indyfabz

People like that suck.

StephD99

Once in Ontario we came up to a campsite on Labour day, and they were closed for the season. They felt bad for us, and said we can camp for free, but be discreet. So we did. Then we walked to town and had many beers to celebrate our good luck!

Ty0604

It's happened to me a lot while on tour. I tend to bargain a lot though. If the campground doesn't have hiker/biker sites I'll ask if I can camp for free or for a reduced rate to that of a car camper. I never ask for a campsite, just a piece of grass to pitch my tent. More often then not they accept one or the other. I rarely pay full price as I don't feel it's fair for a solo cyclist to pay the same amount as 5 people in a loaded car. I have on occasion camped at a campground that was "cash only" and couldn't pay. If the ranger or host came by (which they did a few times) I'd explain why I hadn't paid and they'd either let it go or ring me up with my card somehow. If no one came by I didn't bother with tracking anyone down. I've never purposely rolled into a campground with the intentions of not paying though and wouldn't advise it.

If they want me to pay full price I'd leave and find a church/police station/fire station/city park to camp behind or in for the night. Assuming their was one within a manageable distance of where I was. If not I'd suck it up and pay full price but only as a last resort.

trailangel

In California, were our sales tax is pushing 10%, camping at state parks is $35-$55. Oh, and you better make a reservation 6 months in advance to camp .... another $8-$15. County maintained campgrounds have the envelope system which I always use, and last time I checked it was $11-$15.

Compared to Oregon, Bike camping $5, campsite $20-$30. Really well maintained campgrounds too.

Nobody would feel bad or guilty not paying for the campsite in California.

GAJett

Keep in mind that, in US National Forest lands, you are free to camp anywhere so long as it's not prohibited. If it is prohibited there are usually nearby campsites. As always, pack in - pack out, and leave your site as if you were never there. This is my very definition of legal stealth camping.
Cheers!

prathmann

Hasn't really been my experience in California where I have yet to make an advance reservation. Frequently stay in Hike&Bike sites for $5-6 although I did spend $13 last week in Yosemite for a beautiful site near Happy Isles. But most of my California camping has been at National Forest sites or in the back country - which have been free.

Turkey222

I did at a small campground in Yellowstone. They only took cash and I failed to have any. The camp host pretty much said she wouldn't know if I paid or not. She had also picked up some hitchhikers on her way to the job and she didn't have them pay. Having a mountain pass soon after, the next campground that took card would have been closed when I arrived.

niknak

Uh, I'd feel guilty. Plus, all the state parks I've camped at have hiker biker spots for $5 or $6. The rangers also have always let me roll into a state park for free if I was just visiting for the day.

I agree that the Oregon State Park Campgrounds are nice.

jefnvk

Lucky you. I've been clamoring for more of such things in Michigan state parks for years, we've got nice parks but any modern campground is really more an RV park at this point. I'd love just a big community grassy tent area where if you can find a spot you can pitch a tent for a nominal fee, and skip $30 a night for a 30A and water hookup that I don't need or want.

Even if I were with a car, I'd prefer such things to being surrounded on three sides by 35' mobile homes with patios and bug zappers and cutesy signs with the family name out front.

Ty0604

Nothing like the sound of generators all night long while camping!

jefnvk

That is actually one of the few tent camping benefits of modern campgrounds: the RVs have electrical hookups so generators are unnecessary. The generators are far more of an issue at the primitive campgrounds that allow trailers or truck bed campers.

Ty0604

That's a good point that I hadn't thought of. One of my favorite campgrounds up near Mt. St. Helen's is primitive and last season they banned the use of generators. The number of RVs that showed up dropped by a lot as you can imagine.

jefnvk

I would have no issue if they did that here. I don't get a discount if I show up at a modern campground with a tent, not needing hookups (if they don't offer a no hookup section, like many modern ones in popular areas have gone away from), I'd rather not have RVs using rustic sites as much lower cost options because they can provide their own energy!

Ty0604

Yeah, it's not fair. One of the reasons why I, as a cyclist, refuse to pay the same amount at a campground with no hiker/biker sites as people who are car camping. $30 when you're car camping with 5 people is $6 each but you still want me, a solo cyclist, to pay $30 when I don't need much space? No thanks

alan s 

I paid around $60 to camp for one night last December at a private campground in Big Sur. They also had sites for $40, but not nearly as nice. A small bundle of wood was $10, which I passed on. Didn't even use the shower because it was kind of chilly. Big time ripoff, IMHO, but it was at least a nice place to stay under the towering redwoods.



