Are Noisy Campgrounds Part of the Equation?

[Belzar]

Some campgrounds/areaw cater to people looking for outdoor experiences: camping by trailheads, remote areas, horse camps etc.. These tend to attract fewer of the lets-party-outside-type campers.

[avanti]

I am actually surprised that there are as many complaints about noise as there seem to be here. Over the years, we have had very few negative campground experiences due to neighbor noise. I suppose it depends critically on exactly when and where one camps.

In our case:
1) Although we travel all over the country, our camping is almost exclusively limited to public campgrounds: mostly state and national parks, state and national forests (both developed and dispersed), Corps of Engineers campgrounds, and an occasional county or community park.
2) We have literally NEVER camped at a commercial campground or a Walmart parking lot, so I can't say what goes on there.
3) We typically take an electric campsite when available, but by no means avoid no-power sites.
4) We generally try to avoid high-season camping. Most of our camping is spring and fall, with an occasional winter outing for XC skiing.

With that profile, and after 15 years of B-vanning, I can count on one hand the number of nights ruined by excessive noise.

[Vee and Zeekie]

Originally Posted by Belzar

Some campgrounds/areaw cater to people looking for outdoor experiences: camping by trailheads, remote areas, horse camps etc.. These tend to attract fewer of the lets-party-outside-type campers.

Love that term! "Let's-party-outside" type campers! Eeek! Really need to stay away from those! I wish they had a designation so that one knew for sure in advance!

[Bud]

Just like dog parks, noisy folks need a place too.

It is just that I like dogs, dog parks, meeting dogs camping........ Noisy places no, but they need to exist.

Bud

[Rocinante]

When camping in national parks without hookups, look for loops that prohibit generators. Failing that, loops that allow generators generally have specific hours when they are allowed, and camp hosts will insist that campers shut them down when outside those hours. Also, different campgrounds have different personalities, and those personalities can change significantly over the weekend if they are within striking distance of communities that will fill them up. Noise rules are usually most rigorously enforced in private commercial campgrounds where the owners often will not hesitate to throw someone out for violating noise rules more than once.

[kmessinger]

Dispersed camping might be the answer for you. Basically you can camp anywhere (some restrictions) in National Forests and land controlled by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management).

[Doneworking]

It is sad for me to say this, but rv camping is simply not as enjoyable for us as it was when we started, age not withstanding. Camping just reflects society IMO and society is becoming more "me" and less "us" oriented. And there are simply more people compared to even twenty years ago, much less forty years ago when we started this experience.

The days of us wondering the country without reservations are done, past, gone. Yep, we make reservations six months in advance for all our summer camping and are very selective where we go. We have a few faves above 8000 feet in the Rockies (NF hosted campgrounds) for good summer camping and hiking that have no cell service and it is amazing how beneficial it is to have to drive 20 miles to get a signal. You eliminate a whole lot of weekenders that hoot and holler. Just take away the cell service and heaven remains in the woods.


Generators? Regular rv gensets are not that bad and those little 1000 and 2000 watt inverts that trailer campers use to charge their batteries are totally OK even if close by. It is the $300 cheap foreign 6K brutes that rip out 80 or 90 dbs that get me.

So, the only sensible thing to do is to plan ahead and look forward to your plans where you have to do that, other wise travel in the non peak season. Spring and fall camping
is a wonderful experience.

There are some great places to camp and hike within a few hours of our home and the winters here are moderate enough to allow winterizing to occur only from late November to early March, leaving the rest of the year great for rving.

[Vee and Zeekie]

Thank you for your observations and tips. I am retired and already have a place I really like going in the summer, so my RVing would be off season and not at peak times. I haven't really stayed at too many busy campgrounds (I was mostly a backpacker and tent camper---and the tent areas were usually away from the RVs). The one time I did an RV trip, an obnoxious generator really disturbed my morning quiet time. UGH. But good to know some generators aren't too bad.

[Average_alice]

We exclusively do dispersed camping or boondocking (unless we’re in a bind of some sort). It is easier with a partner but you should watch the Cheap RV living videos about why you shouldn’t be afraid of dispersed camping. Campgrounds are always too noisy for me. I go camping to get back to nature and hearing just the wind and the birds. I’m considering going out on my own someday and maybe making a mannequin of a sleeping “husband “ for my passenger seat. Carry an emergency locator like a InReach; have a dog with you; don’t let anybody see where you’re going and if theyre following you don’t stop ; don’t park within view of a paved road or a road with frequent traffic. Have bear spray or other protection. All just common sense and for some it’s too much of a challenge but we love it. No scary episodes for us going on 3 years. The key is getting to spots that are too inconvenient for potential attackers to be trolling for victims. Get all terrain
tires.

[Vee and Zeekie]

Thank you for the tips. I am not comfortable remote boon docking alone. Maybe at some point I would be. If I had someone with me, I would be fine with it. I backpacked for years, usually with one or two people, and loved the peace, quiet, and nature.

[Average_alice]

I sympathize! First couple of times we did it, I was scared, and at night I have to play some white noise recording or I would be listening for strange noises all night. Also I imagine it depends on where you live and whether remote places are within a reasonable driving distance.

If they would limit music and dog barking at campgrounds, I'd be OK. The only RV park we've stayed in was OK but had plenty of motor noise during the day with people coming and going. But it was nice to socialize with the other campers there and nobody played any music or had a barking dog. My worst campground story is at a campground on the eastern entrance to Yosemite where a bunch of people decided to have an all night party with 100+ people and the campground manager did nothing. Aspen Campground - stay away from that one if you don't like noise. Also in the same area a family with 2 year olds playing thumping bass music until 2 AM. Maybe California is worse than other states on this IDK. Summer is definitely noisier than other seasons.

