advance. If you know your exact dates, call the RV park you never can tell when someone might cancel. We were in the Gros Ventre campground last year and they have a few electric only sights. It is closer to the south end of the Park and closer to Jackson. Not too much to do at Gros Ventre but at Colter Bay there are two restaurants, a grocery, laundromat and showers, and a marina where you can rent canoes or kayaks or book a spot on a cruise. Horseback rides are also available. Colter Bay also has a Park Service Visitor's Center.
pawatt
Explorer
May 14, 2019
Orange Cone with site occupied in black magic marker and my name.
maddog348
Explorer
May 14, 2019
toedtoes ~not taken ~~ destroyed and dumped. And you camp in Ca. Yosemite ~ Kings Cyn ~ Sequoia.
pipsi
Explorer
May 13, 2019
Thanks all, that is reassuring. Didn't want to come over all suspicious, it's our first time reserving campsites in a NP so I didn't know how it worked exactly.
toedtoes
Explorer III
May 13, 2019
maddog348 wrote:
toedtoes ~ HAHAHAHAHA ~ Even had our ice chest taken out of 'bear box' now have lock system for that too.

JM2¢ ~~ YMMV

Theft of stuff is different than usurping a site. Ice chests are a popular theft item - I've known several people who have had that happen. But I don't KNOW anyone who had their campsite taken, and only saw it happen once in a campground where I was staying.
- Kaycee7
  Explorer
  May 31, 2024
  Such a shame that thievery is such a common thread among campgrounds & sites. Its universal. Maybe because most of the occupants are tourists & not going to stick around or come back in order to prosecute, so it goes less reported?
  nothing grinds my gears like people thinking they are entitled to things someone else worked for!!!
toedtoes
Explorer III
May 13, 2019
goducks10 wrote:
toedtoes wrote:
Most campgrounds I visit (mostly federal) provide a tag to clip on the campsite post. That indicates the days you have the site reserved. Out here, I have not seen a problem with campsite usurping - people tend to.respect those tags.

Only problem with that is that some CG's have a policy that if the site is not taken by a certain time on the 2nd day of the reservation then the site become available. Leaving something in the site would help deter someone.

Sure. I've seen chairs, etc., left in the site, but in my experience, if there is a reserve sign, people don't take the site. In all my trips, I've only seen one campsite "usurped".
goducks10
Explorer
May 13, 2019
toedtoes wrote:
Most campgrounds I visit (mostly federal) provide a tag to clip on the campsite post. That indicates the days you have the site reserved. Out here, I have not seen a problem with campsite usurping - people tend to.respect those tags.

Only problem with that is that some CG's have a policy that if the site is not taken by a certain time on the 2nd day of the reservation then the site become available. Leaving something in the site would help deter someone.
- StirCrazy
  Moderator
  May 31, 2024
  we have them for fcfs sites up here, when you pay for the 3 or 4 days you clip the thing to the post that showes the date your leaving, not one can take that site untill that day as it is paid for. different than a noshow reservation. its the free, or next to free (10 to 15 bucks a night) forestry sites up here that cause the problem as there is no onsite staff and no reservations or holding sites for friends allowed. but if your going to thoes sites the chance of leaving is slim as your going to camp.
maddog348
Explorer
May 13, 2019
toedtoes ~ HAHAHAHAHA ~ Even had our ice chest taken out of 'bear box' now have lock system for that too.

JM2¢ ~~ YMMV
toedtoes
Explorer III
May 12, 2019
Most campgrounds I visit (mostly federal) provide a tag to clip on the campsite post. That indicates the days you have the site reserved. Out here, I have not seen a problem with campsite usurping - people tend to.respect those tags.
opnspaces
Navigator II
May 12, 2019
Would depend on the site. If it's a paid site just first come first serve the ranger\host should keep people off of evict people from your site if they move in while you're out.

If it's just dispersed camping where your gear basically holds the site I would buy a $20 tent at Walmart or thrift store and set it up on the site.