Our Second Visit to Laughing Grass: A Cabin, A Confrontation, and Why We Won't Be Back…read moreThis was our second trip to Laughing Grass. The first time around, we stayed in one of the glamping tents -- and honestly, the tent itself left a lot to be desired. It was damp and musty the entire stay, and we weren't thrilled with the sleeping quarters. But everything else pulled us back: the river was beautiful, the 420-friendly activities were a blast, and the other campers we met made the trip memorable. So a couple of years later, we decided to give it another shot, this time booking a cabin instead.
Before we left, a friend warned me that the staff had been rude to her on a past visit. I brushed it off -- everyone's experience is different, and I wanted to judge it for myself. In hindsight, I wish I'd listened a little more closely.
Check-In
Check-in officially starts at 3:00 PM. I called at 1:00 to ask if we could arrive early, and the woman on the phone said that would be fine -- come at 2:00. So we packed up and pulled in right on time.
We were greeted by a staff member named Cole, who seemed pretty disorganized from the jump -- she mentioned more than once that she hadn't clocked in yet and that this was technically "her Monday." After walking us to our cabin, she let us know we'd actually need to park in a lot a quarter mile away, near the front entrance, and that a single-person golf cart would shuttle us back and forth as needed. Then came the surprise: a $25 early check-in fee, which nobody had mentioned on the phone. I paid it anyway and tried not to let it color the trip.
A Great First Night -- Then a 3 AM Wrinkle
Our first night was genuinely great. We had plans to wake up early the next morning for a hike to try to spot moose, so the evening before, I asked if I could park my car up near the cabins overnight -- that way we wouldn't have to wake anyone up to shuttle us to the far lot at 3 AM.
Cole went to check with the owner, who was standing within earshot and said, essentially, "I have friends coming" -- implying that spot needed to stay open for them. Eventually, though, she agreed to let us park there.
We got up at 3:00, left by 3:30, hiked, and were back at the campsite around 9:30 AM. On my way back to the cabin, I ran into one of the other staff members and asked if it'd be okay to take a quick nap before moving my car to the main lot. She said sure.
The Confrontation
About 30 minutes into that nap, there was a loud bang on the cabin door. It was Cole, telling me I needed to move my car immediately. I got up right away and came outside to find her waiting -- and what she said next caught me completely off guard: "We gave you an inch and you took a mile."
I had no idea what she meant. When I asked her to explain, she said I'd parked there and "stayed parking there" all morning, and that she was disappointed to still see my car there. I explained, calmly, that I'd just gotten permission that very morning to take a nap before moving my car back up to the main lot. Her response was that she "didn't know what was going on, but I did" -- and that I shouldn't have kept my car there regardless.
At that point she was raising her voice and arguing with me. My son was inside the cabin and heard the whole thing unfold. I was being scolded like a child over a misunderstanding that wasn't remotely intentional on my part -- I'd asked permission at every step, from the overnight parking to the nap. It was unprofessional, it was upsetting, and it wasn't something either of us deserved to be put through on what had otherwise been a good trip.
Final Thoughts
Between the musty tent on our first visit, the surprise fees, the disorganized check-in, and now being yelled at by staff over something I did nothing wrong to cause -- this was our last trip to Laughing Grass. The river and the community there are genuinely great, and that's what kept bringing us back. But the way we were treated on this visit, combined with a property that felt run-down and unclean, made it clear this isn't a place we can recommend or return to.