Campground Hosts> When to step in?

We've never had a issue in a campground that made us contact the CG host until we were in Custer State Park but this could happen anywhere. We'd had a quiet 2 nights there and were looking forward to a 3rd when a rig pulled in with 3 kids. Those 3 were soon joined by 3 that were already there and mayhem ensued!

They were loud but playing and we were rolling our eyes but kids are kids so we were okay with it. They got louder and we wondered where the parents were. Then they started running, at first around the CG on the road but then through the campsites, yelling and screaming at each other. We have 2 boxers and they are good dogs but after the 2nd time the herd stampeded through our site and after I'd warned them once not to run though our site, I put the pups in the MH and waited. The next time through, I laid into them and made it very clear that they were NOT to run through our site. After that they didn't but continued to RUN between our site and the next one over, behind our site and on the road in front of our site. And they were LOUD. By this time it was dark! I kept thinking the parents would reel them in and put an end to the noise but nooooo......

Finally, we'd had enough and my DH found the CG Host and complained. She talked to the parents (amazing to me they didn't realize how loud and disruptive their kids were to begin with),got them separated and back to the right site. We were finally able to enjoy our fire and were able to hear someone really good on a guitar a few sites over!

The host came by afterwards and thanked us for complaining. She said she wanted to put a stop to all the running and yelling but couldn't until someone complained! I was really surprised at that. It seems to me the host would want to put a stop to problems before they escalated into bigger problems. I know there are a few hosts here and wondered if that policy was common or if at other campgrounds, the host can be proactive.

Seeking Advice

sem1
Explorer
Sep 11, 2013
Stopping and banging your stuff is like a child not getting a candy. It was pretty demented of you disturbing the others in the area. turns out you were no better then the ones you complained about
legolas
Explorer
Sep 11, 2013
Roy&Lynne wrote:
I still want to see this rule that says Kids cannot be kids. No sympathy from me, if you want a kid free environment go to an adult park and 'camp" there. And your dogs probably wanted to go run with the kids and that's why they were barking, they wanted to join the fun.
I guess you conveniently overlooked the part about the little darling angels running through the OP's site. Difference between being "kids" with good manners and "delinquents"...as are most of the younger generation (Gen X, Millenials etc.)parents. More than likely because their parents didn't tell them the rules and enforce them. No excuse for rude behavior.
legolas
Explorer
Sep 11, 2013
S Sullivan wrote:
path1 wrote:
Kids cutting thru sites, dogs, loud noises, kids running around. You paid for the site, extra's were free of charge, why get hosts involved?

LOL!
He's not really as funny as he thinks he is .....nor are you
Roy_Lynne
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
I still want to see this rule that says Kids cannot be kids. No sympathy from me, if you want a kid free environment go to an adult park and 'camp" there. And your dogs probably wanted to go run with the kids and that's why they were barking, they wanted to join the fun.
murphy38
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
As camp ground we always try to say something before it becomes a problem, makes it better for everyone.
Georgew48
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
MTPockets1 wrote:
We've hosted at three different State Parks, two in Texas and one in Colorado. All three had the same set of instructions for hosts. Inform guests of the rules, but any enforcement was to be handled by park rangers. As far as policing the loop(s), that was the rangers job. Our duty was primarily cleaning sites when campers vacated, and in one park, cleaning the bath house. Remember, Hosts are volunteers - I never considered it a job, or work. The host job is to be as friendly as possible, but not the campers mother or baby sitter. When a guest notified me of an infraction or issued a complaint, my job was to pass that on to the ranger(s) to handle. I won't host in a park if I have to be an enforcer or policeman.

I would be ok with that but we are not even allowed to tell the campers the rules. Really makes it hard on the host when other campers see someone not following the rules and they look at us for not saying anything to the offenders.
MTPockets1
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
We've hosted at three different State Parks, two in Texas and one in Colorado. All three had the same set of instructions for hosts. Inform guests of the rules, but any enforcement was to be handled by park rangers. As far as policing the loop(s), that was the rangers job. Our duty was primarily cleaning sites when campers vacated, and in one park, cleaning the bath house. Remember, Hosts are volunteers - I never considered it a job, or work. The host job is to be as friendly as possible, but not the campers mother or baby sitter. When a guest notified me of an infraction or issued a complaint, my job was to pass that on to the ranger(s) to handle. I won't host in a park if I have to be an enforcer or policeman.
Georgew48
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
We have been Host for the past three years in Ohio State Parks and we are not allowed to even tell the campers what the rules are. If we see something wrong we have to let the manager know and they will call the ranger. The agreement that we all had to sign to be host states this policy. I have had rangers treat me like I was the criminal when I tried to stop someone from stealing campground equipment. I am so frustrated with this policy that we are not going to return next year.
DianneOK
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
We hosted for 9 years. Most, if not all positions required us to make campers aware of the rules, then we were to notify the authorities. We always headed off problems before they got out of hand or complaints, if possible. We were never asked to wait for a complaint before acting. We were always supported by managenment, in fact, were made managers at one point.

Proactivism is a good thing.......
stickdog
Explorer
Sep 10, 2013
We've done a couple of camp hosting jobs at SP's. If there was a problem we were to inform the offender of the rules one time, second time we received a complaint or observed a continued infraction we passed it on to a ranger. 99% of the time confirming that the offender was aware of the rules was enough. At one campground we were covering 4 loops with 113 sites, even though we made a couple passes through, we couldn't cover everything going on without campers complaining.

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