Camping etiquette

[robrose1]

Due to family issues we have not been able to take a trip in our RV for 2 years. Finally able to get away we headed to our favorite spot, Flagstaff, AZ for 2 weeks. We have been RV'ing for many years and this year was our worst experience ever. First of all the KOA raised their prices significantly since our last stay. Second, camping etiquette was non existent. During our stay we had numerous people walking through our campsite heading to the showers. We would be sitting outside and they would just walk through without even an apology. I started to tell people to stop cutting through and they looked at me like I was a jerk. I told them they were agitating my dog. I believe most of these people were new to camping or renting those RV's.
Guy next door with 4 barking dogs was another issue. I may be getting old but courtesy for your neighbors seems to be at an all time low. Just venting.!!!

[SidecarFlip]

2oldman wrote:
Some folks get worked up about people walking through their site. Others get worked up about those who get worked up about people walking through their site.

We don't get worked up ever. Only thing that might walk through our 'site' is possibly a deer in the middle of the night.

All the previous comments just enforce our belief not to ever stay in a commercial campground.

[2oldman]

Some folks get worked up about people walking through their site. Others get worked up about those who get worked up about people walking through their site.

[Boon_Docker]

captnjack wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:

captnjack wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:

captnjack wrote:

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
Personally I have no problem with KOA's. They are consistently clean and close to the highways we travel We usually seek them out when travelling to Florida. I think people have to lighten up a bit and relax. So what if a few people cut through to the bath house. We just say good morning or hello. When ya gotta go sometimes the long way around just won't work.

I agree. What is the big deal? Are they walking through trailers? I just don't get the big objection to this. It's not your property and trailers are so close anyway that an expectation of privacy outside the trailer is silly.

Just give them a smile and say hello. It doesn't cost anything and maybe you'll make a friend.

It is your property while you are renting that space. The same as renting a house, would you want people walking through your property uninvited.

Who told you that you are renting land? Who told you that you have rights?

I am going to go out on a limb here and say it is absolutely NOT like renting a house. It is not a rental agreement or a lease that is signed. You are not technically renting or leasing a piece of land. You are agreeing to pay a fee to put the RV on their land and receive certain services.
If the electrical hookup fails or burns out, are you responsible for repairing it? Sewer? Water? TV, cable, etc? Because if you were renting the land the same way you rent a house you would be responsible to pay for the repairs.
Do you secure insurance for the land while you are there? If you're renting it you are responsible for everything that happens there during the rental. What if someone trips on a loose piece of concrete and injures themself (maybe you)? Are you responsible or is the campground responsible? After all, it is your land if you rent it. After pulling in do you immediately start making repairs and improvements? Seems smart if it is your land.
How about a hotel room? Are you responsible for repairs that are needed during your stay? Or do you just call the front desk and insist it be done. And soon! How is a campsite different?
Can you have someone arrested for trespassing? Again, it is your land. Call the police and try that. See what they say.
We are not land barons. We are people staying in a campsite for a night or two or whatever. Lighten up already. Your legal rights as a landowner/tenant/leaseholder are almost zero staying in a campsite.

That is the most ludicrous drivel I have read on this forum in a long time.

"Care to be more specific? Which part is ludicrous and why?"

Can you produce a document that shows these extensive "landowner" type rights to someone staying at a KOA for two wees? Can you back up your claim that it is the same as renting a house?

Again I ask, are YOU willing to accept the responsibilities that come with ownership along with the rights of ownership?

I think it is quite obvious to most people, so no need to be specific, I'll pass.

[myredracer]

Doesn't anyone at least look at CG reviews before going to one you've you haven't been to before? Have been to 6 or 7 KOAs over the years and all were great except for one in OR. The one in Lynden WA was one of the nicest CGs we've ever been to anywhere. The one in Petaluma CA was also excellent. There are def. some terrible KOAs out there though.

Just about any CG open to the general public is subject to having problem kids, problem adults, problem dogs and all sorts of trash behavior. Then add poor management on top of that. A CG with tight side by side sides is susceptible to more problems too. It takes just one site with "undesirables" nearby to ruin a camping trip. Do some research in advance for best results...

