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Thread: Needles Outpost Campground near entrance of Needles District

  1. #1

    Needles Outpost Campground near entrance of Needles District

    Has anybody stayed there and had problems with the owners?

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  3. #2
    Carbon Footprint Donor JP's Avatar
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  4. #3
    i have never stayed there but have stopped by for breakfast many times. gary and tracie have always been very friendly and helpful with any questions. whether they remember me specifically or not i would consider them friends.
    But if I agreed with you, we would both be wrong.

  5. #4
    Stayed there years ago and had a great time. But last year came pulling in with my enclosed jeep trailer and truck, I needed gas and the lady came out and would not sell me any. She felt that I was going to fast down her road. I felt I was going extremely slow due to the fact I was pulling a trailer. Needless to say it almost literally came to a fight. I needed gas to get back to moab and eventually she gave in. So maybe she was just having a bad day but I have heard of other people having trouble with her?? But the showers sure feel good after a long day jeeping. So drive slow on her road!!!!!!
    For what it's worth.
    Mark

  6. #5
    We tried to have lunch there one day in November 2002. They refused to serve us, saying we weren't spending enough money to make it worth it to them. Hey, it's their business, and they are free to run it however they want, but I've never been back and won't ever go back.

  7. #6
    We went the other day and it was packed. So if you want to camp there, go early.
    "My heart shall cry out for Moab..." Isaiah 15:5

  8. #7
    Welcome, gardentek! I'll go ahead and move this to the backpacking and camping section for you.

  9. #8

    More on Needles Outpost

    We also had heard about her erratic behavior but didn't think anyone could be that bad and still be in business. We had also heard that they were lovely people and very congenial. She was very nice to us when we arrived. We just stayed there this past weekend. It turned into a nightmare! It was the worst camping experience we have ever had! She had actually given us permission to have an extra person and car in our campsite for just one night and then the next morning came flying down to our site and accused us of sneaking in people and cars. She screamed at us and called us all kind of names - said we weren't following the rules. We stayed 3 nights and she charged us $280 for "impact and service fees".
    Not even the worst offender in a campsite deserves that kind of insulting and humiliating treatment.
    I got a complaint form from the Needles Visitor Center and when I drove back to the campground she flagged me down. She told us to get out of her campground. I showed her the form I had obtained and she lunged through my car window and grabbed for the paper, ripping it out of my hand. We are filing a formal complaint to the company that owns the land - they indicated they were already investigating other complaints.

    If you choose to stay there, be on your best behavior. As for us, we will never return! It's a nice campground and having the showers was wonderful but we would rather see someone a little more grounded and rational running the campground. If anyone would like to file a grievance let me know and I will get you the information.

  10. #9
    Maybe she's not playing with a full deck of cards? To go from treating you nicely one minute to a raving lunatic the next reeks of "ain't just right" in the head.

    Sorry to hear about your nightmarish experience.
    "All roads, all codes!"

  11. #10
    I think a media hidden camera team needs to do a story on these people. Friggin Nazi's.

  12. #11
    Wow, VERY akin to my experience.

    From my website:
    [i]"Gassing up at The Needles Outpost is where things got crazy, try and stay with me here. We pulled into the gas station, apparently a bit too fast for the owners liking. She refused to sell us fuel, she

  13. #12
    Well, I'm glad to hear we weren't alone. There was much more to our story..... she seemed very put out that my adult children ordered hamburgers and almost didn't serve them. We also observed her drinking during two of our several incidents. When she asked me to leave the campground, I refused, saying that she had said we could stay Sunday night. She called me a liar! I still refused and she said she would call the police. I said "bring them on". The County Sheriff was apparently called (I talked to him yesterday about filing assault charges against her) but my husband was asked by a NPS Ranger that was there to leave and just keep the peace. We only left out of respect for the Park Service.

    Is it ok if I copy your comments and send in with my formal complaint? It would be even better if you would write up your experience and send to the land trust that that owns the land. They told me that if there were enough complaints they would not renew their lease. Then we could get some decent people in there to run the campground.

    I know I sound vindictive but, even now 3 days later, we are all so upset about what she put us through.

    She charged our credit card twice and we are disputing her charges. Before we left she refused to give us an itemized receipt of our charges.

    Sorry for venting so much!

    We had a great time in the park. Conquered Elephant Hill with our Nissan Xterra. It was awesome!

  14. #13
    Feel free to use my comments...

    She must have the Sheriff on speed dial, she threatened to call him no less than a dozen time if we didn't immediately turn around and get off her property.

    Please PM the owners info if you would, while I don't think I'm interested in a formal complaint, I think some of the others in our group might.

  15. #14
    You can use my experience. It's to bad, but I feel better that I am not the only one that has had trouble there. If we could get them removed I will send in a report. We do elephant hill alot coming from moab and returning to moab the same day. Those who do not trailer their jeeps need gas sometimes to get back to town. We have started hauling a few cans in my enclosed trailer because we can't trust the nazi lady that we will be able to get fuel. I have wanted to do the Lockhart Basin trail but have not dared because you would definately need fuel and well we all have found how that might go. If you have a outpost store, the store has to be reliable if you are banking on it and this one is not. Oh we also have a story about the shower valve breaking one time but that's another story. Lets just say we loaded in our jeeps and got the #$%% out of dodge before she got to the showers.
    Mark

  16. #15

    Address for filing complaints

    Re: Needles Outpost
    Gary & Tracey Napoleone

    Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration
    217 East Center
    Suite 230
    Moab, UT 84532

    If you wouldn't mind, could you email me a copy of the letter you send? I am going to ask the Administration Director to let me know if and when any action is taken.

