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State parks are no longer motorcycle friendly

Does anyone know if State allow people to go into state park camp site after dark?

I won't be arriving at the park until after 10:00pm (worst case is midnight). Can I just find an empty slot and pitch tent, and pay for it the next morning?

I just want a safe place to crash for one night. I have quiet pipes, very stealthy...so won't wake anyone up.

Or is this frowned upon?

Might be a good idea to call the park ahead of time to make arrangements for arriving late. Many parks have a kiosk outside of the office to allow you to check in after hours. But sometimes the gate will be locked and it would be handy to have already gotten the gate code from the office staff. You can either leave cash in the drop-box with your paperwork or settle up with the Park Rangers at the office in the morning. I have done this before at Ray Roberts Lake SP and the system worked well for me. (Note: might need to bring a pen or pencil to fill out the paperwork)

Excerpts from the TPWD rules and regs website...
59.133 Closing Hours and Overnight Use.
(a) The director may establish closing hours and opening hours for a state park or a portion of a state park. Closing hours or opening hours shall be posted.
(b) Except for persons duly authorized to use camping, trailer space, shelter, cabin or lodge facilities, or boat ramp, or for persons who have paid the overnight activity use fee, it is an offense for a person to enter into or remain within a state park between the closing hour and the opening hour.
...
(f) Entrance and User Fees: It is an offense for any person to enter, use, or occupy a facility in any portion of a state park for which a fee has been established, unless the person has first paid the fee or satisfied the requirements of the fee, has received an entrance/use permit issued by the department, and has attached the permit to their vehicle as and when required by the permit. If the office is closed, payment must be made according to posted instructions or signage.
 
Usually parks will do their best to work with you if you arrive late, so long as you give them notice.

Also, speaking from experience... Make sure you have set up your camp gear at night before and have a headlamp. It goes much quicker and quieter this way. :)


Should the thread title be changed to reflect victory?
 
Usually parks will do their best to work with you if you arrive late, so long as you give them notice.

Also, speaking from experience... Make sure you have set up your camp gear at night before and have a headlamp. It goes much quicker and quieter this way. :)


Should the thread title be changed to reflect victory?

hizzo, I will agree that headlamp is the way to go after I borrow yours one night.:thumb:
Brian
 
Does anyone know if State allow people to go into state park camp site after dark?

I won't be arriving at the park until after 10:00pm (worst case is midnight). Can I just find an empty slot and pitch tent, and pay for it the next morning?

I just want a safe place to crash for one night. I have quiet pipes, very stealthy...so won't wake anyone up.

Or is this frowned upon?

Snapped these pictures of the "Late Arrival Self-Pay Station" at Lake Brownwood SP yesterday. Need2Tour and I moto-camped there this weekend and our very own Zephyr joined us for the evening. He arrived after the park office had closed, stopped at the Self-Pay Station, filled out the paperwork, wasn't camping overnight but still left his day fee in the little-brown drop-box.

Since this SP has cabins, they have a bulletin board where they "clip" check-in documents for late arriving campers (who have previously made reservations). Just before the office closes, the park rangers post the latest information regarding available campsites, cabins, maps, directions, etc.

Hope your moto-camping goes well.

20141004026-640x640.jpg


20141004027-640x640.jpg


20141004028-640x640.jpg
 
I just happened upon this thread today. Where's the love for Kevin Good for making this happen within the bowels of the organization :-)?

Kevin is my brother. He is a long time rider and camper.

Craig Good
 
I don't carry cash a whole lot. there are many times I have simply camped overnight in a state camp ground and then paid on my way out the next morning or rode up front and paid my dues if I was staying more than a night.

I've never had this be an issue at any of the state parks I've stayed at. I have to assume that law is there so they have something to write free loaders for.

It's going to be a culture re-shock when I move back home and have to pay to camp again. I haven't paid for or stayed at a full on organized campground since I moved out here to Cali. One of the biggest things I'm going to miss about out here is the free primitive camping pretty much anywhere out here in the western states.
 
A question about the new policy.

I recently joined some people at Inks Lake SP on a Saturday. There were two vehicles in the site parking since Friday. I was staying overnight and was on a bike.

