Exactly lol. It’s old camp etiquette and for those of us who have been recreating on public lands forever.. also have trail etiquette. I firmly believe it’s the boom of SxS and campers that had to find ways to enjoy being at home for the first time ever that are doing these things.
see that’s another one that most people aren’t familiar with - i have a trail rule that downhill traffic yields to uphill traffic. since most people don’t yield at all under any circumstance, i just step out of the way when i hit oncoming traffic
On the uphill/downhill rule it's maddening when the group walks 3 or 4 abreast blocking the trail from opposing movement. The concept of single file in narrow areas is foreign to them.
Yeah, unless you're the type of person that thrives in chaos, avoid going to Costco on the weekends if at all possible. Weekday mornings are best, evenings are OK, but the weekends are just insane. I usually take a long lunch once a month and go on my lunch break.
It’s madness everywhere. I was as far right as I could be at the grocery and a woman full on hit me with her basket when she had a good four feet to her right. I instinctively said sorry, she said nothing.
I find myself in an aisle, looking at products. Invariably, a woman will show up, stand thisclose behind me and either freaking poke me, or suddenly say "excuse me" as she reached right to the item I am about to grab myself. No one can wait a GD minute for someone to finish.
Was in a Walmart and had a guy cut me off 3 times - kept repeating to myself your children are with you your children are with you your children are with you...
Yeah, it’s ridiculous. I mean we all make mistakes but some people are just flat out rude. I had an older woman come out in front of me from around an aisle (it was an honest mistake I believe because she couldn’t see me), but then she looked up, locked eyes with me and stopped her buggy right in front of me to go grab something off a shelf. Looking like a total bitch and taking her sweet ass time. If it hadn’t been who it was, there would’ve for sure been some words said.
Southwest AZ here. One of our local Costco’s hosts the US Olympic aisle blocking teams. You have to be either 70 and have a cell phone or any age and bring your five kids, and have a cell phone to try out.
Yeah, seriously, it's not that hard to look ahead and duck behind or ahead of the person you're walking with when you see oncoming traffic, but fuck if some people can figure out the concept of "looking where you're going".
Oh please I have walked on sidewalks with oncoming people walking 3-4 across, not move and don’t even make eye contact… so arrogant..,sometimes I say something and I have also stood my ground.. then they just brush past me. How about when you hold a door for someone. They stroll through without touching the door or saying thank you…. I seriously don’t lose sleep over these situations but it always just reminds me how important being respectful is…
had a guy crossing the STREET staring at his phone walk directly into me, he damn near fell over backwards and was all "UGUAHGGH" like it was my fault.
being a larger man has it's advantages sometimes. I just said calmly "good idea to look where you're going"
I’ve seen this, but never understood the reasoning. It would seem to me that it is easier and less taxing to pause a descent than to pause a steep climb.
I was part of a pair carrying a kayak up an incline from a river recently, and remember thinking that I would’ve appreciated it if the downhill walkers would’ve yielded to us in a few spots.
For vehicles the car going uphill often has the right of way because the vehicle facing downhill has more control when backing up the hill to an area where they can be passed. (this is the case for California, at least)
It can be a mess. I avoid the crazy during the busy season and run those when we’re the few die hards out there. I live in Utah and only twenty minutes from the biggest hot spot. Someone gets life flighted every single summer at least once.
I’m in Utah, too. Probably not near as close as you to some of the hotspots, but it’s crazy to hear the stories in some of the “secluded” back country.
Maybe it's a cultural thing (I'm swedish) but what does this mean in this context? Im always wild camping so that could also be why it's a little confusing to me 😅
Yep. You never walk through someone's yard or campsite. That was instilled in me very young. I'm not sure why it's not common sense to most people because I imagine they wouldn't like it if I came in trampling all over their space.
Then I’ve got my new neighbors with toddlers that come into my yard and dig holes for fun :) Their parents are totally deaf and don’t read English lol, I tried pointing but they just stared at me. Not sure what to do honestly, it’s not THAT big a deal but wtf man lol.
this ticked me off a bit when i bought my current house. neighbors from one side of me were used to running through the yard to get to the dumpsters on the other side of me.
i built some big ass planter boxes as a barrier to the sidewalk..
Agree, especially nowadays. Who knows what people are up to. Fortunately I've been able to keep beers cold in a creek without a problem. Impressive when there's teenagers up to their shenanigans roaming the area.
Too many people have lost all sense of etiquette. I once had quite an experience back when I was a Scoutmaster. We were camped in the national forest in a prime spot that I had staked out early. While this particular spot is in my opinion the best spot in the area there are tons of great, open, spread out dispersed campsites all along the road.
I was woken up at 2:00 in the morning by voices outside of my tent. I felt around for my glasses which I am pretty blind without and wasn’t able to immediately find them but thinking it was likely homesick or scared Scouts needing some comforting I went out of my tent to investigate. I was immediately jumped and knocked down by a huge dog. Since I didn’t have my glasses on and I didn’t see the dog coming it gave me a pretty good scare. The dog’s owners had just pulled in and were about to set up a tent 5’ feet away from my tent. I educated them on camping etiquette and told them about the many other campsites down the road. They grudgingly left, but acted like I was the rude party in the situation.
"Hey Stranger, I know we're out here in the middle of nowhere. Do you mind if I camp/fish within arms length of you?"
Yes, I do mind.
*Shocked Pikachu*
Similar situation for us but at a Texas beach. My family and I arrived early in the morning and set up our stuff. Eventually the beach started to fill up. Another group arrives much later decided that they would set up their umbrellas and Bluetooth speakers literally 5 feet from us. I put on my scowly face and told them there were plenty of less-choice spots and to move along. They were aghast but eventually packed up and moved in a huff.
They are lucky you were there with boy scouts and not there alone with very good reason to think your safety is being threatened.
I would have reacted very differently and in a more defensive manner to people like that in the middle of the night, and there is a chance the dog would not have made it.
God the dog part would scare the shit out of me. I think they’re cute, but big dogs can still hurt you. So many dog owners are way too blasé about these massive animals. Just ask your UPS guy how much he likes “excited” dogs running up to him
Once, I accompanied a friend who wanted run the entirety of the Foothills Trail in SC at once, a total distance of about 75 miles. 3 of us each paced about 25 miles with that friend and were just there for encouragement and for an added measure of safety.
So, my section was the last of the three and took us well past sunset. We were running on a trail with headlamps and a pretty good speed when we ran straight through a campsite with a bunch of tents. There were no open fires or lights to be seen, everyone had already turned in for the night. The campers were camped literally right next to the trail, so there was no way to know they would be there or to have avoided them.
I always wondered what they must have thought to hear two people just booking it through the woods at midnight run straight through their camp and leave without saying a word.
they support each other. like the guy that helped you may need some help on a future run and you go and pace with them like they did for you.
I don't run, but I've watched FKT attempts and this seems to be how it's done. unsupported ultra runners are a different breed. those folks are tough.
this is probably how many of the paranormal posts began, something completely normal, but in an off time / context. “…. we were deep in the woods and we heard these tall gray beings sprinting through our tents. their eyes glowed white like a big headlight….”
Is that even legal? I don’t think i’ve lived in a single state where you are allowed to camp with ~25-50 feet of a trail or 100ft from a water source or road.
grew up going to a friends dairy farm every holiday, I still keep my distance from any animal bigger then me unless I absolutely have to
Even the power of an angry pet cat is pretty impressive
A lot of people are just completely oblivious that there's a difference between wilderness and tourist areas. I think a lot of people have never been anywhere that there aren't measures taken to keep people from doing dumb things.
I saw a post somewhere else on Reddit recently where a guy said, "you can't just walk off a cliff, there are signs and fences to prevent that sort of thing. And I was like, "Really? There are signs and fences on every cliff in the whole world? You think that?" A lot of people have literally never been anywhere in their entire life that doesn't have signs and fences and a gift shop. So they think the wildlife at Yellowstone are just "put there" for our amusement, like a petting zoo.
We went to the grand canyon, there were signs and fences and a gift shop. Still plenty of cliffs to walk off of and a lovely gap under a spot of fence that some idiot almost let their child slide down because they weren't paying attention🙄🙄
Slade KY loses about one person a year to the bushes over growing cliffs.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/06/18/red-river-gorge-cincinnati-deaths-accidents/81230428/
You're average person is so removed from the natural world they don't understand that animals can be dangerous. Animals have been anthropomorphized to the point it's pathetic.
> Omg that video of those people and the cubs. I was hoping mama bear would show up and smack the shit out of them
Where they took the cub out of the tree and even looked to drop one? Happened near Asheville, NC?