    My email is pac53@comcast.com

    When Gary came to our site to write down our license plate number for the County Sheriff, I appealed to his common sense and he said we were lying about the number of people we had in the site. I told him I could give him a list of all our children but he wouldn't take it.

    I told him that he had "messed with the wrong person" because I am known for my tenacity in pursuing what I think is an injustice. One of my better successes was with the Social Security Administration who had been telling my aunt for 11 years that she didn't qualify for Medicare. I not only got her Medicare benefits, she also now receives a monthly check of $1000. It took me many hours of phone work but I succeeded.

    I am going to pursue this situation on behalf of all those who have been wronged by these people.

    How do I get all this feedback and information on the other forums, particularly the "off-road 4x4 forum" so we can garner as much support as we can to keep this lady from harrassing, humiliating, & insulting those whom she should be "serving."

    Thanks

  17. #16

    Bizarre, Unsettling Experience

    We have stayed at the Outpost a couple of times in the past, without incident, but our stay there on May 1-2, 2010 was simply bizarre. When we checked in, Tracey was all smiles and smelled very strongly of alcohol. She accepted our $20 bill, told us essentially to pick any empty spot, and warned us that one camper had two dogs that might bark, but she failed to write down any information about us or our vehicle. I was remiss in not insisting on a receipt, which may have come in handy later on, but I was tired and just wanted to stop for the day. We had met Tracey before and she had been very friendly, talking with us at great length about Bozeman, Montana, so I didn't feel uncomfortable about the informality of the check-in process.

    As my wife was still recovering from a hip replacement and found it difficult to walk far, we selected the spot closest to the bathrooms. The bathrooms themselves were very clean, but we did receive an unfortunate odor every time a breeze blew from the west.

    The next morning, we drove off at around 7:00 a.m. to seek a spot in the Park. We were successful but couldn’t move in until after the party occupying it departed, so we returned to the Needles Outpost at around 8:30 a.m. to make coffee and breakfast. We didn’t want to stay near the bathroom because of the odor, so we drove "slowly" on the outer road to the end of the campground and stopped at the last spot, where the sun was about to appear over the rocks. As Tracey had not assigned us a spot, and there were several spots free, we didn’t think we were causing a problem by moving for an hour or so.

    My wife had been in bed in our VW Westfalia, so I had piled most of our stuff around her on the floor and bed. This necessitated unloading so that she could get up and out of the van. Right on the heels of this unloading, Tracey came "stomping" up. She was loaded for bear, and first accused us of not having paid. After hurling abusive language for a time over our having failed to pay and having forced her to chase us the entire length of the campground while we disturbed everyone with the loud "thing" we were driving, she obviously realized that we had checked in the night before. At that point she changed the direction of her attack and demanded that we move immediately back to our original spot "NOW." She wouldn’t have us "trashing" another spot.

    She treated me like a dog, ordering me about, haranguing and insulting me, and calling me a liar as I packed the car, which was done much too slowly for her liking. At one point she grabbed a cooler and thrust it angrily into the back of the van. I finally got fed up and responded with a couple of angry comments of my own, including one about the smell from the bathroom. At that point, she evicted us from the campground for all time. She has no need to worry about suffering through our return.

    I’m nearly 64 years old. I’ve traveled in many places in the world and through every state in the U.S., and I’ve never encountered such rude, clearly unbalanced and bizarre behavior in a host. Beware!
    Last edited by finnegan; 10-06-2010 at 03:41 PM. Reason: word left out

  18. #17
    I'm sorry I missed this thread before. This place just made my must-do list!

    Mixed reviews, some funny ones at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Park_Utah.html

  19. #18
    Rode Lockhart Basin a few weeks ago on a motorcycle and stopped in to get some gas from the wicked witch of the west. She was in her usual bitchy mood. She didn't want us to come inside in our motocross boots. She brought the cans of coke and snacks to us out at the gas pumps. I would like to know if they own that ground or are on a lease from the Park Service. I talked with a Park Ranger last year at Elephant Hill and I asked him what was the story with them. He was not very talkative about the situation but gave me the impression they were aware of the problem,but it was easier to just have the store available then try to find someone else.

  20. Likes russellben liked this post
  21. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Don View Post
    I'm sorry I missed this thread before. This place just made my must-do list!
    Totally! And seeing as we are heading there next week, we may just have to stop by and yank her chain, which clearly wouldn't be hard (like driving 15 mph on her road ).

    How is it that a batshit crazy drunk gets to run a campground and store in such an amazing place? She doesn't deserve the job. Hey, I'll do it!

    Mixed reviews, some funny ones at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Park_Utah.html
    I love reading TA reviews for nasty places - those were
    Sonya

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  22. #20
    somebody please get some pics or video of their next encounter.

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