Ocala National Forest's Salt Springs and Alexander Springs campgrounds have 180 day (that's six months!) maximum stay limit. Has anyone seen the impact of campers extending their stay at these campgrounds? I have visions of pink flamingos and pots of petunias.

I think that extended stay may have thier place, but in a majority of cases, I would say no.

Maybe if the extended stay section was in a different loop that had a few more facilities and a higher fee were charged, that would be a way to pay for the rest of the campground. We keep our RV in a seasonal site when we are not on the road. The campground owner uses the $$ coming from seasonals like us (we store our RV on the site during the winter months too.) to help pay the bills / keep the campground looking nice. At the same time, by having a seperate loop, the long term campers would not be keeping the short term campers from enjoying the campground too.

I agree that there would have to be lots of rules w.r.t. keeping he campsite natural, etc. Otheriwse, it makes more sense to goto a private campground.

All citizens should have equal access to our national forest campgrounds and for this reason, they should all be put on a national reservation system. It is simply not fair for locals to "hog" the best sites at the best parks for extended periods of time.

For example, I know of a park in Western NC where a local family rotates one of the best spots among family members for the entire season each year thus making it unavailable to anyone else. They even have the nerve to call it THEIR Summer camp spot when it was paid for by federal funds for all citizens to enjoy.

Under a national reservation system, anyone could extend their stay after two weeks but everyone should be subject to renewing their reservation over a national system like recreation.gov which gives all fair and equal access. Provided this was done, I'd have no problem with anyone staying longer than two weeks.

Your never going to make everyone happy as far as campgrounds go. There are advantages and disadvantages to all of it.
Personally I don't like the reservation system for all sites in National Park, or National Forest Campgrounds. Half and Half would be fair, as it is now its 80/20 with the reservations getting the bigger.
People complain because some people want to stay longer in some places, I've stayed places as long as a year (due to health reasons) in a spot intended for that purpose and still got complaints because someone with a tent couldn't have it for the weekend.
As I said ya can't please everyone, so quick complaining and have fun.

Truer words were never spoken.

When it comes to getting a favorite spot, what is unfair to one is ok for the other who got it. Should seasonal RVers be required to vacate so a weekend warrior will have a spot for just two days of the week? Is the handicap spot only for those in a wheel chair? After all that’s what the symbol on the sign is. A “bare bones facility” may indeed be a place for the exception, but who makes the decision that one is “popular” and won’t have exceptions. Few here can agree on 14 days vs 16 or 20 or 30. I even wonder why 2 weeks is the current magic number for one’s length of stay. If the concept is to give a lot more people the chance to bask in the experience, why not a week? Perhaps more FS CGs are going to an extended stay policy for the revenue in order to keep it open. I suspect no one would have an issue with that unless they were in favor of raising fees.

On the surface it appears that the pole numbers favor the bad thing. But look closer at the actual numbers. If just two more voted otherwise (and I didn’t vote) then that would be 50% of the “bad thing” group.

No one has yet come up with the solution that will please everyone. I doubt that will happen.

How about we stop worrying about pleasing everyone and do only what is fair. ...And that is accomplished by a national reservation system which guarantees equal access for all.

I have googling trying to find out the policy on extended stays in USFS campgrounds. The reason why I ask is that a co-worker of mine is, er was, staying in a campground here in Juneau Alaska because of a shortage of housing in Juneau. Everything (rentals, not the campground) is booked solid for the summer. She has three kids, the youngest a three year old. She has a good job. It's just the rental situation in Juneau is unbelievable in the summer until the tourist industry workers begin to clear out.

Well, she got booted out on the 14th day by some clown with a gun and a badge even though she had made arrangements with the camphost to extend her stay by two days until another arrangement she put together came up. The guy said she can't come back for the REST OF THE SEASON. An this in spite of the fact the campground is basically empty! Out of some 60 plus campsite, there's no more than a dozen occupied!

I have a couple of questions: 1) Is the stay limit for the whole season? 2) How much flexibility is there? To listen to the goon, there's none.

Also the goon reports directly to Washington, not to the local district ranger. Any point in talking to the local district ranger? (I plan to anyway).

In our many years of researching NF campgrounds, we have found that stay limits vary all over the place from 1 night to 6 months; the norm is probably 14 days. I suspect authority to determine stay limits is delegated by the Forest Service in Washington to management on the ground. Although this is not one of our topics when interviewing Forest Service staff, I have not heard of a person being shut out of a NF because they had used up their stay limit. What I can say with some certainty is a camper can usually move from one campground to another when the stay limit has been used up.

For those of you who are contemplating staying in a NF for more than the published CG stay limit, it would be prudent to check with a ranger district office for the rules. Finally, I have also seen rules published where stay limits are established for dispersed camping.

When all is said and done, although there are exceptions, the Forest Service does not condone people living in a NF - the rules seem to vary on how this policy is enforced . . . Fred

Keep it at 14 days. I believe at Pennsylvania State parks,you can stay for 14 days,but must be gone for 14 days,then you can come back for another 14 days.I like that policy because it doesn't tie up campsites all summer.

Since weekends are the busiest, more than 14 days would allow one camper to tie up a site for 3 weekends even if only 16 days are allowed. We travel extensively, coast to coast and have seen that any park; state, provendial (Canada), county or private, that allows extended stays ends up with a site full of items brought in, giving that "squatter" look. Many times we have found that an extended stay site is used only on weekends, and each weekend more and more items are brought in and left laying around on Sunday afternoon. I can spot an extended stay park as I reach the CG. I can think of no reason to stay more than 14 days max at any one site in any one year if you are "camping". A private park should be contracted with if you want a second home or seasonal site.

I once entered a national park that had an active CG host. Many sites were emptying in the early morning since their 14 days were up. The host treated me with contempt because I had arrived early enough to obtain a site that they had planned for a later arrival (all first come, first served park back then). I found out that throughout the whole season a large group of full timers would move to a nearby 14 day limit park and swap places with a large group that would move into the other park. This happened each 14 days all season. The host personally knew and partied with most of these campers. An inforced 14 day max for the year would have stopped this pratice. Few new commers had a chance to get a site.

I think that the 14 day limit is fair, especially during busy times.
We sometimes stay longer but only during Spring and Fall when activity is light and only with permission.
I always spend some of my spare time policing empty campsites and trails since it's my neighborhood even if for only two weeks.

78 night in FS CG's in trailer and tent this past season.
Wanna do more in '12.