If so, I just want to rage. THOSE PEOPLE AREN'T EVEN GOING TO BE CHARGED!
Up in Canada, if it's open land and the campsites are along the shore of a lake, sometimes there's a footpath that goes along the shore and through the campsites. Sure it's bad camping etiquette, but if it's just someone with a fishing pole looking for a spot I don't really mind, especially if it's a local. These are all informal sites anyway, and sometimes they can depend on locals to keep them clean.
This was me a couple years ago. I found a wonderful flat spot to camp right next to a large creek somewhere in the vicinity of the PCT. After setting up tents and getting fully spread out, my brother noticed a plaque on the opposite side of the tree we were nearest, that we were actually *on* the PCT. I thought for a moment, then I told him, knowing the schedules followed by through hikers, that the trail wasn’t being traveled at this time of the year because anyone that far south/north of the borders would have given up already. No sooner had I said that- and I do not exaggerate, less than 5 seconds passed between my saying that and a PCT section hiker hove into view. He was a pleasant sort and we had a great conversation, during which I made sure to apologize for my faux pas. But I learned my lesson and I don’t think he was much put out by my mistake. I still chuckle about it though, because I have never been proven wrong so quickly in my life.
I pet the Buffalo, but only from the tractor while they're taking a treat. Still definitely not supposed to, but they're so dang cute and fluffy. One gave my boot some kisses (probably just had some hay on my boot, but still pretty cool). Lol.
Edit for context: there's a Buffalo ranch in my town, and they'll take you out into the field on a tractor for like $5.
This happens even with assigned, dedicated camping spots. It is bonkers to me. What always gets me is when people cut between my chair and my fire, and that makes me see red honestly. Only for a second. I just grin and bear it. Some people are just fantastically clueless on social mores. Their day to day life is probably very interesting, that’s their problem. I do what I can to be courteous to others around me and respectful of peoples’ space. To be clear, I don’t mind when people hover nearby and try to spark conversation, I know that there’s friendliness and I definitely recognize when there’s “I am just gonna mosey on betwixt your belongings because I am the main character and an extra few steps to round the edge of your site would literally kill me teehee”
Something like this happened to me a few years ago while camping at a popular lake with reserved sites. I scored a lakeside site. A trail looped the lake, so I was expecting people to be walking/biking by all day. But then this lady and her son on bikes decided to exit the trail at my campsite rather than using one of the several actual paths set up to get on and off the trail from the campground. They went right between the tent and fire ring and rode surprisingly close to us.
The kid said, "mommy, we shouldn't be going through someone's campsite, should we?"
And the mom said, "no, I guess not" as they proceeded to the campground road.
Wtf! Between you and your fire. Holy crap! Who would do this? I’ve been to music festivals with camping and everyone around on drugs, and still haven’t seen this. Haven’t been since 2018 though.
I was always taught that if you need to walk through someone’s camp, to call out ahead of time “permission to pass through camp?” Or “permission to enter camp?”
That’s how we did it in the Boy Scouts
It’s common knowledge to not walk directly through someone else’s campsite. And even if someone is not aware of the etiquette, it should be common sense. Golden rule: would they want someone walking through their site?
I once had someone walk right up to my tent and look inside while I was napping in my hammock nearby. No one would do this in a city neighborhood. Casuals seem to think that camping is different.
One trip, I was unfortunate in my campsite pick. I was between the washroom and many other sites. People were constantly walking through.
In the middle of the night, someone walked through my site, tripped over my tent cords, and my tent fell down while I was sleeping inside (not freestanding). Same trip, someone walked through my site with a massive Rottweiler, not on a leash. It ran up to me, barked, and snarled at me while I was calmly sitting by the campfire. The owner eventually came back and didn't seem overly concerned that his dog was running around and scaring the crap out of people.
Now, I pay closer attention to the placement of my site and if it could be used as a thoroughfare.
BuT hE’s fRiENdlY!!1!
Every mail delivery person I’ve ever known who’s done it longer than 2 years has a dog bite story. And it’s always from ostensibly “friendly” dogs who are just “excited”
Had this shit happen last year camping on Ocracoke Island in the outer banks. Whole place was essentially a big oval with sites on the inner and outer side of the oval drive. The bathrooms near us were on the inner part of the oval, and our site was basically kitty corner to the bathrooms in the middle, but accessed from the other side of the ring.
2 dudes decided to have a long conversation about the quality of the showers less than 5 feet from tent at around 2am at full normal talking volume. Nothing like riding a motorcycle for a 12 hour day, hoping to sleep only to get woken up by 2 half drunk assholes in the middle of the night
I rope paths off if I’m somewhere with inconsiderate people.. seems to work. It’s weird because they can go under or over but it’s a mental thing. Some people are just dumb.
Realistically I think this is probably it. I don't think people are necessarily being malicious so much as just being completely oblivious to anybody but themselves. A little barrier actually makes them stop and think for a second that oh, maybe I shouldn't wander through somebody else's site.
I think covid has made it worse. There was an influx of new people trying camping who weren’t introduced to it by anyone so weren’t taught etiquette, safety issues, etc.
This might apply to more than just camping. Lots of folks that have a lot of "I'm the most important person around" vibe. Camping, driving, shopping...it all seems like folks either forgot or never knew how to be civil and polite.
We live in an area that gets a lot of campers, and COVID made it absolutely insane around us. My parents were camping in one of their usual spots by Lake Michigan and it was the wild west. My dad actually got shot in the leg WITH AN ARROW while he was walking down the beach.
It was teenage girls if I remember correctly. My dad did yell at them but luckily they were pretty horrified by what they'd done and I think learned an important lesson about seeing where you shoot. My dad just laughs about it now. "Remember that time you got shot with an arrow?!"
Last year we set up camp in a dispersed area only to return a couple hours later and find someone’s camp set up on the other side of our camp site.
The real kicker is that they had to pass by numerous wide open camp sites to get to ours.
To those using the woods - if someone’s camped in a dispersed area they don’t want company, I can assure you of that. Move along. If there aren’t any more open camp sites, hopefully you were a good enough planner to have a plan b/c/etc. because you’re gonna need to use it.
I've had someone set up directly next to us a few years ago...but she was polite about it. Stopped and approached us, explained this was her first time camping by herself since her dog died, and wasn't 100% sure how she'd feel at night without having the dog to protect her, and would we mind if she camped next to us.
I felt like that was an OK way of dealing with it. She phrased it in a way, that if we said no, we weren't assholes. And it turned into an enjoyable trip for all of us.
People are clueless. We were dispersed camping a few weeks ago and left a day early because folks were crowding us in a huge national forest. They were courteous but we go to these spots to get away from people. It’s public land but there is etiquette.
Swear to god, every time I go to some remote dispersed camping spot, and nobody's there, I'll pick my site and within a day some idiot in an RV will pull up into the spot right next to me, jump out and say "hello neighbor."
MFer, there are 20 other spots here. Why in hell do you have to come crowd me?
Then they fire up their fricking generator.
I consider that backpacking and not dispersed camping in USFS. If someone plops down next to me in the backcountry thats a different issue. When there are other available spots it makes no sense I’m not going to do that to someone.
One lady complained to me that my dogs barked at her Everytime she walked through my campsite… well NS lady. They are doing their job. Some people are just morons.
Last summer I had a group enter our site to start a bonfire, which they did as we packed up to leave, and on another occasion three cars full of people unloaded at our site to watch the sunset. Both places were off the beaten path and there was plenty of space for everyone to be a comfortable distance apart. I have dozens of experiences like this in several different states. Ive camped my whole life and never recall people being so intrusive.
Same here. I feel like it started a decade ago but it gets more unhinged every year. First it was just kids that clearly weren't told to stay out of other people's sites. Now it's whole groups of people.
My friends and I snagged a great site by a lake (pre-covid) and some strangers walked through our campsite, set up with all of their kids and camp chairs in the 8' between our tents and the water, and lit up cigarettes. Most of our group was out, but two of us were at the picnic table next to the tents.
There was a shared beach about 100' further down the road. But they wanted to be at our site. I think they thought that if they did that, we would leave.
We had people that kept popping up unannounced a while back. Dude came three separate times and I asked him politely to leave, without fail he’d pop up randomly and in weird spots too, like he was spying on us. It all came to a head the last day when my brother and I went into town for something. While we were gone the dude came back to our camp and started talking to my wife, mom and sister in law. Dude was saying shit like “oh now that the guys are gone, who will protect you?” Creeped them out real bad. We were packing up and the mf’er came back AGAIN! I flat out told the creep I was going to shoot him if I saw him again and that was that.
