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[Oasisbob]

Our family tradition is to go out camping every Memorial day weekend so we made reservations way in advance. Set up camp last night. Roasting marshmellows with the family when neighbors move in. Stereo cranks. Beers are opened. Kids we don't know are in our site. Tried to polietly , and I really was, ask the neighbors to turn it down as it is suppose to be "quiet time". They told me I picked the wrong campground. Thought about camp hosts but what could they do? Get into a conflict and put drunks out on the road? Not likely. So we packed up and came home. Why can't folks who want to party stay home? Folks just do not care anymore. Very discouraging

[time2roll]

Oasisbob wrote:
Our family tradition is to go out camping every Memorial day weekend so we made reservations way in advance. Set up camp last night. Roasting marshmellows with the family when neighbors move in. Stereo cranks. Beers are opened. Kids we don't know are in our site. Tried to polietly , and I really was, ask the neighbors to turn it down as it is suppose to be "quiet time". They told me I picked the wrong campground. Thought about camp hosts but what could they do? Get into a conflict and put drunks out on the road? Not likely. So we packed up and came home. Why can't folks who want to party stay home? Folks just do not care anymore. Very discouraging

Well not much has changed in 40+ years. Welcome to Summer.

And I agree it was them that picked the wrong camp... they should be out in the boondocks away from everybody.

I would have called the local sheriff and nothing wrong with just leaving.

[samhain7]

Not sure what cammpground you went to or the type of campground. But we always goto a kid oriented campground (ie Yogi Bear Jellystone park) around here and never had any partying issues. In fact, my wife and I are usually the last ones to go in for the night!
We were just out for our Canadian Long weekend and went to JellyStone and there were 6 sites of 100 occupied.
Wonderful experience...

[hawkeye-08]

I asked the camp host several years ago what the proper way to deal with drunks and loud music was at Washington State parks. His answer was to contact them (hosts), never confront the offending party. Camp host was contacted and promptly went to offending site and enforced the rules. I really liked that host, he was about 6ft 8inches tall and had that quiet voice that said he meant business. I try to have some compassion and see the other side, it helps me avoid doing something myself that would put me or my family in danger.

[Matt_Colie]

I want to thank everybody that contributed here. We have never had to deal with such a situation.

These days, when we stay at campgrounds, they are usually COE or small government operations. In spite of our 40+ years of bike camping, car camping, canoe camping, daysail camping and Rving, we have had this as a problem only once and it was hammered flat so fast that it was impressive. I guess that is not always the case.

Matt

[mbopp]

For the last several years we've been staying at a Pennsylvania State park over Memorial Day. The Pa State parks have a NO ALCOHOL rule that really keeps the partyers in check. Get drunk - get loud - get thrown out.
Not to say all the beverages in Dixie cups are non-alcoholic, but the official rule is there.

[Oasisbob]

This is not my first experience dealing with this. It never plays well. Tell the host who inturn calls police who show much later. Offending party told to leave. While we are gone hiking or whatever our stuff gets trashed. Next outing is a PGE park us that does not allow alcohol. Should be a better experience for all.

[2gypsies1]

Oasisbob wrote:
It was a USFS campground. As I said previously no cell service. No rangers in the area. Only one camp host. What are they going to do eccept risk gettin beat up. This is the new norm. I am not going to get physical with a bunch of drunks with my kids present.

This is what I've been trying to convey..don't deal with them; contact the host. The host will not confront them. They are told not to do this. They will always have a way to contact the ranger or Sheriff. They don't leave a host there with no way to get help.

I'm really sorry you and the children had to go through this and cut your weekend short. Perhaps the good to come of it is for your kids to see 'how not to act'. I'm sure you've camped before and didn't have an experience like this. It will probably not happen again. Don't give up on camping!

You might also write or email or call the ranger district office for that campground and ask what you should have done and if the host had a way to get help.

