Who designs campgrounds?

[Veebyes]

Surely it cannot be CG users. Sorry about the rant, sometimes a bunch of little things build up & hit a nerve.

We are traveling RVers, not weekend warriors using the same CG weekend after weekend, so we never get to know any CGs real well.

The biggest complaint is poor signage to find the CG. We are currently at a CG, a large one that is unseen from the highway, that does not even have a sign at the intersection letting one know that it is here. From one direction there is a sign saying that you have PASSED it & turn around. From the other direction there is a sign almost a half mile from the intersection saying to make the next left.

The last CG we were at had a nice paved pad for the RV, however the ground surrounding the pad was so low a high step box was needed to get to the lowest RV step. This is common. Why does the RV get the nice pad & we have to step off into dirt? Seems like it should be the other way. Went to the dump & who was the rocket scientist who set this one up? Dump hole is far from RV side & the cover hinges TOWARDS the RV, not away from it.

Still on dump locations, who thinks a good location for the dump is above ground & way at the back of the site pad when most RVs have their discharges near the middle?

We love a fire & the variety of fire rings never cease to amaze but why do so many NOT have any vent holes so that air can get in & actually allow the fire to burn cleanly? Have the designers of these things never lit a fire?

Here endeth the rant, for now.

[Oaklevel]

Veebyes wrote:
Surely it cannot be CG users. Sorry about the rant, sometimes a bunch of little things build up & hit a nerve.

We are traveling RVers, not weekend warriors using the same CG weekend after weekend, so we never get to know any CGs real well.

The biggest complaint is poor signage to find the CG. We are currently at a CG, a large one that is unseen from the highway, that does not even have a sign at the intersection letting one know that it is here. From one direction there is a sign saying that you have PASSED it & turn around. From the other direction there is a sign almost a half mile from the intersection saying to make the next left.

The last CG we were at had a nice paved pad for the RV, however the ground surrounding the pad was so low a high step box was needed to get to the lowest RV step. This is common. Why does the RV get the nice pad & we have to step off into dirt? Seems like it should be the other way. Went to the dump & who was the rocket scientist who set this one up? Dump hole is far from RV side & the cover hinges TOWARDS the RV, not away from it.

Still on dump locations, who thinks a good location for the dump is above ground & way at the back of the site pad when most RVs have their discharges near the middle?

We love a fire & the variety of fire rings never cease to amaze but why do so many NOT have any vent holes so that air can get in & actually allow the fire to burn cleanly? Have the designers of these things never lit a fire?

Here endeth the rant, for now.

Wow......... sit back & enjoy being away & don't let the little things bother you most are out of your control...........LOL

First some campgrounds can't have signs where they want them the have to meet requirements of the state & local regulations some areas esp in Virginia are very strict on where & size & how many signs are allowed.... Also dealing with billboards for a previous business they are VERY expensive to use. ( Lady Bird Johnson had alot to do with road sign regulations as well.) Land owners are an issue as to where signs go as well.....

Others have mentioned local regulations on locations of dump stations.........

You must not have been camping long as older campers for the most part had the dump hookups at the rear. Also regulations have changed in many areas & now require a positive hookup such as a screw on connector for dumping not just the hose into a pipe hole at ground level so some campgrounds are now using a flip cover & the threaded collar is above ground level to comply.

Many fire rings are old truck rims both cheap & heavy .......we bring our fire pit...

Our favorite campground was built in the 1970s so it has most the issues you are complaining about........ our second favorite was built about 5 years ago & has two dump locations for most of the larger sites....it was built buy an RVer for RVers but campers still complain not enough shade..........

Hear it all the time......... too many branches & trees or too open not enough shade...... can't please everyone everyone has different tastes......

Life is too short to worry about the little things.....live like you won't be here tomorrow (you were not promised tomorrow) .....Sorry see tooo many people go to work & don't get to go home.....my occupational hazard...........

[fickman]

A new Sims type video game? They had Roller Coaster Tycoon. . .now. .. Campground Tycoon!

[fla-gypsy]

You could always build your own but nobody would like it either. What do you think the chance of pleasing everyone is? <0%

[Old-Biscuit]

I have a 2007 Model Year rig...........CG's are usually 1960----1980 designs
and were built under existing codes of the day.

That's why I have dual 50A power receptacles (front & rear), 3 @15' sewer hoses, 3 @25' potable water hoses, a portable macerator with 2 @25' hoses.