My next door neighbor for the night.

indyfabz

I actually know a couple of private campgrounds in PA that have inexpensive ($10) tent sites. One gives that price to cyclists only. That's less than some U.S.F.S. campground I have stayed at that have nothing more than running water and pit toilets. Also stayed at a huge camping "resort" in CT last September that charges something like $46/night off season but only charges cyclists $20/night. Not bad considering the place has, among other things, a hot tub. That was nice after a very hard day through the south Berkshires.

350htrr

Here in British Columbia Canada, there are "hundreds" (I guess I should go and find out... what the "actual" number is, it may be up to a thousand+) of forestry campgrounds you can stay at for FREE, some are very, very nice... but rustic, only toilets and no running water...

fietsbob

In Zandvoort, twice I paid a nice campground owner for my 1st night in NL, a short ride from arriving at Shiphol that afternoon

after flying in and putting my bike together.


I have simply put up my tent in a pasture for the night.

when the place has been improved, at some cost to the land owner, or state, pay them.


and Tip your Server/Bartender.




...

Ty0604

Was it Lone Oak west of Norfolk at all? Off of 44 I believe...

Big Lew

As "Happy Feet" remarked, out west in British Columbia our government for some reason
doesn't have staff in their parks for nearly half a year, targeting the summer holidaying
masses instead, so we're able to bicycle camp for nothing. While biking through Alaska we
stopped at a private campground in "North Pole" and when going to pay were asked if we had
used any of the facilities other then the toilet and since we hadn't they said 'on your way,
have a nice day.

jonc123

At first I thought those prices sounded expensive, but here in the midwest, we are catching up to you. I would say many of the state parks run from $20.00-$30.00, the higher end with water and electric. I've encountered that $8.00+ reservation fee in several states. Probably the same company runs it. In the summer season, reservations are a must if you want to camp in a popular campground. The sales tax in the city I live in hovers right around 10%.

I've never seen a hiker/biker site yet. If any of the parks have them, it is not advertised.

I do camp for free often, usually in the off season. I make an effort to pay by looking for a self-pay station, staff, etc. Often times staff are nonexistent and I just leave without paying.

jefnvk

Yep, Michigan has the $8 reservation fee, although I was told it doesn't apply if you just call the campground to book. They don't really take travelers into account, $8 is manageable when you are staying a week or two at a $31 a site modern hookup site, quite ridiculous when it applies to one night at a $11 rustic site.

Heck, it only costs me $11 a YEAR for the state park entry pass.

stevepusser

Cuyamaca State Park here in San Diego County doesn't have dedicated H&B sites, but has an enlightened policy that lets you camp overnight anywhere in the large day use area. They just ask you not set up the tent until close to sunset, and break down camp before 9 AM. Grover Hot Springs SP in the Sierra also had the same policy when I stayed there last, Perris Lake has you stay near the horseshoe pits --and dump station

If public campgrounds have suitable day-use areas in your state, maybe your local bike organizations could pressure for a similar policy. I bet that's how the Pacific coastal states started providing the sites.

prathmann

I still have my "pacific coast bicentennial route" booklet issued by CalTrans for the California section of the coast in preparation for the 1976 bicentennial. It was designed to fit in the map pocket of the common handlebar bags of the time. It lists all the "Special rate Bicentennial Route campsites" which were limited to non-motorized travelers for a fee of $0.50/person/night except for Kirk Creek, Plaskett Creek, and Marin Headlands which were free. Even at that time my recollection is that the parks provided a designated separate space for these sites which were later renamed as Hike&Bike. Day-use areas are sometimes also made available to non-motorized travelers for camping if the Hike&Bike site is already full but there is no guarantee that will be done.

Doug64

Some of the California State Parks have closed their hiker/biker sites due to problems with transients. However, at one of the parks they did give us a reduced price on a regular camp spot, and allowed to share with other cyclists. We've also been told there are no hiker/biker sites available, because they were all occupied. Unlike other states, they seemed to have a limit on the amount of cyclists occupying a H/B site.

At St. Mary Campground in Glacier National Park we had 8 people in one site.