We finished up several days of desert camping with stay at Oliver Lee State Park in south NM. We pulled into the dump station just behind a really nice Sprinter conversion setup for overlanding which had pulled in, coming from the opposite direction. A park ranger, who was at the dump site, was having a conversation with Sprinter driver and from the body language, it wasn't one of those "hey, have a great day" conversations. The Sprinter eventually pulled away without dumping and we pulled in. The ranger asked for my camp permit, and I showed him ours.
As I dumped my tanks, he explained how he or another ranger have to station themselves at the dump site in the mornings because campers from outside the park will come and dump as well as use the showers and facilities without paying for day use, as was the case with the Sprinter. During the day, the rangers lock the dump and you need to hunt down a ranger or camp host to come unlock it which is really inconvenient if you are getting late start. He said it was really becoming a problem, especially since the pandemic. At first they allowed outside campers to freely use the dump station so that they would not dump out in dispersed camping areas nearby by, but then they had so many non-paying campers come by, that is was disruptive to campers who paid the park fee. In the evenings, when the rangers were off duty, the showers and bathrooms would be overrun by dispersed area campers nearby leaving the camp host to manage the situation.
We have seen various forms of freeloading in our last several outings. It's almost always camper vans or cab-overs. Everyone's situation is different so we pretty much mind our own business. On one hand we're happy to see people getting out and enjoying camping and RVing, but on the other hand it does bug me when people look for a free ride at the expense of others, not only in RVing but life in general.
What are you all's thoughts about this?
------------- Gpokluda
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2022 Escape 5.0TA
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Kawasaki KLR650
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