WARNING: This is a park to skip
I have never written a scathing review of an RV park, but I cannot let this one pass without doing whatever I can to make it known that the guy who owns and runs this park is not a very nice person
On September 7, 2019, my husband and I pulled into Brookside Campsite after having a wonderful 2 month vacation in Alaska, Yukon, Alberta, and BC. We were part of a 24 coach tour and during that time made many friends. 7 of these coaches chose Brookside to spend the final night of our tour in celebration of our new friendships and a wonderful vacation. When we arrived, we did so with one other couple pulling a 5th wheel. We both approached the park at the same time. The owner, Dane, (about 30ish y.o.) was standing at his window looking very intimidating with his arms folded. There was a mid-size SUV blocking part of the arrival area so I maneuvered our 45 ft. coach near the grass and as far forward as I could for the rig behind us to move in off the highway Dane walked out of the office and approached our car and stuck his face up to the window when our 2 Havanese dogs started barking. When I went inside he was standing behind the desk holding a business card with our site number. That is the only thing we were given; no list of rules. He immediately began lecturing me, accusing me. of driving on his grass, which I denied, and he argued that I did. I asked him to go out and look at it and he would find no marks in the grass. He then said, well, you didn't need to drive up so far (the end of the check in area). I told him I had to make a maneuver to dodge the car in the driveway and make room so the rig behind us could pull in. He then said "I don't want to hear any more excuses, I just want you to hear what I have to say if you want to stay here". Then he told me that they are a dog friendly park and he noticed that our dogs barked when he looked into the car and they can't do that in the park (note that he did put his face up to the window). I told him that since we were in the center of the 7 rigs in our group, barking would not be a problem because we all know each other's dogs. He continued to lecture and made me feel very uncomfortable and threatened. I accepted the business card and left the office. I immediately went to my husband, who was still waiting in the car, and told him I had been chastised by the guy in the office (didn't learn he was owner until later) and what he had said. Dane came out to watch me maneuver my coach around his very narrow corner and down into the park. When my husband saw him he asked him to look at the grass and that if a rig as heavy as ours had driven on it, there would surely be a mark. He also thanked him for the warm welcome to his park. Dane asked my husband if he wanted to stay there or not. Then my husband followed me into the park. We parked in our site and disembarked the rig to greet our friends. We were all talking about the plans for a nice evening, our last together for some time. After about 3-5 min., Dane came down into the park, parked his pick up several sites away, walked up to us to present us with a copy of a refund and told us we must leave the park NOW. We asked why and were told he did not like my husband's attitude. I began sobbing uncontrollably because we are good and kind people and nothing like this has ever happened to us. We are retired and have been full timing for 3.5 years and have stayed in parks in 44 states and 9 provinces and have never met anyone like this and have never, ever been kicked out of a park. My husband did not cuss, threaten, or in any way demonstrate anything but a reasonable response to the owner's attitude. We and our friends begged and pleaded but he insisted we had to go now or he would call the police. We went to another park 20 mi. back in Clinton, Willow Springs RV Park. As I registered, the owner asked how my day was and I started crying again. I told her about my experience and she was shocked, but not surprised. The owners here were very lovely. We talked to 2 other couples who had been kicked out of Brookside the previous day because their dog peed on the grass. Again, there were no rules given to anyone and no signs to alert guests to this rule. By talking to several people, we learned that he had kicked several out earlier this season and last year for no good reasons. He watches everything going on in the park, almost to the point of voyeurism. So, I strongly suggest you give Brookside a pass if you are in the area. read more