We are currently traveling from Arizona to Minnesota and staying in a variety of RV parks. Some readers have mentioned the list of rules they are handed when they pull into an RV park, and I have to agree. I have never seen the sheer number of rules at campgrounds before! When RV parks charge more, do they print out more pages of rules? Don’t get me wrong, I am a rule follower and I do read the rules. But we have traveled for decades and I have never run into the number and type of rules I am now finding.
Fines, fines, fines!
One campground was intent on fining people as if the high campsite price wasn’t enough. These were their rules:
- Dispose of waste in restroom: FINE $150
- Use generator: FINE $100
- Go past check-out time: FINE $3 an hour
- Don’t buy their firewood: FINE
- Leave untidy campsite: FINE and cleaning charge
- Early check-in: FINE $25
- Late check-out: FINE $25
- Lock site fee: $40
Outrageous new-to-me campground rules
These are some new-to-me rules. Have I been overly naïve about what is actually happening in campgrounds?
- Cannot threaten another tenant, visitor or staff with a firearm. (Do you really think someone that is going to threaten somebody with a gun is reading these rules?)
- Nudity is prohibited in the pool area. (Darn!)
- Intentional urination and/or defecation in the pool is prohibited. (…This is an issue?)
- Any person who is a substantial annoyance to others using the pool may be required to leave the pool area. (There are a number of family members that can be a substantial annoyance. Can they be removed too?)
- Breeding animals is prohibited. (Ummm, and has this been a problem in the past?)
- Bicycles, scooters other personal transportation devices as well as toys must be neatly organized. (How neatly organized? Like my mother’s over-the-top organization or my husband’s not-so-much?)
- Maximum of 60w for any exterior light bulb. (Mine are LED—can you please translate?)
- Two 27 gal. plastic totes only can be used under the RV for storage. (But I don’t have any totes or any more stuff to store!)
- Don’t fill fresh water between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. (Can I at least take a shower??)
- Anyone under 18 can’t go into the camp store without an adult. (So much for buying time away from the kids for a few minutes…)
- Playground for 12 and under only. (But I really wanted to play tetherball with my husband!)
- Proof of RV insurance and registration is required. (Isn’t that up to the real police?)
- Tenants are responsible for knowing how many amps their RV uses. (Please translate volts-to-amps and general appliance usage.)
- Visitors cannot use the bathrooms. (What?? So are they supposed to just cross their legs??)
- Do not dump grease outside. (Never have.)
- If you use the facilities (bathroom and showers) you are required to wipe everything down clean when you are finished. (Low on cleaning staff?)
- We are a small park, there is no reason to speed and it won’t be tolerated. (Noted!)
Summing it up
One RV park made it clear only after I paid their no-refund-ever campground fee: If you are offended by this, we ask that you find another place to stay.
Readers, please comment below. We would love to hear about some of the rather outrageous rules you have found in campgrounds.
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##RVT1108
This is simply capitalism at it’s finest. Demand is greater than supply so the supplier makes the rules. But our economy cycles so some day the reverse will be true and those “rules” will disappear.
Then people will act responsibly of their own volition?
Maybe the idiots that have slithered out from under their rocks will slither back under and things will be “normal” again.
Number 10. I agree.. working in the campstore.. I had 6 little ones aged 6-9 everyday over memorial day weekend.Come in at least 17 times per day.. they were told not to play in the putt putt golf water area as they tossed golf balls in there.. Told do not go in after the ball.. yet they did.. they also unplugged games in the arcade as folks were playing games. Had parents come up. they said they would put them on restriction.. few hours later they were climbing trees… So yes to 10, I would alter it and suggest no one under the age of 14 in the store without parental supervision. But in PA, you have to be 18 or over to buy lighter fluid for your bbq..
Visitors cannot use the bathrooms. (What?? So are they supposed to just cross their legs??
Maybe they should use the pool?!?
Can’t. That was rule #3.
Probably why rule #3 had to be written. 🙂
I ascribe to a different point of view, that the rules are in place because someone has violated them in the past. Some are there for the protection of the campground ( e.g. requirements for insurance) in case you destroy something. Some are headscratchers (certain hours for freshwater fill). Some are missing and needed: NO EXCESSIVELY BARKING DOGS!
I wonder if that’s when lawn sprinklers run & it could decrease pressure too much.
I think that’s when there is a common area water source and you have to drive over to refill your tanks. Keeps it quiet for the folks near the water spigots.