In over 6 1/2 yrs of FT travel haven't been in a CG I couldn't hookup to.

Few existing CG's are going to be rebuilt/redesigned so you need to be able to adapt.
I was a Boy Scout :B

[Go_Dogs]

Maybe some of the older CGs were designed when people actually camped! Tents, with no electric, cable TV. People used bath houses, etc.

[ford_truck_guy]

way to go Veebyes..Now nobody will camp this weekend,, and if they do they will all be looking for complaints before checking in !! :B

[VE3ESN]

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
Wow, such serious issues. I have never really encountered any of them. Maybe at a Provincial Park that was designed years ago have a few access problems but if you know how to manoeuvre your unit it is not a problem. Not really anything to complain about here.

Well, the power pedestals used by Ontario Provincial Parks generally serve two sites. (Bring l-o-n-g extension cords!)

We've noticed that state parks in the US 'generally' use one pedestal per site that is 'usually' placed in a more convenient position. The water spigot is often on the same pedestal or close to it.

Other than that, not too much to complain about. (The exorbitant fees charged by Ontario Parks is another matter though.)

[korbe]

I design campgrounds/RV parks and none of the rants in the above posts have surprised me. All logical design considerations.

[CA_Traveler]

schlep1967 wrote:
Rants are rants, we all need one every now and then. The complaints about sewer hook-up location make me laugh. My old travel trailer had sewer hookups at the rear. Seem every site I went to had the hook-ups up toward the middle of the trailer. Now my fifthwheel has hookups in the middle and every site I can fit on has the hookups at the rear. So if anybody gets the great idea of building a campground or refitting a campground add a T, an extra 16 ft of pipe and another elbow and have 2 hookups so everybody has what they need.

I've been in a few that have 2 sewers. Ideally one in the rear and one mid site.

[mileshuff]

Why do so many CG's have large trees, light poles etc. right at the front corner of the spot? Makes getting out very difficult. I see numerous short ground lights smashed because of this. Trees need to be near the back of the spot where they do not effect maneuvering.

[Jack_Diane_Free]

Wow, such serious issues. I have never really encountered any of them. Maybe at a Provincial Park that was designed years ago have a few access problems but if you know how to manoeuvre your unit it is not a problem. Not really anything to complain about here.

[schlep1967]

Rants are rants, we all need one every now and then. The complaints about sewer hook-up location make me laugh. My old travel trailer had sewer hookups at the rear. Seem every site I went to had the hook-ups up toward the middle of the trailer. Now my fifthwheel has hookups in the middle and every site I can fit on has the hookups at the rear. So if anybody gets the great idea of building a campground or refitting a campground add a T, an extra 16 ft of pipe and another elbow and have 2 hookups so everybody has what they need.

[fickman]

Veebyes wrote:
Who designs campgrounds?

For Texas state parks, the answer is almost unilaterally: the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Bureaucrats and Rangers have influenced adaptations to the original designs since then.

[rockhillmanor]

The sewer outlet being all wrong is a left over from the old days of short RV's.

What I have experienced is for the CG to upgrade they made what WAS 2 sites into 1 site to accommodate the long RV's and MH's towing of today.
That is why the hookups are usually at one end or the other from when they were 2 sites.

Small sites which is ALL that you will experience if you travel down south are nothing more than financial decisions of "how many RV's can we cram on this spot of ground" to make the most money.

And that follows suit for signage, dump stations, etc. IMHO taking in all the different business's in the world, CG's are the guiltiest of practices like cutting, shaving, eliminating, cramming all they can to make an extra buck.

That's why I stay only at KOA's. They are as of a couple years ago MAKING all the CG's that sport their logo CONFORM to KOA uniformity or they loose the franchise and advertising.

Just last year 2 of the KOA's that I stop at when traveling south that were starting to look run down.....KOA took their franchise away from them. One went into foreclosure. The new owner got in there and cleaned it up to KOA standards and they were able to get the KOA franchise back for the CG.

When they are finished with this project each and every KOA in the US all will look alike with clean working amenities.

When I am on the road and want to stop for the night I am NOT in the mood to pull in and find out it's a dump. So for me I just look in my KOA book and stay only at KOA's.

[loulou57]

I have never camped on a site with a cement pad in all the 40 years I have camped. This is quite popular in the US right? I have never seen any here either, LOL. Can you tell I am a bush gal.

I guess my only complaint of a campground would be if it were full.