First time camping in bear country in popup.

Throw a pound of bacon on top of the neighbors RV???

I don't know but I'd be worried about it too.

Most of the "bear" places I camp do not allow soft sided rv's. Have you checked to make sure you can camp there? I'm with the bacon on your neighbor trick ;)

I great many places I have camped have bears that might roam through even crowded campgrounds at night. Glacier NP is a prime example. There a grizzly is just as likely as a brown bear. There are exacting requirements posted on signs, at camper check in locations and at each campground. Not even water bottles are allowed left on picnic tables. You are required to clean up everything and put it away. Popups and even tents are allowed.

Storing food in the TV when a bear box is available..hmmm. Want to see some pictures? Try "bears in cars Yosemite"

Yes..long before there were RV's...there were tents and even just sleeping on the ground under a tarp. Most of all..keep a clean campsite. Don't cook a bunch of meat then leave the grill just sitting there.


Gary Haupt

RMNP has no grizzlies, only black bears. While they can be a nuisance, they are generally shy and very unlikely to attack people. Follow common sense precautions and you'll be fine.

RMNP bear safety guidelines

Keep scented products such as deodorant, toothpaste, etc., in the TV and NEVER use strawberry scented shampoo! I speak from experience on the shampoo part! If the bears are active, it's also a good idea not to wear clothes you have cooked in or spilled food on inside the tent. Most likely you'll have no issue but if you are nervous ask at the kiosk when you check in for further suggested precautions.

We were in RMNP Moraine Park CG last month and flyers were posted everywhere including bathroom doors saying there were bears seen in the CG, with reminders of the guidelines.

Tent campers (not young people, probably in late 50s or older) across from our site were traveling with relatives in an RV In the next site over. They all came back mid-evening, cooked dinner, and ignored the guidelines to put boxes in the trunk, not visible in the car itself. They also left a cooler, cooking pots and other items on the RV site's picnic table. A bear came along in the night, opened the tent site's car door to remove a food storage box inside, and proceeded to have a picnic. His dusty paw marks were visible next to the door handle.

I came out to walk the dog at 5:30 a.m. and there was trash all over their campsite. The tent woman later said they heard noises but were afraid to go out. She emerged later in the night to go to the bathroom and saw car door standing open and a coyote nearby finishing beef jerky the bear left behind. I wish people could just follow park rules so the bears don't become acclimated to people and then pay the price.

It's good to know you are not one of those oblivious people and are thinking ahead. If I were you, I'd just ask the Park Rangers for those items you aren't sure about.

Enjoy RMNP! It's beautiful.

Practice screaming. That's how we lost my Husband-in-law. Husband-in-law ??? That's the guy who married my Ex-wife

The fridge in the pup should be fine. Contrary to common belief, bears get into many ice chests not because of smell but because they recognize that ice chests tend to hold good things to eat (think Yogi Bear and the "I see a pic-a-nic basket"). The fridge is not commonly recognized by bears at this point.

You should be fine with the porta-potty, but it wouldn't hurt to just call up the ranger station and ask them to verify. They may have some practical suggestions for you as to placement, etc.

When storing food in the TV, make sure everything is covered. Again, bears can easily identify an ice chest as "potential food source" and will go for it even if they can't smell anything. In some areas, the bears now recognize cars as a potential food source - so watch the notices at the campground and follow the guidelines.

Other than that, don't worry. Just keep your site cleaned up. Dump your garbage every evening before going to bed. Once at a campground where I was staying, a kid had left her empty juicebox on the picnic table. That was enough to bring the bear in for a good inspection of the campsite.

If a bear does enter your campsite, making loud noises (banging pots and pans) is usually all it takes to get it to leave if you've done everything right (not leaving food, etc., out).

Oh, and lock the doors to your TV. A friend has a cabin in a bear area. One evening, she heard some noise outside and found that a bear had climbed into her (empty) car to check it out. The door was unlocked. As the bear moved around inside, the movement caused the door to shut, locking the bear into the car. When the rangers came out, there was a lot of "no you do it!" discussion while they watched the bear tear up the car - no one really wanted to be the person to open the car door. Fortunately, the bear finally got the door opened himself and left in a bad mood. The car was totaled. Had she locked the door, the bear wouldn't have gone into the car in the first place.