[jake2250]

westend wrote:

Oasisbob wrote:
It was a USFS campground. As I said previously no cell service. No rangers in the area. Only one camp host. What are they going to do eccept risk gettin beat up. This is the new norm. I am not going to get physical with a bunch of drunks with my kids present.

IMO, you made the right decision.
Think about this, though: Your kids aren't present and you get in a fight with one of these drunks. You throw one punch and the drunk goes down, forever. You may end up in a cell before everything is worked out in your favor. Or, the deceased drunk is the nephew of a Court Clerk/Judge and a trial doesn't go in your favor. There are a lot of good reasons to choose flight before fight.

Absolutely Right!! It can go so wrong in the blink of an eye!!
You and your family are safe, you had a split second to make a decision and are here to tell about it!!
Allot of factors Not in your favor!!
We cut a few short and don't second guess the decision. Things work out for the best!!
Karma will get the others!!

[westend]

Oasisbob wrote:
It was a USFS campground. As I said previously no cell service. No rangers in the area. Only one camp host. What are they going to do eccept risk gettin beat up. This is the new norm. I am not going to get physical with a bunch of drunks with my kids present.

IMO, you made the right decision.
Think about this, though: Your kids aren't present and you get in a fight with one of these drunks. You throw one punch and the drunk goes down, forever. You may end up in a cell before everything is worked out in your favor. Or, the deceased drunk is the nephew of a Court Clerk/Judge and a trial doesn't go in your favor. There are a lot of good reasons to choose flight before fight.

[Oasisbob]

It was a USFS campground. As I said previously no cell service. No rangers in the area. Only one camp host. What are they going to do eccept risk gettin beat up. This is the new norm. I am not going to get physical with a bunch of drunks with my kids present.

[NYCgrrl]

2gypsies wrote:

Oasisbob wrote:
Interesting thoughts on our short weekend. It was a USFS facility. One camp host. No rangers to be seen. No cell service as we are T Mobile customers. In short it was our problem. Could have reported them Saturday morning. Then wondered about retaliation while we wee out fishing. We have been camping many years and this is the new normal. I will not expose my kids to this again

I can assure you that if you would have contacted the host, the host would have warned them once and then would have had a direct line to other authority - the park ranger (who is usually nearby) or the Sheriff. Even if you see no security, the host always has a contact number.

A slightly similar occurrence - we were hosts in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park and had an instance of a camper going away for the day with his cooler and food setting on the table. There are signs right on the table to stow your cooler and food from bears. Our directive was if we were to see this happen, pack up everything and put it in the office and let the ranger deal with it, which we did.

At 11pm the party returned and knocked on our door asking about his cooler. He demanded that we go to the office and get it for him. We said it wasn't up to us to give it to him. He got mad and demanded we call the ranger. We stated the ranger will be in the office at 8am to give it to him. The party was kicked out for being beligerant to us the previous night.

There are rules put into place to deal with things. Next time, your first contact should be the host.

I guess different parks and/or states have different policies and camp host duties. LEOs, in the form of state troopers and DeCon POs, patrol the state parks of CT. Were I a camp host, I'd rather they deal with potentially explosive encounters since one would assume they have more confrontation training.

However the policy goes from area to area most parks have a listing of emergency numbers at the check-in desk; I make sure to take them down.

[PA12DRVR]

noplace2 wrote:

2oldman wrote:
I feel your pain, but it's best avoided. Change your family tradition and don't go camping on holiday weekends in popular parks. July 4 and Labor day come to mind also.

I'll second this opinion and add to it. Avoidance is indeed the best policy. As fulltimers we have to be somewhere on these holiday w/e's. Over the years we have developed keen radar about picking appropriate places for us.

We are currently in a small park in N. Central FL. There are 53 FHU sites and 15 tent sites. All were full last night due to a very popular local music festival. Over the past 3 nights there have not been any disturbances.

