Lava Flow Campground — Craters of the Moon National Monument
Reviewed May. 5, 2021

Good Campground

First of all, Lava Campground is a wonderful campground. It is clean and well kept. The owners have worked hard over the past three years to develop a campground that is beautiful, warm, and inviting. With that being said, if you are a potential Campground Host, do not unpack your bags. You will not have the loyalty and trust from the owners that you would hope for. There are always two sides to every story, and this is ours. We had been Campground Hosts for not even a week when we had an interchange with a guest who was walking his rather large Pit Bull off-leash. As he came by our site, I politely told him“just so you know, dogs need to be on-leash in the campground.” He rather curtly said“He is on leash” and pointed to his mouth. I started to say something, and he cut me off with a rather nasty“What are you? The campground gendarme?” I let the owners know of the situation and apologized for not having said just the right thing and obviously putting him on the defensive. They explained that sometimes there are guests that might not be very agreeable. Two days later one of the owners came by and told us“they had to think of their business first” and summarily fired us. Apparently, the disgruntled guest called to complain and said he would not return if we were still at the campground. He threatened to write a bad review and cancel his reservations for the summer. Understandably, the owners were concerned about the reputation of their beloved campground but, all of a sudden, we were the“bad guys” with no credibility. The owners chose to believe the guest(we still do not know what he said to them) rather than trust us and give us the benefit of the doubt. We were hurt, humiliated, and devastated. We were looking forward to spending the summer and were acclimating to our duties and responsibilities. To be fair to them, there may have been a few other issues that needed to be worked out as we worked to be more fully aware of our responsibilities to the campground and the guests. Of course, in hindsight, we probably could have been more gracious in explaining to the guest the reason for the leash policy. But he did not give us the chance. And neither did the owners. We regret what happened but feel blind-sided and, once again, humiliated.

Month of VisitMay