Have you ever been denied entry or asked to leave a campground?

[Rog0525]

Confession time! With our ever-growing membership, I’m sure that some of us have interesting or amusing experiences to share about campground or park denial or ejection. Trailer too old? Moho too long? Kids too unruly? Dogs too noisy? Music too loud? Unfairly ejected and need to vent?
My only experience with being asked to leave was once when I overstayed the time restriction at a State Forest campground. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

There have been a few other threads that broached this topic, but I’m interested in hearing tales of how even sophisticated millionaire Airstream owners like ourselves can sometimes go astray of the rules or fall from grace with fellow campers. Got a story to tell? Confession is good for the soul.

[Pick]

I pulled in (sans Airstream) and asked about staying as a monthly at Travelers Campground in Alachua, Florida. They asked how old my unit was, and I replied that it was a 1972 Airstream. The LAUGHED at me, and said they would have to "inspect" it.
I was really ticked off at their attitude and decided to go elseware.

I will say though, that having been to a multitude of RV parks in many states, I can really understand why a park would have these rules. There is some real junk sitting in monthly spots at some of these parks. Owners have some real red tape to go through to get this junk removed after it is abandoned.

[Minnie's Mate]

This was one of the things that contributed to our decision to go with a new unit. However, I understand that a lot of state campgrounds limit the length to 25' so I am anticipating that I will get rejected one day on the grounds of length.

[azflycaster]

We tend to camp outside of campground so that our dogs can enjoy getting away for the weekend. Who would want travel for several hours in the back seat of a PU truck only to be tied to a tree when you got setup. When we have stayed in campgrounds we have had a few warnings from the hosts at different site about keeping the dogs on a leash. We understand that not everyone enjoys dogs as much as we do and not all dogs are as well behaved as our. We never let them roam out of our area.

Have we ever been asked to leave? No, but we are working on it .

[thecatsandi]

I have been asked to leave one and have been asked how old my trailer was.
The one I was asked to leave I will never understand. The manager is a little wacky in my opinion and they do not generally like long term residents. Strange. At least I got to meet Carol (wheel Interested) before I left.

[remcolent]

one time I was ordered to leave .
I made a reservation and paid 25 % of the camping fee up front by bank.
When we arived we were told to leave as they only wanted normal trailors.
OK give me my 25 % back and we go.
No you don't get the 25 % back .
You order me to leave give me my #$@^#&%#& money back.
Go now or we call the police.
I left 5 secs after I opend the black tank dumpvalve right in front of the office.

[SilverRanger]

Fortunately, I haven't been asked to leave a campground (yet), but I've asked several people to leave our campgrounds (even provided one-way transportation for a select few). Usually for disorderly conduct, fighting, robbing, domestic violence, arson, property damage, vandalism, miscellaneous sex crimes, etc. We don't sweat the small stuff, unless it's done along with the big stuff. Consequently, when I'm camping, I try to project the illusion of being on my best behavior.

[juel]

Got tired of living in fear that my 6lb and 8lb Poms would attack a neighbor. Never really got thrown out of anywhere. Never even got in trouble for having the dogs "off lead"; however, we decided to buy a place on our favorite lake so we could really relax. It's wonderful. We do hope to take the "Twink" on the road when we retire, so we may get outselves into trouble yet.

[Tin Diesel]

Twice at a state park, we were nicely asked to turn the music or TV down after the quiet time started (10pm). Didn't realize it was that late, and we learned to not keep the windows open on the side where the rangers walk by! I don't have any problem with the rule.

My buddy almost got denied access to his reserved spot at the same state park because of length until I kicked him under the counter and said "oh, no ma'am. Its not a 40' moho - its only 40' WITH the toad on the back". He wised up and said "yeah... that's it!" He got in, had plenty of room.

OK... its not a 'asked to leave' story, but I'm feeling gregarious.

[Ganglin]

Never been asked to leave - but almost made a neighbor leave at a state park in Ohio. We are new to vintage - had a 96 Coleman before the 71 Airstream. In a way I'm glad to see this thread - thought is was just Ohio.

