Worst campground

[Recumbentman]

came across this topic on another form and thought it would be interesting to try it here.

Whats the worst campground you've experienced?

list name and state

[wavery]

This is a very tenuous subject. One person's joy could be another person's nightmare.

I try very hard NOT to go to CGs that could be problematic.

NOW......having said that.....The worst CG that I have been to was Dockweiler SB. That's not to say that it is a "BAD" place. It's just the worst that I have been to.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=617

The wide beach is beneath the takeoff path from Los Angeles International Airport and directly across the road from a sewage treatment plant. It's a fairly clean beach and there were no rowdy people (that day). However, TO ME the noise of heavy jets taking off, was unbearable. The smell of the sewage treatment plant could be literally sickening at times (with an off-shore breeze). Calling it a "camp ground" is also questionable. It is literally a parking lot with hook-ups. The beach is fun but I wouldn't go back. There are a lot of beautiful beach CGs within 60 minutes North of that place that are nothing short of spectacular IMHO.

We went there for the company and had a great time .

[AustinBoston]

We stayed in a campground in Gettysburg, PA (I don't recall the name, but when I search I don't find it).  It was on a covered-over junkyard.  The campground was fairly heavily treed, so I didn't realize it at first, but after setting up camp (and dealing with pieces of metal sticking out of the ground), I noticed around the edge there were old car parts, bed springs, etc.

While setting up, we put the kids on the picnic table of a nearby empty campsite with ice cream cones.  Eventually, the yellow jackets found the ice cream cones.  We had three screaming kids, at least five stings, and a campground host who didn't give a rip.  When asked where we could find a drug store so we could get what we needed to reat the bee stings, he just shrugged.

One bright spot - when we said the kids would have nightmares if we stayed there, they did give us our money back.  It's the only time we stayed at a campground without staying the night.

P.S. - I've really searched, and I don't think they are in business any more.  There are plenty of far more worthy campgrounds in the Gettysburg, PA area.  I don't know if any are haunted.

Austin

[Camping Coxes]

"Historic" Camp Richardson in Lake Tahoe, CA.  The place is a pit.  The sites are squeezed together, there's dirt roads throughout that make dust storms if so much as a kid rides his bike nearby, the bathrooms had mold growing everywhere and the doors were hanging askew.  They were really, really gross.  They charge you to park at their beach, even though you are a guest.  And to top it off, they charge people who paid to stay there an additional cost to dump your gray or black water.  Since I only needed to dump gray, I figured their very thirsty looking trees could definitely use some watering that evening after dark.

[OC Campers]

I have 3 that come to mind.  All in Southern California.
 
1)  O'neill Regional Park-Trabuco Canyon.  When we stayed there there were lots of transients and ots of loud campers.  From what I understand it is better now.
 
2)  Prado Regional Park-Chino Hills.  Beautiful park but it is set next to a dairy farm.  The smell is HORRIBLE!!  and the flies were even worse.  My son was an infant and we were staying there on a church campout.  I set his bowl of cereal down and came back 1 minute later and it was black.  You couldn't see the cereal thru all the flies.
 
3)  Glen Ivy CG-Corona.  Again we were with our church on a campout and the yellow jackets were so bad you didn't want to come outside.  It makes fellowship a little hard when nobody wants to sit outside.
 
Jacqui

[brainpause]

No time to type details now, but Bledsoe Creek SP near Gallatin, TN. Loud campers, road to a boat dock that people whizzed up and down early and late with loud trucks....stolen firewood...stolen flashlight (while Holly was showering)....

Larry

[wavery]

I have 3 that come to mind.  All in Southern California.
 
1)  O'neill Regional Park-Trabuco Canyon.  When we stayed there there were lots of transients and ots of loud campers.  From what I understand it is better now.
 
2)  Prado Regional Park-Chino Hills.  Beautiful park but it is set next to a dairy farm.  The smell is HORRIBLE!!  and the flies were even worse.  My son was an infant and we were staying there on a church campout.  I set his bowl of cereal down and came back 1 minute later and it was black.  You couldn't see the cereal thru all the flies.
 