[Average_alice]

[QUOTE=Doneworking;116533] We have a few faves above 8000 feet in the Rockies (NF hosted campgrounds) for good summer camping and hiking that have no cell service and it is amazing how beneficial it is to have to drive 20 miles to get a signal. You eliminate a whole lot of weekenders that hoot and holler. Just take away the cell service and heaven remains in the woods.

Ditto on the cell phone coverage. It's the one saving grace about remote camping now, but it doesn't discourage the ATV's. Sad fact is that we also enjoy having coverage when we're camping! It's become an addiction for us maybe. But I'll trade cell coverage for tranquility any day.

[GallenH]

To add on to the above comments. We just got back from a trip up to northern AZ from Monday 31st thru today. We have several campgrounds that we like to stay at and they're all reserveable. We use recreation.gov to check availability and to reserve sites. On their website you can find campgrounds and reserve specific sites. But you can also see what has been reserved around you.

So we stayed at one for 3 nites. Nice campground with attentive hosts. During the entire time, our 35+ campsite loop had only 4 campers, including us. That was monday-tuesday-wednesday. But today, that loop is entirely booked; every site taken for the Labor day weekend. As someone said, choose your dates wisely.

Boondocking. We're 71 and have Rv'd since 2016. We routinely boondock at a location in AZ along the CO river. It's across from a visitor center for a wildlife refuge and in the middle of nowhere on BLM land. There are other campers boondocking there; maybe 4-6 visible. Very quiet and nice. Not too far away there are boondocking areas that are noisy late into the night. We've never boondocked in the middle of nowhere; just ourselves. With Covid, however, we might.

Good advice from others commenting.

[Vee and Zeekie]

Lots of remote places close to where I live! (Tahoe). If I could choose my ideal scenario, it would be a campground that didn't have too many people, where the sites were well spaced out, where generators weren't allowed, and where people didn't party but were friendly! But I doubt we can always get exactly what we want!

[ikanode]

Reservations are great! I'd hate spending several days getting ready for a trip, driving for 4 hours and finding out there isn't any space in the area. With reservations, I have to plan ahead but that's a small price to play for certainty.

I won't stay in campgrounds that don't take reservations. If it's a last minute trip, I can find out from home where space is available or not and find the best options.

[flouise]

We have been staying in state parks. We have not had a problem with noise in most. We have a class B RV (Winnebago Boldt) that uses 30 amp power. I try to find the 30 amp sites as these are often not close to the bigger RVs and are quieter. It seems like state parks here cater to families. We have mostly been camping on weekdays because the camp grounds are too crowded on weekends. Also you can look at a map to see what your site looks like in parks we have been to in Oklahoma and Missouri. I would feel comfortable camping by myself and may do it at some point. I bought the camper I bought because my husband has health issues. I drive the camper and mostly organize our trips. One thing I did was invest in a Weboost phone enhancer. i tried it recently at a camp site where the site said no cell phone and it went to 3 bars. I think I would try to comp somewhere that I could call someone. You could also look up the camp hosts.I have traveled quite a bit by myself in cars and I always try to keep an eye for any unusual behavior on the road. If something makes me uncomfortable I exit as soon as possible. For example, I have had cases where. cars with single men would pass me multiple time sand then slow down so i looked for a busy exit.

[GallenH]

We have a phone with ATT tower coverage and an iPad with Verizon. Still we find ourselves occasionally in an area with no coverage. We bought a Garmin that has satelite connectivity to text and SOS service. Never used the latter, fortunately. We bought the larger unit but if I were to do it again I'd buy the mini. Both can bluetooth to your phone and it's much easier to type messages there then on the Garmin (which isn't touchscreen.....remember having to press buttons navigating around to find "b" then "a" then "d"?). You can subscribe to the satelite service by the month at c.$15. Gives us peace of mind when we're hiking.

[GeorgeRa]

We camp primarily in state and national parks since 1977. I remember well two noise episodes. One was in Yosemite Valley with our first VW Westfalia.

It was very early in the morning, it was cold, we were awoken by the chopping sound right next to our campsite. I got out of the van and young person was chopping life tree for fire wood. Very inexperienced and apologetic.

A few years ago, we were in Bryce Canyon, it was cold, one fellow with a large older trailer and large family for hours run his tiny 2-cycle engine generator most of the day to charge his puny battery. He wanted to have enough oomph to run his furnace so family could have a decent sleep. He was very inexperienced and apologetic, fortunately Bryce Canyon attractions kept us away from the campsite.

His generator was similar to the one from Harbor Freight, the loudest generator as far I know.

[Jim86301]

There are campgrounds with "no generator" loops, Grand Canyon South Rim and Organ Pipe Cactus NM come to mind; unfortunately however not many. Some campgrounds restrict generator use to a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening but in most generators are allowed 6 am to 10 pm. Many Forest Service campground were originally designed for tenters and have very short parking aprons; this discourages the big rigs that are the principal offenders. Family campers with children are mostly out in the summer and on weekends in the Spring and Fall. We usually camp Sunday night through Thursday night and leave the weekends to the working families. (We are retired.) We only make reservations if we have to camp of Friday or Saturday night.
Jim

[ikanode]

We've only experienced one noise episode in 50 years of camping. We were tent camping at an bayside campsite in Main. At dusk we heard music in the distance and went to explore.

It was just offsite at a cabin owned by someone associated with LLBean. They were having a big clambake with a live band and invited us to join.

Great night that we still talk about!