Are holidays a bad time to camp?
Friday May 30, 2008
Did you camp Memorial Day weekend? Holidays may be a great time for celebrating outdoors with family and friends, but they are also a popular time to go camping. Consequently, campgrounds can become overcrowded, and due to holiday celebrating, they can be noisy and downright unruly. Management may be overwhelmed by it all. I enjoy the serenity of camping, so I avoid camping on holidays.
Comments
We’ve had good and bad camping over the holidays. One of my favorites was camping with friends at Myrtle Beach Travel Park over Thanksgiving. We pre-fixed our Thanksgiving meal. It was wonderful. We did some early Christmas shopping at the outlets. Every camping trip is a new memory.
Our best times camping is over the July 4 when we go up to lake Michigan and watch the fireworks over the lake. It has become atadition for us now.
We camped this Memorial weekend at members only 1000 Trails, Lake of the Springs, Calif.
1000 Trails has always been a safe and sane campground, until this one. Drunken and drugged young men exposed themselves then urinated from the lodge balcony. Two teenagers got into a fight then their parents joined in. We were awaken around 2 am by a young stoned man walking around the campground yelling the F word.
The big problem besides lack of human decency is the campgrounds permit over population of sites. Most campgrounds have a maximum person per site rule, but it is rarely enforced. We went to Bliss State Park on a July 4th some years ago and 30 tents were erected across from us in a 6 person maximum spot. The kids drove around the campground on a gas scooter all day and the adults yelled and drank into oblivion late at night into the morning.
Why not enforce the maximum person rule and arrest drunks and drug abusers???
I have camped at many campgrounds over the years and on holiday weekends. While it is great to have that extra day to camp, I found that with all the noise and sometimes, just down right rude and thoughtless campers it just isn’t worth the extra day. I go camping because of the calmness I find in nature and being able to enjoy it. I found the best days of the week to camp is from Sunday afternoon to Thursday morning.
My kids and I camped this past Memprial Day weekend at Tahquamenon Falls state Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 1st time we camped over a holiday weekend, the Riverbend Campground was 90 percent full, very nice and tranquil, Michigan Dnr strictly enforces the 11 pm to 8 am quiet time rule, we had a site right on the river, very beautiful, quiet and tranqil, would recommend to all who can get there, The falls are truly beautiful
We camp every Easter and usually have the place to ourselves. Pretty chilly in Midwest, but it’s a tradition and the kids look forward to it.
HATE the party weekends - Memorial, 4th and Labor Days. Kind of like going out drinking on New Year’s Eve. Get we’re getting old.
We always camp on hoilday weekends, love to party and have a great time. We usually shut it off around 4am and sleep until 2pm just to get up and start all over again