By Nanci Dixon
One of our readers wrote in about Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) camping sites.
Dana M. writes: “Are ADA-accessible RV camp spots to be treated the same as handicap parking spots, with penalties for unauthorized use? Or are they available for use by non-ADA persons the same as restrooms and toilet stalls when unoccupied and available? We recently visited a national park that had numerous accessible sites that I’m pretty sure were occupied by non-ADA campers.”
To answer Dana’s question: It depends.
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 to give people with disabilities the opportunity to access places that were formerly inaccessible and denied to them. It broadens the 1964 Civil Rights Act to be specific about those with disabilities and providing access. ADA sites may have concrete pads, easy access to ADA-compliant restrooms, adjacent to parking, fire pits that are reachable and manageable slopes. For in-depth information on trails, campgrounds, beaches and viewing areas available for government requirements for ADA, click here (pdf booklet).
Policies for camping in an ADA site vary
Some other federal and state policies are that ADA sites can be rented if no other sites are available. One federal campground reservation site reads: “If no one in your party has needs for an accessible site, you may not reserve this site unless this is the only site available at the time of your request.”
South Dakota state parks rules are similar: “Campers can make reservations for accessible campsites online or through the call center by providing their ADA/Handicap Placard ID. Campers without accessible permits can only reserve accessible sites once all other campsites in the campground have been reserved. They will be asked to move should another site become available.”
The regional park I previously hosted at has a policy that the ADA sites can be rented any time.
Book ADA? You may need to move
The risk is that if someone has a need for an ADA site, they may ask you to move. The move may be to a similar site if it becomes available. Someone with an ADA need may have even booked a non-accessible site because that was the only one available at the time. The campers in the ADA site may be asked to swap.
Strict policy
A few years ago, my husband needed electricity for a medical device and the state park we were going to had one electric site. It was an ADA site. I called ahead and found out the rules and the requirements before we started heading there. He was eligible, but needed to show his medical prescription and doctor’s orders in lieu of the ADA placard before we could have the site.
Check ahead of time
Always the best option is to check with the park or rangers ahead of booking so you know their particular rules and policies.
More ADA information
For more information on ADA sites check out ADA Central. For actual compliance information check out ADA.gov.
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RVDT2815
I think the bigger question is “should” you camp at an ADA site if you’re not disabled.
Imagine someone who truly needs the extra accommodation driving through the park to see all ADA sites occupied. Is it their responsibility to ask the camp host to tell the occupant claiming his CPAP supersedes anyone with an actual placard to move? Is it their job to push out the able bodied “it was empty when I got here” crowd? Is that why these sites exist? To add even more burden to the disabled?
Look, I hate seeing premium sites sit empty as much as the next person but I believe if you don’t have a placard, they’re not for you. Don’t be that person.
I think the biggest question is “WHY”.
Are they just lazy, or don’t care?
The H/C spots are there for a reason.
It’s the same with H/C spots in a parking lot. I’ve seen a lot of cars parked in these spots without placards or handicap plates just because they want a spot close to he door.
I have a handicap plate on my car because my disability requires me to open up my car door completely to get in an out. I have had people yell at me that I can’t park in the handicap spot because I don’t have a placard in the window. I also don’t look very disabled once I get out of the car. I tell these people to walk around and look at my plate. That really annoys them.
I do not have a handicap plate on my motorhome. If someone parks close enough to our rig that I can’t open the door, we have more serious problems.
It doesn’t work at Platte River Camp Ground in Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore. I have only been able to reserve an ADA Site twice since 2009. Every time we get there there are young families in the ADA sites without any need for the site. I believe they should double the fee for those sites if you can’t present your placard or didn’t reserve using your Access Pass. Then the fee should be dropped to the normal fee for those who really need the site.
The HC sites should never be rented except to persons having, and can prove it via a plate or Rx, a medical need.
We camp in a USFS CG where the majority of the sites in one loop are accessible, although not HC; there are a few of those too. The HC sites have concrete, the rest of the sites are gravel and level, some more level than others. When the CG was remodeled in the 90s, that’s how they did it. There are a few non-accessible ones, mostly on the hills at the edges of the CG. We would not use a HC site, but in this specific CG, accessible is pretty much the only choice for us, given size/layout of the non-accessible ones. Back in tent camping days, we had one of the non-accessible ones, it had just enough space to park the vehicle and the rest of the site was on the hill.
BTW, we have camped in other CGs, USFS, state parks, etc., where the sites were as level and smooth as the graveled ones in the CG I mention Those were not designated as accessible, so it seems to be a terminology thing on the reservation site. There is no indication of a site being accessible on-site, but the HC sites are definitely labeled.
Never, ever use an ADA spot if you are not disabled. Not only is it rude, but it also reveals to the world what kind of person you are.
At Grand Teton NP, the Gros Ventre campground has most of the sites listed as Handicapped Accessible. It was confusing to make a reservation trying to avoid the H/C designation. When we got to our site it made much more sense. The sites were all level with a concrete pad for your rig and an accessible table. The host mentioned that when remodeled several years ago it was management’s intent to make all sites accessible to maximize occupancy.
We have a motorhome and tow vehicle with wheelchair lifts that need about 8’ of flat surface on the passenger side to deploy. It’s very frustrating when we can’t get a wheelchair accessible site because someone who doesn’t need the wide site has taken it. Just because you have a placard or hidden disability doesn’t mean you should take the ADA site because you can. Only take them if you truly need them.
As the other post says, it’s just rude and inconsiderate.
Just because someone don’t look handicapped don’t mean they aren’t. If you have a handicap placard or license plate then you’re authorized to use a handicap campsite. Us handicap people can reserve a site early like everyone else.