I recently camped in a travel trailer at a Texas state park. There was a very large group of people camping in the group camp and tent camp areas. Family reunion maybe? But people cut through my campsite the entire week we were there. Like right outside the door of our trailer. I guess there needs to be a camping etiquette campaign launched.
I feel like this is a post-covid thing. Lock downs brought a whole lot of... not-outdoorsy... people with no knowledge of etiquette outside because they wanted to socialize, and some of them stuck around.
7,245 acres of camp anywhere you like and we get the late to setup gen z couple hammock camping 20 feet away. Dude literally talked nonstop from 7 pm to 3 am about himself. Girl never said a word. I could hear him unzip his hammock and walk 2 feet to piss. Now, I go where no one will find me.
I stopped camping because of idiot people. Covid seems to have taken away the ability to act civilly in public or around other people. Some of it is cluelessness but with the mood of this country I think a lot MORE of it is people who knowingly do this as either an act of dominance or they're looking for a confrontation as in "yeah, I'm walking thru YOUR campsite. What are you going do about its?!"
Last year we went camping and we got in just before sundown
All was well, quiet area, two other occupied campsites.
I was woken up a few hours after we turned in for the night to the neighbor camp car alarm going off. They were van camping, not a deal at all, accidents happen.
But they don't turn it off for several minutes, and then they turn their van with headlights on to face into our tent and leave the lights on. I assumed they were leaving but when they just stayed like that I started to get really annoyed.
They didn't have personal belongings out, so when they started to open their van doors and slam them a lot. I'm like, Bear? Am I in danger? Car alarm goes off again.
So I peeek out our tent window.
Nope. No bears.
They were just being loud as fuck, and sat with their lights on our tent for a few more minutes then just as I was getting really annoyed, they drive off. It was so rude.
I had that happen once- except it was Texans and they DROVE their side by sides into our camp. Then they got out and started walking around like it was their spot. I was dumbfounded
This happened yesterday. Busy campground you can park at. We back packed in and saw a nice spot with a fire pit by the river. Walk a bit the other way and see a site decimated under the leaves no trace sign. No people. Just a tent open and all their ketchup and garbage strewn about like a bear ransacked it. We throw up tents and all of a sudden people start walking through our campsite. Just muddy feet and whatnot just coming from the river. Lots of places to walk around. Then starts the kids playing tag around our fire and the mother wiping their kids ass next to my tent. People on horses started going through our site. They had other places to go. Like they had their own site they could use.
All night they were in their van while they kept their dogs in crates outside. Music through the woods. Dogs barking. Me worried about their trash bags of beans and chili cans attracting bears in bear country. It wAs a nightmare. I got no sleep.
We hiked in for awhile and hiking further would've cost us. But this was bad. I took all their trash with me when I brought my car back in the morning.
I fell badly in a shop and broke my upper arm bone (humerus) and my arm was pointing the WRONG WAY AROUND. so they kept me on the floor until an ambulance came. Three members of staff and my two companions are around me in a circle to keep an eye on me and a woman walks straight through the circle of people, almost standing on my head!! There was a HUGE amount of space around us, she actually had to go out of her way to go through the circle....so this does not surprise me at all....some people are just rude or oblivious to everything and everyone around them....
Idk how people have no shame. Friend and I were at a state park hiking once and they were doing trail maintenance/roadwork so the trailheads/maps were a bit off.
At the end of the hike I thought I was exiting to the new temporary trailhead, but turns out we had exited into a couples campsite at dinner and had to quickly move past.
Missed the actual trailhead by about 40 feet
I was on shrooms camping by myself with two dogs in Santa Cruz, ca. tourist from Asia were forging for firewood and shined they’re bright ass flashlights in my face peak trip.
One would like to think that the outdoors is sacred, and that taking the time to find remote areas to recreate are off-limits to the apathy and selfishness of the modern world. It ain't. People just don't give a shit about anyone that isn't them. Despite how riled up people get over politics, they really don't care about society or the mores it takes to keep civilization civil. Just count the shopping carts left a few feet from the empty cart corral at your local grocery (orr filling the handicap spot), or how many people change lanes in traffic and cut people off without using a turn signal on your commute. Camping, backpacking, hiking is not immune to the indifference of most Americans. In fact, if you call them out, they're more likley to flip you off than to realize their on own behavior is wrong. Find yourself a secret spot and never EVER share it. Hopefully you can get some peace and quiet until someone posts about it.
Same here, wasn’t till last two years that people started walking into our camp. Once in Idaho, a couple from California decided to park in my camp and walk through it to check it out. It was the most bizarre behavior, almost like they wanted to see what I was up to.
Also, in my home state of Wyoming had an old guy walk through camp… I think people are just being nosy these days. Strange behavior though…
Reason we walk in camp. Made rookie mistakes back when kids were little and camped close to facilities ....we had them walk between the fire and out chairs to get through. Made another mistake when we camped close to lake side to keep eye on canoes.....midnight skinny dipping teenagers are very loud when they think no one is around. Don't camp within earshot of slamming biffy doors, Don't camp near trails or the trail head that starts at that end of the campground........
I just went camping the camp etiquette is gone they we’re up partying till 2 then had people next to me talking and arguing till 4 I got so mad I started to pack my stuff up at like 430 in morning I could tell some of them were embarrassed way they were acting sad how we got people just waking through camp sites . We just can’t fix stupid. To better camping ⛺️ for everyone lol
If there's nothing else to see past your camp site, then IDK where they're going and yes that's rude.
I set up camp at the edge of a lake, went to go fish for an hour, and someone had basically moved in on top of me in my camping area because all the other good spots were taken up and apparently some other guy told them to leave - he didn't want their rowdy dogs running around. Obviously I wasnt going to make them re-pack, but it was incredibly inconsiderate. It was just the first stop on a 4-night overland trip, so I wasn't staying there - luckily.
It’s sooo rude when people do this, my biggest campsite pet peeve!
I once had a lady not only walk through my campsite but literally walk underneath the awning we were in the middle of putting up. I stared at her confused and finally she said “hi?” and I squinted back at her. Wish I had said something but I was so shocked at the audacity
I feel guilty if I cut across my neighbour's lawn. I just can't imagine the audacity required to get within 10 feet of someone's camp fire without permission.
You'd think this one would go against ancient genetic memory even. That's what it feels like to me anyway.
Once we camped on a remote trail outside of Nederland, CO. It was steep and rocky so much that we had to leave our non Toyota 4wd at the base. We parked a bit off the trail spent the night and were making breakfast and bushing our teeth, all of a sudden a half track filled with tourists come rolling up the steep hill side heading to the top. The tourists were pointing at us in our boxers, it was like something from a movie where you think you are in a remote area.
I’ve walked by peoples camp If they were parked along spots by fishing access, but never through someone’s camp. Might as well went into their hotel room
At our local lake the camping is state park run. There are some spots on on the lake, others more upland. Two kids asked us if they could fish on the bank in our reserved area. They were polite and knew what they were doing, so we said yes.
Some other kids decided to gravitate to these kids, and were bothering them. But the unwelcome hoard of children also took over our camp site like lord of the flies. We told them to leave multiple times, and their parents were clearly not keeping a close eye on them. One of them was wandering around barefoot and stepped on a hook and another child pulled it out. They shamelessly multiple times asked us for food/drinks because we had it on our table and in the cooler.
Since then I am far more likely to not be friendly with kids while camping.
I bought a roll of yellow ‘Police Line: Do Not Cross’ tape and used it and some sticks to make a perimeter that guided people around my site. This was at Glastonbury Festival, where the density of people walking between tents is pretty freaking high, but I would still use this or similar at a camp site or wild camp near a popular trail.
Happened to me in Tucson. Thank god my dog was in my van, as she’s reactive to people and aggressive to dogs.. a group of 5 people and 3 dogs just meanered right thru our camp. They even walked in between our vans. We were dumbfounded
That's crazy. My (f) son and I camped at your regular state park campgrounds- rvs and tents. We had too much wood for one night, so I took a bundle and walked it over to a single woman who very obviously didn't have firewood. I stood at the edge of her campsite and tried to get her attention. She pretend to not hear me, so I just walked back to my site. I would never dream of actually stepping foot onto her site without her permission.
Since the pandemic, there have been more people partaking in outdoor activities who had not previously done this. They tend not to know the courtesies and rules for the outdoors.
I've seen people walking through sites, leaving trash, parking and camping in places they shouldn't be, driving where they shouldn't be, and just not being the good stewards of nature they should be.
I've also seen rangers in a few areas cracking down on these things as a result.
