2013 Booking up already?

[ryand]

Tried to make reservations at a state park.....Primo Site next to a lake for Memorial Day Weekend. Nope!! Already booked. Plenty more to look at but really how soon do you need to book for the holidays to get a good site? a Year or more?

[Lynkage]

yup

Lake Powell well into 2015.

[Herk7769]

To get a good spot for Gettysburg 150th Anniversary Reenactment I needed to be camping IN that spot 1 year ahead of the event. It took me 4 visits over 2 years to work my way to the spot and be there for the 149th in order to make reservations for the 150th.

You have to do what you have to do; I suppose.

[Dave Lyon]

Wow....Ontario Provincial Parks allows reservarions no greater than 5 months in advance.

2015 - really? That kind of wait is depressing.

[KarenS144]

Many state parks have a 6 month limit. I was on it the minute which was at 10am and not a second before to book sites for mem wknd. I have another date this coming Wed to book a site for June. I already know when I'll need to book for July 4th.

We're planning a trip to Glacier & Yellowstone and while I was able to book Yellowstone (Fishing Bridge's large sites are full, btw), I have to wait to book Glacier & several other places where we want to spend time. I know the earliest dates I can book and have several choices for sites at each place in mind. I hate to have to be so rigid in my schedule but I'd rather KNOW I have a site rather than hope I can get a site.

Even then it's a toss up because someone scheduling for an earlier arrival date has an advantage.

[Triguy]

Yep - fills up pretty quickly here, too.

Wisconsin State Parks are 11 months in advance and some of them fill up immediately. Busiest parks are Peninsula State Park and Devil's Lake SP. Basically, you have to be online or calling the moment things are available if you want electric and its a holiday weekend or any weekend in July and August.

Weekdays (for those of you who are retired), early June and after August generally fill up much slower. Non-electric sites are usually available for a bit longer, too.

One tip is to keep checking back on ReserveAmerica as you get closer to the camping dates you want as, oftentimes, campers who reserved something 10 or 11 months ago change their plans. We get a lot of nice sites like this.

[BigTJohn]

Of course in WI you only have the 3 days of summer to camp. I know, I'm orig from MN. Many years ago, joined the Navy, have not been back since.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by BigTJohn

Of course in WI you only have the 3 days of summer to camp.

You've got that right! Tho, with the mild winters we have nowadays maybe we'll begin to extend our season.

[Old car]

Depends on the reservation window. Last year we knew we were going to Custer State Park in South Dakota over Labor Day weekend. They opened up there reservations on January 2. I was online at midnight to get my reservation in. Not sure how quickly it filled up but I was going to make sure we got in.

[Terier]

Here is California the popular campgrounds fill up in minutes for major holidays. The window for June 2013 opened up at 8:00am on Dec. 1 and at 8:05am all sites for San Clemente SB were booked for last day of June into the 4th of July holiday through ReserveAmerica.

Keep checking as people might cancel reservations closer to the date.

[Linnemj]

I am a planner and try to book my sites when the reservation window opens or as soon as I finalize our plans. Being retired helps but there are always those pesky weekend, when things fill up.

There are numerous threads asking if reservations are necessary. There are always those that reply "Been camping xx years without reservations and have never not been able to camp where I want".

How can they do that????

[Terier]

Originally Posted by Linnemj

I am a planner and try to book my sites when the reservation window opens or as soon as I finalize our plans. Being retired helps but there are always those pesky weekend, when things fill up.

There are numerous threads asking if reservations are necessary. There are always those that reply "Been camping xx years without reservations and have never not been able to camp where I want".

How can they do that????

Timing, location, and a bit of luck. Keeping choices open can help rather than placing all your eggs in one basket. It can help to avoid weekends and actual holidays.

I've able to pick up reservations at last minute due to someone cancelling. I made my 4th of July reservations at anther beach campground and they were nowhere near impacted as San Clemente. I know people that have done a lot of traveling without reservations without any problems & other people having problems getting a reservation during summer alone for a single trip.

[4bnabird]

Made our reservations for Bennett Springs State park for Memorial Day weekend over Thanksgiving weekend. With the 6 month window for Missouri state parks, typically Memorial Day weekend is exactly 6 months from Thanksgiving weekend so it's kinda like tradition in our household. Usually campground 1 gets booked up within a week, last year it was booked within a day!!! This year it was about 8 days. We also make our reservations start on thursday evening to so we can get our pick of sites. I have in the past been able to check for last minute reservations before a big weekend and was able to get in, but it wasnt always the choice of our site. We don't normally plan our trips this far in advance but with it being a big weekend and more popular campground we are definately on it.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

According to the latest statistic that over 8M RV'rs nationwide, we're all trying to acquire the same favorite camping spots during the same dates
Our non-camping family and friends think we're crazy that we have all our camp trips aligned and booked a year in advance for all our popular sites we visit...if they only knew!