Security a river accesses? Safe to leave car overnight?

[Conor]

Several of my friends are talking about doing an overnight or multi-day trip on the Bourbuese.  It seems that some questionable folks hang out at some of the accesses and I would be worried about coming back to finding my car broken into or stripped for scrap metal.  I was thinking about seeing how far Devil's Back would shuttle and not have to worry about leaving a car at an access.

You see lots of strange people hanging out at many of the accesses.  I have come upon people living at at least two and it seems Union has an established homeless settlement.  The solution there is to park over by the Dickey Bub in a lighted area in sight of the highway.  I have seen people just sitting in cars at Mayers and Uhlemeyer.  There was a completely stripped hulk of an old pickup at Rieker Ford one time I was using the access.

Has anyone had any issues such as car break ins or converter theft?  Should I be worried or not?  I figure it is probably best to have a friend move cars or pay Devil's Back to do the work so the cars are in a secure location.

Conor

[Greasy B]

Yep, yep and yep. Watch for the weirdo’s with the bananas on their dashboards. 
when I worked in north STL I knew better than to leave pocket change on my console, same rules apply in rural Missouri. 

[fishinwrench]

I don't worry much about having my vehicle vandalized at a river access, or anywhere else.  That's what we pay insurance premiums for !  

Besides, the odds are greater being involved in an active shooter situation at the bank, or at a gas station.  

What good is freedom if you're afraid to do what you wanna do ? 

[Greasy B]

It’s like Gavin said in an other thread, don’t worry too much, just live your life. I still shop at Piekutowski’s and eat at Crown Candy, I still park my truck where I want to fish. 

[bfishn]

Whether intentional or of necessity, driving an old pos truck to the river is the key to avoiding incidents. Can't steal a converter that ain't there... give the impression that you might be the one they should worry about. Budweiser bumper sticker and a Cool Hand Luke hula girl bobbing on the dash.

[bfishn]

15 minutes ago, bfishn said:

Whether intentional or of necessity, driving an old pos truck to the river is the key to avoiding incidents. Can't steal a converter that ain't there... give the impression that you might be the one they should worry about. Budweiser bumper sticker and a Cool Hand Luke hula girl bobbing on the dash.

For context, this is from a guy that actually lived in a van down by the river once...

[Conor]

I usually take a really old POS truck to the river for this reason.  The converters are still there but I would straight pipe it if they were stolen.

I don't worry too much during the day but I have seen some real tweakers out there as the sun goes down.  I guess Union and the surrounding Franklin County have some rough spots.  I would rather pay some money than have my truck trashed.

What is the banana on the dashboard?  I looked that up on some slang pages and couldn't find reference to this.

On a side note, some Facebook scammer started trying to phish me over a kayak I had for sale.  They wanted to know where I lived and who I used for internet service.  I told them I was homeless and lived in a van down by the river and used the WIFI from a nearby fast food place.  They blocked me at that time.

Conor

[Gavin]

I’ve rarely had a problem. Get a locking gas cap and if there’s a bunch of homeless addicts camped at the access consider going someplace else, depending on how much traffic it gets. Leave nothing of value in your vehicle. I stand a better chance of getting my truck broken into/stolen in my driveway here in Webster Groves. I catch the crews checking my truck door handle on my camera’s a couple times a year.

[Conor]

The main place with an established homeless camp is the Union Access near the Dickey Bub.  Park over by the Dickey Bub in plain view and not at the boat ramp.  Walk up to your car and drive it down at the end.

[Gavin]

You really don’t want to waste your time at the Union Access. It’s usually much better upstream. I  used to have a private access near Union at Goode’s Mill dam, fishing can be good there at times but it’s private. Walleye, Big Spotted Bass, wipers mostly. Friend’s Mom died, he died, it got sold. MDC map says Guth’s Mill but it’s Goode’s. Uhlmeyer is a gay cruise spot. They won’t steal your stuff, but might toss your salad.