By Cheri Sicard
In an RVtravel.com question, we gave you the chance to rant about the rudest campground neighbors you have encountered in commercial campgrounds. And rant you did!
Judging from all the responses we got, rude campground neighbors are obviously not isolated incidents.
Dogs and drunks were the most popular answers by far, with most of the complaints centering around these two issues. Although problems with smoke and campfires and late arrivals noisily setting up camp while others were trying to sleep were also well represented.
I was surprised nobody complained about my personal campground pet peeve of late, and that is leaving bright LED lights blazing all night long. Maybe it’s just me on that one.
However, true to RVtravel.com form, not everyone agreed that rude campground neighbors were a problem.
Here’s what you said
William F. said:
“I may be a Pollyanna, but I don’t remember ever having a rude neighbor. Unfriendly, yes, but not outright rude.”
Lucky you, William. I have certainly experienced problems with barking dogs and rude, noisy, late-night neighbors, like most of our readers have at one time or another. Thankfully, not all campground neighbors are rude.
One campground host agreed with William, though, and claims that rude neighbors are really not the problem we are making them out to be. Paul W. shares:
“I camp host for State Parks and have not found that campers are a bad lot. This summer was even better than past seasons. Once the rules were explained I got cooperation and no further problems. Maybe it’s the type of campground one chooses that you find unruly people. I also think it may help that State Parks do not allow full-time residents. The campground staff sets the tone and has to be on top of what goes on in their campground.”
Maybe so, Paul, and we are glad you do such a great job. But bad campground management was a gripe that also came up in many of the answers we received.
In fact, most of the complaints readers had could have been easily handled by a decent campground manager, but in some cases you shared with us, there sadly was no such thing.
For instance, Robert J. wrote:
“We were in a campground where the camper next to us was building a truck. Pounding, welding, grinding, screaming, all day. I talked to the campground manager and got nowhere. So I talked to the builder and found out he was a relative of the manager. We left.”
Going to the dogs
Problems with dogs were without a doubt THE most frequent theme of the answers we received.
Julie L. writes:
“While staying in a beautiful, peaceful riverfront spot in the Smokies, our new neighbors arrived. They left for the day and left their dogs in their camper with the blinds open. Every time we were outside in our patio area, those dogs (not big dogs—just crazy) would constantly attack the window through the blinds and bark. We couldn’t cook, sit, eat or anything without that noise in the background. I left a note saying their dogs were not happy when we were outside and that they might close their blinds so they didn’t get damaged. I tried to be nice as possible. It didn’t matter. The guy was so rude after that.”
Kenneth P. had a similar issue with dogs. He writes:
“I love when next door RV occupants own a dog. Leave for the day, 4-8 hours, Fido barking/yelping the entire time. Upon arrival home on three different occasions I have informed the neighbors their dog never stopped barking. All three times, their answer? ‘No, our dog never barks when we’re gone.’ Only once did I reply, ‘How would you know? You weren’t here.'”
Bob S. concurred:
“While wintering in AZ, the sites were very close together. Our next door neighbors would take motorcycle day trips with their little dog locked in the RV. He barked every minute until they returned. I had to close up my RV and turn the A/C on so I could get my work done.”
Frank S. had a problem with a dog or, should I say, the dog’s owner, but it wasn’t barking. Frank shared this experience:
“This happened at the ‘top RV resort’ in Indio, CA. After our second day, the owner of the lot next door came over, introduced himself, and proceeded to tell us he had an agreement with the owner of the lot we were renting that his large dog could relieve himself on our grass. He said he would clean it up, of course. Well, I watched the dog do his business that afternoon, the owner peered over the hedge, saw it and walked off. The next morning it was still there and the dog had added to it. I guess this is what $140 a night gets you these days…self-entitled jerks.”
Dan B. had a unique negative experience that was kind of about a dog… sort of? Dan says:
“We came back to our campsite after a day of camping to be met by a nasty note on the door, ‘Keep your damned dog on your site instead of leaving it roaming and crapping on ours.’ Whoa! We ignored it. The next day, the same song with added expletives and a warning that if this continued we would be reported to park management. True to form, day three was an even worse note plus a visit by the park manager to evict us due to the complaints. We don’t own a dog!”
Richard H. had a hair-raising experience over a rude neighbor’s dog. He writes:
“I think the worst was the guy whose dog was running loose and charged my dogs. He screamed at me and threatened to shoot me and my dogs. He was soon talking to the police and ordered to leave. At the same campground, a very obnoxious guy was cleaning his AR 15-style rifles, about 15 of them on the picnic table. The campground asked him to not display weapons and he threatened the host. He too was leaving before his scheduled departure and a Sheriff’s deputy patrolled the area for several days.”
