How Many Tents on One Site?

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

1 hour ago, Roberta said:

How did you move the PUP at that angle? Do you have a hand dolly, or are they just light enough to move around on a solid surface? We have one, but never tried. We live on sand and it's tough to move much by hand. 

I'm a chronic rule follower, but there doesn't seem to be any real rules about number of tents. I would never spread out past our site, or have an illegal fire pit (Hello, Chip & Dale have one! What's wrong with people? lol) But I would like to have a PUP and two medium sized tents on our site, facing each other with our RV mat as our "courtyard." 

Most small pups and small campers have some type of wheel on the tongue and can be turned sideways by hand. I do it often with my little trailer.

[Roberta 42]

2 hours ago, Avatab.... Steve said:

I have a picture somewhere I took a few years ago on the Dog Path along the canal behind the 800 Loop. I posted it on one of TCD's threads I think.  It showed a large group with several sites that had tents all over the place. So many in fact that they had some set up ON the dog path that runs behind the loop. They also had a bag toss game set up in the middle of the path.

They had other tents set up in the woods between the actual sites and the path. It looked like they had cut back some of the bushes/tree branches to make little paths between the tents. They literally had big and small tents everywhere there was a space for one!  LOL

Between the tents and the game everyone using the dog path had to detour off the path and duck under the tree branches next to the canal to get by.

They had one site set up as a dining site with a big shelter and grills and the other sites were all tents. IIRC I'd say they had 25 or 30 tents between 3 or 4 sites.

I almost never call up front, but I did this time to tell them about blocking the dog walk. They said they'd send someone to check it out.

Nothing happened, nothing was moved, and the group was there for a couple more days at least.

 

Outrageous! 

The reason this group uses the Fort for these shenanigans is because they CAN. No state park would put up with this kind of crap. They would have to find a private park willing to, which probably wouldn't be easy either. 

Everything about these sets ups reflect a serious lack of camping etiquette. Blocking the dog walk takes it to a new level of just downright obnoxious, self centered behavior. If the Fort management won't do anything about it, it will just continue to get worse. 

1 hour ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Most small pups and small campers have some type of wheel on the tongue and can be turned sideways by hand. I do it often with my little trailer.

Yeah, we have a little wheel on the front, but we live on an all sand property, with no pavement at all. The Fort is the first place we've ever camped with actual pavement. Trying to move the camper on sand is all but impossible because the wheels sink in. You can bet we will be moving our camper around next time we are there. This conversation makes me want to tow it to a parking lot to try it.  

3 hours ago, BigTom said:

The most I have seen was in the 1500 loop, 5 tents and 3 pop up canopies. 

?????? One one site??????  Clearly they had to be off their site. 

In all my years of camping (since birth,) and all the states I've lived in, I have never ... not once ... seen a campground that let people set up things outside the boundaries of their site. I've never even seen anyone try to. This, and not cutting through the sites of others, are like the top rules of camping. It makes me wonder if these people have ever camped anywhere else. 

I've been taking notes on this forum and know what times to avoid. So far, Thanksgiving and President's Day weekend. Any other known "group camping" annual events? 

[Travisma 1,317]

4 hours ago, Roberta said:

How did you move the PUP at that angle? Do you have a hand dolly, or are they just light enough to move around on a solid surface? We have one, but never tried. We live on sand and it's tough to move much by hand. 

I'm a chronic rule follower, but there doesn't seem to be any real rules about number of tents. I would never spread out past our site, or have an illegal fire pit (Hello, Chip & Dale have one! What's wrong with people? lol) But I would like to have a PUP and two medium sized tents on our site, facing each other with our RV mat as our "courtyard." 

Our Pup is only 8 foot by 8 foot closed, and weighs about 900 pounds, so it's easy to move on pavement or hard packed surfaces. We drop it in the road and push it into place on the pad. They do sell motorized dollies to move trailers, and Harbor Freight sells a dual wheeled dolly that may work on semi solid sand.

[Roberta 42]

8 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Our Pup is only 8 foot by 8 foot closed, and weighs about 900 pounds, so it's easy to move on pavement or hard packed surfaces. We drop it in the road and push it into place on the pad. They do sell motorized dollies to move trailers, and Harbor Freight sells a dual wheeled dolly that may work on semi solid sand.

Thanks, I'll have to look into that. We do have a Harbor Freight in town now. The dry weight of our pup is 2,450. Not sure if it will move by hand, on pavement, or not. Maybe we will take it into town and give it a shot to see if we need the dolly.  

[Travisma 1,317]

5 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Thanks, I'll have to look into that. We do have a Harbor Freight in town now. The dry weight of our pup is 2,450. Not sure if it will move by hand, on pavement, or not. Maybe we will take it into town and give it a shot to see if we need the dolly.  

On fairly level pavement 2 people should be able to roll it.

