What NOT to do at a campground ....

[DutchmenSport]

You know, pull off the road, onto the grass, and drive over a water spigot cut off valve.

(Whitewater State Park, Indiana)

Someone did this earlier today. We were sitting across the way and watched him do it. I don't quite understand why he pulled into the grass so far when the actual hydrant was only about the 7 or 8 feet off the asphalt road and the cut off valve is on the other side of the hydrant from the road.

Anyway, not a smart thing to do. That truck in the photo is DNR, not the guy who did this:

 

[UTTransplant]

This is the reason we have escorts to our site in many places - too many idiots. I feel sorry for park operators. Either prop,e run over the utilities or they dump things that have no business being in a pipe or septic system.

 

[JJSON775]

When people step outside the comfort zone of their routine life and have to improvise, they do dumb things.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Once, I cut the corner to close when leaving a campsite. Embarrassing! I offered to pay the damages, but the manager said it was not necessary. He consider it a routine accident and a relatively common occurrence in a campground. Hazards of the trade, I guess.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I'm surprised the park didn't either recess the valve or plant a solid post next it.

 

[gwinger]

I once ran over a sewer connection pulling into a site. It was at ground level, less then 12 inches form the edge of the gravel. Not even near the utilities pole and not marked in any way. The only thing visible was the screw on cap.

 

[CharlesinGA]

If the campsite were set up properly, a back in site will have the electrical, water, and sewer on the back LH side (as you are backing in) and there would be no real way to run over them. I have seen many sites with the water especially and sometimes the power, up near the road. Makes hookup difficult and easy to get run over.

Charles

 

[Ray-IN]

When people step outside the comfort zone of their routine life and have to improvise, they do dumb things.

Yea, and most are to embarrassed to ask CG management, or another camper, what to do where. Humm, Robin Williams popped into my mind.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I once ran over a sewer connection pulling into a site. It was at ground level, less then 12 inches form the edge of the gravel. Not even near the utilities pole and not marked in any way. The only thing visible was the screw on cap.

I pulled into a site one time where that had happened prior to our arrival. The cap was smashed into the pipe so badly that the park maintenance fellow had to use a hammer and chisel to break it out and clear the pipe.

 

[whiteva]

Had a guy tell me I should have walked the site before backing in. His tone and actions could have been nicer rather than snippy. Once I explained that I have chosen this particular site (35) at least 5 times every year for many years and was well versed with the layout & hookups, he did slink back to his site and yell at his barking dog tethered at his trailer. I suspect booze may have been involved!

 

[phil-t]

See all kinds of stuff when you host at a campground! I could write a book! Probably some others on here could as well.
I drew up a single page of "Campground Etiquette" for the state park campground where we host every winter. It was adopted statewide; prolly not a lot of help since most folks don't even look at what they get for paperwork when they check in. If it helps at all, it was worth the effort.

 

[JJSON775]

See all kinds of stuff when you host at a campground! I could write a book! Probably some others on here could as well.
I drew up a single page of "Campground Etiquette" for the state park campground where we host every winter. It was adopted statewide; prolly not a lot of help since most folks don't even look at what they get for paperwork when they check in. If it helps at all, it was worth the effort.

I would love to read a book like that. It would be like one i just read by a career flight attendant who shared her experiences.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'm surprised the park didn't either recess the valve or plant a solid post next it.

A sunken recess is inconvenient for hook-up, right? And it would take a serious "solid post" to protect it from a 10,000 lb trailer. A not-so-solid post would be a warning device, though.

If the campsite were set up properly, a back in site will have the electrical, water, and sewer on the back LH side (as you are backing in) and there would be no real way to run over them. I have seen many sites with the water especially and sometimes the power, up near the road. Makes hookup difficult and easy to get run over.

What is "proper" depends a lot on how the RV is configured - water connections in the middle are common and some are even on the opposite side. In my anecdote, the hook-ups were way up front, which saved the campground time & money when it was installed but obviously put the plumbing at risk as well as inconvenient for the camper. Not a wise choice.

 

[phil-t]

Yup, I hate recessed hookups. But that's my physical limitation.

 

[Domo]

I once ran over a sewer connection pulling into a site. It was at ground level, less then 12 inches form the edge of the gravel. Not even near the utilities pole and not marked in any way. The only thing visible was the screw on cap.

... hmmm.

 

[John From Detroit]

Small campground I was in some friends of the owner ask if they could use the dump station.. he told 'em not to drive on the grass.. they did, Right over the sewer pipe which was only a few inches down (this is in southern GA) and of course could not support their RV.... They had to pay for tow truck. Plumber. and more.

 

[NY_Dutch]

A sunken recess is inconvenient for hook-up, right? And it would take a serious "solid post" to protect it from a 10,000 lb trailer. A not-so-solid post would be a warning device, though.

In this case, the valve was a service shut off, not the hookup spigot. Recessing it would likely be the simplest answer, but a bright colored post would be more visible.

 

[p38fln]

In this case, the valve was a service shut off, not the hookup spigot. Recessing it would likely be the simplest answer, but a bright colored post would be more visible.

I used to work for Halvor Lines, which has a building at 211 Cumming Ave in Superior. I only mention the name and address so you can find it on Google street view....
There was a fire hydrant right in front of the shop building, on the city right of way next to the road.
At least once every 90 days a truck would run the thing over. Since we're way the hell up north fire hydrants here obviously have dry sumps so rather than the rainbows and water shooting 40 feet into the sky all we would find the next morning was the body of the hydrant off to the side and a set of dually tire prints in the dirt.

So, they put a bollard in front of it. 45 days later someone took out the bollard and fire hydrant together....

The last attempt I saw before I left had 4 bollards, red and white conspicuity tape (the red and white reflective tape that goes on the side and rear of a trailer) and a solar powered bright flashing yellow LED light. Someone still managed to hit it, rip out all the bollards, knock the hydrant loose and smash the light on the ground and drive away. The bollards couldn't be installed very deep because of the water main and sewer pipes running underneath.

You really can't fix stupid.

As far as we could tell it was never one of our trucks that did it.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I used to work for Halvor Lines, which has a building at 211 Cumming Ave in Superior. I only mention the name and address so you can find it on Google street view....
There was a fire hydrant right in front of the shop building, on the city right of way next to the road.
At least once every 90 days a truck would run the thing over. Since we're way the hell up north fire hydrants here obviously have dry sumps so rather than the rainbows and water shooting 40 feet into the sky all we would find the next morning was the body of the hydrant off to the side and a set of dually tire prints in the dirt.

So, they put a bollard in front of it. 45 days later someone took out the bollard and fire hydrant together....

The last attempt I saw before I left had 4 bollards, red and white conspicuity tape (the red and white reflective tape that goes on the side and rear of a trailer) and a solar powered bright flashing yellow LED light. Someone still managed to hit it, rip out all the bollards, knock the hydrant loose and smash the light on the ground and drive away. The bollards couldn't be installed very deep because of the water main and sewer pipes running underneath.

You really can't fix stupid.

As far as we could tell it was never one of our trucks that did it.

As I said, in the case given here, recessing the valve would be the simplest answer. We've all seen those flush round caps covering service valves of various types in yards, streets, and sidewalks. Running over them does no harm. Then again, if this is a rare enough occurrence, it may not be cost effective to retrofit the entire park.

For your fire hydrant scenario, maybe a couple of Jersey barriers would work better. But yes, as you said, you can't fix stupid.

 

[Skookum]

You really can't fix stupid.

Same goes for the city planners who put the hydrant there in the first place. As a former truck driver that kind of stuff drove me nuts. Same applies to campgrounds.