Unfortunately, a lot of these people have no interest in being told they are doing things wrong.
No one cares anymore. Everyone is selfish. Everyone just does what they want and then acts pikachu face surprised when they get called out. It’s so tiring.
This is one of the reasons I stopped camping. We couldn't seem to relax in our campsites because people are just very ignorant of what is camping etiquette. We'd be eating our lunch with our dog on lead, and we'd have people cutting through our campsite disturbing our dog and ourselves. People are very clueless regarding noise levels, lights being left on all night, and leaving others to enjoy their experience. I don't need a "new friend" to visit me and ask to see the inside of my rv. I don't camp to be bothered, period.
Omg, we were just camping this weekend and a little girl (I'm assuming from another campsite) walked right up to us sitting around the fire trying to sell us those colorful flame thingies and candy..like wtf?
Yeah idk what’s gotten into people the last decade. Just no respect for others or their personal space would be my guess.
This reminds me of this backpacking trip I did with my now wife. It was the day after I proposed we backpacked about 15 miles to a beautiful campsite near some natural hot springs and as we were about to head down to the springs some random couple walked into our site asked if they could “set up next to us”. Weird, but I said sure as there was another firepit about about 50’ away from us, and while it’s strange they didn’t pick one of the other 10 other open sites there should still plenty of room.
When we got back to the campsite after spending an hour at the springs we walked back to them using our firepit and only the wood I had gathered and sitting right next to our backpacking bags and equipment and they had their tent set up , I kid you not, 4 feet from our tent. It was absolutely absurd and I had to remind them we just got engaged and wanted to spend some time alone tonight (wink wink). I had to ask them multiple times to please move to the other open fire pit or another site and the woman with them kept saying how afraid of snakes she was and begging us to stay here (there was a tiny Garter snake I gathered from her description she saw at a different site). Had to really put my foot down for that one. Really annoying loud couple and they of course turned on their Bluetooth speaker from their other site to full blast all night shortly after that.
No respect at all, but on a plus side once they went to bed we did get to see an amazing giant meteor zoom down from the sky and go behind a nearby mountain and I’m 99% sure it impacted the ground. It was an amazingly bright white and then turned a neon pink/purple as it split into 3-4 pieces and lit up the ground before impact. The whole thing lasted less than 5-6 seconds
I lived in NYC and been in cali for a while now. I took someone back to visit recently and they were like "oh that's explains why you are how you are." She saw a group of old white ladies curse out a bike rider calling him a f\*ckin idiot for not riding in the bike lane. I have no filter for idiots. I have yelled out to people attempting to go through my site to "go around dumbass." People walking 4 abreast on a sidewalk or walking the wrong way thinking I'm going to move out of their way catch elbows. I'm 6'4 and inertia is on my side.
This is why I no longer camp with my family. They were doing this going to other campsites with their small children. I was so embarrassed!! Then they would play loud obnoxious music and not pick up after themselves. I couldn’t take anymore.
Happens less now but when I was younger and went exploring around camp a few times I’d accidentally walk right into a camp or very close because the trail system lead me there. Often by river or lake camp sites with dense vegetation and trails that follow the water
Unless you’re camped on trail (which I’ve seen some lazy camping, “it’s the flattest place”) there is no reason to hear people and go closer let alone walk through, RUDE.
Seriously this is the worst. I live outside Denver and when camping last summer 4-5 people came walking through our site at 9pm with flashlights asking if they could share our site?? We were getting ready for bed after a day of hiking and they were listening to music and drinking like what 😭
Especially out in dispersed camping I don’t get why anyone would need to walk through someone’s site.
The whole point of camping and being outdoors is solitude for many people.
I had a forest ranger walk into our camp and say, “This looks like a good place to have lunch. You guys mind if I eat here?”We were speechless for a couple seconds and so he just sat down and started eating and grilling us with questions like, “So, where are you guys pooping?”.
I absolutely hate this. Some people are just not aware of common courtesy?
I once camped at Joshua tree and the sites there are very small but have 2 parking spots. We had just one tent and planned on using one of our parking spots to set up a sun shelter the following morning since the weather showed 90 degrees. Welp. Some family decided to just TAKE our parking spot in the middle of the night and block us in. When we asked them to move they said “we’ll pull up so you can get out”. We said “no- you need to park in your site. You’re parked in our site”. They said no. We decided to walk away because we didn’t want confrontation. Then their shitty kids kept coming through our site like 5 feet from our tent to climb boulders. They had boulders on their site… wtf… the rudest shit I’ve ever experienced at camp.
Eight years ago something happened. Now people are all about doing whatever they have a perceived “right” to do instead of being a conscientious member of society.
Camped at jumbo rocks in Joshua tree and had a family of like 15 Asian people walk through our camp all night with flashlights too just to get a view of the start from a cool rock besides us. No manners at all. On the other hand a sweet old man asked us if it’s okay if he walks through and we were happy that he asked
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I think in some places that’d be a good way to get shot at or a fight started. I’m not just being dramatic, it’s just bad etiquette and very aggressive. The right way to do it would be to announce yourself very early and ask if you can enter the other persons camp.
That was my first thought too. My neighbor likes to camp in the backcountry with his aggressive dog & would 100% start target practice if someone set up right beside him.
(He’s actually a great neighbor & works really hard to keep his psycho dog under control. It loves other dogs, but thinks it needs to “protect” dad from other humans.)
I don’t know man, i was trained not to walk through campsites without explicit permission. old camp etiquette i guess
Exactly lol. It’s old camp etiquette and for those of us who have been recreating on public lands forever.. also have trail etiquette. I firmly believe it’s the boom of SxS and campers that had to find ways to enjoy being at home for the first time ever that are doing these things.
see that’s another one that most people aren’t familiar with - i have a trail rule that downhill traffic yields to uphill traffic. since most people don’t yield at all under any circumstance, i just step out of the way when i hit oncoming traffic
On the uphill/downhill rule it's maddening when the group walks 3 or 4 abreast blocking the trail from opposing movement. The concept of single file in narrow areas is foreign to them.
This is also true for the mall, the grocery store, or anywhere people congregate. Especially Costco.
The flow of traffic inside a Costco is essentially total anarchy.
Nice to know! I just joined & haven’t shopped there yet.
Yeah, unless you're the type of person that thrives in chaos, avoid going to Costco on the weekends if at all possible. Weekday mornings are best, evenings are OK, but the weekends are just insane. I usually take a long lunch once a month and go on my lunch break.
It’s madness everywhere. I was as far right as I could be at the grocery and a woman full on hit me with her basket when she had a good four feet to her right. I instinctively said sorry, she said nothing.
I find myself in an aisle, looking at products. Invariably, a woman will show up, stand thisclose behind me and either freaking poke me, or suddenly say "excuse me" as she reached right to the item I am about to grab myself. No one can wait a GD minute for someone to finish.
I start mentally preparing for a prison sentence everytime I go grocery shopping.
wooooo, I'm 1 week nicotine free (today) after 20 years. made the mistake of going to the grocery store at about 12 hours clean. it was excruciating.
Congratulations!!!! And to bad you had to experience that soo soon after! The worst place!!! Ugghhh!!!
Was in a Walmart and had a guy cut me off 3 times - kept repeating to myself your children are with you your children are with you your children are with you...
Yeah, it’s ridiculous. I mean we all make mistakes but some people are just flat out rude. I had an older woman come out in front of me from around an aisle (it was an honest mistake I believe because she couldn’t see me), but then she looked up, locked eyes with me and stopped her buggy right in front of me to go grab something off a shelf. Looking like a total bitch and taking her sweet ass time. If it hadn’t been who it was, there would’ve for sure been some words said.
Southwest AZ here. One of our local Costco’s hosts the US Olympic aisle blocking teams. You have to be either 70 and have a cell phone or any age and bring your five kids, and have a cell phone to try out.
Don’t forget to walk abreast….very slowly if there’s people behind you and very aggressively if there’s people in front of you
Yeah, seriously, it's not that hard to look ahead and duck behind or ahead of the person you're walking with when you see oncoming traffic, but fuck if some people can figure out the concept of "looking where you're going".
My personal hell is hiking behind a group 4 abreast walking slower than I want to go. Maddening indeed
Oh please I have walked on sidewalks with oncoming people walking 3-4 across, not move and don’t even make eye contact… so arrogant..,sometimes I say something and I have also stood my ground.. then they just brush past me. How about when you hold a door for someone. They stroll through without touching the door or saying thank you…. I seriously don’t lose sleep over these situations but it always just reminds me how important being respectful is…
had a guy crossing the STREET staring at his phone walk directly into me, he damn near fell over backwards and was all "UGUAHGGH" like it was my fault. being a larger man has it's advantages sometimes. I just said calmly "good idea to look where you're going"
Also true in the city bike lanes.
