We took our first camping trip a few weeks ago and we were reminded of how important it is to be aware of your surroundings when camping. Campground etiquette is SO SO important when you set up camp!
I could tell you story after story of our short two-year camping career of people being rude and just not knowing it, but I’ve more than likely been that person over the years and will give them some grace for now.
Let’s get started, and I’ll reveal a few stories along the way!
CAMPGROUND ETIQUETTE FOR ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
I know…we’re not going to the airport here, but arrivals and departures can be two of the times you will be most likely to make break campground etiquette rules. We use an impact drill to detach our stabilization chains and to level our camper. If you don’t know what an impact drill is, they are LOUD!!!
If we arrive after dark, we wait to set up until the following morning. Best practices would be to make sure you arrive early enough to do your loud business before dark.
Conversely, it would also be kind to keep from breaking down at 6 a.m. if you need to make noise doing it. Sometimes this is unavoidable if you have a full day’s worth of travel ahead of you, but if you do need to break camp early, maybe do the loud stuff the evening before.
Here’s an important tip, too. INVOLVE THE KIDS IN SET UP AND TEAR DOWN! Even the smallest child can be given chores to keep them busy and mostly quiet if you arrive or depart outside of quiet hours (which most parks observe between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.).
When we had a pop-up camper, I used to get the kids busy with small chores INSIDE the camper to keep their little minds and hands busy to free me up with doing things they weren’t capable of yet. They can put away laundry or tidy different areas of the camper to the best of their ability.
Which brings me to the next point:
CAMPGROUND ETIQUETTE AND KIDS
This is a reminder to the grumpy old people as much as it is the young parents. Kids DO make noise…and they rarely realize they are being loud until an adult reminds them.
While on the one hand, it is your responsibility as their parent to be sure they keep it down to a certain extent, it is also everyone else’s responsibility to remember that the kids are on vacation, too.
This is a two-sided equation. If you aren’t traveling with children, remember that you were once a child and were probably just as clueless about your noise level as anyone else…I know I was.
On one camping trip this year, we were woken up one day at 7:00 a.m. to kids playing outside, then had some other kids run through our campsite. We kind of smiled and remembered the days our kids were little and talked about how they used to love to play. We actually heard one little girl tell the other kids that they were “intruding on our campground.” I thought that was cute!
This also reminds me that you should speak with your kids about staying either in your campsite or out in the common areas. Of course, it didn’t bother us that kids were running through our campsite, but it might bother someone else…and let’s be honest, you just don’t know who is next door.
LIGHTS OUT
This precious little nugget of a tip is brought to you by the tent village we encountered when camping at a Corp of Engineer’s park in Arkansas last summer.
Our next door neighbors had about 5 tents set up (maybe I’m exaggerating?) on their campsite. They had cute little subtle lighting…maybe Christmas lights…hung all over their campsite. Our favorite light source, though was the under the hood light hung from the nearest tent to our campsite, which also pointed DIRECTLY in our front window.
This also prompted the blackout curtains post! It also brought to mind the “burns with the light of a thousand suns” post I read way back in 2012!
If you have lights on at night and concerned at all about campground etiquette, be mindful of others and turn them off when you go in for the night. In the very least, just be sure they aren’t shining directly into your neighbor’s camper and turn them off if they are.
Be sure to check out the post about Blackout Curtains above if you want your camper darker at night.
BE QUIET AFTER THE SUN GOES DOWN
A lot of campground etiquette has to do with noise issues, you just don’t think about a lot of these until you have a loud neighbor!
On the VERY SAME camping trip that the kids woke us up at 7:00 a.m., we had a loud neighbor the night before sitting around the campfire talking as loudly as imaginably possible.
Now, I’m a night owl, so I’ll be honest and say that it didn’t really bother me THAT much. My poor husband nearly lost his mind, though.
There is just no need to be loud after dark. We’re all in this together when we rent campsites and choose to live so closely with one another.
Turn your music down, speak in softer tones, and generally speaking, be more aware of your noise level.
