By Nanci Dixon
Do campground owners think we like to be squashed together? For the second time in a row, we are piled in like sardines in an almost-empty campground, lined up like soldiers—while across from us is an entirely empty row.
Last night we were packed in one after another in the middle of the campground. Around us, wide and vacant were the rest of the sites. I had been delighted with our campsite until the RVs started pulling in and I could easily reach across the aisle to meet my neighbor.
Today I had requested an end passenger side site and the escort was raving about how nice and roomy it was. I agreed, although the chief advantage was that there was a fence on the passenger side shielding us from the dusty roadway.
All roominess disappeared as RV after RV was escorted down the row in that horrendous pattern of butt to nose. (Rear end of RV to the front of adjacent RV). One RV after another rolled in while the sites behind us and in front remained empty.
What’s up with that, campground owners?
What is up with that? Don’t they know we RVers would prefer to have a little space? Is it just easier to book that way? Does it cost less somehow?
In the meantime, I am glad our neighbors pulled down their shades. They must have figured out I was looking at their dinette trying to see what they were having for dinner. I hope they pull down their bathroom shades soon….
##RVT1070
We spent a few days at a campground we like in Steamboat Springs, CO last week. We drop in here a few times a year. No more, campground bought out by a corporation which turned this pleasant place into cabins, lodges and paved parking spaces so tight one is able to watch the neighbor’s cat.
Many years ago we drove to Battle Mountain, NV to attend the first (and last!) Armpit Festival. A local truck stop had just installed an RV park attached to it. We drove in and rented a site. The RV park was relatively large, and there was only one other trailer there. We went to find our site, and guess what. Yup, they had us right next door to that one other party. I drove back to the office (the same office/mini-mart that ran the trucker’s fuel island, gas station and mini-mart sales. And the RV park!). Obviously, the guy running all this had no clue how to run an RV park but agreed to change our spot. I explained why I wanted a different site. It must have stuck with him because those who came in after us were spread around the park. Oh, and now it seems to have been turned into full-time living.
We stayed at a RV Park in FL for about a year and a half while I finished a contract. We used to make this same observation over and over again. We could not understand why the management kept piling RVs together instead of spreading them out since there were plenty of open spaces. It always intrigued us but we never asked. Our little bit of interaction with the management and staff proved to us that they either didn’t care or weren’t competent. We are out of there now and feel a little bit sorry for those who are stuck there dealing with it.
Close campsites are nothing new. It’s been that way for a long time and now with so many people camping it will not get any better. The only solution is more campgrounds or less people camping. Neither is happening. So many people have tried to get their cities to allow them to build a campground to be told NO. So if we want to travel in our RVs this is going to be more the norm. Many campgrounds are trying to ease the over crowding by adding more sites but then that means closer together.
This wasn’t about a crowded campground. It was about an empty campground where the few RVs were squeezed next to each other, leaving the rest of the campground…empty. Most people understand that if the campground is crowded, that is what you get, but that was not the case here.
Not defending the campgrounds but, maybe some of them somehow shutdown unused sections. I don’t know how they could do it unless they have master shutoffs for each row of sites. I can see how with the EV craze some may be sneaking in after the office is closed and recharging EVs for free.
The same exact thing happened to us in the KOA in Benson, AZ. Empty rows and newly arriving RV’s of all sizes parked close to each other. First time at KOA but decided to try another this time outside of OK City. Fortunately it was a nice park with a nice amount of space for a corporate park.
Nanci,
The pictures included in your posting appear to be pretty typical spacing in most campground. I tend to agree with you that “slides” are making campground sites feel tighter.
>>In the meantime, I am glad our neighbors pulled down their shades. They must have figured out I was looking at their dinette trying to see what they were having for dinner. I hope they pull down their bathroom shades soon….
Didn’t your rig come with shades?
Something to consider here is that most campgrounds are well over 20 years old. While cars used to be bigger the average trailer was much smaller resulting in more space between than we have today. With sewer, water and electric lines plus landscaping, park owners cannot just create wider spaces. As for space utilization, certain spaces better accommodate certain trailers (length, slide outs, etc) and still to arrive guests may account for some of those empty sites. Granted, management should always do their best to put the guest’s experience first.
If that bothers you then hope you never get assigned a spot in the old section at Fishing Bridge RV park in Yellowstone. The new section is all level paved sites with utilities on the proper side and a picnic table but for the same price you can get assigned a spot in the old section with no privacy and play armrest battle of the middle seat. One night I came back to find my neighbors set up their grill in my site and the next night that was replaced with the car of the other new arrival.