Ever watch the Undercover Boss episode on KOA? Wow, what lovely CGs to stay at and such a dedicated and caring CEO! Watch the whole episode here. Clearly the CEO has addressed all their issues, hahaha. The episode was more like an infomercial. Why didn't he visit the bad ones that really need improvement? :R

Best thing we've done is join a CG org. with CGs across the US. Rarely get anyone walking near our site. or other issues. Off-leash or barking dogs is more likely to be a problem, if there ever is one.

[troubledwaters]

The only times I have ever bad someone walk through my campsite is when I am parked close the bathroom, or close to the water. Solution is not to choose those type of sites and the problem goes away.

[captnjack]

2gypsies wrote:
captnjack

So... let's all bring our pooping dogs, yelling kids, loud radios, friends and have a big party around your campfire. It's not your yard so you won't care. Right?

It's just common courtesy to expect a campsite to be your little space without unwanted intrusions.

But who said anything about pooping dogs, yelling kids, loud radios, and friends having big parties around someone else's campfire? We are talking about walking through the site. That is what the OP posted.

Does someone walking through the space for 5-10 seconds even constitute an "intrusion"?

For the record, I don't do it. But people have walked through my site. It is not an inconvenience or an intrusion or a trespass in any way for me or my family. I think one would almost have to want it to be a problem in order to consider it a problem.

[captnjack]

Boon Docker wrote:

captnjack wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:

captnjack wrote:

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
Personally I have no problem with KOA's. They are consistently clean and close to the highways we travel We usually seek them out when travelling to Florida. I think people have to lighten up a bit and relax. So what if a few people cut through to the bath house. We just say good morning or hello. When ya gotta go sometimes the long way around just won't work.

I agree. What is the big deal? Are they walking through trailers? I just don't get the big objection to this. It's not your property and trailers are so close anyway that an expectation of privacy outside the trailer is silly.

Just give them a smile and say hello. It doesn't cost anything and maybe you'll make a friend.

It is your property while you are renting that space. The same as renting a house, would you want people walking through your property uninvited.

Who told you that you are renting land? Who told you that you have rights?

I am going to go out on a limb here and say it is absolutely NOT like renting a house. It is not a rental agreement or a lease that is signed. You are not technically renting or leasing a piece of land. You are agreeing to pay a fee to put the RV on their land and receive certain services.
If the electrical hookup fails or burns out, are you responsible for repairing it? Sewer? Water? TV, cable, etc? Because if you were renting the land the same way you rent a house you would be responsible to pay for the repairs.
Do you secure insurance for the land while you are there? If you're renting it you are responsible for everything that happens there during the rental. What if someone trips on a loose piece of concrete and injures themself (maybe you)? Are you responsible or is the campground responsible? After all, it is your land if you rent it. After pulling in do you immediately start making repairs and improvements? Seems smart if it is your land.
How about a hotel room? Are you responsible for repairs that are needed during your stay? Or do you just call the front desk and insist it be done. And soon! How is a campsite different?
Can you have someone arrested for trespassing? Again, it is your land. Call the police and try that. See what they say.
We are not land barons. We are people staying in a campsite for a night or two or whatever. Lighten up already. Your legal rights as a landowner/tenant/leaseholder are almost zero staying in a campsite.

That is the most ludicrous drivel I have read on this forum in a long time.

Care to be more specific? Which part is ludicrous and why?

Can you produce a document that shows these extensive "landowner" type rights to someone staying at a KOA for two wees? Can you back up your claim that it is the same as renting a house?

Again I ask, are YOU willing to accept the responsibilities that come with ownership along with the rights of ownership?

[captnjack]

2oldman wrote:

captnjack wrote:
Your legal rights as a landowner/tenant/leaseholder are almost zero staying in a campsite.

Oh for cripes sake, this isn't a legal issue, it's just about being polite and respecting someone else's space.

Several posters have claimed legal rights as landowners.

Would it not be polite to just let people walk through the site. Obviously they have a desire to do so. How does it bother anyone? Unless they're hung up on some idea of etiquette?

[captnjack]

mike-s wrote:

captnjack wrote:
Who told you that you are renting land? Who told you that you have rights?

The law. Here's an example, from California, refering to the payments as "rent." And here's one from Indiana, which says

"Campground" means an area or tract of land where campsites are leased or rented

...and Virginia...