3)  Glen Ivy CG-Corona.  Again we were with our church on a campout and the yellow jackets were so bad you didn't want to come outside.  It makes fellowship a little hard when nobody wants to sit outside.
 
Jacqui

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!! Maybe that's a sign :yikes:

j/k :p

[cyclone]

I have a feeling a few others may agree with me on this one - hands down, the worst cg I've ever seen is Top 'o the Caves in the Hocking Hills, OH area.  We had a block of sites and it took me at least 3 calls and a whole lot of arguing to convince them that I really did want to be on a site near the rest of the group, not halfway across the campground.  Our sites were on a hill (actually, starting at the bottom and going up the hill.  Those on the low end had a little easier time leveling.  Further on up, the hill - different story.  We used 14 lynx blocks and did the best we could.  Without the help of friends, we never would have gotten it level.  (thanks, guys).  The hitch was literally 3 in. from the ground while the lynx were stacked under the stabilizers.  Electricity?  I'm not sure the amps we were supposed to have, but it was set up so two sites shared one post.  If we both used a/c there wasn't enough power to run it.  We ended up buying a long extension cord and running across the vacant site on the other side of us and plugging in there.  Did I mention that the temps were in the 90's while we were there?  We were lucky - further on down the hillside, the power wasn't even that plentiful.  Some of us had almost no power.  On to the restrooms - one had a locker room style shower-room and the sinks were outside under a canopy.  The other had individual shower stalls, which smelled WAY musty and had a lovely rope to pull on to turn the water on.  The sites with full hook-ups were in a lovely open field.  They did have a pool, gameroom, camp store, etc.  Despite all this, we spent a week there and had a great time!  Could be the company we shared had something to do with that and we will probably always laugh about those luxurious accomodations.  Hocking Hills is a great area; just camp somewhere else.

[SkipP]

I have a feeling a few others may agree with me on this one - hands down, the worst cg I've ever seen is Top 'o the Caves in the Hocking Hills, OH area. We had a block of sites and it took me at least 3 calls and a whole lot of arguing to convince them that I really did want to be on a site near the rest of the group, not halfway across the campground. Our sites were on a hill (actually, starting at the bottom and going up the hill. Those on the low end had a little easier time leveling. Further on up, the hill - different story. We used 14 lynx blocks and did the best we could. Without the help of friends, we never would have gotten it level. (thanks, guys). The hitch was literally 3 in. from the ground while the lynx were stacked under the stabilizers. Electricity? I'm not sure the amps we were supposed to have, but it was set up so two sites shared one post. If we both used a/c there wasn't enough power to run it. We ended up buying a long extension cord and running across the vacant site on the other side of us and plugging in there. Did I mention that the temps were in the 90's while we were there? We were lucky - further on down the hillside, the power wasn't even that plentiful. Some of us had almost no power. On to the restrooms - one had a locker room style shower-room and the sinks were outside under a canopy. The other had individual shower stalls, which smelled WAY musty and had a lovely rope to pull on to turn the water on. The sites with full hook-ups were in a lovely open field. They did have a pool, gameroom, camp store, etc. Despite all this, we spent a week there and had a great time! Could be the company we shared had something to do with that and we will probably always laugh about those luxurious accomodations. Hocking Hills is a great area; just camp somewhere else.

I can include us in the agreement category! The most frustrating part of this CG was the wasted potential! Great location, cool area and so much to see/do. We had enough electricity to use the lights...and little else. A/C? Forgetaboutit. Had it not been for the friends we were camping with, we'd have been history in a hurry. As it was, it turned out to be a great trip, in SPITE of the CG.

[GeneF]

This was several years ago but our worst experience was at the KOA in Littleton, NH.

It wasn't the campground but the owner who made the stay unpleasant.

Of course we were a rowdy crowd that included  a judge, a college professor, two high school teachers, Kidney Foundation administrator and an autotech.

Three middle school boys all into sports and on the honor roll plus one elementary age girl.

We couldn't move without being told that we were breaking some rule or other.

True, we were talking around the campfire a few minutes after lights out but we were not loud.  Owner was down on us in a second.

