As an avid tent and car camper I have to disagree with this comment. It may be safer in some states but not in California. There is trouble in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii and Texas just to name a few states having issues with remote areas being used for illegal acts.Camping in State or National Parks is generally safer for those travelling alone. Park campgrounds often have a resident "camp host" a family or retired couple staying on one of the sites for a month or thereabouts, especially during prime vacation season. They keep an eye on things, have a basic first aid kit, information on local restaurants, etc. and are on site to keep any rowdies from getting out of hand. They've got the Park Police on speed dial. You can request a site near the Camp Host or just stop by and introduce yourself so they know your face and where you're located in the campground
Meth cookers, rx growers and other mules for the Mexican cartels use the National Parks or the outskirts of the National Parks to cook or grow their product. Here in California, Sequoia National Forest has been hit hard by these people who have no regard whatsoever for the natural world they are in. They dump toxic waste and leave huge amounts of garbage, their rx fields are often booby trapped and guarded by those are armed. Hikers have disappeared and it has become an epidemic it is so bad.
State campgroubds are not as bad as long as you are camping in the right season, camp during the off season and there is a totally different crowd of people frequenting these parks. now with budget cuts armed rangers are few and far away and the only other responding officer is the local sheriff. If something goes down, you need to hope he is not busy and not too far away.
Cleveland National Forest in Los Angeles is known as a body dumping ground. These criminals bank on the remoteness of the area in order to do their dirty deeds. I have heard horror story after horror story.
The only place worse other than the home of one of these drug cookers or growers is to be in Bureau of Land Management land or on designated Fish and Game properties. One of the most dangerous jobs in the United States is a Fish and Game Warden.
Our world is changing, and the best weapon you can have is to be informed. Know where you are going, let someone know about your plans, check in with local media or the police department or even the rangers station of where you plan to stay and learn about local trouble, change your plans if you must. Pay attention to your surroundings, and who is in them. Be ware of people who give you the creeps, pay attention to those nagging feelings about a person you may be dealing with (the more the feeling does not make sense and does not fit in with the environemtn the more you should pay attention to it - I whole heartedly believe in hunches and feelings and acting on them.
Although I have been camping since I was 6 and travelled alot of our great country, I considered myself pretty street savvy little did I know I was in blissful ignorance until I got into law enforcement and even then had no idea the scope of the problems out there until my best friend *RIP*
became an agent for the FBI, I had an eye opener for sure after hearing some of the information coming out of that office.I know this is not really staying on topic but I really feel that paying attention and acting on environmental cues can keep you safer in most cases than anything else. I am in thinking with Lion Lady on this. Until you can prove to me you are a person I am not going to have issues with, you are going to be kept at an arms length away.
A couple of years ago while camping at a local State Park, a woman approached me, I had noticed her for the previous two days, she had a beautiful big macaw and a really cool fifth wheel. She started to approach me while I was sitting at the picnic table in my camping space. I have a huge dog and said to her stay where you are, my dog is not safe to be around (NOTE - my dog is a pansy and if there was any chance of anything going down, my dog would hit his self preservation button and leave me in a split second, probably without looking back) but this person did not know that. She immediately stopped in her tracks. Later she revealed the reason she wanted to talk to me, there had been a young veteran of the military who was bothering her. She knew he was on drugs and he would not leave her alone when the sun went down. We brainstormed and ended up asking the rangers to evict the guy from the park. The key here is that until I learned who she was and what her intentions were I kept her away from my things and away from me. Not inviting her down to my picnic table but going to where she was. Just to keep the viscious dog story valid.
We laughed about it later when she came down to share her rib eye with me and I shared my desert with her. My dog hiding under the table the entire time! Point is I used something in my environment to my advantage.
Please be safe and be an active part in your remainng safe everyday.