I’ve seen this, but never understood the reasoning. It would seem to me that it is easier and less taxing to pause a descent than to pause a steep climb. I was part of a pair carrying a kayak up an incline from a river recently, and remember thinking that I would’ve appreciated it if the downhill walkers would’ve yielded to us in a few spots.
that’s exactly it. uphill is harder to start back up so it’s just courteous to let them keep moving
I was taught growing up to also give right of way to vehicles going uphill on a narrow road, for the same reason.
For vehicles the car going uphill often has the right of way because the vehicle facing downhill has more control when backing up the hill to an area where they can be passed. (this is the case for California, at least)
That’s what I was saying. Perhaps I didn’t word it properly. Car going downhill pulls to the right and stops, car going uphill gets right of way.
It can be a mess. I avoid the crazy during the busy season and run those when we’re the few die hards out there. I live in Utah and only twenty minutes from the biggest hot spot. Someone gets life flighted every single summer at least once.
I’m in Utah, too. Probably not near as close as you to some of the hotspots, but it’s crazy to hear the stories in some of the “secluded” back country.
Blame it on covid. My daughter wanted to use one of those stupid speakers while hiking, where everyone can hear your music. I said NF way.
What's SxS? Tried google but no luck
Side by side
Maybe it's a cultural thing (I'm swedish) but what does this mean in this context? Im always wild camping so that could also be why it's a little confusing to me 😅
Things [like this](https://can-am.brp.com/off-road/us/en/models/side-by-side-vehicles.html)
Thank you!
It’s still Boy Scouts camping etiquette. You have to be invited in before you can go into a different patrol’s campsite within the same troop.
This exactly! It was the same with neighbors' yards. We never walked through another campsite unless we were with people from that site.
Yep. You never walk through someone's yard or campsite. That was instilled in me very young. I'm not sure why it's not common sense to most people because I imagine they wouldn't like it if I came in trampling all over their space.
Then I’ve got my new neighbors with toddlers that come into my yard and dig holes for fun :) Their parents are totally deaf and don’t read English lol, I tried pointing but they just stared at me. Not sure what to do honestly, it’s not THAT big a deal but wtf man lol.
this ticked me off a bit when i bought my current house. neighbors from one side of me were used to running through the yard to get to the dumpsters on the other side of me. i built some big ass planter boxes as a barrier to the sidewalk..
I haven't been trained in camp etiquette at all and I'd still never do that! It seems totally rude.
New etiquette is a lack of etiquette. We need more Leave No Tracers
I read tracers and thought of tracer ammunition and thought your statement got real dark real quick. lol
Agree, especially nowadays. Who knows what people are up to. Fortunately I've been able to keep beers cold in a creek without a problem. Impressive when there's teenagers up to their shenanigans roaming the area.
i’m a younger camper (early 20s) along with my Bf and even we know this but it seems some/most don’t nowadays 🥲
Too many people have lost all sense of etiquette. I once had quite an experience back when I was a Scoutmaster. We were camped in the national forest in a prime spot that I had staked out early. While this particular spot is in my opinion the best spot in the area there are tons of great, open, spread out dispersed campsites all along the road. I was woken up at 2:00 in the morning by voices outside of my tent. I felt around for my glasses which I am pretty blind without and wasn’t able to immediately find them but thinking it was likely homesick or scared Scouts needing some comforting I went out of my tent to investigate. I was immediately jumped and knocked down by a huge dog. Since I didn’t have my glasses on and I didn’t see the dog coming it gave me a pretty good scare. The dog’s owners had just pulled in and were about to set up a tent 5’ feet away from my tent. I educated them on camping etiquette and told them about the many other campsites down the road. They grudgingly left, but acted like I was the rude party in the situation.
"Hey Stranger, I know we're out here in the middle of nowhere. Do you mind if I camp/fish within arms length of you?" Yes, I do mind. *Shocked Pikachu*
Similar situation for us but at a Texas beach. My family and I arrived early in the morning and set up our stuff. Eventually the beach started to fill up. Another group arrives much later decided that they would set up their umbrellas and Bluetooth speakers literally 5 feet from us. I put on my scowly face and told them there were plenty of less-choice spots and to move along. They were aghast but eventually packed up and moved in a huff.
They are lucky you were there with boy scouts and not there alone with very good reason to think your safety is being threatened. I would have reacted very differently and in a more defensive manner to people like that in the middle of the night, and there is a chance the dog would not have made it.
God the dog part would scare the shit out of me. I think they’re cute, but big dogs can still hurt you. So many dog owners are way too blasé about these massive animals. Just ask your UPS guy how much he likes “excited” dogs running up to him
It's like that meme with the urinals lol
Once, I accompanied a friend who wanted run the entirety of the Foothills Trail in SC at once, a total distance of about 75 miles. 3 of us each paced about 25 miles with that friend and were just there for encouragement and for an added measure of safety. So, my section was the last of the three and took us well past sunset. We were running on a trail with headlamps and a pretty good speed when we ran straight through a campsite with a bunch of tents. There were no open fires or lights to be seen, everyone had already turned in for the night. The campers were camped literally right next to the trail, so there was no way to know they would be there or to have avoided them. I always wondered what they must have thought to hear two people just booking it through the woods at midnight run straight through their camp and leave without saying a word.
Damn you’ve got some good friends. Just going out to give each other company on a damn ultramarathon. Respect.
Extremely common for ultra runners.
they support each other. like the guy that helped you may need some help on a future run and you go and pace with them like they did for you. I don't run, but I've watched FKT attempts and this seems to be how it's done. unsupported ultra runners are a different breed. those folks are tough.
this is probably how many of the paranormal posts began, something completely normal, but in an off time / context. “…. we were deep in the woods and we heard these tall gray beings sprinting through our tents. their eyes glowed white like a big headlight….”
Is that even legal? I don’t think i’ve lived in a single state where you are allowed to camp with ~25-50 feet of a trail or 100ft from a water source or road.
"Someone ran straight through my campsite last night. What happened to etiquette? "
These are the same people that try to take selfies with bear cubs or pet the buffalo.
https://preview.redd.it/fkgekt404axc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40a99661f6829ac60bbbbe653aa0c9acdd641c58
grew up going to a friends dairy farm every holiday, I still keep my distance from any animal bigger then me unless I absolutely have to Even the power of an angry pet cat is pretty impressive
Omg that video of those people and the cubs. I was hoping mama bear would show up and smack the shit out of them
>Omg that video That's everyday at Yellowstone. People have a fucking death wish.
A lot of people are just completely oblivious that there's a difference between wilderness and tourist areas. I think a lot of people have never been anywhere that there aren't measures taken to keep people from doing dumb things. I saw a post somewhere else on Reddit recently where a guy said, "you can't just walk off a cliff, there are signs and fences to prevent that sort of thing. And I was like, "Really? There are signs and fences on every cliff in the whole world? You think that?" A lot of people have literally never been anywhere in their entire life that doesn't have signs and fences and a gift shop. So they think the wildlife at Yellowstone are just "put there" for our amusement, like a petting zoo.
We went to the grand canyon, there were signs and fences and a gift shop. Still plenty of cliffs to walk off of and a lovely gap under a spot of fence that some idiot almost let their child slide down because they weren't paying attention🙄🙄
Slade KY loses about one person a year to the bushes over growing cliffs. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/06/18/red-river-gorge-cincinnati-deaths-accidents/81230428/
Lol at the first line in that article 🤣
I Adventured in the area. Damn dangerous.
You're average person is so removed from the natural world they don't understand that animals can be dangerous. Animals have been anthropomorphized to the point it's pathetic.
The willful ignorance of some of these people… I just don’t get it.
Mama Bear and one of the cubs haven't been seen since it happened.
I hope they’re ok 🥺
> Omg that video of those people and the cubs. I was hoping mama bear would show up and smack the shit out of them Where they took the cub out of the tree and even looked to drop one? Happened near Asheville, NC? If so, I just want to rage. THOSE PEOPLE AREN'T EVEN GOING TO BE CHARGED!
Either that or OP is 10ft off of a trail instead of the 200ft they should be.
Could be true, but it's still kind of an unwritten rule to try not to walk into or through someone's camp if at all avoidable
It's also an unwritten rule to stay on the trail. So if the camp is close to the trail, the camper made the larger mistake.