We asked the neighbors around us the next day if we were noisy and wanted to apologize.  They said they didn't even hear us.

One of the group had to leave early Sunday morning to play the organ at church.  She had to park her car outside the gate as this was a gated cg  and the gate was not unlocked until around 7 am.

Even got hollered at for putting the trash out as the guy came collecting it.  Didn't really understand his problem.

Really felt like we were being watched all the time frm the owner's house on the hill.

[Brantime]

Hey Guys!

I do not have a "Bad" listing, but I just wanted to say that one reason I do not is the extensive research prior to the trip, but even that comes in second to the real reason...You Guys are terrific at helping out when it comes to info request!

I have mainly stayed at National Parks and State Parks and have been pleased so far.

You guys rock!!!

[beacher]

...... a judge, a college professor, two high school teachers, Kidney Foundation administrator and an autotech.......

That just sounds like the setup to a really good joke!  

The absolute worst campground I have EVER visited was Soledad Canyon RVResort in Acton, CA.  It was a pit!  The sites were unlevel very loose gravel and dirt.  The "lake" was a murky fly infested pond.  The "lodge" was a huge old building with torn window screens, broken folding chairs and tables and a fuzzy old television.  Freight trains throughout the night!  Oh, and the "clubhouse meals" consisted of cheap hot dogs and frozen hamburger cooked on a grill with condiment packets.  This was April 2006.

And, they actually had the cojones to try to sell us a Thousand Trails membership for $12,000!

[Hargus]

Hi All,
       Another campground to stay away from here in Massachsetts is White Birch Campground. We are big fans of doing research before we camp anywhere but we were going to a family function at one time, we stayed and it was okay.
But we went to another family function and stayed there again and that was it.
I think the previous owner had retired and passed it down. I think the new owners tried to accommidate us. (They changed our site for us, but I did make a request for some other sites. They told me they were taken, but no one showed up in the nights we were there.)
 The kicker is that the campground is located in a tourist area with alot of historical activities around for families. The campground itself seems okay it just needs some help with upkeep and management. It has a nice office and activity area, a log cabin/building with a wrap around porch. The campground had recently updated their electrical system to the sites. They also have an activity hall with a beautiful fireplace inside with tables, all it has now is dirt and debris.
 Some of the obvious problems were dirty restrooms that needed an update. Hey, just at least put toilet paper in there. :yikes:  I'm not sure what the people that worked there used. The dump station didn't drain well and I was only dumping a porta-potti.
 I don't like to pick on anybody that doesn't use the internet or have a web site. But when I saw this place didn't have one I was wondering about it. But people run their businesses diferently. I wanted to go knocking on some of the seasonals doors to find out what the attraction was. I'll have to check back on this campground (not stay there) because it has so much potential.

[fallsrider]

Carolina Beach Family Campground near Wilmington, NC. We have stayed there twice, and decided to never again. It is a heavily wooded campground with lots of potential, but it is very run down with abandoned cars and some pretty rough looking trailers set up permanently.

The showers were the worst part. The water smells STRONGLY like rotten eggs, so when you are showering, you don't feel like you are getting any cleaner.

If it was cleaned up and a decent water treatment system installed, it would be quite a nice place. I haven't been there in 4 or 5 years, so I don't know if any improvements have been made.

[SkipP]

Carolina Beach Family Campground near Wilmington, NC. We have stayed there twice, and decided to never again. It is a heavily wooded campground with lots of potential, but it is very run down with abandoned cars and some pretty rough looking trailers set up permanently.
 
The showers were the worst part. The water smells STRONGLY like rotten eggs, so when you are showering, you don't feel like you are getting any cleaner.
 
If it was cleaned up and a decent water treatment system installed, it would be quite a nice place. I haven't been there in 4 or 5 years, so I don't know if any improvements have been made.

I can promise you, it hasn't been improved upon!:(  We live about 25 miles from this place and it frustrates me to no end to see such wasted potential. Once upon a time, it was a KOA and it was in far better shape.
 
The thing that gets me most is that with so few campsites available in the immediate area, this place could be a gold mine rather than what it is.