Fresh water refill rules make sense. People, do you realize the entire West has been in a long term drought and not only the reservoirs but the aquifer is being drained?? Several states get their water for power and agriculture entirely from the Colorado River. Too many people at a CG drawing water at the same time for optional purposes (1) results in NO WATER PRESSURE and (2) possibly violates state-imposed rationing orders.
Maybe decreases water pressure in the showers?
I’d find another place to stay, there’s nothing there that would indicate courteous, friendly staff.
These rules cause me to laugh. How about rules for no screaming and no barking and keep dogs on leash six foot or shorter? I don’t scream, and my dog ignores everyone. How about a refund for being quiet and picking up dog poop?
Agreed Lorelei! What if we pick up someone else’s dog poop? Do we get a reward?
I don’t use public pools, I guess the rule about intentional urinating and defecating in the pool explains why!
I don’t go where there are pools and wouldn’t use them. People are too crude. I just go where I can walk my dog on trails and such. I would like to see the rules enforced, whatever they may be. For example, if the rules say no dog barking, then I don’t want to hear non-stop barking. Aren’t I just silly?
Recently at a rally one of the club members showed up 15 minutes early and they wanted $35 extra to check in early. Needless to say they will never go back.
Sadly, I don’t think RV parks or campgrounds care if people never come back because they have so much business, they don’t have to care.
Exactly they’ll say oh well next!
Rules are made up for those who can’t THINK common sense on their feet! Unfortunately, there are too many out there! How about-NO outside lights after 10PM, that would be awesome!
Yes! Totally agree!!!!
One campground we will never go to, no bicycles,tricycles,scooters, or any other wheeled toy allowed in the campground. And no motorcycles. I travel with my bikes and motorcycle for transportation. So much for keeping the kids occupied.
Teach the kids good CG manners (consideration for others) or you can’t come back next year
Yes. Please teach the kids good manners period.
Have to work at a campground to understand. The real campers are fading away. There is two rules that is missing:
No sex in the bathrooms
Do not take the split rail fence apart so you can impale through a goat as a spit to cook over a open fire pit in front of other campers.
So much more we had encountered.
When I see a list of rules this long, I move on to the next site.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaa
Glad have my own place to park my RV.
Sad to say, most such rules spring up because someone actually did something stupid or entitled and when called out on it, protested that there wasn’t anything in the rules prohibiting such behavior. So. . . .
exactly
Insight from someone with experience… as a camp owner, that is. Thanks, Andy. Have a good evening. 😀 –Diane
If I arrive early at a park and they want extra to check in I just wait until time, then check in Most will forget the early check-in time if it is under an hour,
We do $3.00 an hour, for early in or late out, which goes to our fundraisers for the MS Society, Pinky Swear, and RMHC which our youngest grandson was at for 2 weeks at the start of covid. They helped our family, so we are trying to do what we can to help them.
A campground got burned for each of those situations. But adding rules can be tricky. Unless you enforce the rules as written on everyone, no exceptions. they will be useless. And if you do exactly enforce rules as written, the campground is going to lose good repeat customers. In most campgrounds the owner only needs a few rules:
Good repeat customers are not the culprits, in fact they will be appreciative and spread the word… the CG will benefit
Sometimes I’ve found that some seasonals, who think they are somehow entitled to special treatment, to be the worst violators and they get away with it.
“treat the place like it is your home – leave it how you found it” – Have you seen the way some people live? Maybe that’s part of the problem – they are treating it like it is their home.
“respect everyone and everyone’s property – what you and your kids/pets do matters” -Only to them. They don;t care about other people.
If it’s not illegal how do they enforce the rules, without fully refunding the money you paid to use their facility. I’ll bet they haven’t thought of that, if they are evicting you because you violated a rule they’re going to have to refund your money in full. They’ll balk at that idea.
No, if you violate your contract with them they may be able to keep all the monies paid. Depends how things are written. However, if I’m the owner dealing with the person that threatened someone with a firearm and was too dumb to just call police and tried to deal with it myself, I’ll give them a full refund! 😉 🙂
Rules are only put in place due to the STUPID and INCONSIDERATE things people have done.
Well, it had to happen. Good for that “small campground” to stand up to careless, inconsiderate treatment by entitled RVers … I am guessing these are newbies who have no idea of campground courtesy, or think the campground is an extension of their own home…
Those “newbies” must be new to life and living then because not only do they have no idea of campground courtesy, or think the campground is an extension of their own home, they are that way in stores, restaurants, anywhere in public really.
I wonder if there are animal breeding pool defecators out there.
A keen observer of the human race would probably say “yes”.