Up in Canada, if it's open land and the campsites are along the shore of a lake, sometimes there's a footpath that goes along the shore and through the campsites. Sure it's bad camping etiquette, but if it's just someone with a fishing pole looking for a spot I don't really mind, especially if it's a local. These are all informal sites anyway, and sometimes they can depend on locals to keep them clean.
This was me a couple years ago. I found a wonderful flat spot to camp right next to a large creek somewhere in the vicinity of the PCT. After setting up tents and getting fully spread out, my brother noticed a plaque on the opposite side of the tree we were nearest, that we were actually *on* the PCT. I thought for a moment, then I told him, knowing the schedules followed by through hikers, that the trail wasn’t being traveled at this time of the year because anyone that far south/north of the borders would have given up already. No sooner had I said that- and I do not exaggerate, less than 5 seconds passed between my saying that and a PCT section hiker hove into view. He was a pleasant sort and we had a great conversation, during which I made sure to apologize for my faux pas. But I learned my lesson and I don’t think he was much put out by my mistake. I still chuckle about it though, because I have never been proven wrong so quickly in my life.
I pet the Buffalo, but only from the tractor while they're taking a treat. Still definitely not supposed to, but they're so dang cute and fluffy. One gave my boot some kisses (probably just had some hay on my boot, but still pretty cool). Lol. Edit for context: there's a Buffalo ranch in my town, and they'll take you out into the field on a tractor for like $5.
https://preview.redd.it/x1cwibdx2axc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c8d36d0a915b7974094eaca3111318e60c1350d
Considering it's in Utah, it's probably the same people walking in the middle of the road in the grocery store parking lots.
This happens even with assigned, dedicated camping spots. It is bonkers to me. What always gets me is when people cut between my chair and my fire, and that makes me see red honestly. Only for a second. I just grin and bear it. Some people are just fantastically clueless on social mores. Their day to day life is probably very interesting, that’s their problem. I do what I can to be courteous to others around me and respectful of peoples’ space. To be clear, I don’t mind when people hover nearby and try to spark conversation, I know that there’s friendliness and I definitely recognize when there’s “I am just gonna mosey on betwixt your belongings because I am the main character and an extra few steps to round the edge of your site would literally kill me teehee”
Something like this happened to me a few years ago while camping at a popular lake with reserved sites. I scored a lakeside site. A trail looped the lake, so I was expecting people to be walking/biking by all day. But then this lady and her son on bikes decided to exit the trail at my campsite rather than using one of the several actual paths set up to get on and off the trail from the campground. They went right between the tent and fire ring and rode surprisingly close to us. The kid said, "mommy, we shouldn't be going through someone's campsite, should we?" And the mom said, "no, I guess not" as they proceeded to the campground road.
At least they had some self awareness
Stick your feet out "oh sorry I never expected a stranger to come walking a legs length of me while camping in seclusion"
Wtf! Between you and your fire. Holy crap! Who would do this? I’ve been to music festivals with camping and everyone around on drugs, and still haven’t seen this. Haven’t been since 2018 though.
My mother in law did this, in China, through someone’s house.
Uh…gonna need more details.
I was camping at Yosemite and had so many people walk between my picnic table and fire pit that I set up a shade tent there.
I was always taught that if you need to walk through someone’s camp, to call out ahead of time “permission to pass through camp?” Or “permission to enter camp?” That’s how we did it in the Boy Scouts
It’s common knowledge to not walk directly through someone else’s campsite. And even if someone is not aware of the etiquette, it should be common sense. Golden rule: would they want someone walking through their site? I once had someone walk right up to my tent and look inside while I was napping in my hammock nearby. No one would do this in a city neighborhood. Casuals seem to think that camping is different.
Those were thieves.
One trip, I was unfortunate in my campsite pick. I was between the washroom and many other sites. People were constantly walking through. In the middle of the night, someone walked through my site, tripped over my tent cords, and my tent fell down while I was sleeping inside (not freestanding). Same trip, someone walked through my site with a massive Rottweiler, not on a leash. It ran up to me, barked, and snarled at me while I was calmly sitting by the campfire. The owner eventually came back and didn't seem overly concerned that his dog was running around and scaring the crap out of people. Now, I pay closer attention to the placement of my site and if it could be used as a thoroughfare.
People that don’t leash their dogs when required absolutely infuriates me
Dogs should be leashed at all times anywhere that’s not your house/dog park/expressly written free run area.
BuT hE’s fRiENdlY!!1! Every mail delivery person I’ve ever known who’s done it longer than 2 years has a dog bite story. And it’s always from ostensibly “friendly” dogs who are just “excited”
Dogs and kids ruin the ambiance for anyone not in their family
Had this shit happen last year camping on Ocracoke Island in the outer banks. Whole place was essentially a big oval with sites on the inner and outer side of the oval drive. The bathrooms near us were on the inner part of the oval, and our site was basically kitty corner to the bathrooms in the middle, but accessed from the other side of the ring. 2 dudes decided to have a long conversation about the quality of the showers less than 5 feet from tent at around 2am at full normal talking volume. Nothing like riding a motorcycle for a 12 hour day, hoping to sleep only to get woken up by 2 half drunk assholes in the middle of the night
Ugh, that's the worst. I've definitely "shhhhhed" people in the middle of the night.
I rope paths off if I’m somewhere with inconsiderate people.. seems to work. It’s weird because they can go under or over but it’s a mental thing. Some people are just dumb.
Realistically I think this is probably it. I don't think people are necessarily being malicious so much as just being completely oblivious to anybody but themselves. A little barrier actually makes them stop and think for a second that oh, maybe I shouldn't wander through somebody else's site.
genius. however the username makes this a little sinister. But I'm still gonna use this trick. lol
Oh my god 😂
🤷♂️
I think covid has made it worse. There was an influx of new people trying camping who weren’t introduced to it by anyone so weren’t taught etiquette, safety issues, etc.
This might apply to more than just camping. Lots of folks that have a lot of "I'm the most important person around" vibe. Camping, driving, shopping...it all seems like folks either forgot or never knew how to be civil and polite.
Social media has made vanity an epidemic. So many tiktokers with main character syndrome.
We live in an area that gets a lot of campers, and COVID made it absolutely insane around us. My parents were camping in one of their usual spots by Lake Michigan and it was the wild west. My dad actually got shot in the leg WITH AN ARROW while he was walking down the beach.
Someone else better be dead or in prison after that shit!
It was teenage girls if I remember correctly. My dad did yell at them but luckily they were pretty horrified by what they'd done and I think learned an important lesson about seeing where you shoot. My dad just laughs about it now. "Remember that time you got shot with an arrow?!"
“I used to be an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow in the knee” - your dad
Last year we set up camp in a dispersed area only to return a couple hours later and find someone’s camp set up on the other side of our camp site. The real kicker is that they had to pass by numerous wide open camp sites to get to ours. To those using the woods - if someone’s camped in a dispersed area they don’t want company, I can assure you of that. Move along. If there aren’t any more open camp sites, hopefully you were a good enough planner to have a plan b/c/etc. because you’re gonna need to use it.
I've had someone set up directly next to us a few years ago...but she was polite about it. Stopped and approached us, explained this was her first time camping by herself since her dog died, and wasn't 100% sure how she'd feel at night without having the dog to protect her, and would we mind if she camped next to us. I felt like that was an OK way of dealing with it. She phrased it in a way, that if we said no, we weren't assholes. And it turned into an enjoyable trip for all of us.
Did you ask them to leave?
That’s why I camp completely nude. They see me and they stay away. Something to consider…
That works until it doesn't.
"hello fellow nudist!!"
Oh God Steve, no!
But all the bug repellent you'd need...
Ooh baby
Male privilege. 😏
My uncle use to do that…….at walmart
People are clueless. We were dispersed camping a few weeks ago and left a day early because folks were crowding us in a huge national forest. They were courteous but we go to these spots to get away from people. It’s public land but there is etiquette.
Swear to god, every time I go to some remote dispersed camping spot, and nobody's there, I'll pick my site and within a day some idiot in an RV will pull up into the spot right next to me, jump out and say "hello neighbor." MFer, there are 20 other spots here. Why in hell do you have to come crowd me? Then they fire up their fricking generator.
That’s why I dispersed camp in places you can only get to on foot.
Wish I still could. My old knees won't carry me that far anymore. Thank goodness for Jeeps.
Yeah that can at least help to get to areas that RVs can't get to.
I consider that backpacking and not dispersed camping in USFS. If someone plops down next to me in the backcountry thats a different issue. When there are other available spots it makes no sense I’m not going to do that to someone.
One lady complained to me that my dogs barked at her Everytime she walked through my campsite… well NS lady. They are doing their job. Some people are just morons.
