If you’ve been RVing for a long time, there’s a good chance (a very good chance) you’ve had some not-so-great campsite, or campground, neighbors. Are we right? You’re out in nature with strangers, how could something not go wrong? (We’re being a little bit sarcastic here—most campsite neighbors are wonderful!)
Can you recall a time you had to leave a campground due to bad behavior of another camper or campers? Do you remember exactly what happened or what was said that made you leave? Oh, pretty please leave a comment after you vote and tell us about it. We want to hear! And we hope it never happens to you, or anyone else, again!
On the Washington Coast, Kalaloch…Some clown left a cardboard box on the picnic table, showed up in the dark and said it was his spot.
He was on something and out of his mind, and kept coming back. The rangers should have called the sheriff, but didn’t.
Not a fun night.
Another ranger let us move to a closed area to get away from this wacko.
Of course the next day a new ranger wanted to know what we were doing in a closed area and tossed us out even after telling him the whole story.
Don’t think we have ever been back to the NPS coastal campgrounds since.
We were boondocking for the night in a Sam’s club when around midnight a large group of cars and drivers pulled in and started street racing. After 30-40 minutes I slide into the drivers seat and went to a different parking lot. Don’t know how long the crowd kept their party going but it was a zoo.
No. We only stay in private rv parks or sometimes state parks where there is on-site owners or hosts. If a camper is behaving badly, we report it and let them deal with the situation.
We were at a campground over the 4th of July. We had a new class C motor home. The campground let other campers light fireworks off in the park, at their site. We were concerned that they might land on the roof of the motor home so we packed up and left.
No… but came really close to leaving a few times.
Not yet.
We had leased a spot in a seasonal campground in Western New York and had a neighbor who drank a lot one time when we pulled in and we were 6 inches too close to the property line, we were setting up and he was out there with his tape measure. He got belligerent and started to argue. I moved our trailer and our other neighbors called the cops because they thought he was going to get violent with us. We ended up selling our lot.
Didn’t leave the provincial campground but moved as far as possible as the neighbors to the first spot played music extremely loud.
Same here. We have changed sites, not campgrounds. Glad another site was available.
Woke up one morning to the sounds of ax throwing practice behind my site. Decided that once the Tennessee-Alabama game started and the drinking entered full drunk mode, I would be better off looking for another place to stay even though it was a Saturday. Good move since Tennessee won and I am sure the campground mayhem was at record levels. Actually found a site in a different state campground.
We never came in contact with a bad neighbor. We just camp simple, and enjoy. Sorry for those who have, must be terrible.
No but I had a skoolie removed (and arrested) from a campground. When they arrived I suspected there would be problems with them and the huge speakers mounted on the roof. Yep shortly after the bars closed at 2 am the speakers powered up at warp factor 10. About 10 min later the RCMP arrived, since no one was sober enough to drive they all got to go to jail for the night and the bus was towed.
Grumpy Canuck eh!!
That’s beautiful.
Camping at a local lake when we pulled in late. Out of state person along with his group parked around our site. Decided he wanted our spot to set up his outside sunshade. Erected it 4 inches away from our RV. Then while boating on the lake left his radio blasting music at our camper while they were out. The camp host didn’t want to confront them and didn’t have another campsite available. His kids regularly walked thru our site while I tried to cook and when they started drinking under the sunshade I had enough. Had to remove their tent to get my RV out, which pissed them off. Have never gone back to that lake though I used to pass it constantly on my trips to Salt Lake.
It was never confirmed if he was a camper or not, there was only one other trailer in the section we were in and it wasn’t his. This man spent nearly the entire day hanging out by the bathrooms on the womens side. It was near our site and when we complained the rangers said they would look into it but nothing changed. He just made us uncomfortable the way he would stare at anyone outside their camper. We left after the second day, we were planning on touring the area but didn’t want to leave our site unattended or felt comfortable with him there.
Nope. Have not and will not leave. Next morning pay backs are hell.
Like your Thinking!!
Ha That’s my attitude too
My wife and I were tent camping at Lake Whitney state park. There were only about three other campers in our section and we were all spaced well apart. ( back when it was first come first served). As we were finishing breakfast two vehicles rumbled in and parked next to our site. We decided to leave after overhearing the young man tell his young girlfriend that they had to travel at night. Otherwise her daddy would catch them. We packed up and went to another state park.
No. But only because we out-waited the other party to move or be moved. Glad we are retired and didn’t have younger kids with us.
No, but only because we don’t stay in campgrounds very often, for that very reason. You do meet a lot of nice people, but it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the whole experience. We are set up for long term boondocking & enjoy the peace & quiet of staying in the wild.
