Campgrounds overcrowded?

[agesilaus]

Not here in FL right now. I easily got 4 days near Ft Myers (West Coast) in a COE cg, then 4 days at the SKP cg in Wachula and finally 3 days at Jetty Park on the beach camping at Melborne FL (East Coast). I was surprised at the Jetty Park one it is a popular spot located near Cape Canaveral and they had a bunch of empty spots to pick from. This included a weekend day too.

We are looking forward to finally camping in a SKP park.

The second surprise from Jetty park is that they called me an asked several questions, this is a city owned cg. They finally said I had to email them the dog's vaccination records. That's a first for us.

I believe the cg crunch is located in the NE/Atlantic states, the left coast and maybe some states around the Great Lakes. Tho I've heard that upstate NY is not crowded. Government park restrictions and closures have something to do with this maybe?

I also see that NM State Parks will be open 10/1 for residents only.

[ToddF]

Left MN for the East Coast on the 10th. Campgrounds and Ohio turnpike rv parking spots not full. I'm reserved through the end of Dec (with the exception of 1 week I can't book yet) as I head down to Florida after spending a month in the Jersey/Penna area. Things tend to quiet down after Labor day.

100 nights of this 110 day trip will be on my Thousand Trails membership. So far 3 of the 4 parks have FHU. 

I try to move on Sunday as that is the best day to move into a new park. 

Edited September 21, 2020 by ToddF

[agesilaus]

Glad to see you are getting your money's worth out of 1000 trails. And I agree Sunday is the beginning of of the easiest reservation days running thru Thursday. Friday and especially Saturday are the tough ones, mainly because of locals coming out on the weekend is my theory. This is really obvious in COE parks.

[Barbaraok]

We try to move on Mondays.  I love Sunday afternoons after the weekenders have left, the park becomes quite, and no hassle leaving Monday morning about 10 am,  plus no line up at our next park that afternoon between 2-3 pm.   Let the weekenders have the roads getting home on Sundays so they can go back to work come Monday morning.

[fpmtngal]

I had trouble finding a park that wasn’t full when I left Ruidoso heading west toward Las Vegas.  When I called the Oasis RV Resort in Vegas I had no trouble booking a site for the month of September, but they said they were booked after that.  When I walked around a bit recently, I saw few smaller, more transient type of rigs - most of what I saw looked like they were long-timers/seasonal/full-timers.  There’s always been more of a mix.  I’ve been hearing from camping friends that right now it’s harder to find sites all over the west - between evacuees and others trying to escape smoke, there are a lot more people camping right now.

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Let the weekenders have the roads getting home on Sundays so they can go back to work come Monday morning.

We have been looking over the COE parks that we like that are within a few hours drive of the Dallas area, thinking to go out on a Sunday or Monday and spend several days, returning on Thursday or Friday but are finding most of the popular ones difficult to get into for more than 1 or 2 nights on a site and some have no openings at all through October. I tend to think that at least part of that is due to hurricane evacuees in our area, but was surprised by how full they are. Based on the growth of the X-scapers part of Escapees, I'm thinking that the increase in working fulltimers may well plan a part in the busy campgrounds. That can't be all of it however as 2 months ago I found most of them nearly empty. 

[remoandiris]

It is after Labor Day.  While not every school district is open, a lot are so kids are back in school.  Parents are starting back to work, too.  Those are 2 reasons RV parks are less busy.  2 months ago I wonder if you could have found a spot in Jetty Park.

[agesilaus]

We left FL on our summer trip at the end of May and traveled thru AL-GA-TN-AR-OK-NM-CO-WY-ID-MT-ND-SD-NE-KS-MO-AR-AL-MS and back to FL. Getting back here in late August. No campground crowding seen in any of those states. We stayed at COE parks, state parks, city parks, federal parks, boondocked and stayed at private parks. So that more or less covered the full range with the exception of camping inside a national park which are always crowded. Tho we did boondock right outside YNP.

We actually followed the first wave of campground re-openings which happened on June 1st. That's why we stayed in an AL COE, the GA ones were still shuttered. Amity COE was open and a directly adjacent COE park on the same lake was closed.

So I still think it is geographical and political not based on the calendar. When you cut the number of available camping spots and obliterate other recreation opportunities you obviously drive up demand.

Edited September 21, 2020 by agesilaus

[sheldons65]

State parks in North Texas may show full but there are open spots. It’s because of reduced capacity. Or reducing the number of visitors.

[bigjim]

1 hour ago, sheldons65 said:

State parks in North Texas may show full but there are open spots. It’s because of reduced capacity. Or reducing the number of visitors.

I have not volunteered in a Texas SP in years but even way back a lot of people would make reservations and the system would show full up then a significant number would not show up and they only forfeited one nights fee if they didn't cancel in time. It creates a problem for others that want a site and the park but there is really not a lot that can be done. The next day we have had rigs in line for 1/2 mile outside the gate waiting for the 2 o'clock checkout when all the sites not claimed would be up for grabs. This is based on my experience at Cedar Hill SP near Dallas - Ft. Worth - and everything that attracts people including being on a lake with 2 boat ramps in the park.  We sometimes had minnie spring breaks on weekends and  week long spring breaks of all kinds.

[lakejumper]

Fpmtngal is right about the West Coast. We just returned from a 3 week trip. Left (Sonoma County in California) in August to escape excessive heat and smoke and the parks were full. After, 3 weeks of fresh air on the California and Southern Oregon coast, they filled up with thick smoke Labor Day weekend from the surrounding new fires.The parks emptied out after Labor Day. Fortunately, the fires are almost contained and the smoke is getting better, especially on the coast. It’s been an interesting year for RVing. Seeing lots of new RVers on the road.

