Busy Camping season is already here at Dunes RV

FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI)- Camping season is already underway for the Dunes RV park near the Sand Dunes in Fremont County. Although they faced a little delay they are already seeing many campers spend their weekends and sometimes weeks camping.

"Because the weather's better than it has been. All these thunderstorms in the forecast have kind of pushed people away. So the second it turned sunny, people just swarm here and try and get a nice weekend in," said Garrett Mcgroarty the general manager at Dunes RV.

Mcgroarty added that the lateness of the winter season caused a brief delay in the opening of the campground this year as well. "Usually we open about April 15th. We had to push it back all the way to April 25th because right where I'm standing there is three feet of snow that we had to plow in here and removed just to get down to our general store and get stocked."

Many who are coming to the campground are coming for not just a friendly atmosphere but also the fun. They come back for the atmosphere and different events held at the campground. "It's a great community out here. So we love when people all come because they all share the same interests. And so everyone's super friendly and big events get held here. And so when everyone's out in the dunes, just like it's, it's a big family and everyone loves it," Mcgroarty said.

"It's changed a lot over the years. We used to camp farther down to the entrance when they just had that, it was like the air is more desert right now," said Valerie Acosta who with her family and her friends has been coming to the campsite for over, 20 years.

She adds part of why they come is the ability to take some fun day trips. "We go to Yellowstone usually a day, the Tetons, Jackson Hole. It's got Bear World. We always like to do daily day trips, too."

They keep coming back not just to play in the sand dunes but to also come together with friends. "It's just a fun week that we all like. We come from all over and meet our friends. We just became a yearly thing," said Acosta.

Going to play in the sand dunes can be tons of fun, but Mcgroarty and Acosta, and her friends have some tips on how to do it in a safe manner. "If you're on the top of a mountain, you want to go fast because if you go so you're in a tip over," said Peyten Karns a friend of Valerie.

Valerie adds that you should never go directly over a dune as it may have a large drop-off on the other side and you might not be able to see it otherwise.

Mcgroarty says perhaps the best thing to do is to ask for advice from those who are experienced in the dunes. "Find people who are used to riding in the sand dunes, find a group that you like, and again ask us and people who have been around as much as possible, the safest way to go about riding."

He adds that many of the accidents can come from inexperience. "I would say over 50% of the accidents that happen out in these dunes are from people who haven't written ridden dunes ever in their life," he says the opposite can be true of those who have some experience. "The people who come all the time are the people who are least likely to get in an accident just because they know what they're doing out there."

Any Vehicle traveling in the dunes should have a flag on them as it makes them more visible from the various dunes. For more information, you can find it here.