Camp scholler mud

Hello All, I absolutley love coming to AirVenture every year (since 2006 for me), However it seems that EAA needs to do something about the mud and low spots in the campground. 2 years in a row for me and it is at best ugly,I know they spent a lot of time to improve the drainage from sloshkosh 2010 but more drainage improvements are required. Roads that get that muddy can be and should be fixed. We generally stay on the 40 series roads which are not as bad as some others. I believe they could grade out and pack down the muddy areas, then put some gravel or crush and run and some basic drain field piping for improved drainage on the entrance areas of the roads that seem to be the worse. Now what does it cost? If necessary I would not be opossed to EAA doing a onetime member ship (who use the facility) camp improvement charge of 5-10 dollars to improve the campground, if it used for the camping grounds only. As for a previous thread about electric/water camp sites it is my opinion they could make some provisions for electricity say every 2-3 campsites get electric hook ups. As campers and EAA memebers, We would have to go back to basics and be able to share the 3-4 30amp hookups on each electric pole. Water would be tough and think most could live with out water hook ups as we and others have for years. I would be willing to pay a small additional fee for electricity only just to keep from tugging and fueling the generators. I like the idea of improved campsites that include full hook ups but it seems that those are only available for the vendors. EAA should charge a standard campsite rate for full hook ups. As for availability of those spots, at check-in they were asking if I wanted one of those spots as of Saturday the 23rd, where they were I have no idea. However driving around we did see some spots that were open and unused in the upper 40s, I dont know if they were available for general membership which they should be before vendors in my opinion. What say you?

MNWORD

I'm still washing it out of my wheel wells.
Are those grounds used as farmland at all? Might make putting gravel down a problem.

Camp Scholler is either feast or famine. It's either wet and muddy or dry and dusty. If I had my druthers, I prefer the mud over the dust.

Seemed some areas suffered more than others. Great effort by those John Deere and Bobcat drivers to keep everyone moving.
There will be a lot of repair work during the year. No doubt improvments will be made where they can.

It would be a big not-too-expensive improvement in Scholler if the EAA would simply extend the graveled/rocked portions of Lindbergh, Elm, and Cottonwood the remaining distance out to 1st street. Being able to get vehicles on a harder surface earlier would do a lot to reduce the amount of mud and damage that part of the grounds has experienced in the past few years.

Improving Lindbergh, Elm and Cottonwood on the western ends would also make servicing the port-a-johns along them in that area easier. When it gets muddy they go several days without being serviced, which is not nice and not healthy.

I was also under the impression that all of the east/ west streets were tarmac, but that stops at elm. The streets seemed to be most torn up at the ends, where traffic has to stop and get going again in the mud, rather just driving straight through. I just gave up on Wednesday after the morning rain, and confined my compact to the campground until after the mud dried some. That was the one good thing about the 60mph winds on Saturday, dried the mud right up.

We camped in the 101 Woods area east of Stitts St. When it got muddy the Bobcat came through and dropped some gravel to fill in the deepest mud holes. Within a day the gravel was all gone, smashed deep into the mud. The Airventure maintenance people are great though and more than willing to quickly pull vehicles out of the mud. My 4WD Dodge got pulled out last year. To me it's a minor inconvenience.

Sounds to me like someone needs to replace all the clay field tile that was put in back in the depression & is probably plugged full of crap.

Well I can't say from Oshkosh experience, but have seen other situations where there are large amounts of vehicle traffic on what amounts to bare dirt or sod. For lack of a better term, the ground will "loosen up" - you will literally see the dry ground roll like a wave under tires. Get the smallest amount of moisture, and its a instant mud hole!

I have to agree on the mud. The problem is that I sure don't mind camping in those conditions. My wife and daughter - not so much :)
It can be a turn-off to families that come if you are slogging around in the mud all the time. Some better drainage could do the trick. Seems like some areas were better than others. Unfortunately we stayed in a swamp two years in a row.... :rollseyes:
Maybe figure out which areas are typically good after a good rain and mimic the drainage control/grading in other areas. It's getting big enough that semi-paved road system may be a good option.


But it was fun! I am hoping that EAA continues to improve the campsites each year! It was better this year than last so I can't wait to see what they do next year. Wish I could volunteer to help improve the site - but I am 1200 miles away ! Keep up the good work!

At the closing press briefing on Sun 8/1, Rod stated that the mud / dust issue was a high priority for site improvements. I don't know anything specific though.

My travelling companion and I got our rented RV stuck in the mud one evening. Many thanks to the maintenance guy that came and pulled us out with his tractor.

This was my first trip to Oshkosh, and it was a blast. Yes, the mud was a bit frustrating, but wasn't enough to stop me making plans to return! ;)