Pop-up TCs and Bear Boxes, etc

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

So as I've been making reservations for our trip to the Pacific Northwest, one of the sites includes a Bear Box to keep food in. I understand that is a MANDATORY USE if you're a tenter; probably a smart thing if you're a popup trailer camper; but what about popup TCs? I realize I can ask when we arrive - but I suspect the answer is that the hard and high side of a PUTC make it as bear-proof as any other RV?

I'm trying to make a case for bringing the TC, can you tell? LOL!!

Deb

[billtex]

Bear boxes do work...but it might be uncomfotable trying to sleep in one.

Everyone knows pop-ups= human tacos.
😉

[coolmom42]

Call the park and ask.

Glacier, Yellowstone, & Great Smoky allow food to be kept in hard-side campers and CLOSED, LOCKED vehicles.

Yosemite requires no food be kept vehicles, locked or not. The bears there have come to recognize vehicles as food sources and learned to break them open. Not sure how this applies to truck campers.

[toedtoes]

Bear boxes do work. But the trick is that in order for them to work, people have to use them and use them properly.

[cmcdar]

toedtoes wrote:
Yep, that's what it means to "turtle". As far as I know, there are very few places that require turtling and often it's just during a period of problem or heavy bear activity in the area.

Most of my camping is done in bear territory - in campgrounds with bear boxes, etc. So far, in over 5 years, I have not seen a bear yet. There was one who showed up in the campground - someone had left an empty juice box on the picnic table - but it was scared off quickly. I can say that my initial concerns (didn't help to watch Night of the Grizzlies a couple days before my first solo camping trip) have minimized into "common sense" behavior.

I guess the bear boxes work quite well then.

[toedtoes]

Yep, that's what it means to "turtle". As far as I know, there are very few places that require turtling and often it's just during a period of problem or heavy bear activity in the area.

Most of my camping is done in bear territory - in campgrounds with bear boxes, etc. So far, in over 5 years, I have not seen a bear yet. There was one who showed up in the campground - someone had left an empty juice box on the picnic table - but it was scared off quickly. I can say that my initial concerns (didn't help to watch Night of the Grizzlies a couple days before my first solo camping trip) have minimized into "common sense" behavior.

[cmcdar]

There must have been something awfully good in this SUV




I guess I would keep my food where they suggested.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Thanks, both of you. I'm assuming "turtling it" means keeping the top lowered. If the bears are THAT much of a problem, I sure don't want to be in a tent....

[toedtoes]

Depends on the individual area. Some places may have rules that you can only have a pop-up/hybrid if you turtle it - including TCs. In some area, bears have learned the differences. If they don't require you to turtle it, then you should be fine.

Just use common sense:

Don't leave food/drinks/coolers out in view (whether inside the RV, the truck, or outside). Bears don't just go by smell, they go by sight. They know a cooler means food - so if they see a cooler, they will go for it even if it's locked inside a vehicle.

Clean up promptly and dump your trash in the bins daily. This keeps smells at a minimum.

Don't throw food waste around the campground - including bones, banana peels, orange peels, apple cores, etc. (yes, people do that and don't think about it bringing in bears). If you're hiking around, carry your waste back to camp and dispose of it in a bin.

[DWeikert]

When you see campsite ban pop-up campers due to bear activity, generally they're referring to the pop-up trailers which are basically just a tent with a hard floor on wheels.

A few years ago there was a bear problem at camp sites near Yellowstone
Tent camping banned at 3 sites near Yellowstone

The forest is allowing hard-sided vehicles made of metal or strong composite plastic to be used at the three campgrounds. Truck-box campers that have a 4-foot high hard side, in addition to a raised upper section, are permissible, but tents and pop-up campers are excluded, as is camping without a shelter.