Ha ha! Well, the last four rules sound familiar!! The one we’re at now is actually a nice, quiet little park. More space and cleaner sites than others in the area. It has the nicest dog park we’ve ever seen which includes a bin of toys for the pups to use. From what I’ve read and seen, the rules are enforced particularly the speed limit. As dry as it is here, we appreciate it, as we don’t want flying dust all over us or our food when cooking out simply because someone drives too fast. Most rules are in place for a reason, even though they may seem a little over the top sometimes.
Rule #3 is a result of rule #14.
Those darned Catch 22s.
The number of rules continues to increase because our society continues to crumble. We allow people to act the fool so they won’t be “Offended” by our common sense. Lawyers make their fortunes supporting these fools.
One rule should cover it all, Don’t Be Stupid.
🙂 Yep. Problem is that too many no longer know or care what stupid behavior is.
Unfortunately true.
First thing you have to do is define “Stupid”. It covers a whole lot of territory.
imagine how many pages that might fill……
We almost stayed at a campground here in AZ that had a rule that says you must be inside your RV by 10:00 PM
No one was allowed outside after that time even to just sit quietly in your campsite
Glad we read that rule before we agreed to stay
I recently stayed at a Forest Preserve campground that locked the gate at 10pm sharp. Didn’t say that on their website ahead of time, or even at check in. But there was a sign next to the gate warning that the ranger would lock it for the night at 10 and there would be no in or out until 6am and sure enough they came and locked it every night. On the one hand I can understand locking the property up, but locking people in and out who are already checked in kind of sucks, and they DEFINITELY should have put that on the website and told people at check in. I’m sure that ends up catching people off guard and forcing them to find somewhere to park overnight and then hike back to the campground.
You are able to leave you just can’t get back in till morning, (Tire Rippers). I keeps traffic down at night. I like it.
We have State Campgrounds around here who lock the gates both in and out at 8 PM.
What happens with locked gates if there is an emergency and someone needs to get to a hospital or something? Or an ambulance can’t get in.That is scary.
Sadly, I think every one of those rules were the result of someone “testing” the boundaries. Like the author, I’ve come across a few head scratchers so I ask for the backstory:
No cooking on the picnic benches – Careless camper had grease drippings burn the bench and blamed the park for allowing it.
No stakes in the ground – Camper wanted to avoid their fake grass carpet from blowing away so they staked it down. Some of their stakes went into sprinkler lines….
No RV’s in the tent camping sites – Yes, an RV owner considered the dry camping rate the same as a tent camping rate so the tent site is the same as a dry camp RV site.
No tow-in coaches – A camper “down on his luck” was allowed to tow his dead coach to a site. Once there for a day or two, the disingenuous traveler disclosed he had no money for repairs and needed “help” with the rent. Evidently it took them months to evict him. He towed it to another park…..
Love your comments under rules. I totally agree. And now new rules on storage places on less than 10 years old. I mean we trade ours every 3 years. But still that is another dumb rule. I love the clean the whole bathroom if you use it. Wow, that’s a new one. Look forward to more of your stories.
Who can afford a new rig every 3 years? Looke at the prices of new ones?
We once read a sign at a really nice private pool in San Miguel that translated to .. “We don’t swim in your toilet, so please don’t per in our pool”. 👼
welcome to our ool…notice that there is no p in our pool, please keep it that way
Thank you, Nanci! Once again it becomes clear that I don’t get out much. 😉 Nope, never seen anything like these rules. My goodness! I had my heart set on breeding animals at my next stop, but it might not be allowed. =:O Bummer! 😉
Rules! Who cares about rules? Rarely if ever enforced at campgrounds as they do not have enough campground hosts to worry about something so petty as “The Rules”!Besides it might make a guest mad. Heaven forbid that happens! I don’t care about no stinkin RULES. Remember it’s All About Me and what I want!
#5: Scientifically, humans are animals. I suggest that during breeding one makes sure the rig is stable so as not to cause concern or be an annoyance.
The world needs one more lawyer!
Last summer, the pool at the park we were at had a sign on the gate that read, “anyone who has experienced diarrhea in the past 48 hours is prohibited from using the pool”. It was a LOL moment for sure.
That is required signage in California, but 2 weeks not 48 hours.
Xctraveler, thanks for that info. Every public pool in California has a mandatory sign. We were in Montana when i saw the one i referred to, so maybe just a bad incident but good to know Re:Cali, we’ll be in California this summer for 5 weeks and the park has a pool. (A clean pool) 👌
don’t make them laugh…an unfortunate accidental slick may appear
A ‘friend’ got caught peeing in the pool. The life guard yelled at him so loud he almost fell in.
Bwahaha 🤣 -made my Wednesday!