Where there’s smoke…
Another theme that came up again and again about rude campground neighbors was campfire smoke.
Thomas E. had neighbors that were not only loud and partying all night, they almost set the place ablaze! He says:
“Three families (with seven children) showed up, turned the radio on with outdoor speakers running full blast. After their dinner, they threw all their Styrofoam plates into the fire pit, loaded it with wood, squirted it with a quart of lighter fluid and poof. The smell of Styrofoam and lighter fluid was overwhelming. A Canadian snow birder directly downwind came over with his fire extinguisher and put their fire out then walked up to the office to complain. Not sure what came of that.”
Mike O. writes:
“Someone pulled into the site next to us and assembled a large awning Then they moved their wood firepit to a place that wasn’t near their awning, but WAS right under our RVs window. Because of the smoke, we could not leave our windows open.”
Late arrivals, big problems
People arriving at their campsites and loudly setting up while others were trying to sleep was another common thread, and one I have experienced myself on several occasions. These rude campground neighbors seem to think they are the only people who exist. Or at least the only ones who matter… We had a number of experiences shared that were similar to Keith D’s, who wrote:
“While camping at a campground in Georgia, we were awakened at 1 AM when the young couple that rented the site next to us arrived and used a battery-operated impact driver to lower the 4 leveling/stabilizing lacks on their travel trailer. It was obvious that nothing had ever been lubricated as the impact driver was struggling to do its job. It went on for about 30 minutes and when I finally had enough and went out to speak to them about it they couldn’t have cared less about ‘disturbing the peace.’ No apology, they just turned and walked away from me.”
Rude newbies… UGGGGHHHH!
Darla V. had an unusual and disgusting encounter with a newbie RVer:
“Once while entertaining ourselves watching a newbie break camp, it started not to be funny. He was working on the sewer hose and proceeded to put it on OUR picnic table to drain after disconnecting. When we pointed out his error he said it was okay because he rinsed it well!”
Sweet revenge
Sometimes things are so bad, you just have to leave. But sometimes you can have the last laugh. Hank D. shared his sweet revenge tactic on noisy campground neighbors:
“Drunk campers showed up at 1 AM, set up their tent next door and partied another hour. We took our tent down shortly after dawn. Those drunks were still sleeping. We tossed a couple of loaves of bread right on top of their tents and around their camp and tons of noisy seagulls swooped in on their campsite and woke those drunk campers up for good.”
Good one, Hank! Plus, you made some birds very happy.
And unfortunately, when it comes to aggressive, rude neighbors, that’s about all we can do. Rude campground neighbors are certainly not worth being shot over.
At the end of the day, rude people are everywhere and that includes campgrounds. Anyone who has been on the road any length of time has encountered at least a few. Keeping a good sense of humor is sometimes our best defense.
##RVT1183
To be honest, I only skimmed this article. I like to keep my diet “positive.” Will we see a future article featuring the nicest campground neighbor? While there are definitely issues that can’t be ignored at times, often times it’s all a matter of where you put your focus.
Betty, I’d say that nice campground neighbors are the rule, not the exception. I have a similar view of people in general — most are nice. But there is a segment of the population that when encountered — be it camping, sharing our roads, at the grocery store, you name it — who are rude and inconsiderate of others. I see no harm in calling those folks out. In fact, some readers might discover that their own behaviors may be worth reflecting on — that’s not a bad thing.
Cheers!
Like Betty said…”it’s all a matter of where you put your focus”
Great comment!! I was thinking the same thing! Why even give “ranting” a platform…that seems to be the norm! Sharing the positive and enjoyable experiences would be a much more enjoyable and encouraging read!
With luck, the errant ‘camper’ might just read of their, or like, behavior and consider improving it.
I come from the commercial construction world. Both union and non-union and mixed. When the job started all the company superintendents from the subs were brought into a meeting and the “rules” were “explained” and the “arbitration mediator” was introduced- “Junior” was his name and he was a very “large” figure. As long as you minded your own business, co-operated with others and got the job done “no problem”. Campgrounds need a “Junior’s” life size poster posted with the rules at the entrance with the note of “security officer” attached. Problem solved.
Right On – The problem is not the dogs. If the campground has written guidelines for pets that a camper agrees to when signing up, and they break them, then THEY ARE the problem, not the dogs.
How about Smokey holding a short billyclub and saying “Only You Can Prevent Bad Camping Experiences”.
Stayed at a great state park which we frequent often. One night a group of 6 RV sites, all older friends, had karaoke night with loudspeaker and all. Would be nice if 1) some of them could actually sing, and 2) if they could have stopped at a reasonable time. 11pm is not reasonable! Saddest part was one of the state rangers’ houses was only 50 yards away! I know he was home and there was no way he did not hear them.