We contacted 7 parks to find a spot this summer (can't store it in our development) was surprised to find 4 of 7 wouldn't take us because the trailer is over 15 years old.

[Lee Pace]

We've never been asked to leave but stopped at a campground in Florida and the people looked out the window and said "obviously yours isn't too old". We got a kick out of that because ours is a "72". We have a rockguard and a bottle cover on ours. I guess they thought it was newer.

Lee & Don Pace
72 tradewind
Greenville, Tx
WGCCI 7287

[Harry W]

We were just refused because of the age of our 78 'Land Yacht. It seems that this Nevada campground was primarily owned or leased sites and they have CC&R's prohibiting anything older than 10 years.

Harry W

[dufferin]

Once in Quebec, we were told that our trailer was too old for them, regarding the quality of the site they wanted to keep.
The name : Camping Américain.
Actually we should create a "black list" of those kind of campground.

[Pick]

I've been asked how old my unit is several times at campgrounds by other campers. I always ask, "How old does it look?" Most SOB owners guess that it is a 2000 or 2001. They are shocked to learn it is a '72. This trick may work for some to gain entrance to CG's that have age restrictions, although most only enforce that rule for monthlies and not weekend or week long stays.

[thecatsandi]

I can understand the thinking old = in bad shape. However I do not think it is fair. They ought to at least offer a spot if the trailer is in good condition. I have seen some 1970's airstreams that look better than my 2006!
Changing prejudice is a difficult thing.

[moosetags]

We have had the opposite experience. Several times other campers thought that our 2005 Safari was a vintage model. These campers thought that Airstream had been out of business for many years. The conversation usually starts with "boy, that thing is in good shape". When I tell them it's a 2005, the response is "I didn't know they still made those things".

Every time this happens, we are very flattered. It goes to show that the Airstream design is not only iconic, but timeless. An Airstream transcends model year. Any well maintained Airstream is always current and always vintage. An Airstream is an Airstream.

[AYRSTRM2]

Well, I hate to hear about CG's that deny entry to anyone who is an honest camper. Snobbery in camping is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen. That extends to vintage units, tenters, popups, MOHOs, and camper vans. Camping is camping. If there is a park that disallows you because maybe you aren't rich enough to own an expensive new unit, then that's not a campground, but a parking lot for RVs. A parking lot. That's not camping, and it's pretentious and facetious to state that it is.

[CaddyGrn]

Hi all,

We have never been denied access to any campground or been asked to leave. Probably dull folks... However, once a number of years ago I was looking for camping spots in Southern California and called a commercial spot to inquire about staying in their campground for a few days. At the time we owned an older SOB. But it looked fine... Anyway, they had some kind of age limit and we didn't "qualify". Needless to say we didn't make reservations there! I was appalled that they had the gall to ask me what year my camper was, and then tell me I couldn't stay. But that was the only time I have run across any such thing.

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[ayresdream]

I know what people mean about folks being mistaken about the age of the airstream - even with the Boop's beauty marks, many people think she's younger than the '71 she actually is.

During the summer we stayed for a month at a campground in Fort St. John, BC. A couple of days into the visit the water pump on our tow vehicle (a 1996 diesel van) went, which means that coolant started weeping out of the pump. I immediately put a pan underneath to catch it. Since it was Saturday, I made plans to take it in for repairs on Monday. The park manager freaked, and you'd think we were storing nuclear waste on our campsite. I asked her that out of the thousands of campers they've had here, in one of the largest cities on the Alaska Highway between Dawson Creek and Whitehorse... she'd never had anyone with a coolant leak? She said they hadn't. After getting it repaired to top it off, she insisted that we were going to have to move to an unserviced site before the July long weekend. I got the impression she wanted to have a nice, new SOB fifth wheel or motorhome in our spot. We ended up staying, but I never felt welcome afterwards.

[sfixx]

Related stories may be those from people who have been ordered to remove their campers from their driveways due to local restrictions (too ugly, too old or too many). I can't say that I would blame the neighbors for sneering at "old paint" behind her back. But I can't say I care either. I can't afford the $50 a month to store her off site outside so she's sat in our tiny shared driveway for 2 years now.

Steve