Thanks to Becca Ray for reminding me I was going to respond to your comment, Impavid. Got interrupted when I was going to reply then forgot to get back to it. Yes, I agree with Becca Ray: 😂😂😂 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
Thanks for the laughs! Some of those are pretty funny, but driven, I would guess, by the huge recent increase in obnoxious and uncaring people that seem to be infiltrating campgrounds nowadays. While many here cannot imagine why these rules would be in print, it’s probably because the campground has had issues with the behavior and needs something written, whether read or not, to have firm footing to give these people the boot they deserve.
Last fall an RV Park north of Austin, TX, where we were staying all of about 12 hours overnight, required us to provide photo ID prior to arrival, proof of insurance, and upon arrival sign what appeared to be their “permanent tenant” small print multi-page contract! It took me a half hour sitting at a desk just to read everything thoroughly and check in! I will say that it was a very orderly, neat, safe, and clean RV Park, especially considering it was about 99% permanents! Maybe they have the right idea.
Rest assured they have either been sued or threatened with a lawsuit, and they are covering their ass. there are no rules that apply to the Campground.
No smoking
I think some of these things are because such as registration and insurance required is due to people who are living in there rv and squat with rvs that are not road worthy. Most of this well all I can say is it’s an rv park (aka. Rv breeding grounds) I boondock and never go past The western states. More people more problems. I understand people with these huge land yachts have to have a place to park. This is unfortunately what happens in over crowded RV parks. Try campgrounds instead of an RV park that is if yoir rig will fit, and you dont mind dry camping instead of glamping. There is a beautiful thing and it’s called boycotting these places. Where there is demand owners get what they want, so stop going to these places, money talks when you dont have it coming in then hey then I guess they’ll get the gist. Camping should be a happy relaxed thing not more problems, there is enough of that in this world already don’t add to it just avoid these ridiculous places.
We spent a year in an RV park in Arlington, WA, with a set of rules that were ridiculous. The rules filled four or five pages, single spaced, and for the brave few that were there for a short stay or overnight would be forced to spend 30 – 45 minutes checking in because they actually made them sit in the office and read the rules. The owner told us his lawyer had written them up. Absolutely NO bike riding was allowed in the park. I rode my bike to work, and innocently rode from the entrance to our trailer and they almost threw us out of the park for doing so. For several months I had to walk my bike about a quarter mile to the entrance before I could get on. Our neighbors were given a citation for having two spatulas hanging from their bbq grill. Yep… apparently that was against the rules.
The interesting thing about the rules in this park, though, was that after watching for many months, we realized that the owner’s friends didn’t have to follow the rules!
I am sure there is a reason but if it was THAT BAD… why would you stay there an entire year???
There are alot of “dumb” rules but as more “corporations” buy campgrounds the attorneys get involved. Campgrounds using Camp Spot has a rules list that is so long you can tell some attorney wrote it, but everybody has to sign it. Even the campground hosts admit its kind of a joke. But there are some “dumb” rules that actually do have a good reason behind them. To use one of your examples… “Must be over 18 to enter camp store without an adult”. We have seen this and asked and the reason was that they sell alcohol and by state law they cannot allow minors in the store without an adult.
It’s a shame that campgrounds have to cover their behinds because of the rudeness of people nowadays. Don’t stay at a park if you don’t like the rules – that’s why you travel on wheels😄
I stopped using paid campgrounds decades ago. The rates skyrocketed because apparently everyone is rich and just loves giving their hard earned money away for nothing. Now look, you can’t even use your generator to run your home and watch television (just like you never went camping) 🤣
I’ll stick to my primitive camping life away from all of the lunatics that suckered you into laying up an arm and a leg.
It really makes you wonder what people have done in the past to make park owners have these rules. I completely agree with the if you leave your campsite a mess you are going to have to pay. Wish state parks would use that one!
We have been camping our entire lives and I even wrote an illustrated book called “Karen goes Camping”. I list our family camping rules in the book like nobody has to shave and burping and farting are encouraged… the louder the better, women don’t have to wear make up and you can eat junk food & cuss. Our rules make camping FUN! We have been Workamping for the last five years too and have definitely seen so many more rules and restrictions. Your article is great and funny. Thanks for sharing!
I’m a truck driver and over the past decade the areas that used to be trucker friendly have dropped substantially. Why? Because of the entitled attitude and disregard for rules and and disrespect for property. How can you be surprised by the rules in a society where today’s travelers don’t care about the consequences of their physical foot print left behind? Just pay attention to drivers on the highway. People are more concerned about reading their text then watching what’s going on around them. Signs say left lane closed 1 mile ahead, so the entitled idiots race to the lane closure and force themselves in (I bet they force themselves when they have sex), causing longer back ups. Campgrounds are out to make money first! If someone is offended by the rules don’t give them your money. Because of probably one idiot, these rules have been written. It’s no different than our laws, which were written to protect life and property. Poop or get off the toilet!
