Diagonal trailer parking etiquette

What’s the etiquette on the diagonal trailer parking down at the Wabasha Izaak Walton park ramps ? Saw a lot of double parked cars , trailers parked with no boats . Saw a pleasure boater heckle an old lady about double parking one with two cars . Was quite the chaos as trailers and trucks were parked all over the streets outside of it .

Personally I wouldn’t dare do it but I also wouldn’t heckle anyone doing it , not the confrontational type – but just curious what IDO says .

Also reminded me why to never launch on a holiday weekend past 10:30 am ever again .

I can’t comment on the specific location indicated, but the accesses I normally use have both parking for rigs with trailers and standard parking. Standard autos cannot park in the long spaces with trailers and vice versa. There are signs indicating this.

I’ve seen parking tickets on people’s vehicles who do not abide by this. If there aren’t any signs, it’s probably more of a free for all.

I don’t believe there are any dedicated car parking spots at Izaak Walton.

There is no dedicated car parking and no signage. They also just added in 3 more long docks for rent for boat parking with no add car parking. It’s only going to get worse.

That ramps always that big of headache ? Seemed insane to me . Even for a holiday weekend .

Go early and come in early. When u get fishing and boaters at same time can get busy.

pass0047 wrote:

There is no dedicated car parking and no signage. They also just added in 3 more long docks for rent for boat parking with no add car parking. It’s only going to get worse.

The additional docks are definitely an issue in there. They’ve added maybe 30-40 more rental spots in a relatively short span. The large tritoons occupying them most weekends probably account for a minimum of 2 vehicles that need parking, maybe 3.

Adding docks seems like easy money…and it is when no consideration is given to additional parking. They also do not restrict parking at the end of blocks or near intersections on the main road, making visibility a nightmare.

isu22andy wrote:

That ramps always that big of headache ? Seemed insane to me . Even for a holiday weekend .

Depending on your boat type and intentions, there are easier accesses to use that have fewer crowds and closer parking for the lower half of Pool 4.

As for the diagonal parking etiquette in trailer areas, parking there with regular vehicles is a dumb move. It leads to longer waits for everyone when the people launching and loading have to park further away on the main roads with the trailer. People coming in separate vehicles should park out on the road for this particular launch when it’s busy. The issue comes when people driving regular vehicles show up at 8am and the lot isn’t filled, they probably don’t know better and just park in random open spots that are meant for trailers and would be filled in the coming hours

I think most people are generally ignorant to it. We see the same thing at hidden falls in the summer. There is some dedicated car parking but more trailer spots so they fill up with cars.

No signage so it’s hard to fault the cars without trailers. I spoke to the city of St. Paul about it when they were asking for comments on the park upgrade. Their concern for boaters didn’t seem to be very high…