[JimK]

8 hours ago, lakejumper said:

... Fortunately, the fires are almost contained and the smoke is getting better.......

That does not seem to be the case.  There are currently more and bigger fires than before with no end in sight.  The dry season could last another month or more.  The only relief has been some onshore winds which have helped clear the smoke in San Fran and other coastal cities.  Unfortunately those winds have also fanned the fires.

[Friz]

On 9/20/2020 at 2:57 PM, agesilaus said:

"We are looking forward to finally camping in a SKP park."

I suppose I am not part of the "in" crowd. What the heck is a SKP park? 

 

 

[bigjim]

Escapees---SKP  Park owned or affiliated with Escapees RV Club.

[ToddF]

Escapee Parks (Some corporate, some co-op)

https://www.escapees.com/benefits/rv-parking/skp-co-op-parks/

 

[bigjim]

I have been a member of the club since 97 and rv'ing longer and I still don't have all the abbreviations down. Some of the folks on this forum I have been around all this time still confuse me doing that. Not naming names.

Beat cha' Todd.

Edited September 22, 2020 by bigjim

[agesilaus]

2 hours ago, JimK said:

That does not seem to be the case.  There are currently more and bigger fires than before with no end in sight.  The dry season could last another month or more.  The only relief has been some onshore winds which have helped clear the smoke in San Fran and other coastal cities.  Unfortunately those winds have also fanned the fires.

Not the case, Global Fires are down by 25% says NASA: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/09/16/irrefutable-nasa-data-global-wildfire-down-by-25-percent/+

And here you can see the US Wildfire rate from 1926: https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html

Whatever disaster that is happening now, to us, always seems to be the absolute worst in history but usually is not the case. Of course out there you seem to have a lot of people setting fires intentionally which does not help matters. And forest mismanagement make it worse.

[JimK]

agesilaus, your citations have nothing to do with the fires this year or the current status of those fires!!

[Barbaraok]

31 minutes ago, agesilaus said:

Not the case, Global Fires are down by 25% says NASA: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/09/16/irrefutable-nasa-data-global-wildfire-down-by-25-percent/+

And here you can see the US Wildfire rate from 1926: https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html

Whatever disaster that is happening now, to us, always seems to be the absolute worst in history but usually is not the case. Of course out there you seem to have a lot of people setting fires intentionally which does not help matters. And forest mismanagement make it worse.

So you are a Q follower?   No, there are not hordes of people setting fires all over the west.  Some have been started by people doing stupid things like having gender reveal parties involving fireworks.  

 Have you even looked at where a lot of the fires are?  Also, there were no people in a lot of area in 1926.   So nothing was done to fight the fires, they just grew until a rain event happened.  

I grew up in a logging community, my dad towed logs down the river, and at least every other summer, there would be a lightening strike somewhere up the mountains (Cascades) in our valley that would cover the valley in smoke for a few days.  All of the loggers would be furiously moving equipment that might be in the path of the fire,  dad, along with this crew, would work up on the fire lines helping get things moved, and come back covered in soot.  Eventually a soaking rain would come in (PNW is a lot wetter than CA) and then there would be a race to get charred timber logged off of burn sites before the heavy rains and slides came that winter.   But back then they didn't go MONTHS in Seattle without rain - now that is happening more and more often.   Which means longer burn times, more ash/soot in the air, more damage to peoples lungs.  

 

[agesilaus]

I don't know what Q is. I did not say there were 'hordes of people" starting fires but we do see new reports of arrests of people doing that. As for the stats, the data always lags behind the current date. It takes time to gather the data and the government agencies which publish it seem to be a year or even more behind.

However if you have current validated data lets see it. Rather than conspiracy theories...heh

Edited September 22, 2020 by agesilaus

[dogyard]

Qanon is the main distributor of conspiracy theories. Unfortunately we've reached a point in time where anyone with an internet connection and social media accounts can be valued for information as much as publications that hire journalists (rather than infotainment celebrities with devoted followers) and adhere to standards of fact-checking, ethics, etc.  Alternative facts have become gospel for a good deal of citizens. Turns out Mr. Barnum was correct and there IS one born every minute. 

[hemsteadc]

Isn't most forest land in CA owned by the Federal gov't?   What news organization doesn't talk about Qanon?

Edited September 22, 2020 by hemsteadc

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

Isn't most forest land in CA owned by the Federal gov't?   What news organization doesn't talk about Qanon?

Those of us who choose not to follow the news intensely, like me, have never heard of Qanon. I do get a Mon-Fri daily digest but still had never heard of Qanon. Maybe your source has a reason to give them more coverage?

Linda

[agesilaus]

Quote

Isn't most forest land in CA owned by the Federal gov't?   What news organization doesn't talk about Qanon?

I haven't watched TV in more than 10 years, since Bush the first's term of office. So maybe lack of mass media exposure explains why I never heard of this leftist group.

[Kirk W]

20 minutes ago, agesilaus said:

explains why I never heard of this leftist group.

That would be a benefit. 

Quote

Watts Up With That? (WUWT) is a blog promoting climate change denial that was created by Anthony Watts in 2006. The blog predominantly discusses climate issues with a focus on anthropogenic climate change, generally accommodating beliefs that are in opposition to the scientific consensus on climate change.