Campsite mixup - new one for us

[tonyandkaren]

Has this ever happened to anyone else? We've been in western Colorado for about a month, staying cool in the mountains, camping in forest campgrounds or boondocking.

We crossed over the Continental Divide yesterday and we knew it would be busier. Our plan was to stay at Halfmoon Creek Campground or boondock in the forest but we took a wrong turn and ended up at Turquoise Lake so we decided to see if there were any opened sites. Most had reserved signs even though no one had shown up yet but we got lucky and found a beautiful site with a lake view and no reservations until July 8th. Most likely someone had canceled. So we paid for a few days at the self pay station and put the tag on the post. A little while later the hosts came around, gave us a hang tag for our RV and marked it in their book.

We went into town today for about four hours and when we came back there was a popup in our site and our tag had been replaced. We went to the host and they told us they thought that we had left so they gave the site to new people. We don't know is if the new people removed our tag but even so we had paid for the site and never told the hosts that we weren't planning on coming back.

The new people have gone back to their house to get their boat. The hosts are going to tell them that they have to leave.

We're flabbergasted. The hosts told us that we should have left something to mark the site as occupied. Isn't that what the post tag does? They also said that one time somebody left two chairs and when they came back to their site the chairs where gone and another person was camping in their site.

[2012Coleman]

Gee - the tag doesn't have a departure date? The hosts are obviously knuckleheads - I'd buy or make one of those signs that were suggested.

[tonyandkaren]

Well, it gets even better. Not only did the people with the popup steal our site they never came back.(confirmed by the campers in the next site) They didn't spend the night which is a violation of NF campsite rules. We spent the night in a site that was opened for one night only then went down to see if the people had packed up yet. We were really surprised to see that no one was there so we parked in the site next to the popup and went to tell the hosts what we were doing.

These people are new to hosting and they got pretty flustered and told us that even though the popup people were in the wrong so were we because we didn't leave anything to mark our site ( except our tag) therefor it was considered abandoned and we would have to leave. After some arguing where we were threatened with eviction by the sheriff their supervisor showed up and it's all straightened out. Except for the fact that the popup is still in our site and the owners are nowhere to be found.

We're going back into town in a few hours to sightsee. We now have a ratty tablecloth marking our intentions to return. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I think that we'll mark our site with something from now on.

[ReadyToGo]

Having be camp hosts for 12 years, I would blame this one on the host. If someone had paid for a few days we would never even come close to letting someone onto their site. We would never assume someone had left just because the site was vacant and there wasn't a tag. Tags get taken all the time
The only exception sometimes is when something happens later at night like 8 or 9 pm. At least the host fixed the situation.

[wa8yxm]

I have campgrounds where this has happened, once. I have a ladder (2 step "Stool" type) with a sign "Site occupied" taped to it I leave on site.

Seriously though that site is yours for the period you paid for.. as such the hosts should not release it till your period of days runs out even if you leave early.

[D_E_Bishop]

I took an ad for a bounder and cut out the bounder and in a simular font and color ink, wrote "This space occupied by a" above the picture. DD laminated it with extra thick plastic and I put two brass grometss to put the screws through and screwed it to a stake. Made a second one and have attached to table on occasion.

[camperpaul]

korbe wrote:
Went to a state park and the ranger said to find a vacant site and come back and pay. Found a site, unhooked, DW started the setup while I drove back to pay. The attendant told me that that space was taken, and had been for a few days. We would have to move. If the class A would have at least just left a table cloth or something, it would have saved us a lot of time and effort. No tags to post.

I lost count of how many times this happened when I was a campground host.

People would ignore signs, post tags, lawn chairs, etc. and set up camp then come up to the permit booth to register only to find out the site was occupied by someone with a motorhome or TC.

One evening, four different groups set up on the same occupied site.

One time a couple set up in the site belonging to one of the other hosts while he was dumping the tanks in his 5er at the dump station.

[noe-place]

Seems the staff could have checked your paperwork and saw that you had paid for the site and realized you'd only left for a short while. Their assumption only created more headaches for everyone. We've only had to move once and that was agreed on up front when we checked in at Minute Man in Boston. Worked out that we got an even better site when we moved.

[rondeb]

baldag wrote:
You could buy this;
Occupied sign

I have also seen "This site occupied by a Class A, we will be back",
don't know where they got it.
When I left, I would take a picture of the sign on your cell phone to prove it was up there.

We used this sign for 2 years when we had the small Class C and no Toad. Lots of people wanted to know where we got it. It worked great.

[baldag]

You could buy this;
Occupied sign

I have also seen "This site occupied by a Class A, we will be back",
don't know where they got it.
When I left, I would take a picture of the sign on your cell phone to prove it was up there.

[korbe]

Went to a state park and the ranger said to find a vacant site and come back and pay. Found a site, unhooked, DW started the setup while I drove back to pay. The attendant told me that that space was taken, and had been for a few days. We would have to move. If the class A would have at least just left a table cloth or something, it would have saved us a lot of time and effort. No tags to post.

[path1]

The hosts told us that we should have left something to mark the site as occupied. Isn't that what the post tag does?

Yes, supposed to. But some people leave their post tag (some double as receipt)when they leave, and others just think previous campers forgot their tag, so new campers throw it away and put theirs up.

[linnemj]

That is an unfortunate situation. I guess carrying a collapsible orange cone with the message "site occupied" may avoid this in the future. If you were in a class C, and the hosts knew it, I am surprised they would assume you left. Don't let this incident ruin your time in the mountains.

[Golden_HVAC]

Yes this has happened to me at a campground near Yosemite CA.

The people who moved into the campsite claimed to know nothing about the missing tag on the pole.

Fred.