I was charged camping and vehicle fees. My bike fit in beside my truck the Missus had driven up.

If there are two vehicles (not bikes) already paying for parking while camping, and, a motorcycle can fit on the pad, should the parking fee be waived for the bike?

Just curious after re-reading the policy. It seems to cover bringing in more motos on a site where two motos are camping. But, doesn't address bringing in a moto on a pad with two cars.
 
I just happened upon this thread today. Where's the love for Kevin Good for making this happen within the bowels of the organization :-)?



Kevin is my brother. He is a long time rider and camper.



Craig Good


Who is Kevin Good and what role did he play? Was he the contact that Carl worked with?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't carry cash a whole lot. there are many times I have simply camped overnight in a state camp ground and then paid on my way out the next morning or rode up front and paid my dues if I was staying more than a night.

I've never had this be an issue at any of the state parks I've stayed at. I have to assume that law is there so they have something to write free loaders for.

It's going to be a culture re-shock when I move back home and have to pay to camp again. I haven't paid for or stayed at a full on organized campground since I moved out here to Cali. One of the biggest things I'm going to miss about out here is the free primitive camping pretty much anywhere out here in the western states.


Is this something new? I was moto camping through ca about 5 years ago and found the camp fees very high for tent camping.


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Sadly I haven't had a chance to make it to any camp-outs. Life keeps getting in the way... And now many of them near me are still flooded :(
 
Is this something new? I was moto camping through ca about 5 years ago and found the camp fees very high for tent camping.

If you paid camp fees you stayed at an organized campground. Downs stated primitive camping on open public lands. Plenty of that out west and the majority of it is free. Here is a good visual to drive home just how incredibly different it is out west.

federal_lands.jpg


_
 
If you paid camp fees you stayed at an organized campground. Downs stated primitive camping on open public lands. Plenty of that out west and the majority of it is free. Here is a good visual to drive home just how incredibly different it is out west.



federal_lands.jpg




_


Yes, I staying at state parks. I didn't know about all the free camping. Thanks, good info


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
A question about the new policy.

I recently joined some people at Inks Lake SP on a Saturday. There were two vehicles in the site parking since Friday. I was staying overnight and was on a bike.

I was charged camping and vehicle fees. My bike fit in beside my truck the Missus had driven up.

If there are two vehicles (not bikes) already paying for parking while camping, and, a motorcycle can fit on the pad, should the parking fee be waived for the bike?

Just curious after re-reading the policy. It seems to cover bringing in more motos on a site where two motos are camping. But, doesn't address bringing in a moto on a pad with two cars.

I'm not sure since I haven't found the wording changes to the parking fee rules since they were updated. Can you share the link where you were reading about the policy?

These are the (email) responses I received from the Assitant to the Director of Parks as we were working together to get the changes made to the excess vehicle parking fee structure...

On July 31, 2014: "From the customer standpoint, you won’t see much change. You will get a camping permit as usual, but it will have a handwritten date and license plate number. Once the final approval is given to implement this, it is communicated to all staff via an email, as well as verbal communication from office managers to frontline clerks. The steps they have to take are also posted on our internal network so staff can refer to them in the future."

On August 1, 2014: "Success! (finally) The new process is in place, so more than 2 bikes can now be parked in a campsite without extra fees. Staff have been notified of this change, and we will have appropriate verbiage on the public website pages soon."

On September 16, 2014 in response to an email I sent to him after moto-camping at Cleburne SP. We were not charged excess vehilces fees: "Glad you had a good trip. This should be consistent across all parks, but let me know if you encounter any problems in the future."
I have been moto-camping three times since the rules change was put into place (August 2014) and none of us were charged excess vehicle fees (while having more than two bikes on a site). Only once did we have cars and trucks also camping with us.

I must confess that I haven't found any wording on the TPWD website regarding the changes to the parking fee structure, but I haven't looked for it either. This is on the Inks Lake SP webpage..."Number of vehicles may be restricted. Contact park at (512) 793-2223 for more information." The link with this information is http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/inks-lake/fees-facilities/campsites. Scroll down to the Excess Vehicle Parking section.