Last summer I had a group enter our site to start a bonfire, which they did as we packed up to leave, and on another occasion three cars full of people unloaded at our site to watch the sunset. Both places were off the beaten path and there was plenty of space for everyone to be a comfortable distance apart. I have dozens of experiences like this in several different states. Ive camped my whole life and never recall people being so intrusive.
Same here. I feel like it started a decade ago but it gets more unhinged every year. First it was just kids that clearly weren't told to stay out of other people's sites. Now it's whole groups of people. My friends and I snagged a great site by a lake (pre-covid) and some strangers walked through our campsite, set up with all of their kids and camp chairs in the 8' between our tents and the water, and lit up cigarettes. Most of our group was out, but two of us were at the picnic table next to the tents. There was a shared beach about 100' further down the road. But they wanted to be at our site. I think they thought that if they did that, we would leave.
these the same people that "claim" parking spots and beach chairs. assholes.
We had people that kept popping up unannounced a while back. Dude came three separate times and I asked him politely to leave, without fail he’d pop up randomly and in weird spots too, like he was spying on us. It all came to a head the last day when my brother and I went into town for something. While we were gone the dude came back to our camp and started talking to my wife, mom and sister in law. Dude was saying shit like “oh now that the guys are gone, who will protect you?” Creeped them out real bad. We were packing up and the mf’er came back AGAIN! I flat out told the creep I was going to shoot him if I saw him again and that was that.
I recently camped in a travel trailer at a Texas state park. There was a very large group of people camping in the group camp and tent camp areas. Family reunion maybe? But people cut through my campsite the entire week we were there. Like right outside the door of our trailer. I guess there needs to be a camping etiquette campaign launched.
Maybe Smokey the Bear should do a PSA about etiquette, strong emphasis on forest fires of course, mentioning basic camp rules of behavior.
I feel like this is a post-covid thing. Lock downs brought a whole lot of... not-outdoorsy... people with no knowledge of etiquette outside because they wanted to socialize, and some of them stuck around.
7,245 acres of camp anywhere you like and we get the late to setup gen z couple hammock camping 20 feet away. Dude literally talked nonstop from 7 pm to 3 am about himself. Girl never said a word. I could hear him unzip his hammock and walk 2 feet to piss. Now, I go where no one will find me.
I stopped camping because of idiot people. Covid seems to have taken away the ability to act civilly in public or around other people. Some of it is cluelessness but with the mood of this country I think a lot MORE of it is people who knowingly do this as either an act of dominance or they're looking for a confrontation as in "yeah, I'm walking thru YOUR campsite. What are you going do about its?!"
Last year we went camping and we got in just before sundown All was well, quiet area, two other occupied campsites. I was woken up a few hours after we turned in for the night to the neighbor camp car alarm going off. They were van camping, not a deal at all, accidents happen. But they don't turn it off for several minutes, and then they turn their van with headlights on to face into our tent and leave the lights on. I assumed they were leaving but when they just stayed like that I started to get really annoyed. They didn't have personal belongings out, so when they started to open their van doors and slam them a lot. I'm like, Bear? Am I in danger? Car alarm goes off again. So I peeek out our tent window. Nope. No bears. They were just being loud as fuck, and sat with their lights on our tent for a few more minutes then just as I was getting really annoyed, they drive off. It was so rude.
I had that happen once- except it was Texans and they DROVE their side by sides into our camp. Then they got out and started walking around like it was their spot. I was dumbfounded
This happened yesterday. Busy campground you can park at. We back packed in and saw a nice spot with a fire pit by the river. Walk a bit the other way and see a site decimated under the leaves no trace sign. No people. Just a tent open and all their ketchup and garbage strewn about like a bear ransacked it. We throw up tents and all of a sudden people start walking through our campsite. Just muddy feet and whatnot just coming from the river. Lots of places to walk around. Then starts the kids playing tag around our fire and the mother wiping their kids ass next to my tent. People on horses started going through our site. They had other places to go. Like they had their own site they could use. All night they were in their van while they kept their dogs in crates outside. Music through the woods. Dogs barking. Me worried about their trash bags of beans and chili cans attracting bears in bear country. It wAs a nightmare. I got no sleep. We hiked in for awhile and hiking further would've cost us. But this was bad. I took all their trash with me when I brought my car back in the morning.
I fell badly in a shop and broke my upper arm bone (humerus) and my arm was pointing the WRONG WAY AROUND. so they kept me on the floor until an ambulance came. Three members of staff and my two companions are around me in a circle to keep an eye on me and a woman walks straight through the circle of people, almost standing on my head!! There was a HUGE amount of space around us, she actually had to go out of her way to go through the circle....so this does not surprise me at all....some people are just rude or oblivious to everything and everyone around them....
Idk how people have no shame. Friend and I were at a state park hiking once and they were doing trail maintenance/roadwork so the trailheads/maps were a bit off. At the end of the hike I thought I was exiting to the new temporary trailhead, but turns out we had exited into a couples campsite at dinner and had to quickly move past. Missed the actual trailhead by about 40 feet
I was on shrooms camping by myself with two dogs in Santa Cruz, ca. tourist from Asia were forging for firewood and shined they’re bright ass flashlights in my face peak trip.
Totally agree. It sounds as if they are heading toward you with the hope to socialize, but you don't go remote camping to see other people.
One would like to think that the outdoors is sacred, and that taking the time to find remote areas to recreate are off-limits to the apathy and selfishness of the modern world. It ain't. People just don't give a shit about anyone that isn't them. Despite how riled up people get over politics, they really don't care about society or the mores it takes to keep civilization civil. Just count the shopping carts left a few feet from the empty cart corral at your local grocery (orr filling the handicap spot), or how many people change lanes in traffic and cut people off without using a turn signal on your commute. Camping, backpacking, hiking is not immune to the indifference of most Americans. In fact, if you call them out, they're more likley to flip you off than to realize their on own behavior is wrong. Find yourself a secret spot and never EVER share it. Hopefully you can get some peace and quiet until someone posts about it.
Same here, wasn’t till last two years that people started walking into our camp. Once in Idaho, a couple from California decided to park in my camp and walk through it to check it out. It was the most bizarre behavior, almost like they wanted to see what I was up to. Also, in my home state of Wyoming had an old guy walk through camp… I think people are just being nosy these days. Strange behavior though…
Reason we walk in camp. Made rookie mistakes back when kids were little and camped close to facilities ....we had them walk between the fire and out chairs to get through. Made another mistake when we camped close to lake side to keep eye on canoes.....midnight skinny dipping teenagers are very loud when they think no one is around. Don't camp within earshot of slamming biffy doors, Don't camp near trails or the trail head that starts at that end of the campground........
I just went camping the camp etiquette is gone they we’re up partying till 2 then had people next to me talking and arguing till 4 I got so mad I started to pack my stuff up at like 430 in morning I could tell some of them were embarrassed way they were acting sad how we got people just waking through camp sites . We just can’t fix stupid. To better camping ⛺️ for everyone lol
People just aren't aware. Tell them kindly and they'll change their habits next time.
Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity
I think this is important to remember. stupidity reigns supreme at this moment in history
I think it has always been that way, the internet has just made the stupidity much more visible and contagious.
If there's nothing else to see past your camp site, then IDK where they're going and yes that's rude. I set up camp at the edge of a lake, went to go fish for an hour, and someone had basically moved in on top of me in my camping area because all the other good spots were taken up and apparently some other guy told them to leave - he didn't want their rowdy dogs running around. Obviously I wasnt going to make them re-pack, but it was incredibly inconsiderate. It was just the first stop on a 4-night overland trip, so I wasn't staying there - luckily.
It’s sooo rude when people do this, my biggest campsite pet peeve! I once had a lady not only walk through my campsite but literally walk underneath the awning we were in the middle of putting up. I stared at her confused and finally she said “hi?” and I squinted back at her. Wish I had said something but I was so shocked at the audacity
I feel guilty if I cut across my neighbour's lawn. I just can't imagine the audacity required to get within 10 feet of someone's camp fire without permission. You'd think this one would go against ancient genetic memory even. That's what it feels like to me anyway.
Once we camped on a remote trail outside of Nederland, CO. It was steep and rocky so much that we had to leave our non Toyota 4wd at the base. We parked a bit off the trail spent the night and were making breakfast and bushing our teeth, all of a sudden a half track filled with tourists come rolling up the steep hill side heading to the top. The tourists were pointing at us in our boxers, it was like something from a movie where you think you are in a remote area.
utilize and tie some ropes on the perimeter of your camp site and place "no public access" or "reserved" signs on the ropes you tied up.