I have not had to do this but I am aware of more than one situation that occured at our membership park meeting recently. One “park member” became so highly agitated because he didn’t like the way the park was being run, where he actually verbally & physically threatened a board member & had to be restrained by two men who stepped in front of him to prevent the guy from approaching the board member. RV’ing to me is a great way to relax & enjoy the life style so I have difficulty understanding people acting this way.
55 years ago when camping with my parents and some friends, we were in a campground in the National Forest in Idaho, and after we had dinner this truck pulls up to a vacant campsite, then a bit later sheriff cars come and they get out with rifles and both our friends and us decided it was time to get out of there quickly which we did.
I have never left a campground due to having ignorant neighbors. A visit to the owners usually takes care of the problem. If not, a call to 911 does.
There was a large gathering , they essentially overwhelmed and took over the county park. No enforcement ever seen.- many campsites, people walking everywhere, through every campsite, through our site, between the table and chairs, loud parties late into the night.
We packed up and left.
I never left due to another camper, but there are several I will not return to due to bad attitudes of employees and management, behavior of the full-timers, or the overall neighborhood.
Our second camping trip in our first RV ended a day early when a group of young men in 3 cars showed up at our USFS cg. and tried to camp in the empty site next to ours. The host made them move to two empty sites in another loop. Despite a countywide fire ban, they built a huge bonfire and loudly partied until 1:00 am. At that point, we heard 3 “firecrackers” that woke us up. When we pulled out at 7:30 the next morning (a day before our reservation ended), a deputy sheriff stopped us at the exit and asked us if we had heard anything during the night. We told him “fireworks” about 1:00 am. He let us go, but TV news said a 20 y-o male had been shot to death “playing Russian roulette”. BS!
While we have never left early because of someone else’s behavior, we have posted a bad review. This was not because of the behavior so much as the management refusal to enforce their own printed rules. Fortunately we had only reserved two nights. We never stayed at that place again even though it was an area we frequented often because it was just a few hours from our home. Does leaving a WalMart count? Did that once.
We once moved sites due to bad neighbors. The campground office was aware of their unacceptable behavior.
No, but we’ve participated in the removal of other RVers/campers who were behaving badly.
I answered No, but while I didn’t leave the campground, I did decide to sequester myself inside rather than be subjected to a fellow bad camper.
Not for campers but a host that was next to us. He got agitated as our dog, on a cable leash, was reacting to children tormenting him from the street and we got the brunt of it. Another host came over and calmed the neighbor host down. We had been regulars at this campground so the other host knew us but we left early, agitated ourselves for getting the 3rd degree, and have not been back.
We had to leave a campground in Seward Alaska because of our legal running generator that our neighbors didn’t like. They turned it off several times even after camp manager told them it was legal to operate. The manager was nice enough to refund our money and help us pack and leave. The campers were obnoxious and rude and made the experience even worse
We once left early because of the bad behavior of the campground owners. They even tried to chase our neighbor out of their site at the end of a long weekend because they hadn’t bothered to see when their check out date was. Signs saying “clean up the bathroom, we’re not your maids”, “keep your hands off the firewood” etc. It was a KOA and went out of business two years later. We never had a run-in with them, but the atmosphere was not pleasant. We moved to a nearby Good Sam.
In the late 90’s, we were in a Black Hills state forest campground, when about 6-8 sites were young people who decided to have a party all night. Their music was playing full blast with lots of yelling. Contacted the campground hosts, but they wouldn’t even go there and quit answering the knocks on their door from other campers. Called the sheriff and they never showed.
The next morning they were all passed out in their tents. While packing up to leave I opened the door of our truck and played rock and roll as loud as possible. Others at their site did the same. Ironically, they partiers didn’t like it when we kept them up. OK, two wrongs don’t make a right, but . . . . .
I had a similar situation but no music from our site in the morning…just started cutting wood loudly, slapping scrap 2X 6 pieces together along with splitting with hatchet. There was a lot of head holding and moaning from the alcohol intake and morning noises coming from camp sites around their site. The beauty to this situation was that the miscreants ran their truck battery down from the partying/ music and could not get the vehicle started. The offenders found no takers for a jump start in the state camp ground that day and had to pay to get the service. Not my finest hour for humanitarian behavior…
Similar experience 2002. We finally got to sleep about 3am. We had miles to put on and got up at 530. We had 4 door speakers, cranked the music. It echoed all throughout campground in Bar Harbor, Maine Acadia national park. As we packed it in ( tent campers) we just figured everyone was enjoying Edinburgh Tattoo. Must have been 140 pipe and drums playing Scotland the brave. The trees rustling & blowing, ocean crashing, it was beautiful
Couple Summers ago, hiding out in the Gunnison area of Colorado, a couple were having a knock down drag out I hate you brawl. The two-camp host didn’t interfere but just called the local sheriff. Sheriff stood-by as the young couple packed up and moved on down the road. Gave the campground crowd entertainment for awhile.