Randy and Lisa Chambers marked their spot early at the Clinton Lake campgrounds, coming in Thursday night from Topeka in hopes of beating the Labor Day weekend crowd to the best camping sites.

“I was pretty surprised when we got here, because a lot of the best spots had already been taken, even on Thursday,” Lisa Chambers said. “We usually try to avoid Labor Day weekends because they are so busy, but since we have a camper now, we thought we’d come and weather the crowd.”

Indeed, when the Chambers returned to the site Friday with their sons Trae, 12, and Colby, 3, Clinton Lake’s campgrounds were bustling with campers, trucks, trailers, tents and boats.

Labor Day, the traditional end of the summer season, brings large crowds to campgrounds, lakes and public pools every year, which means congested roads and waterways.

Jim Hanni, a spokesman for AAA, said 34 million Americans would take to the highways this Labor Day weekend.

“We had thought that the gas prices might have an impact on travel this year,” Hanni said. “But that doesn’t appear to have kept people from getting out and going.”

As with the other major summer holidays, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, Labor Day traffic often means elevated accident rates. Hanni said travelers could take simple precautions to decrease their risk of getting into an accident.

“You want to make sure you are well-rested before you travel,” Hanni said. “And it’s good to get out a little earlier in the day. The busiest time on the roads will be late afternoon on Monday, and you want to try to avoid that.”

Jerry Schecher, Clinton Lake park manager, said that while Labor Day was the least busy of the summer holidays at the park, he expected boat traffic to be heavy all weekend.

“With all the recent rain that we’ve had, it’s kind of kept people off the lake,” Schecher said. “So with the nice weather we’ve got predicted for this weekend, it’s going to be a busy one.”

Schecher said that the recent rains and elevated water levels had caused a considerable amount of debris to collect on the lake, and encouraged boaters to exercise extra caution when out on the water.