I have just spent $24.00 to pitch my tent against a fence in a suburb of Toronto. Permanent park dwellers on the other side of the fence have garden and access to a large, clean, washroom. As a tenter, I have been assigned a space just big enough to accommodate the van, the tent, and a child-sized picnic table. Despite the fact that the tenting area of the campground is only one-third occuppied, I can hear every word of my nearest neighbour's conversation because they are only ten feet away. The washrooms are sparse and barely pass for cleanliness.

What is wrong with this scenario? I am being gouged.

An open letter to campground operators

Fees
Any more than $10 a night for an unserviced campsite is outrageous. An inexpensive one bedroom apartment can cost as little as $400.00 per month--that is just over $13 a day for 30 days. Why then, should I pay nearly that price or more to park myself on a small plot of land where I provide my own walls and appliances? Other than the small amount of water we use and a few visits to the toilet, a tenter does not put a great deal of pressure on a campground. And certainly, our impact is smaller than if we had constantly running hot and cold water, and fuel-consuming devices like stoves, fridges, and heaters.

I was astounded at how often we were expected to pay the same rate as an RV. We don't hook-up to electricity, water, or sewer dumps. We don't need pull-throughs or concrete pads. We don't run noisy generators. In general, I would say tenters are not in search of the recreational facilities that drive Woodall star ratings, and campground prices, up, up, up.

Tent sites
We stayed in one state campground that had two kinds of sites: grassy or in the dirt under the pine trees. All the hook-ups were in the grassy spots and the non-hook-ups were in the dirt. While I don't begrudge the RVers a bit of greenery, doesn't it seem odd that the folks who have walls and floors and kitchens get the cleaner, softer ground, while the tenters are forced to walk around kicking up dust and sleep on rocks? And while I'm on the topic, don't use granular sand to create tent pads: the grains, particularly when damp, stick to everything. Shoes, skin, carpet, brooms, containers, clothes, you name it and it's caked in sand and eventually carried into the tenter's vehicle. In the end, if I can't have grass, a gravel pad is the most welcome surface for tenting.

Showers
Since I am paying to stay in a campground, and usually more than I think is fair, I would appreciate a bathroom where I am not afraid to touch the walls. It's not the dirty footprints and wet counters (if there are any) that I mind--I know that's hard to avoid. It's the shower stalls that are caked in multi-colored mold that make my skin crawl. It is difficult to clean oneself when surrounded by shower curtains stained black with mildew, spider webs in the corner, and insect carcasses dried up or squashed on all surfaces.

And while we're on the subject of showers, I'd like to mention layout. Tiny stalls and change rooms make it difficult not to touch filthy walls while showering. Drying one's body is difficult in a space that is almost too small to turn around in. Keeping clothes off dirty wet floors is a challenge when benches and hooks are absent. Keeping anything dry is impossible when shower curtains are absent or too small. Shower heads and controls facing the shower entrance make keeping dry and reasonably warm difficult because you have to reach through the shower to turn it on and off, and the spray inself is aimed directly at the curtain. Two last things: if you don't want me to control the shower temperature I would appreciate water warmer than tepid. And wherever you place the shower head, don't put it on the ceiling.

Space
If I am paying you over my maximum rate of $10, I expect a large campsite of "my" own. Packing people together with only 5 feet between tents, even in urban areas, is not acceptable. I am supposed to be enjoying the "great outdoors", which is difficult when I can hear my neighbours chewing. I don't want to be so close to other people that I know their brand of dishsoap. While I appreciate bushes and trees which act as dividers or screens, they are not necessary when campers are scattered widely across a large space.

Quiet hours
It is very simple: enforce your quiet hours and campground rules. I don't want to listen to noisy drunks, generators, or other's music. And that includes yours.

More stuff that makes us mad!