Early Check-In Time Enforcement

[norty1]

Good plan.

If you make reservations, Ask about the policy if it is not explained.

 

[01tundra-JAY]

I always call beforehand to see what the policy is, if they say absolutely no early check in we'll adjust our plans.

In the past two years I've always been told if the site is open feel free to arrive early.

This past weekend we stayed at a state park and the attendant said that check in is at 2:00 PM, so wait until around Noon to arrive and we should be good....we did...and we were.

So as far a disrespectful, the person running the campground suggested that we arrive two hours early, should I have argued that it would be disrespectful to do what he suggested?

And I'm usually the one cleaning up after the previous campers on our sites, so I can tell you for sure that not every campground preps the site between check out and check in.

 

[snerdwack]

Happy campers!

We encountered one RV park on our trip east last May that charged an "early check in" fee. We were early and tired from travel so I paid without complaint.
A few years ago we were early for a campground in Sedona AZ that made us pull into an overflow parking area till the check in time... Didn't make that mistake the next time we traveled there... They also spent a lot of time at check in telling us the restrictions for the campground...

 

[Forelyndogs]

We have encountered the early checkin issue at only one park in some 45+ years of camping. It was a park near Santa Cruz, CA. The park was down a long narrow country road and there was no place to park a rig at the entrance. The staff at the CG could only be described as rude and inconsiderate. They wanted a full days fee for early check-in and said if we did not want to pay that we would have to leave until check-in time. There was no place to park, but it turns out we were not alone in arriving early so there was a long line of rigs waiting to check-in. The place was not full, not even close to full, they did not assign spots until you arrived so we couldn't understand the problem. Not sure we'll ever return, but most parks at which we stay have a fairly early check-in time, maybe noon or 1PM which works for us. We would have arranged our drive schedule to accommodate this place's rule if we had known the road in was so unaccommodating to RV's. Off the beaten track is nice once you get there, but can be frustrating getting there.

 

[WeRJuliian]

I actually asked a park ranger about their policy (note that this was a Florida State park), and she explained that they have a certain amount of leeway, so each park may be different.

It actually benefits them if they can let you in early, it reduces the log-jam at 3.

In that particular park, they will check you in ahead of time, IF :

* all the checkouts are complete (this is to avoid conflicts between in- and outgoing traffic, lines at the dump station holding up traffic, etc)

* all the cleaning, inspecting and maintenance is done, or can be completed with minimal disruption.

* all the admin and paperwork is done (Of course there's paperwork... these are state-run parks after all...)

*staff changeovers, lunch breaks, etc, can be completed (those hours between checkout and checkin are really their only down-time)

* ...and, perhaps most critically... If you're nice about it. I have stood in line, around 1pm, behind Mister Entitled, I'm-a-taxpayer-and-you're-a-servant-of-the-state, I-want-to-speak-to-your-supervisor-I'll-have-you-fired-for-this... who eventually left with a door-slam and a squeal of tyres. The ranger heaved a sigh and braced herself for "Next".. that was me, and I just told her I was letting her know we were here, to give her a headstart on the paperwork, and we'd be happy to drink coffee in the parking lot until 3. She had a quick look at the list, gave me a big grin and said "Oh, you can go ahead to your site... I just need to see your ID to be sure you really do qualify for the senior discount" What a nice lady..

 

[norty1]

Sometimes common sense is not all that common!

 

[RAurand]

And I'm usually the one cleaning up after the previous campers on our sites, so I can tell you for sure that not every campground preps the site between check out and check in.

YEP, I seem to run into that as well! I grew up with my father making my sister and I "POLICE" the campsite and pick up anything and everything that should not be there.
I do that with my 3 kids now. Most of the time, we are leaving the campsite cleaner than we found it.

When we camp at PA State Parks, we will call them just before closing time and ask if anyone is on our site. If they say no, we usually arrive around 1000 AM and have never been turned away or told to wait.

 

[TCNashville]

We usually arrive on a Sunday and in Indiana the checkout time is 5pm. Most of the time we arrive around 2-3pm and if the site we rented has vacated we've had no problem getting in. I've never seen employees "clean" a site before the next camper arrives ever in any place I've ever camped. Maybe at some high end private parks but certainly not Indiana State parks. That would take an army of employees and certainly wouldn't cost effective.