It’s called zipper merge. It’s the proper way to merge. Some places may be different but it works where I’m from, no back ups or bottlenecks. https://www.tranbc.ca/2013/01/02/how-to-merge-safely-on-a-highway/?fbclid=IwAR3Di554ASrTrtGtMHqLiaavfVkpC4CraviECLUWhBKtaqnJk8GDtfn9WWc
I worked in an RV resort over the winter, and I thought the most ridiculous rule is that they did not allow Class B RVs. They allowed cheap little pull behind trailers, not that I find anything wrong with them, but they didn’t allow quarter million dollar Class Bs. Management, who knew absolutely nothing about RVs, insisted that Class B’s don’t have plumbing. Despite my sharing websites showing the interiors of a variety of Class Bs including those that they told the owners they couldn’t stay, they refused to budge. So meanwhile they allowed all kinds of cheap little trailers, and hey, I love those so that’s not a complaint, but to prohibit those very spendy Class B RVs, which actually have more facilities in them than some of the small trailers? It made zero sense.
Unfortunately with the new batch of campers the last few years, rules have to be spelled out. They really don’t know what they can and can’t do. Moreover, law enforcement won’t help unless there’s a rule stating you can’t do a thing. REAL LIFE EXAMPLE: I’m a camp host in a National Forest. When I visited my day use/boat launch area to close it for the evening, I found drunks who had driven off the pavement, into the woods, and set up camp. They refused to leave. I called the sheriff dept (who I learned had already visited these guys earlier due to a domestic abuse call–they were drunk fighting). I asked the cops to come help get these guys out. The deputy said “is there a sign saying no camping?” I answered “no”. He said then they can camp there. I responded that signs say “Day Use Area – open dawn until dusk” and “No parking overnight” and “area closes at sunset”, meaning these imply there isn’t camping here. He said if it doesn’t say “no camping” then there’s not a rule
That seems ridiculous for the deputy to say that. But I believe it. Some of them seem to be afraid of making the offenders mad.
Then there are those occasional law enforcement facilities that would benefit from a box of rocks.
Common sense has been replaced by a sense of entitlement that makes campground owners spell out the rules. It used to be that people understood freedom isn’t possible without responsibility. The tourons are ruining it for everyone else.
When the Golden Rule of “treating others the way you want to be treated” is no longer followed, you can expect a proliferation of ridiculously specific “rules and regs for dummies” will be the result.
Pulled into my campground and new owner told me you can’t stay anymore. I have a nice homemade camper. I have stayed at this campground 25 years. New owner bought in fall of previous year. I stayed that fall while he owned it. He said my camper was not rvia inspected. I have owned several motorhomes & pull behinds. The reason I have a homemade camper is because the store bought ones fell apart. ( roof leaks ). While out camping we seen a nice campground. They told us that if your camper is over 5 years old you can’t stay. I have also heard 7 & 10 years. My camper has full coverage insurance. They would pay for it and any damages it caused just like on highway. This may cause people to stop camping in the future. Who wants to keep a 5 year or new camper all the time. They cost a lot.
These campgrounds that put an age limit on campers are just a roadside HOA.
I recently took a trip from KY to WA for a concert at The Gorge Amphitheater. On our way we stayed at a hot springs campground in Montana or Idaho. I forget. But the one rule I found totally odd was that we couldn’t put out a rug beneath our step. The spot was gravel so there was no danger of destroying grass. And the rule did not specify the size of rug. Very odd.
Call it a fine, but I’m hardly surprised at a CG charging early or late check-in fees, although an immediate charge of $25 seems excessive. A lot of the rules seem to be another case of what should be common sense ending up having to be stated-pouring grease on the ground, speeding, trying to control excessive lighting etc. And yes, you probably should know whether you’re pulling a 30 amp or 50 amp rv, so you don’t start complaining when you can’t run both ACs off of or can’t plug into your 30 amp service
On the campground rules it sounds like these parks don’t like people… they don’t want to see or hear them.
Don’t get me wrong, rules are needed but to me camping is very much a social event.
Everywhere we go, you talk to other campers, visit and hang out.
The campground that has the rules about tidiness and keeping clean… are in the wrong business! As long as your stuff(bikes, totes, etc) isn’t over flowing into another campsite and you are not bothering anyone…. Who cares!
But that is just me.