There are lazy clerks who simply pass out sites in sequence, it helps them easily keep track of what rows are full; just like hostesses who pack people into restaurants at back-to-back tables . They could not care less about your experience.
I have stopped letting them give me random sites; I (kindly) ask for something level, that has some ‘elbow room’, saying I don’t want to stare at the back of someone else’s unit, unless it’s so crowded that it’s necessary. It usually works well. If they balk and insist on crowding you, don’t pay for the whole stay, pay for one night, leave in the morning.
Depending on the campground, you may have luck telling the check in clerk that you will be practicing your trombone or like to watch loud football or have an aggressive pitbull, so they want to give you extra space. You’ll either get a great site or evicted.
Lol! That’s another way to go. But with my luck they would site me next to the folks with 3 pit bulls!
Yep, we have experienced the same thing several times. I have no idea why they don’t spread people out when plenty of spaces are an available.
Restaurants are the same…go during a time when they aren’t packed so you can “distance” from others, and everyone is stuffed into one area. Even during the height of Covid! Back to back so you can feel the seat move everytime the person on the other side moves and pushes against the seat so you can hear every word of their conversation and they yours.
At campgrounds I try to choose “corner lots”, where my door opens out to…a fence. That’s why I look at campground maps, and try to choose carefully.
Restaurants: If you don’t expect a full house on a particular night, the vacant area does not have to be cleaned and reset and servers are not running all over the place. I would expect that once an area in a park is cleaned up, why not leave it that way until it is needed? It makes sense to me.
If you are paying $50-$100 for a nice meal in a restaurant with lots of empty tables, you are entitled to not have to be jammed in tight and have to listen to every word of the conversation at the next table. If owners are more concerned about keeping their restaurant tidied up so they can close early, than in people having a good time, I hope they get the return business they deserve.
The same goes for paying $45 a night and having to look at someone elses waste valve instead of being spread out around an empty campground.
I MOST see this effect when only one section has certain amenities… say, power or water hookups. I’ve sometimes offered to downgrade from a “full” site to a roomier generator site, and they oblige since they can rent more sites.
Could also be a matter of how many 50/30 amp pull thrus and/or back ins are available and which type site the guests needs. Also, site maintenance is sometimes an issue (even though they may not look like they need maintenance).
This article was published last year. I suspect the site issues were occurring before that and they are certainly still evident today. It seems campers are “people persons” and if not, they are destined to become such! I am definitely not a fan of being ten feet from my neighbor either but that neighbor could be an old acquaintance or might become a new friend! Last week we watched a neighbor pull into a site a mere ten feet from our steps. It was a couple we had met eight years prior! Although we have kept in touch we hadn’t seen them in eight years. If one chooses to be a camper then one could also choose to find a positive along with the negative.
Be careful you’re treading on thin ice when you criticize something someone has written, you could be reprimanded for that. Lol
You can’t expect a home run every time. I look at as similar to eating at new restaurant. It’s always a roll of the dice. Might be great, just what you wanted. Or, might be disappointing so I ain’t goin’ back. Also, good reviews can be fiction.
Yep. KOA Nov 1, 2023. Was able to say good morning to my neighbor in his boxer shorts. An entire row opposite us was empty.
Why? The same thing happens when we go out to eat. Last week at Chili’s , the restaurant was almost empty and the hostess piled everyone into one dining area. Understaffed. NO, 3 other waitresses stood around and did nothing
Once they parked an RV right next to us, when he put out his slide it came within 6 inches of our RV. I demanded to move one of us. Ended in a better site for the event.
FMCA rallies premeasure their sites before anyone shows up. They are set at 20 ft x 45 ft. Seems to work out. Easier holds the big Class A’s and their toweds.
While staying at the KOA @ Sam’s Town in Las Vegas we were one of possibly 20 RV’s in the 100+ sites. We were lucky enough to have long term campers on both sides of us for the entire week. In addition we had shrubs blocking our door entry and due to the close sights we couldn’t even open our awning to block the hot sun.
Vowed after that trip to never support that business in the future.
In campgrounds and restaurants it makes cleanup easier to group customers. My wife and I recently went to a higher end restaurant for her birthday. They put us in a 2 top table between 2 other tables. We were so close we could hear every word our neighbours said even though they were practically whispering, very uncomfortable. I asked if we could be moved and the attendant said no, they were full even though there were several tables empty the entire time we ate. Stroked off our list of dining options. We’ve eliminated a few campgrounds for the same reason. I think if you ask and the establishment refuses to accommodate, they are fair game for a public review.