Sounds like fun!!…I would have joined them!
Stayed at a state park in Florida. There were some trees between sites, but everyone was sort of close. The site next to us was a little higher in elevation. Their camper had security cameras on the outside of it, complete with full range motion cameras & motion sensing lights. Every time we sat by our picnic table or fire ring at night the camera & light was on us. Would have gone over to talk about it but they never came out of their camper.
Our last trip we had an interesting experience with campground neighbors. They were setting up their site for a big Halloween party that weekend with 9 foot tall talking monsters! Every time they walked by, the creatures would say something. It was incredibly annoying, but I went over to say hello. They apologized for the noise and we enjoyed getting to know them and their family! And they turned the creatures off after that.
Love this! The things that can change with a simple conversation!
“Problems with dogs” IS the number 1 problem in the State Park system where we recently camp hosted (off-leash, incessant barking, and not picking up poop)
My suggestion of banning all dogs wasn’t favorably considered. Neither was a $500 fine for repeat offenders nor banning the owners for up to 5 years for repeated violators. Most dog owners were indignant when their non-compliance was identified. No penalty, dog owners don’t seem to care. So let’s ask dog owners, “What should the penalty be”?
Perhaps you can just give up “camping” altogether?
He should give up camping because some dog owners are too lazy to properly train their dogs and clean up after them?
Thanks Susan! 🙂. But it’s ok, I ignore him like others.
Rather dogs than screaming children
Most kids don’t poop in the park. 😉
IF…. You camp long enough you’ll surely come across some of the “me only/I’m more important than you” type person. Smoldering camp fires, barking dogs, loud music/TV and the light show all night. I’ve come across all of these types at one time or another. Maybe have 1 group fire ring where you go if you want to sit around a camp fires (hopefully the wind is blowing the opposite of where I am). OR just eliminate ALL fires… Less maintenance too. Maybe charge a large fee for pets (dogs). No complaints and you cleaned up after them then you get your fee back. Someone complains about your barking/messy dog then you lose your deposit.
Where did you get the picture for this article? Europe, Australia, New Zealand??
A.I. developed ?
Our worst experience was when we went camping at a state park for the weekend in order to go to a local Renaissance Faire. It was “off season” (after Labor Day), so the campground was mostly empty (this was pre-plandemic). We had some “neighbors” come in late in the evening and set up, then proceeded to party and get drunk. Park rangers drove by a couple times on utes to tell them to quiet down, which they did for all of about 5 minutes until the rangers had gone away. Then they continued carousing, and this continued until around 1:30AM. Did NOT make for a restful night…
The names here have been changed to protect the guilty! Joe and Joanne were enjoying a quiet summer weekend. Turning in at 11pm, their peaceful sleep was disturbed by the arrival of a large group of motorcyclists, who proceeded to party hardy until 6 am. Imagine the pain of a HUGE hangover when “someone” tossed a string of firecrackers into that groups tent around 8am. It looked like a scene from “Night of Living Dead” as they came out stumbling around .like zombies! Boy, do I miss the good ole days!
Another educational article – albeit negative in tone. Read and heed if any of it applies to you!
Camping at a Dark Sky state park was interrupted at 9:30 at night when a new neighbor showed up while I was outside enjoying the stars. He got out attached flood lights to his TV mirrors and on the back of the trailer. These were extremely bright lighting up the place like a football field for a night game. OK, it’s annoying but how long could he possibly need to set and level the trailer. He backed in, leveled the trailer when a truck from the other direction pulled up. It was then that a very loud spirited conversation started. When I got up to ask how long he would need the flood lights I saw the other man was a park ranger. It was then that I knew it was time for bed.
Those commenting deserve a kind word for the gentleness with which they were able to describe their experience with the ethics of some “campers”.
I do not know where some people camp, but I have never experienced the “terrible” and “awful” experiences that it appears others have experienced. If camping is SO annoying, why do these people continue to do it?
Wonder how Dan B’s situation ended. I’d have left a big note on my door the second day that said “To whoever left the prior note, WE DO NOT OWN or TRAVEL WITH A DOG…NOT OUR DOG!!!!”
I had an awful experience while camping at Moab Rim Campground.
After camping one day, a toy hauler came in with a statement on the back of his rig in 12 inch letters stating
“I LOVE BIG T*TS!” (but spelled out).
I complained to the campground host who stated “I’ll tell the owner.”
Nothing was done. We left 2 days later!
Thank you, Cheri! Wow! We have been fortunate in our travels than these examples demonstrate. I am all the more thankful for our RV experiences. Have a great weekend and safe travels!