 

[bluegill1]

Same here in Ohio State Park Camground. Got a new Campground Director and everything was by the book, way excessive in my opinion. 99.9% of campers are fantastic people. This new director irked a lot of regular campers the wrong way (including us). Needless to say after two seasons she’s gone and the office staff is back to be being super kind, and just plain enjoyable to deal with. Complaints were most likely filed and she got transferred.
It happens.
I think the majority of us regulars know the rules and understand their purpose, why they are there and what happens when they are abused, that’s why for the most part we pretty much take care of the park by our plain ole common sense.

 

[WeRJuliian]

I've never seen employees "clean" a site before the next camper arrives ever in any place I've ever camped. Maybe at some high end private parks but certainly not Indiana State parks. That would take an army of employees and certainly wouldn't cost effective.

I'm rather surprised by that.. I think pretty much everywhere we've camped, there have been people out picking up, sweeping up, leaf-blowing and inspecting, as soon as the first sites vacate in the morning(Nothing like getting woken up by a leaf blower !)

This includes state parks, KOA and private CGs

 

[Crabman]

Never had a problem with early check in on a vacant site in Md or Va State parks. I think it is enforced more though at Assateugue SP in Md because that place stays pretty much booked all Summer. Very busy.

 

[Lake Huron]

We've camped exclusively at Michigan State Park campgrounds since we got our camper in 2012. The state parks have a check out time (you must be off the campground) of 1pm and check in time of 3pm.

In all the time we've camped, if we show up after 1pm and before 3pm, there's never been a problem getting onto the site early so long as the person before us has left (which they always have).

On our most recent trip, though, it seemed that for some reason they were starting to enforce the 3pm check-in time. Even if the site was empty. It actually didn't happen to us (they let us check in early) but somewhere along the way, they started turning people away if they showed up early. They made them go wait in the overflow parking lot and would only check them in after 3pm.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they would do this. We chatted with one of the affected people and apparently they knew the old campground manager that had been there for years, but he transferred and the new manager is, I guess, a rather stickler for the rules. I understand having the two hour cushion as a just-in-case, but if the site is empty, what's the point in using it? And for the record, no they did not do anything to the campsites in question. No grass cutting, no tree trimming, no fire pit cleanout.

It seems like, pardon my French, kind of an a-hole thing to do, but maybe I'm missing a perfectly good reason for this.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Let me guess, this was at Lakeport State park?
At this park they had quite the shake up and changing of the guards so to speak. We tend to roll in on friday evening after work. With my job putting me on the road, if I'm in that area on a friday, I'll go to the check in station early and "ask" them if I can check in explaining that I won't be there until evening anyway and I'm trying to avoid the evening rush which makes things easier on them. Haven't been turned down yet. Key word there... yet. Lol!
My rig is so big, depending on which site we are on, some times I have to drive down the road the wrong way just to get it in there. Some people (campers) give a shout out to let me know my wrong. One of these times someone is going to call the rangers on me and from that point I'll start having the rangers escort me to my site if I have to go the wrong way. We are regulars there and even the new staff knows us quite well. So far everyone has been nice, but I have heard the new head honcho is a by the book person.

 

[travelingjw]

Traveled in CA, Arizona, Utah, Washington and Oregon and have pretty consistent reception. In private RV parks, if the space is vacant we can check in at any time on the day we are arriving. In State Parks we've observed that until the Camp Host clears the space they won't let you in. We have learned that by calling ahead to every park we get a much better reception than some of the other campers we encounter. We treat all of the people as partners in our journey; if there is a problem we always offer to help with a solution. And yes, there are some of them that "like the power."

 

[sirrealone]

Let me guess, this was at Lakeport State park?

No, actually this was up at Otsego Lake State Park.

I'll have to keep an eye on Lakeport. We went there earlier this year and didn't have any problems and I think we may have gotten there around 2pm.

Now I'm nervous because our next two trips are Otsego Lake and Lakeport!

 

[spoon059]

I can see it both ways. We've been to parks that are super lenient about early check-ins and the system gets abused. One in particular used to let you arrive and drive to your loop and wait there... just off your space. It got to the point that people would arrive at 8am and park on the road in front of an occupied site. Not only does that create a traffic jam issue with rigs blocking the road, it started to get hostile when some of the new arrivals would start "encouraging" the current tenants to leave early.


If people didn't abuse the system, it wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately too many people take advantage of leeway and ruin it for everyone.


We will occasionally call ahead and see if our site is vacant and we can show up at noon instead of 3 (usually at the beach). If its not vacant, we meander to the beach... stop for lunch... take a scenic route... etc.