How much should a campsite cost?

Marc801 Cwrote:

Depends where you are. BLM lands:

See all the purple in UT. Our “leaders” are suing the Feds for half. Like Cherokee said, be careful who you vote for. 

Rooms at Yosemite Lodge are costing $400+ and at the Ahwahnee  are $800 + a night and there are complaints about the quality .

Ben B wrote:

How much is our military budget? Something like $900B a year? I think we have enough money for something like this 

I didn't say we don't have the money. I said our country has demonstrated it doesn't have the will for it. Surely you saw my sentence that we agree the NPS, BLM, NFS deserve better budgets. But there's no political will. "Should" is not a political strategy. If you have a strategy to reapportion the federal budget to give military funding to the land management agencies I'm totally in support. 

Also, if you look at it from a cost vs. value perspective. Or a cost vs. cost to provide perspective, $25 or more is still being subsidized by the gov. Imagine the free market value of a campsite in the Yosemite Valley in peak season.

Gerald Adamswrote:

Rooms at Yosemite Lodge are costing $400+ and at the Ahwahnee  are $800 + a night and there are complaints about the quality .

I was at both those places in late June. The bathroom in the Yosemite Lodge cafeteria had puke on the floor that looked like it had been there for hours. The Ahwahnee was surrounded by loud construction. Jackhammers and such. I'd have been pissed if I were staying at either place for the going rates. 

Andrew Ricewrote:

I didn't say we don't have the money. I said our country has demonstrated it doesn't have the will for it. Surely you saw my sentence that we agree the NPS, BLM, NFS deserve better budgets. But there's no political will. "Should" is not a political strategy. If you have a strategy to reapportion the federal budget to give military funding to the land management agencies I'm totally in support.

Also, if you look at it from a cost vs. value perspective. Or a cost vs. cost to provide perspective, $25 or more is still being subsidized by the gov. Imagine the free market value of a campsite in the Yosemite Valley in peak season.

This. Are you willing to  make funding, maintenance and enforcement your #1 priority that you will solely vote on? Can you get others to do the same? Are you willing to pay more in taxes for it?

That's how it happens. 

“…a dispersed camping group on FB.”

(Shakes head in sad disbelief) No wonder so many dispersed camping sites are such shitholes these days.

I just returned from a two week road trip, mostly bivying at various dispersed camping sites. Every single one of them had toilet paper sitting on the ground within 50’ of the site. When land managers start regulating camping on these lands, it shouldn’t come as any surprise.

It’s quite simple- you pay what they charge. If you don’t like it go elsewhere.  

If you cannot then get involved in government and reduce camping fees. 

apogeewrote:

“…a dispersed camping group on FB.”

(Shakes head in sad disbelief) No wonder so many dispersed camping sites are such shitholes these days.

Just imagine if even 10% of the people dispersed camping do what I wrote about (burying their bucket toilet bags of shit in the ground instead of hauling out). So, instead of just a bunch of individual turds in the ground that MIGHT decompose over time they've now created plastic-wrapped IEDs of weeks worth buried feces and toilet paper. That, no doubt, often get dug up by bears, other scavengers, or the next guy trying to bury his turd bomb. It's so disheartening. And these fools think they're doing the right thing. 

Andrew Ricewrote:

... plastic-wrapped IEDs of weeks worth buried feces...

This has gotta become the next trending thing.  Memes.  Bumper stickers.  Hashtags.  Etc.

This doesn't really answer your question, so apologies up front.  However...

If you're paying like $45 a night for camping, just skip the gear, skip the camping, get two or three friends and get a hotel room with 2 queen beds.  Same price, maybe even cheaper. No extra gear needed, no drying out said gear if you get hosed in a downpour, and no creepy crawlies and some other person's snot rocket on the shower wall at disgusting campsite showers. Bonus points for ones that have saunas and breakfast the next morning.  

I made this move about 6 years ago and haven't looked back.  Good sleep, less gear needed, no extra $$ spent, or if it is a little bit extra, it's worth it to not have to deal with ^ that shit.

I understand that this isn't an option for all areas, but for the ones that it is an option for, try it out.  You might find you get better sleep, have better showers, etc.

