I was just reading Loudruff's thread about camping in Chicago where they got locked out of their campground when they returned after 10pm. I was wondering if this happened often. We stayed at a nearby State Park when we went to visit the Goldendale Observatory, and signs indicated the gate would be closed and locked at 10pm (the Observatory is open until Midnight). It rained, and we ended up not going to the observatory, but we wondered if we would have come back and had to leave our car on the road and walk in. Likewise we are going to the Shakespere Festival in Ashland, Oregon next month, staying at a country campground just outside of town, and expect to be out late every night seeing plays. I hope we don't have trouble getting back into camp.
We have been locked out when we attend some music events that end near midnight, but we expected that would be the case and requested a campsite reasonably near the gate rather than the lakeside site that we could have otherwise had. we were directed to park at an overflow area when we returned and they pointed out a path through the trees to our site.
Some other state parks have electric gates where you can punch in a combination. One Airstream park in East Texas told us to have the passenger get out, bypass the gate, and walk through the beam inside so that the gate would think that a car was leaving and open for us.
Also common are lock-ins that prevent early departures. At one park, they use a combination lock and will give out the code if you have to leave early. They told me to scramble the combination and relock the lock but leave the gate open as I exited at 6:30 am. They just didn't want to have to get up that early to unlock it.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2004 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
That's a pretty common thing with state parks. Their is GOOD reason for it. It keeps it quite at night. Tent campers are very appreciative of not getting their tent lit up by head light especialy if they happen to be changing
It also helps with security. Theif's are lazy by nature If they cant just drive up and grab and drive off they will probably leave.
Just check with the office or gate and see what their policy is.
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1959 22' Caravanner
1988 R20 454 Suburban.
Atlanta, GA
There is a city park here on the river which locks down at 10 pm. A real drag if you get locked out, it happened to a friend of mine, he ended up walking in the dark for a few miles with his bad knees. He should have read the signs.
I can see why they do it, keeps out the late nite low lifes and such.
At least I've been warned. I'll try and find out their policy next week. There were two campgrounds we had to choose from, and this was the nicer one, but if we have to walk from the gate I'd guess it's at least a mile and a half to the campground. Not that that's un-doable, as long as we have a flashlight and are mentally prepared
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He should have read the signs. 
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