NOISY TOYS ARE FOR DAYTIME!
If you have a motorcycle or any other outside toys that make noise, do your best to keep them quiet during quiet hours.
We went tent camping once in Mountain View, AR and didn’t realize there was a motorcycle rally in town that weekend. We were awakened at the crack of dawn to the sound of Harley’s rumbling through the campgrounds!
KEEP YOUR SITE TIDY
This little tidbit of campground etiquette may sound persnickety, but it’s actually a safety hazard if you keep stuff laying around. Put away toys after using them, put chairs near the camper at bedtime, secure any loose items.
The thing is you just never know when a storm will blow up at night. I mean, of course, you can check the forecast, but if your stuff is put away, none of that matters. Also, this is a great way to protect your things.
We had a friend who took a year-long sabbatical from real life, they went RVing for one full year. They told us a story about one particular campground where someone was driving around looking suspiciously at all of the vacant campers.
If you keep your things put away, they are less likely to come up missing.
SLOW DOWN
Let’s face it, the whole reason any of us are camping is to take life at a slower pace…to be able to appreciate our surroundings better.
RV parks and campgrounds have slow speed limits to protect their visitors. Keep in mind that kids are playing, pets are running around, and sometimes people often walking around in campgrounds. If you drive slower, you’re less likely to have an accident.
That’s not even to mention all of the RVs coming and going. It makes it nerve-wracking to maneuver RVs when people are whizzing through the park.
CAMPGROUND ETIQUETTE FOR PETS
🙂 I am an animal lover…I was born that way, so don’t hate me! Our last dog went on to doggie heaven a couple of years ago, but even still, we often traveled without her as it was just easier.
That being said, we almost always travel with friends who have pets.
The best rule for campground etiquette when you have your pets with you is…KNOW YOUR PETS! Is your dog vocal? Be sure to leave a TV or some noise on in your RV before you leave them in the RV alone to keep them from barking at everyone that passes by while you’re gone.
LEASH YOUR PETS when you have them outside of your RV.
Some of our very best friends bring their two labs with them every time they camp. Their dogs are the friendliest sweet babies on the planet, but she keeps them leashed and on a run when they are outside. It protects their dogs and other people’s dogs as they walk by.
MAKE SURE THEY HAVE FOOD AND WATER if you’re leaving for any length of time. This should be a no-brainer, but sometimes we get excited to go somewhere and do something.
DON’T LEAVE THEM TOO LONG. Let’s face it, you don’t like to be cooped up, they don’t either. Make sure you take them for a brisk walk before you leave and after you come back. This will help them burn pent up energy from being still for so long.
SCOOP THE POOP…I don’t even need to explain this one, except to say there are a lot of bare feet in RV parks and campgrounds!
Check out my post about camping with dogs for more tips on camping with dogs.
CAMPGROUND ETIQUETTE AND FIRES
I have mixed emotions about building fires at campgrounds! On the one hand, I love a good fire on a chilly night…so cozy and warm. On the other hand, I have an asthmatic husband who is easily choked by fire smoke. It’s a difficult balance, for sure.
If you choose to have a fire, be sure to monitor it at all times. Don’t make the flames too large, and use seasoned firewood if at all possible so it won’t smoke too much.
Only burn as much wood as you need to for warmth or for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows! Best practices would also have you use local firewood and NOT burn anything BUT wood when you have a fire.
Be sure to put the fire out before going in for the evening, too.
BE COURTEOUS, HAVE FUN
I think the main point to all of this is to be courteous to others. Use the golden rule: treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Have fun when camping, but be mindful of and patient with others. If you find yourself in an unbearable situation, ask the attendant if you can move campsites. We ended up doing this on the trip with the loud neighbor and kids. It took us about 20 minutes to move and we had a much better campsite after moving.
Make friends, relax, and have fun…that’s what camping is all about!
Do you have any tips for me about camping etiquette? I’d love to hear them below in the comments!
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