I’ve been in campgrounds where I couldn’t put my slideout all the way out or use my awning. All of the “sites” were like this. It was like an RV storage lot. Hookups were shared between multiple RVs, first come, first served. I’m glad it was one of the free promotion campgrounds after I purchased my RV, as I would NEVER pay for a campground like this. I’ll certainly never go there ever again. Very sad because it was within a short walking distance of the Pacific Ocean shoreline and enjoy the ocean.
When we got to Lyons Ferry KOA at Starbuck, WA we were placed at a spot on top of a hill that had a great view overlooking the Marina and the Snake river. It was late afternoon and we were the only ones in that section of the park. We were looking forward to having dinner and enjoying the sunset view. As I was getting out the BBQ to prepare for dinner I noticed a staff member heading for the site next to us. I greeted him and he said “you’ve got new neighbors” and proceeded to park a behemoth Class A right next to us, completely blocking our view. We literally could see nothing of the view.
I packed up the BBQ and we spent the night watching TV.
That was 20 years ago. Won’t go back
Lol, I call them ‘block the sun’ rigs. Their only upside is sometimes they cast great shade in a treeless park.
Great article Nanci..we write those campgrounds off and tell fellow campers about our experience. Total greed and lack of experience and empathy. We have asked ourselves, would ” they” appreciate this service? Of course answer is no. Sooner (the better) or later this greed will not be tolerated and business will fail. Yes, we’ve experienced having slides within inches of a neighbor, or a slide over a picnic table. ONCE is all it took. We also keep a list, as fulltimers we have documented every detail, diesel, price, attractions, space, etc.
God speed. Lois
My wife and I travel by RV for adventure, we take the good with the bad. One problem, older RV campgrounds were developed before folks were driving and towing park model rigs as in the photo. 16-feet was an average size camper and if you had a 20-foot camper, you were one of the big ones. Not 40+foot rigs with slide rooms on both sides and an awning attached to the slide room needing near residential electrical power to power these rigs too. Some campgrounds were never intended to be trailer parks.
Good article. We usually camp at State Parks or County Parks. We rarely camp at an RV Resort. The State Parks and County Parks don’t have a lot of amenities, like a swimming pool, tennis court or other things. But they do have nature and trails, and some of them have lakes and rent boats to go fishing in. Those are the kind of parks that we like.
all about the $$$
Yikes!?
That place actually looks like there’s decent space there. You should see where we go!
I am not sure how you book your Campground lots but I can tell you from our experiences. We thoroughly research each Campground we stay at prior to booking there. That includes looking at the Campgrounds Map, and/or viewing Google Maps of the Campground. We research Online Reviews and if we have any questions about “lot size”, we call them! If you are unhappy with the lot sizes you get, then you haven’t done your “due diligence” on that particular Campground! So that’s on you.
I see this as being similar to when out for a nice dinner, the host/hostess so often will try to seat us at an undesirable table…..often right by the kitchen door or restrooms. Last night we were at a nice Italian restaurant that was not especially busy being this is the slow time here on the CA coast, I asked for a table near the fireplace. The host offered us a table off to the side where we could not `even see the fire! I never hesitate to tell them that I would prefer that table vs. the one offered.
Thank you, Nanci! Sorry about the enforced congestion. 🙁
We need to start leaving negative reviews for campgrounds that pull this kind of stunt. A lot of national parks & state parks will pack a section “A” of the campground before opening up section “B”.
It’s why we avoid staying at private RV parks as much as possible. When in the Northwest, we stay in the wonderful state parks that don’t crowd us. But, looking at it from the campground owner’s viewpoint, it only makes sense to maximize the use of space. It equals profitability and staying in business.
We stayed at a park in OK where our awning went over a fence into the next campsite. Plus, they started digging up the area right behind our rv. If we had arrived a little later, we would not have been able to get into our campsite – and the place was full!
I quite enjoy your sense of humour!
I visited a campground in Challis, Idaho for many years. The great owner, Bob passed away, then things went totally down-hill.
I pulled in to an empty campground and told the (X#@#*) person which site I had enjoyed before. Nope, can’t do that.
He put me under a tree with birds covering my rig with you-know-what, no Dish service.Grrrr. Then to top it off put another couple right next to me in an empty campground.
I haven’t given them any of my $$$$ since.
The older-passed-away owner would be soooo pissed..
Oh well, plenty of other hot spring owner campgrounds who know how to treat your money-makers….And friends, if only for a day or so…