with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Smoke Free Camping

I’ve seen quite a few posts on RV and camping forums asking about smoke free camping. Most of these people get laughed off the forum as the participants respond with “NO WAY” and “NOT A CHANCE”. Not true.

If you are looking for smoke free travel, lodging and smoke free camping, there are plenty of places. In my research, I found a lot of campgrounds and resorts in Europe are now totally smoke free or feature only a limited area for smoking. There is also a growing trend in the United States for smoke free or controlled smoking areas in campgrounds and resorts.

Not only that, more and more international lodging and camping facilities are also going smoke-free, including Westin Hotels.

The new year will ring in the USA’s first smoke-free major hotel chain. Westin Hotels and Resorts will announce today that it is snuffing out smoking in all rooms, restaurants, bars and public areas at its 77 U.S., Canadian and Caribbean properties starting in January. Guests may smoke only on balconies or in other outdoor areas.

The policy reflects “a demand from guests for a smoke-free hotel experience,” says Sue Brush, Westin senior vice president. “Nobody likes to walk into a smoky guest room — not even smokers.” Westin research shows that 92% of its guests request a non-smoking room.

An example of the growing trend in smoke free camping includes campgrounds in Utah. On the Tooele County Health Department, Utah, website, they have a list of Smoke Free Parks in the area.

Twenty seven of the 50 states in the U. S. have communities with outdoor tobacco smoke free ordinances at parks, zoos, youth sports, trails, and also beaches. Did you know that cigarette buttts are the most littered item in the world? Against popular belief, butts DO NOT decompose. It takes decades for one butt to decompose. They are no longer made by cotton, as in the past. In fact, butts are made from cellulose acetate, which is a plastic. They are highly toxic and dangerous to children and animals when they eat them.

Tooele County Health District (TCHD) is one of the ten health districts in Utah who are working to make parks in our county smoke free. TCHD’s survey results indicate many Tooele Residents would support smoke free parks.

The World Health Organization offers a world map of anti-smoking legislation around the world, giving you more information on which areas are worth traveling to that will mostly likely have no smoking facilities, lodging, restaurants, and shops.

If you are looking for smoke free camping and lodging, here is a list that will help you get started. If you know of any smoke free campgrounds or lodging, please leave the information in the comments below so I can expand this list.

Let me clarify, a smoke free campground or lodging must provide a protected and enforced no smoking area in and around the camping or lodging areas. Many campgrounds and resorts offer cabins with no smoking permitted inside, but encourages smokers to smoke outside. If this applies, please make a note of it as non-smokers can be impacted by their neighbors hanging around outside their cabins smoking. If the campground is totally smoke free, or if they offer a no smoking section, please let me know. Thanks.

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