Campfires can't be understated though, I do miss them.  Sometimes I show up at friends' sites, hang out by the fire, then retire to my hotel room afterwards.  Best of both worlds.  Am I soft?  Probably.  Do I care?  Nah.

Ok how about every adult citizen gets annual 5 free nights each at fed and state facilities, and can gift or sell if unused. More than that will cost, with increasing bulk purchase discount e.g. $25/night, 100/5 nights, 125/10 etc. Solved?! Just need to make it gamey and complex enough to spread the complaints around on multiple different aspects of the situation.

You guys are paying for camping!? Haha oh shit

ben brownellwrote:

Ok how about every adult citizen gets annual 5 free nights each at fed and state facilities, and can gift or sell if unused. More than that will cost, with increasing bulk purchase discount e.g. $25/night, 100/5 nights, 125/10 etc. Solved?! Just need to make it gamey and complex enough to spread the complaints around on multiple different aspects of the situation.

Sounds great. And the cost of monitoring/enforcing all of that would be almost nothing, right? 

Jake Joneswrote:

This doesn't really answer your question, so apologies up front.  However...

If you're paying like $45 a night for camping, just skip the gear, skip the camping, get two or three friends and get a hotel room with 2 queen beds.  Same price, maybe even cheaper. No extra gear needed, no drying out said gear if you get hosed in a downpour, and no creepy crawlies and some other person's snot rocket on the shower wall at disgusting campsite showers. Bonus points for ones that have saunas and breakfast the next morning.  

I made this move about 6 years ago and haven't looked back.  Good sleep, less gear needed, no extra $$ spent, or if it is a little bit extra, it's worth it to not have to deal with ^ that shit.

I understand that this isn't an option for all areas, but for the ones that it is an option for, try it out.  You might find you get better sleep, have better showers, etc.

Campfires can't be understated though, I do miss them.  Sometimes I show up at friends' sites, hang out by the fire, then retire to my hotel room afterwards.  Best of both worlds.  Am I soft?  Probably.  Do I care?  Nah.

Hotels are gross, going out to eat is unhealthy and expensive, and driving to the crag each morning kind of sucks.

On second thought, hotels are much better!

Frank Steinwrote:

Hotels are gross, going out to eat is unhealthy and expensive, and driving to the crag each morning kind of sucks.

On second thought, hotels are much better!

Ha!  This made me laugh.  Even the worst hotel I've been in was far better than any campsite shower/bathroom I've ever been in.  Also, it depends what you eat when you "go out" to eat.  What crags are you going to that you wake up, walk out of your tent and rope up?  Most campsites I know of at ALL the areas I've climbed at require a drive to a parking area, then an approach to a crag.  

The real story is that I'm old, my "crushing" or better yet "marginally disrupting" days are over and I have arthritis and sleep issues and setting up and breaking down tents and gear and cleaning cheap camping cookware is for the birds.  Honestly, I feel like the 3 to a hotel room gig is a good balance between waking up with a sore back, not getting enough sleep because the campers next to me sprayed all night long about "that awesome 9 no one sent" while listening to Sublime at an unreasonable volume, and taking out a loan so I can buy a "dirtbag" van.

YMMV.

No driving to crag from camp. Top: undeveloped/free.  Bottom: developed/not free.

Also, I am certain that I am older and creakier than you are. 

Jake Joneswrote:

Honestly, I feel like the 3 to a hotel room gig is a good balance...

For 20-somethings perhaps, but by the time one is 50-ish, that's for the birds as well. (Meaning the 3 or 4 to a room bit - I'm all for hotels and condos)

ZT Gwrote:

You guys are paying for camping!? Haha oh shit

You aren't?  You're so poor.    

Frank Steinwrote:

No driving to crag from camp. Top: undeveloped/free.  Bottom: developed/not free.

Also, I am certain that I am older and creakier than you are. 

Spend $40-80K on a camping rig just so you don't have to spend $45 a night, 20 nights a year.    

I kid.  I'm envious of the camping rigs!  Very nice!  

Chad Millerwrote:

Spend $40-80K on a camping rig just so you don't have to spend $45 a night, 20 nights a year.    

I kid.  I'm envious of the camping rigs!  Very nice!  

Without a doubt and with pleasure. (Bottom pic is a rental, and total cost for top pic was $28K, so cheaper than the spousal vehicle)