We look for 2 primary hallmarks:

1) No fire pits. Sitting around a campfire, drinking oneself into oblivion and raising **** seems to be the rule rather than the exception. To be sure, we enjoy a fire and have our own propane fired variety, but we rarely use it when a number of other people are around.

2) No or limited children. If a CG advertises "family friendly" or playground equipment, kids activities etc. we give it a wide berth. I know I'm likely going to get slammed for that, but I never had children of my own and don't want to deal with those of others. Kids need to be entertained. While camping, that means outside and that means noise. Pass.

Eliminating those 2 factors alone can almost guarantee us peace and quiet. And peace and quiet is, for the most part, why we do what we do.

I'd add a 3rd criteria: in the years when we RV'd and "camped" on the major holidays (Memorial Day, 4th, Labor), we'd look for the above, but would also make a point, for those 3 trips, of staying an an expensive private campground. Seemed to both keep out some of the party-ers and come with a bit more rigorous rule enforcement.

[Paul_Clancy]

It is easy to say complain but far harder to do and often does have a negative result. After I complained and the manager told them there were complaints and the party quieted down I could hear the ringleader muttering about my trailer and vague threats.. Standard rude drunk stuff. But mix booze and whatever weapon they have and things can end badly. Part of the risk when you complain.

[2gypsies1]

Oasisbob wrote:
Interesting thoughts on our short weekend. It was a USFS facility. One camp host. No rangers to be seen. No cell service as we are T Mobile customers. In short it was our problem. Could have reported them Saturday morning. Then wondered about retaliation while we wee out fishing. We have been camping many years and this is the new normal. I will not expose my kids to this again

I can assure you that if you would have contacted the host, the host would have warned them once and then would have had a direct line to other authority - the park ranger (who is usually nearby) or the Sheriff. Even if you see no security, the host always has a contact number.

A slightly similar occurrence - we were hosts in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park and had an instance of a camper going away for the day with his cooler and food setting on the table. There are signs right on the table to stow your cooler and food from bears. Our directive was if we were to see this happen, pack up everything and put it in the office and let the ranger deal with it, which we did.

At 11pm the party returned and knocked on our door asking about his cooler. He demanded that we go to the office and get it for him. We said it wasn't up to us to give it to him. He got mad and demanded we call the ranger. We stated the ranger will be in the office at 8am to give it to him. The party was kicked out for being beligerant to us the previous night.

There are rules put into place to deal with things. Next time, your first contact should be the host.

[westernrvparkow]

This is what park owners and managers face on a daily basis. What and when does behavior cross over into unacceptable behavior. We have quiet hours, but they are not silence hours. What is acceptable to one person is very unacceptable to another.
Alcohol is a good example. Many people accept drinking alcoholic beverages as totally acceptable in a campground. Many others are repelled by the sight of a beer can in someone's hand. We have to walk the razor's edge between the two. Drunken parties are not tolerated, but we aren't going to insist that alcohol only be consumed inside one's RV.
Sometimes, a holiday does dictate that rules and policies need to be changed. For example, on the 4th of July fireworks often go on until 11PM or later (darkness comes late in the north). It would make no sense to enforce a quiet hour before the fireworks end. Yet, we have had guests complain that the fireworks didn't end at quiet hour and demand we do something about it. Sometimes everyone needs to be flexible.
Without being there and seeing what was going on, the offending party may or may not have been within their rights. Loud music after quiet hours isn't acceptable, but again, silence isn't required either. The offenders sure had the right to be drinking alcohol, it would be their behavior that would dictate whether or not they needed to be reprimanded or expelled. And these forums are full of threads regarding whether children running around other people's sites is right or wrong. We consider it wrong, but it sure isn't an offense that leads to automatic expulsion.
Others have the correct answer, on holiday weekends especially, you need to chose your destinations carefully. If isn't that difficult to anticipate what you may encounter. And if you are inflexible in what you expect, it might be a good time to stay home or boondock where there are no other people to interfere with your plans.