[Roberta 42]

4 minutes ago, Travisma said:

On fairly level pavement 2 people should be able to roll it.

Not sure I count as an actual person.  I'm pretty weak. We will try, though. Thanks for all the info. 

I would love nothing more than camping with all my kids and grandchildren. Looking at your trip report right now and being envious. We would need two sites, as there are 14 of us, but would be the "Best Day Ever," just like the shirts say. 

[Travisma 1,317]

Well just give your group some snazzy sounding name and thefort will look the other way and might even give you a break while allowing 6 tents and 20 people on 1 site.

[Roberta 42]

4 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Well just give your group some snazzy sounding name and thefort will look the other way and might even give you a break while allowing 6 tents and 20 people on 1 site.

We'll put up a little sign that says "Anti-Hunger Games  1." That should work. We seriously over pack food, so it fits. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

12 hours ago, Roberta said:

Outrageous! 

The reason this group uses the Fort for these shenanigans is because they CAN. No state park would put up with this kind of crap. They would have to find a private park willing to, which probably wouldn't be easy either. 

Exactly right.

It's more evidence that the idiots who currently hold management positions at the Fort don't have the first clue about operating a campground.

In my early days visiting the Fort, they had CM's who would patrol the loops and confront guests who were being disruptive or not following the rules.

The last guy they had doing this was Brian.  May he rest in peace.  Back in the day, the Fort had a written rule that said you could only have one car parked at your site.  If you violated the rule, Brian would stop at your site and ask you to move the extra vehicle to overflow.  If you didn't, he'd stop by and ask again. Firmer this time.  If he saw an illegal fire pit, or some numbskull using Tiki Torches, he would do the same.  Sure, some guests probably complained about it, but the rules were followed, and the Fort didn't look like a trailer park.

Now there are no rules, and anything goes.  They have untrained idiots riding around on golf carts they call Fort Rangers. Those guys are worse than useless, because they pick on campers for minor violations, and let other worse stuff go.

All of this would be simple to fix.  Write some clear rules, and then enforce them.  The biggest problem is that there aren't any rules to begin with.  Obviously, the idiots in charge are happy to take the money from huge and unruly groups, and they look the other way from all of the offensive behavior that comes with the group.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Exactly right.

It's more evidence that the idiots who currently hold management positions at the Fort don't have the first clue about operating a campground.

In my early days visiting the Fort, they had CM's who would patrol the loops and confront guests who were being disruptive or not following the rules.

The last guy they had doing this was Brian.  May he rest in peace.  Back in the day, the Fort had a written rule that said you could only have one car parked at your site.  If you violated the rule, Brian would stop at your site and ask you to move the extra vehicle to overflow.  If you didn't, he'd stop by and ask again. Firmer this time.  If he saw an illegal fire pit, or some numbskull using Tiki Torches, he would do the same.  Sure, some guests probably complained about it, but the rules were followed, and the Fort didn't look like a trailer park.

Now there are no rules, and anything goes.  They have untrained idiots riding around on golf carts they call Fort Rangers. Those guys are worse than useless, because they pick on campers for minor violations, and let other worse stuff go.

All of this would be simple to fix.  Write some clear rules, and then enforce them.  The biggest problem is that there aren't any rules to begin with.  Obviously, the idiots in charge are happy to take the money from huge and unruly groups, and they look the other way from all of the offensive behavior that comes with the group.

TCD

Oh, there are written rules.  I got a double sided page about transportation rules.... that aren't enforced.

I got a rule book listing parking, equipment, fires, quiet time, seasonal decorations, pets,  rules, none of which are enforced evenly.

Here is the  guest equipment rule  

All guest accommodations must be contained to pad.  One additional dining structure may be placed off pad, not extending past 10 feet.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

5 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Oh, there are written rules.  I got a double sided page about transportation rules.... that aren't enforced.

I got a rule book listing parking, equipment, fires, quiet time, seasonal decorations, pets,  rules, none of which are enforced evenly.

Here is the  guest equipment rule  

All guest accommodations must be contained to pad.  One additional dining structure may be placed off pad, not extending past 10 feet.

That's the same rule stated here:

Like I said earlier in this thread- I didn't get a copy of the rules when I checked in to the Fort in May and November of 2016.  But you got a copy in July.

With them pushing on-line check-in and promising to text you your site number, it seems like most guests don't get a copy of these rules.

You make a good point about the other rules.  Like the one for Seasonal Decorations that you can see in my photo, above.  I remember there was a stink when that rule came out, and some guests complied with it.  But, the same year that rule came out, during the week of Thanksgiving,  I watched as the guy in the site across from mine covered every square inch of his site with inflatable decorations and lights that he kept on 24 hours a day.  He was friendly with Fort CM's and one even brought him some extra pine needles so he could cover up all the extension cords.  So much for that lights out at 10 pm rule.