"Campground" means any area, place, parcel, or tract of land,... for the accommodation of camping units for periods of overnight or longer, whether the use of the campsites and facilities is granted gratuitously, or by rental fee, lease,...

captnjack wrote:
I am going to go out on a limb here and say it is absolutely NOT like renting a house. It is not a rental agreement or a lease that is signed.

That limb just snapped. Now stop making stuff up.

Nothing you've posted indicates that you get full control of the site when you "rent" or "lease" it. Nothing indicates you have full rights of a landowner. I can rent a car. That doesn't mean I get to paint it or change out the rims.
I concede that some do rent for longer periods of time and the agreements could be different. This was not the case for the OP.

[DutchmenSport]

We were at an Indiana State park last week-end and the camper beside us stretched their electric cord from the power pole to their camper, hanging like a cloths line, about waist high. It looked really odd, and wondered about someone crashing into it in the middle of the night.

We were sitting around our campfire when a teen age girl walked right upon the wire, of course, texting on her phone not paying any attention. She stopped soon enough, but then had walk around the wire and cut through our site, right beside the camp fire and where we were sitting. Actually, we just kind of laughed at her for almost crashing into the wire when it finally hit me why they next camper hung the wire in the air. It was to keep people from walking right behind their camper on the gravel, between their camper and the electric pole (about 10 feet) using that space as a pass through to the bath house.

It then made sense. That was the only attemped "trespasser" on OUR property the entire week-end.

My tactic has always been, if the same people cut through several times, I eventually stop them, strike up a friendly conversation (and I mean friendly), but deliberately engage them long enough their passage through my campsite delays their intended plan, long enough they get agitated at me. I'm still friendly as a feather bed floating on calming lake, but they realize real fast, when they use my campsite as their passage way, they are going to get stopped and be forced into a conversation. It only takes about once and they somehow always avoid passing through our site from them on.

There are better and more creative ways of dealing with things than barricades, obnoxious dogs or road blocks that all say ... YOU ARE NOT WELCOME - GO AWAY!

[JaxDad]

Boon Docker wrote:

captnjack wrote:

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
Personally I have no problem with KOA's. They are consistently clean and close to the highways we travel We usually seek them out when travelling to Florida. I think people have to lighten up a bit and relax. So what if a few people cut through to the bath house. We just say good morning or hello. When ya gotta go sometimes the long way around just won't work.

I agree. What is the big deal? Are they walking through trailers? I just don't get the big objection to this. It's not your property and trailers are so close anyway that an expectation of privacy outside the trailer is silly.

Just give them a smile and say hello. It doesn't cost anything and maybe you'll make a friend.

It is your property while you are renting that space. The same as renting a house, would you want people walking through your property uninvited.

From a standard c/g rental agreement, in this case KOA, this little bit on the renters rights.

“I understand this is an application to rent an RV space and does not constitute a rental or lease agreement in whole or part.”

The c/g owners don’t want people trying to use ‘renters rights’ type of legislation to stay after they’ve been asked to leave, whether for non-payment or other reason.

[mike-s]

captnjack wrote:
Who told you that you are renting land? Who told you that you have rights?

The law. Here's an example, from California, refering to the payments as "rent." And here's one from Indiana, which says

"Campground" means an area or tract of land where campsites are leased or rented

...and Virginia...

"Campground" means any area, place, parcel, or tract of land,... for the accommodation of camping units for periods of overnight or longer, whether the use of the campsites and facilities is granted gratuitously, or by rental fee, lease,...

captnjack wrote:
I am going to go out on a limb here and say it is absolutely NOT like renting a house. It is not a rental agreement or a lease that is signed.

That limb just snapped. Now stop making stuff up.

[Dave_H_M]

Hands down, Ralph get the first place trophy. :B

Ummm, and be careful that someone does not turn that claymore around in the middle of the night. :W

[Ralph_Cramden]

Oh the humanity ROFLMAO!!!!!!

First ring the site perimeter with



Then strategically place about half a dozen of these.



And if you have the time, a shovel and a knife, put in some of these where the perps seem to be traveling through.



For added effect one of these or two would not be a bad idea.



Dress like this.

[2gypsies1]

captnjack

So... let's all bring our pooping dogs, yelling kids, loud radios, friends and have a big party around your campfire. It's not your yard so you won't care. Right?

It's just common courtesy to expect a campsite to be your little space without unwanted intrusions.