Camp Ground Restrictions

[78spster]

Hi
I have general question and I hope this the right thread.

After being sequestered for over year I am wanting to go traveling and while having a coffee with a friend he told me to check for my trailer age. He has a well maintained 1998 Holiday Rambler diesel pusher and he said he has been denied in some camp grounds because he is over 10 years old regardless how nice it looked.
That sounds insane to me that if care for our RV we would have to trade up every 10 years just to enjoy ourselves.
In my travels I seen beautifully restore classics and older well kept very high end coaches. Are these guys just out of luck?

Is this the future?

Thanks
Chuck

[67L48]

It depends dramatically on the type of camping you plan on doing: public vs private.

Private campgrounds may implement age and type restrictions (e.g., no pop-ups), particularly with long-term camping. Similar to a subdivision of homes not allowing manufactured homes to be placed on a lot. It's a private business, so they can sort of do what they want.

You won't find such restrictions at public CGs (USFS, BLM, Natl Parks, State Parks, etc.). There might be one or two in bear country that prohibit PUPs. But the public CGs will be more likely to restrict things like generator use, length of trailers, etc.

[muckinfuss]

Could be. I've only encountered the age thing when I was considering a seasonal camp. Which was strange because a few that had such a restriction had two things I noticed....they had trailers that were clearly over the age limit and they had trailers that fit within the limit, but had surrounding junk and crap everywhere.

[TaftCoach]

You will find that restriction mostly at private RV resorts. Objective rules like 10 years are easier to enforce and defend than subjective rules like "units must look nice and not be run down". For many RVers campgrounds that looks like the trailer park in the poor part of town are a turnoff. I'm certain many would allow a restored vintage camper, cared for Airstreams of any age (every model looks the same) but as soon as you allow one person but not the other you open yourself up for speculation.

My brother in law owns a self storage facility and has a similar rule. Some potential customers will see what looks like a junk yard and leave. At his place anything over 15 years of age must be covered.

[TWP723]

Hopefully not. But if they are independently owned, they can make rules as they see fit without discrimination. Most of the big players will have a general set of rules and regs. but can individually employ "campground specific" rules and regs on top of it.

[EA37TS]

Along with age some private campgrounds have restrictions on the type or class of RV such as Class A only. Even though a Super C is bigger and nicer than many Class A units
we are not allowed.

[Old and soft]

I recently checked out a couple of parks near vegas, had the 10 year restriction.

[Murff]

I'd be tempted to lie. Just tell them the rig is a 2011 and hope they don't check. As long as it looks decent, I wouldn't imagine there being a problem.

Murff

[craigav]

Fortunately for the 2009+ Ford E450's and E350's Class C's , they all look identical externally all the way to the 2022's with no cosmetic changes to the Ford provided components such as the cockpit, headlights, grill, and chassis, etc. So with a fresh wash and some wax, it is very hard to tell if mine is a few years old or 11 years old. You would have to know what Jayco models were built in what years. On the other hand, I haven't lied to any campgrounds about the age, and fortunately never asked. I am not sure I would choose a campground that has such a rule. I try not to lie in life about things generally, but then again sometimes the truth isn't the best answer, especially when told to those who can't handle the truth... lol

BTW, most of the campground ads I have seen that say they have a 10 year or newer rule will still let you camp there if you send them a few recent pictures and if your RV pictures don't scare them.

~CA

[Marine71-76]

We ran into that in 2009 when our son was graduating from Air Force Basic Training @Lackland. Was very surprised as we never heard of the 10 year rule & we have been camping since 1976. When we inquired about the 10 year rule, was told they were a resort and higher clientele. Okay...whatever.

[THE MEEKER]

Originally Posted by Marine71-76

We ran into that in 2009 when our son was graduating from Air Force Basic Training @Lackland. Was very surprised as we never heard of the 10 year rule & we have been camping since 1976. When we inquired about the 10 year rule, was told they were a resort and higher clientele. Okay...whatever.

From Autoblog.com.

“72-year-old Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a KOA discount card and a bunch of others for older Americans, he said in a conversation with businessman and philanthropist David Rubinstein at the Supreme Court in 2019. They've had their RV since 1999. “

“You are not allowed in our campground because your RV is more than 10 years old!”

I like to see how that plays out.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by THE MEEKER

From Autoblog.com.

“72-year-old Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a KOA discount card and a bunch of others for older Americans, he said in a conversation with businessman and philanthropist David Rubinstein at the Supreme Court in 2019. They've had their RV since 1999. “

“You are not allowed in our campground because your RV is more than 10 years old!”

I like to see how that plays out.

But he has a PREVOST if I remember correctly.

[wiscampsin]

We were seasonal for a while at a private campground in Wisconsin. No age restriction for over night campers. There was a 10 year rule for seasonal campers. Once you were 'in' and kept your camper and site well kept there wasn't a problem. If you let things go you were given a warning. If not heeded you weren't able to renew your contract for the next year. On site water was not metered and you were encourage to wash your unit at least once a year. Seems very fair as the owners wanted to keep the place looking good and well kept.

[kirkelli]

The only time i've seen those polices apply is long term situations.. Never have seen it for short term camping anywhere.

[DocBrown]

I've seen it for short term sites where the term "glamping" really applies. Where they cater to high end clientele and the sites are expensive. Mostly in CA and around Vegas. I'm sure there are other places. I think we stayed at a place in CA once that had restrictions but the little trailer we had at the time was only a few years old. Honestly they are few and far between.

[Bstrine99]

I stayed at a place in the Florida keys where nothing under 24’ was allowed.

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

I've seen it for short term sites where the term "glamping" really applies. Where they cater to high end clientele and the sites are expensive. Mostly in CA and around Vegas. I'm sure there are other places. I think we stayed at a place in CA once that had restrictions but the little trailer we had at the time was only a few years old. Honestly they are few and far between.

I think i rolled into one of those places one time in San Diego. After inquiring for a spot and learning it was $105 a night, i rolled right back out. Needless to say, we ended up in a Walmart Parking lot that evening. The most i've ever paid for a full connection spot was $75 and that's my cap. The least i've paid was $25 in several locations in Oregon and Idaho. I've also recently learned that the Indian Casinos are very friendly to RV people. I've stayed at 3 different of these locations in Calif and never paid a dime..

[Flyingaggie]

As others have posted, I've seen this same thing at the RV "resorts". I always queried about it when checking in, even though I was well within the original 10 years. Resort managers always told me it was there way to keep out not well maintained RV's. The ones I talked with said as long as it looks good (ie. exterior is maintained well), they didn't care how old it was. I've never had one ask for the year of my trailer, either. Only make and model. So, I figure if they don't ask, I'm not telling.

YMMV of course.

Tim

[TaftCoach]

Originally Posted by THE MEEKER

From Autoblog.com.

“72-year-old Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a KOA discount card and a bunch of others for older Americans, he said in a conversation with businessman and philanthropist David Rubinstein at the Supreme Court in 2019. They've had their RV since 1999. “

“You are not allowed in our campground because your RV is more than 10 years old!”

I like to see how that plays out.

Probably better than we don’t like the looks of your RV and can’t stay here. Objective is a whole lot easier to justify than subjective.

[Jagiven]

I have heard about it a few times in private campgrounds. Mostly at higher end resort like places, who want a clean, high end image.

Luckily these are not the places we like to camp.