TCD

 

[Roberta 42]

3 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

That's the same rule stated here:

 I watched as the guy in the site across from mine covered every square inch of his site with inflatable decorations and lights that he kept on 24 hours a day.  He was friendly with Fort CM's and one even brought him some extra pine needles so he could cover up all the extension cords.  So much for that lights out at 10 pm rule.

TCD

 

We will be there for Halloween this year. I'm looking forward to seeing all the decorations, but sure hope we don't encounter this. I am not shy, I will ask people to turn off their lights if they are lighting up our site after 10:00 pm. 

I plan to decorate, although in a low key, hopefully tasteful way. I'm already shopping and planning. I don't play well with inflatables. Just as with any campground, I will have our lights off far before 10, especially if there are families with young children camping anywhere near us in tents or pop ups. Having once been the young family in the tent, I will never be the obnoxious camper, with the lights or noise, keeping their children awake. 

At non-Fort campgrounds, I don't even like to use lanterns, and often don't. Not due to neighbors, but just because I like it dark. It's camping. Why light up the site like you're at home? A my perfect campsite, the only light is from the campfire and the stars. 

[Roberta 42]

3 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

With them pushing on-line check-in and promising to text you your site number, it seems like most guests don't get a copy of these rules.

 

Doesn't really matter because the people that need to read them, wouldn't. 

[geoffdaddy 33]

I don't think there are any rules that say a tent has to be on the coquina... just the cars. But yes, only two tents are allowed per site.

[geoffdaddy 33]

On the flipside of this problem.... on our last trip at the Fort a few weeks ago we looped one of the cabin loops and observed a large Class A motorhome parked in front of a cabin, with all four wheels off the pavement, and slides out. Clearly it had been there for a while.

 

[geoffdaddy 33]

On 2/28/2017 at 6:43 PM, JMSisko said:

We were staying in 1400 loop while this group was at the fort. We saw a significant amount of wild golf car driving by this group. Carts driving/racing side by side NASCAR style in front of 1400. Also, we were nearly run down when one of these people did a "full speed" u-turn in the middle of the street with no regard for on coming traffic or pedestrians.

Eventually there was a significant security presence to restore order. I don't know if the fort called in overtime for security or they were just more visible, but we did start to see plenty of security as the weekend progressed.

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The most flagrant violation I've witnessed was someone removing the post in the service road to the backside of the Meadows Swimming hole by the tennis courts, driving their car (FULL SIZE! Not golf cart) up it and parking in the grass next to the tennis courts. I called and reported that, but nothing happened.

[Travisma 1,317]

15 minutes ago, geoffdaddy said:

The most flagrant violation I've witnessed was someone removing the post in the service road to the backside of the Meadows Swimming hole by the tennis courts, driving their car (FULL SIZE! Not golf cart) up it and parking in the grass next to the tennis courts. I called and reported that, but nothing happened.

That's because they were too busy issuing notes about having 1 wheel off the pavement on the only vehicle at a site

[Starbuc71 162]

How can these groups reserve a whole loop when I can't reserve Thanksgiving and the day after when reserving 13 months out?   I tried to sell the camper this year but the kids don't want to give up the fort. I still love the fort, but I'm about over the greed, the rule breakers and the plain old BS that was not at the fort years back

[Travisma 1,317]

On 3/10/2017 at 9:32 PM, Starbuc71 said:

How can these groups reserve a whole loop when I can't reserve Thanksgiving and the day after when reserving 13 months out?   I tried to sell the camper this year but the kids don't want to give up the fort. I still love the fort, but I'm about over the greed, the rule breakers and the plain old BS that was not at the fort years back

Good question.  And you can't just reserve 1 night either.  My granddaughter is in gym class until 7 on Friday night, so we can only camp Saturday night.  Fat chance getting anything, plus it's getting so expensive an off site suite with breakfast is cheaper.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

15 minutes ago, Travisma said:

 And you can't just reserve 1 night either.  

I have reserved many single nights for people. 

[Travisma 1,317]

5 hours ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

I have reserved many single nights for people. 

You must be a miracle worker.

[keith_h 420]

20 hours ago, Travisma said:

You must be a miracle worker.

He's Jason!

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I will say not always but I definitely have been able to book many single nights. Saturdays are tougher than other days of the week for single nights. 

[keith_h 420]

We always leave on a Saturday morning so I know there is at least one site available for Saturday night.

[Goose's Girl 9]

Apparently there is no limit.. we have LOTS of sites with 5 and 6. .. and yesterday 3 school buses pulled in (yes in the 2000 loop) and unloaded a crap ton of people and equipment that spans only 6 sites... no less than 100 people.. we had to go pee at the trading post this morning .. did I mention THREE SCHOOL BUSES!!??

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