You might want to communicate your experience and ask your question directly to someone at TPWD. Here is The Assistant to the Director of Parks contact information. He is super-nice and is someone in a position to get things done.

Kevin Good
Special Assistant to the Director
State Parks Division
512-389-4415
kevin.good@tpwd.state.tx.us
 
I just happened upon this thread today. Where's the love for Kevin Good for making this happen within the bowels of the organization :-)?

Kevin is my brother. He is a long time rider and camper.

Craig Good

There probably wasn't anyone better that I could have worked with than Kevin. As a fellow rider and camper, he had a sympothetic ear plus he works closely with those at the top of the food chain at the TPWD. It was forturnate that he was assigned to assist me on the quest to have the parking rules updated.

We had a very nice phone conversation and discussed the history of the parking rule, how it might be a bit unfair when strictly applied to motorcycles and other smaller vehicles. We discussed more appropriate ways of wording and applying a better parking rule, and we talked about motorcycles and camping in general.

Kevin was able to get my proposal in front of the Business Rules committee and during the time that the committee was considering the proposal, I would email Kevin every three-four weeks asking for an update. He was always timely in his reply. To my astonishment and delight, we were able to get the parking rules updated in roughly ten months. If memory serves, I first contacted Kevin in November of 2013 and the Audit Committee approved the parking rule changes in August of 2014.

Please extend my gratitude to him when you see him next.

--Carl
 
Who is Kevin Good and what role did he play? Was he the contact that Carl worked with?

Bob,

Kevin is the Assitant to the Director of Parks at the TPWD. He was my TPWD liaison during the quest to have the parking rules updated. He listened to my point of view, was open to discussions on ways to improve the parking rule and got the proprosal for a rule change in front to the TPWD Rules Committee. He's a good guy to have working in your corner! We should invite him to a campout in his honor some time.

--Carl
 
I'm not sure since I haven't found the wording changes to the parking fee rules since they were updated. Can you share the link where you were reading about the policy?

This thread is the only place I've read anything about it. I didn't inquire about policy when signing in at Inks.

Only got to thinking about it afterwards when I saw this thread come back up.
 
This thread is the only place I've read anything about it. I didn't inquire about policy when signing in at Inks.

Only got to thinking about it afterwards when I saw this thread come back up.
Buescher State Park is charging us $10 per bike excess vehicle fee today. I showed her Kevin Good's letter and asked her to call but she wouldn't. Asked her stupidvisor and then called her manager and both instructed her to charge. I called Kevin's number while there but got his voice mail.

_
 
Buescher State Park is charging us $10 per bike excess vehicle fee today. I showed her Kevin Good's letter and asked her to call but she wouldn't. Asked her stupidvisor and then called her manager and both instructed her to charge. I called Kevin's number while there but got his voice mail.

_


Calling WhiskySmith.

WhiskySmith to the white courtesy phone please.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Buescher State Park is charging us $10 per bike excess vehicle fee today. I showed her Kevin Good's letter and asked her to call but she wouldn't. Asked her stupidvisor and then called her manager and both instructed her to charge. I called Kevin's number while there but got his voice mail.

Well this is disappointing to hear. I'm not sure I can get in touch with Kevin today, but he needs to be aware of what they are doing. Could you provide a little more information about each site please?

  • Site number
    • # cars/trucks (if any)
    • # motorbikes
    • # trailers (if any)
    • # campers
    • # of excess vehicles fees charged
 
Buescher State Park is charging us $10 per bike excess vehicle fee today. I showed her Kevin Good's letter and asked her to call but she wouldn't. Asked her stupidvisor and then called her manager and both instructed her to charge. I called Kevin's number while there but got his voice mail.

_

I visited Lake Whitney a couple months ago. I had the motorhome towing a car with the bike on a Cruiserlift. I was charged excess vehicle fee because I had three vehicles. :ponder: I asked if a trailer was counted as a vehicle after the tow vehicle is disconnected; no. Motorhome should not count once parked and I should be able to have two vehicles with the parked "residence". Not so.
 
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