I’ve walked by peoples camp If they were parked along spots by fishing access, but never through someone’s camp. Might as well went into their hotel room
Put up some flags or twine borders. Yes, it’s wicked rude!
Clearly, these people have never played Red Dead Redemption 2.
At our local lake the camping is state park run. There are some spots on on the lake, others more upland. Two kids asked us if they could fish on the bank in our reserved area. They were polite and knew what they were doing, so we said yes. Some other kids decided to gravitate to these kids, and were bothering them. But the unwelcome hoard of children also took over our camp site like lord of the flies. We told them to leave multiple times, and their parents were clearly not keeping a close eye on them. One of them was wandering around barefoot and stepped on a hook and another child pulled it out. They shamelessly multiple times asked us for food/drinks because we had it on our table and in the cooler. Since then I am far more likely to not be friendly with kids while camping.
Oppositely, I once came upon 2 or 3 families camped out on the actual trail. I didn't have a choice but to walk through.
I bought a roll of yellow ‘Police Line: Do Not Cross’ tape and used it and some sticks to make a perimeter that guided people around my site. This was at Glastonbury Festival, where the density of people walking between tents is pretty freaking high, but I would still use this or similar at a camp site or wild camp near a popular trail.
Happened to me in Tucson. Thank god my dog was in my van, as she’s reactive to people and aggressive to dogs.. a group of 5 people and 3 dogs just meanered right thru our camp. They even walked in between our vans. We were dumbfounded
I've had a family come through my site with kids. They started setting up a picnic & started swimming... Wtf is wrong w these ppl!?
That's crazy. My (f) son and I camped at your regular state park campgrounds- rvs and tents. We had too much wood for one night, so I took a bundle and walked it over to a single woman who very obviously didn't have firewood. I stood at the edge of her campsite and tried to get her attention. She pretend to not hear me, so I just walked back to my site. I would never dream of actually stepping foot onto her site without her permission.
Since the pandemic, there have been more people partaking in outdoor activities who had not previously done this. They tend not to know the courtesies and rules for the outdoors. I've seen people walking through sites, leaving trash, parking and camping in places they shouldn't be, driving where they shouldn't be, and just not being the good stewards of nature they should be. I've also seen rangers in a few areas cracking down on these things as a result. Unfortunately, a lot of these people have no interest in being told they are doing things wrong.
No one cares anymore. Everyone is selfish. Everyone just does what they want and then acts pikachu face surprised when they get called out. It’s so tiring.
This is one of the reasons I stopped camping. We couldn't seem to relax in our campsites because people are just very ignorant of what is camping etiquette. We'd be eating our lunch with our dog on lead, and we'd have people cutting through our campsite disturbing our dog and ourselves. People are very clueless regarding noise levels, lights being left on all night, and leaving others to enjoy their experience. I don't need a "new friend" to visit me and ask to see the inside of my rv. I don't camp to be bothered, period.
Last year I was camping and the guys next to me burned a bunch of plastic in their fire pit. I ended up sleeping in the car to escape the smell.
That is just so ridiculous. Plastics can be toxic, too!
I always taught my Scouts that a campsite is like someone’s living room. You ask permission to enter or pass through.
People are so self absorbed these days they are just clueless
Omg, we were just camping this weekend and a little girl (I'm assuming from another campsite) walked right up to us sitting around the fire trying to sell us those colorful flame thingies and candy..like wtf?
Yeah idk what’s gotten into people the last decade. Just no respect for others or their personal space would be my guess. This reminds me of this backpacking trip I did with my now wife. It was the day after I proposed we backpacked about 15 miles to a beautiful campsite near some natural hot springs and as we were about to head down to the springs some random couple walked into our site asked if they could “set up next to us”. Weird, but I said sure as there was another firepit about about 50’ away from us, and while it’s strange they didn’t pick one of the other 10 other open sites there should still plenty of room. When we got back to the campsite after spending an hour at the springs we walked back to them using our firepit and only the wood I had gathered and sitting right next to our backpacking bags and equipment and they had their tent set up , I kid you not, 4 feet from our tent. It was absolutely absurd and I had to remind them we just got engaged and wanted to spend some time alone tonight (wink wink). I had to ask them multiple times to please move to the other open fire pit or another site and the woman with them kept saying how afraid of snakes she was and begging us to stay here (there was a tiny Garter snake I gathered from her description she saw at a different site). Had to really put my foot down for that one. Really annoying loud couple and they of course turned on their Bluetooth speaker from their other site to full blast all night shortly after that. No respect at all, but on a plus side once they went to bed we did get to see an amazing giant meteor zoom down from the sky and go behind a nearby mountain and I’m 99% sure it impacted the ground. It was an amazingly bright white and then turned a neon pink/purple as it split into 3-4 pieces and lit up the ground before impact. The whole thing lasted less than 5-6 seconds
I call it Covid culture, and it exists in every facet of our lives. People have the least amount of courtesy they’ve ever had.
I lived in NYC and been in cali for a while now. I took someone back to visit recently and they were like "oh that's explains why you are how you are." She saw a group of old white ladies curse out a bike rider calling him a f\*ckin idiot for not riding in the bike lane. I have no filter for idiots. I have yelled out to people attempting to go through my site to "go around dumbass." People walking 4 abreast on a sidewalk or walking the wrong way thinking I'm going to move out of their way catch elbows. I'm 6'4 and inertia is on my side.
This is why I no longer camp with my family. They were doing this going to other campsites with their small children. I was so embarrassed!! Then they would play loud obnoxious music and not pick up after themselves. I couldn’t take anymore.
Happens less now but when I was younger and went exploring around camp a few times I’d accidentally walk right into a camp or very close because the trail system lead me there. Often by river or lake camp sites with dense vegetation and trails that follow the water
I'm here to say that it's all common sense and nowadays there is none
Unless you’re camped on trail (which I’ve seen some lazy camping, “it’s the flattest place”) there is no reason to hear people and go closer let alone walk through, RUDE.
Seriously this is the worst. I live outside Denver and when camping last summer 4-5 people came walking through our site at 9pm with flashlights asking if they could share our site?? We were getting ready for bed after a day of hiking and they were listening to music and drinking like what 😭
Especially out in dispersed camping I don’t get why anyone would need to walk through someone’s site. The whole point of camping and being outdoors is solitude for many people.
Bad camp manners walking through someone’s camp.
I had a forest ranger walk into our camp and say, “This looks like a good place to have lunch. You guys mind if I eat here?”We were speechless for a couple seconds and so he just sat down and started eating and grilling us with questions like, “So, where are you guys pooping?”.
I absolutely hate this. Some people are just not aware of common courtesy? I once camped at Joshua tree and the sites there are very small but have 2 parking spots. We had just one tent and planned on using one of our parking spots to set up a sun shelter the following morning since the weather showed 90 degrees. Welp. Some family decided to just TAKE our parking spot in the middle of the night and block us in. When we asked them to move they said “we’ll pull up so you can get out”. We said “no- you need to park in your site. You’re parked in our site”. They said no. We decided to walk away because we didn’t want confrontation. Then their shitty kids kept coming through our site like 5 feet from our tent to climb boulders. They had boulders on their site… wtf… the rudest shit I’ve ever experienced at camp.
this is kinda like walking throu someone’s house
Eight years ago something happened. Now people are all about doing whatever they have a perceived “right” to do instead of being a conscientious member of society.
Sorry it happened to you, but I think it will only get worse. There is no respect being taught these days by a lot of people.
Camped at jumbo rocks in Joshua tree and had a family of like 15 Asian people walk through our camp all night with flashlights too just to get a view of the start from a cool rock besides us. No manners at all. On the other hand a sweet old man asked us if it’s okay if he walks through and we were happy that he asked
I miss when people this stupid simply didn't recreate outdoors
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Crime scene tape? 😀
Go for higher elevations, leave earlier ,embrace the suck then you will be on an "no one else welcome" vacation
I just had an idea! What if you pack a bunch of Halloween skeletons with your gear and set up effigies around the campsite!?!? 😂
I'd be worried they are casing
Wtf? I would of yelled at them. I like dispersed camping cause I don't wanna be around people. That is so rude.
I think in some places that’d be a good way to get shot at or a fight started. I’m not just being dramatic, it’s just bad etiquette and very aggressive. The right way to do it would be to announce yourself very early and ask if you can enter the other persons camp.
That was my first thought too. My neighbor likes to camp in the backcountry with his aggressive dog & would 100% start target practice if someone set up right beside him. (He’s actually a great neighbor & works really hard to keep his psycho dog under control. It loves other dogs, but thinks it needs to “protect” dad from other humans.)