WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR CAMPSITE LATE AT NIGHT

3. Practice Parking And Setting Up In Daylight

What's the best way to reduce stress when parking an RV in a campsite at night? Practice, practice, practice during the day. Before heading out on your trip, make sure you feel totally comfortable maneuvering your rig. Practicing turning, backing up, hitching, unhitching, and setting up multiple times until you have a complete understanding of how your RV handles. Having this experience will make you feel better prepared for handling different situations at night.

Pro Tip: If you’re having trouble seeing campground signs in the dark, get out and scout the area. Some campgrounds are not well marked, so find a safe place to park and then walk the roads.

4. Get Your Flashlights Ready

You might get lucky and arrive at a campsite that is well-lit, or you might arrive at a very dark spot with little visibility. Either way, have a flashlight ready to go in case you need some light to see the levels, stabilizers, hitch and hook-ups. Keep a few flashlights in your glovebox for easy access—just make sure they have fresh batteries or are fully charged before you head out.

Over the years, Alison and I have transitioned from using handheld flashlights to headlamps. We like having our hands free to crank the RV stabilizers, carry supplies from the truck, hook up the RV utilities, and unhook the ball hitch.

Pro Tip: If you have a headlamp, try using the red light option at night. This light will help preserve your night vision and give you ample light to see, but isn’t blinding for any of your neighbors.

5. Prep The Kids For Bed Before Arrival

Parents, this tip is for you. When it's late at night and you've arrived at your destination, the last thing you want to think about is having to deal with a cranky, sleepy child. So, what can you do to prevent this? If we know we will be showing up to our campsite late at night, we like to get our kids ready for bed in advance. This usually means eating dinner, brushing teeth and putting pajamas on before we even leave. That way, once we arrive, the kids simply get out of the truck, use the restroom and go straight to bed.

Pro Tip: Try to avoid screens, tablets or phones about an hour before your kids’ bedtime. This gives their brains some time to start winding down, and they might even sleep a little before you reach your final destination.

6. Be Courteous To Others Around You

While some people think that checking-in late is rude to other campers, it honestly doesn't have to be. If you arrive after hours, there’s a good chance you will have to make some noise. But there are a few things you can do to minimize disturbances to other campers.

- Once you’ve parked your RV, immediately turn off your headlights to avoid shining bright lights into the neighboring campsites.

- Keep your voices down and avoid slamming any doors.

- Avoid using power tools or any devices that make a lot of noise (use a hand crank for your stabilizers instead of a drill).

- Minimize or turn off your RV’s exterior lights.

- If you have a towable RV, bring only what you need for the night into the RV and leave the rest in your tow vehicle until the morning.

7. Try To Stay In An RV-Only Area

When you plan your trip, think about how your late arrival will impact other campers. If you know you’ll be arriving in the dark, try to make a reservation in an RV-only loop or a section of the campground that is exclusively designated for RVs (tent campers will thank you). Many RVers don’t realize how much noise they actually make when setting up, and tent-campers don’t have much insulation from the outside world. So, on the days you know you’ll be arriving late, try to avoid the mixed tent and RV camping areas.