Hammocks prohibited in San Diego County campgrounds

[slbear]

I don't know if this applies to day-use parks, but I spoke to a campground host at William Heise, a San Diego County park campground, who said hammock camping is prohibited. He mentioned the many oak trees they have lost, implying that hammock use may be part of the problem (we're like invasive pests). I'm asking the county if there is actually a regulation on this, if not maybe a compelling policy argument could be made. I had assumed webbing tree huggers were vetted by the industry. Any sources for such studies or stories about getting this kind of rule changed elsewhere.

I did notice that the city of San Diego has a PDF with the rules for using slacklines. I was hammock camping at a So-Cal National Forest campground recently, and asked them in advance - they said no problem and had not heard of any such restriction. Not sure about California state campgrounds.

Any help and info is greatly appreciated. -Slbear

[MAD777]

It's not unusual to find hammock restrictions in parks at every level of government. The local park near me in South Florida has outlawed them.

Slacklines will harm trees far worse than hammock suspensions. We hang at 30 degrees whereas slacklines are closer to straight.

[pgibson]

We hang at 30 degrees whereas slacklines are closer to straight.

Not just strait but under extremely high tension. I had a friend that got big into it and was working out ways to multiply the way he tensioned his line with pulleys and other gear.

[Loren]

I have yet to run into restrictions in my state.

[IndyFace]

i've called many campground places at all different governmental levels and they have all told me that i CAN use my hammock in their parks (throughout western/central PA) however, a KOA campground told me that they don't allow them simply because they dont have trees in their grounds and apparently most campgrounds owned by KOA are like that. however, if you take a hammock stand with you...

[dvitous]

In Illinois, I was in a county forest preserve with our Boy Scout troop... and was told "don't hang anything from the trees" - though did not specifically mention hammocks (of which mine was already set up!).

State park - the ranger came by after our first night, and made no mention of my hammock set-up, if he even saw it. Quick search on my phone, and didn't find any specific prohibition.

I had a hammock strung in a Michgan state park campground - no tarp, just for lounging, and nobody said anything. I did get a lot of "thumbs up" and accolades from passers by though

[counts]

I pretty much just do dispersed camping. So far I have not ran into any issues in San Diego.

I talked to a Palomar mountain ranger and he said he uses a hammock when he has to stay overnight when working in the field. A lot of other places said there is nothing mentioned that they knew of.

[slbear]

I pretty much just do dispersed camping. So far I have not ran into any issues in San Diego.

I talked to a Palomar mountain ranger and he said he uses a hammock when he has to stay overnight when working in the field. A lot of other places said there is nothing mentioned that they knew of.

Counts,

Thanks - good to hear from another SD hammock camper. Seems like group hangs are few and far between out here.

As far as I can tell, Federal, State and even San Diego City parks don't have a problem. Only those SD County parks. I got an email response explaining their position, and when I wrote back requesting a permit (which their rules suggest they can grant) - to setup and hang responsibly, they did not reply further. I'm going to try hammock camping at Del Mar Beach (Camp Pendleton) coming up, so I bit the bullet and am building a hammock stand that we could also use in campgrounds.

I hope to get out into the backcountry more often soon with my son. Palomar is an easy drive and still out there. Did you backpack near Palomar, and if so did you need/get a permit somewhere?

Thanks,
Slbear

[OneClick]

[QUOTE=dvitous;1309023]"don't hang anything from the trees"[QUOTE]

This has been drilled into my head as a general rule between my experience as a kid in boy scouts and camping in actual campgrounds with my family. I want to say they're just trying to ruin our fun, but you have to look at the whole picture. Nothing against hammocks specifically. They're just looking out for the trees no matter what, who, why, how, etc. and want nothing on them. Of course, I no longer follow this

Just like anything else in life; one bad apple spoils the bunch. I guess they figure they allow one person to hang a small lantern, the next person will hang a swing, next an entire family is playing tetherball on a tree busting off all the bark, etc. In a campground, many sites may only have one good set of trees nearby. If everyone hung from that exact same spot, it would start to have an impact at some point in time.

I'm not saying any of US would do something stupid to damage the tree, but in a spot getting traffic 9 out of 12 months, it's going to happen.

I only hang in the backcountry with a million trees around, but I still treat the two I select as the only two tress in the area.

[Gearspoke]

It really depends on the parks, but the one I love going to in the San Juan's in Washington, definitely do not allow it.