I haven't been camping in years since I was a kid. I have memories of campfires etc. and always feeling safe sleeping out in the open in a sleeping bag. Yosemite was always a favorite. These days when I think about camping, I think I wouldn't feel safe out in the open. Any opinions?

What worries you? Bears? Cougars? Demented homo sapien? Even as a child (more than 50 years ago) camping out in the wilderness was an adreneline rush! Every hoot of an owl or snap of a twig or rustling of leaves would send my imagination soaring! Today, as long as one is reasonably cautious, it's still far safer to camp out in Yosemite (or Grand Canyon, Zion, etc.) than driving the freeway....

We tent camp all over the Rockies and I have NEVER felt uncomfortable or unsafe. People even leave their stuff outside unattended all day. I have never heard of anyone having something stolen (although I'm sure there are). Very refreshing way to live these days!

I guess you can hardly call camping in a motorhome camping, but we've been camping for the last 26 years either in a tent, van, tent-trailer, trailer and most recently a motorhome. As far as safety, I haven't noticed much change.

It's best to lock your stuff up before you go away for the day.

Take necessary precautions against wildlife as well.

Utahtea

From what I saw at the campgrounds in Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon, I would think you have more to fear from the humans than nature. The park service really packs the camps close together and they are well used. There is no way this type of camping is a wilderness type of experience. I spend 20 to 30 days camping in the west and most of the time I feel very safe. I feel safer alone in the wilderness than I do in big cities.

We have camped throughtout CA. I don't feel as safe due to many of the people in the campgrounds. Mostly it is the rudeness though. Geez, it is hard to ignore some people when they are so close. Do we still go? Yes! We just look for areas that have larger sites. We have been in a campground where the ice chests were stolen. It is sad, extra precauutions are certainly worth it though!

Renee,
We have gone camping in Yosemite since the 60's. These days, we go every Labor Day every year, with all of our families in tow. It's just like it used to be, except with less campgrounds (since the flood in -- was it January of '97?), so no more River Camps, and less of Lower Pines, but there's still Upper Pines and North Pines. The place is still full of families, bike riding, hiking, swimming and all the rest. The kids still ride around on their own, and the bears still pass through the campsites at night. The campers even still call out each night throughout the campgrounds, "Leroy"! We still have the campfires and recount scary stories while munching marshmallows. We still drag our guitars there and have music fests.

Curry Village has not changed at all except they sell really good pizza now. The racoons still visit and munch at night; the pool at Yosemite Lodge is still a welcome respite from the dirt.

No firefalls anymore from Glacier Point, but was that ever safe anyway?

Go! It's great!

Thanks for the replies. I was refering to humans - I visited but did not stay at Joshua tree recently - the campers we passed who were boozing it up and smoking weed and just looking plain disreputable got me thinking.

I am reassured and will start planning for the summer.

Camp regularly in Tahoe and Lake Oroville. We feel safe and we leave all our stuff out all day while we are boating or at the beach. That's about 10:30am to 6:30pm. Never had any bad experiences. Though Oroville has some interesting people the Rangers stay on top of the trouble makers.
We always marvel at how we lock up ourselves and our stuff at home behind deadbolts and alarms and camping there's nothing between us and the "bad guys" except a thin nylon tent. Strange when you think about it.

Renee,

Just like anywhere else you go, you are going to find nice friendly people and then some jerks. We have had our share of bad camping neighbors, but our good experiences are what keep us doing each and every year.


Most campgrounds now have campground hosts that have the ear of the Park Rangers. If you have any problems just report it to the campground hosts. (Hopefully they won't be the ones doing the disrupting...just kidding)

Utahtea

I've tent-camped alone and with my husband throughout the western US and never had a problem with humans or wildlife. I think I'd be a little nervous in just a sleeping bag (no tent) because of bugs and snakes.