camping getting tough

[Newbie Pup Owner]

Ian damage, housing for relief workers, snowbirds trying to come?any campgrounds in Fl are currently overwhelmed, unavailable or expensive. Daytona to St Augustine was also
damaged, only expensive private parks available.

We live on Nature Coast, Crystal River, Campgrounds open and undamaged, good luck if coming here, ours tied down to earth anchors in yard.

It was gamble weather to stay, board up or leave.
Red Coconut in Fort Meyers , and Campground on Sanibel destroyed with no access and bridge washed out.

[PHISHN2]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

For the Alabama state park I visit in winter, I have to book a year in advance and stay up to midnight to log on and get any chance of scoring a site. I’m camped in North Carolina now. The National Forest campground books up pretty solid 6 months in advance. Yes, getting a good campsite is challenging these days. Kinda takes the fun out of it.

State and national park campgrounds should either (a) not accept reservations, resulting in every site being first-come first-served, or (b) charge a huge fee for cancelling a reservation. It is way too easy to cheat these systems. I won't mention their handle but at least one user on this site has professed to booking dozens of camp sites at a handful of campgrounds in Colorado practically every day during camping season, and then cancelling the reservations one by one as the desired camping day nears, to ensure they get their desired spot. Imagine if airlines allowed for this. 75% of aircraft would take off with less than a half load of passengers. It's not only rude, it should come with severe punishment, like losing the ability to ever reserve sites in any of those campgrounds ever again.

Then you have the issue of foreign travel agents (Europe and Asia, primarily) booking thousands of sites across hundreds of park campgrounds every year hoping to sell those bookings to foreign travelers. Last I checked the American people own state and national parks, not some government agency. Governments only manage the parks on behalf of American citizens, not own them. If you aren't an American citizen there is no way you should be able to reserve a camp site at a state or national park campground.

If these park campgrounds enforced a cancellation policy whereby you lose half or more of your reservation fee that would put an end to both of these practices. Another option would be to leave 25-50% of all park campground sites as first-come first-served only.

Private RV parks/campgrounds ... sure, reserve all you want. Most of them charge hefty cancellation fees anyway. At least the good ones do.

I know what you're going to say, so don't bother. We don't all have so much free time on our hands that we can sit in front of a computer at midnight every night booking sites a year in advance. We don't all plan trips a year in advance, either. Not everyone with a TT or RV is retired.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by TowPro

think what its like to Live in Florida. I could not get a campsite even for a weekend short of 6 months advance reservations but I work full time and its hard to plan that far in advance. My answer was to give up the RV, to be reconsidered after we retire.

What part of FL and what time of year?

We had friends visit FL a few weeks before Ian and they were able to get into Fort Wilderness, (Disney) and campgrounds near Crescent City and and St. Augustine within a week of departing.

I'm sure with the destruction, things will be much tougher in FL in the coming months as many snowbirds will be displaced not having a place to go that they may have had booked months ago.

[TowPro]

I live south of The Villages. Disney is nice, but its expensive. And yes if your just looking for a place to park your going to find something, but we were trying to get to the beach. We did have reservations that same week the company sent 7000 people home to work (I work in IT), so that got canceled. We did manage to find a week at Boyds key west (stock island) in 2021 but dealer made us an offer we could not refuse so we got out of RV'ing for a while.



For now our camper has Royal Caribbean painted on the side. we can go on a pretty nice 7 day cruise every other month for what payments would be on the average RV. Add in the cost of USING an RV and we can go on a cruse every month and spend the same money. of course being 1.5 hours from either Cape Canaveral or Tampa ports saves on airfare.

[sherman12]

PHISHN2, good post.

[D W]

Originally Posted by PHISHN2

State and national park campgrounds should either (a) not accept reservations, resulting in every site being first-come first-served, or (b) charge a huge fee for cancelling a reservation. It is way too easy to cheat these systems. I won't mention their handle but at least one user on this site has professed to booking dozens of camp sites at a handful of campgrounds in Colorado practically every day during camping season, and then cancelling the reservations one by one as the desired camping day nears, to ensure they get their desired spot. Imagine if airlines allowed for this. 75% of aircraft would take off with less than a half load of passengers. It's not only rude, it should come with severe punishment, like losing the ability to ever reserve sites in any of those campgrounds ever again....................

This is exactly the reason why the State of Alaska has made 98% of the parks first come-first serve. No reservations. There are a few State Parks that take reservations, but they are run by independent contractors of the State. Cancellations in those parks carry a pro-rated fee that increases the closer you get to the reservation date. The minimum charge is half of the fee. A cancellation <48 hrs prior to arrival you forfeit your site and your money.

[TowPro]

the first come first serve is tough. I can't take a week off from work and drive 11 hours into an area where you don't even know if you will find a place to park.


I also think the state and federal parks needs to keep up with the times and charge going rates, or at least enough to support what it cost the GOV to run the place PLUS future upgrade money.


And just like some states do for fishing and hunting licenses, charge the out of state guest exactly what their state would charge for an out of state guest.

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by TowPro

the first come first serve is tough. I can't take a week off from work and drive 11 hours into an area where you don't even know if you will find a place to park.


I also think the state and federal parks needs to keep up with the times and charge going rates, or at least enough to support what it cost the GOV to run the place PLUS future upgrade money.


And just like some states do for fishing and hunting licenses, charge the out of state guest exactly what their state would charge for an out of state guest.

I’m good with them keeping all the money if you cancel 2 weeks before your scheduled trip. This will cut down on people booking all the sites and canceling if it’s a rainy weekend.
I do have a problem with the out of state fee. Imagine getting a fee when flying over a state, that will be next🤣.

[TowPro]

here is the problem in Outer banks.
Commercial places are between $100 and pushing $200. full hookup.
and some of the nicer places don't even offer the better sides unless you book 3 or more nights.

Oregon inlet national campground $35 for water/electric (you can dump sewer across the street)
reservations 6 months in advance (first week of april 2023 is already booked)
you can stay 14 days
and I think you can have 2 reservations on books. (or use spouse name?)

As an example, I can book July 1 through 15 (leave date 15am)
and have a 2nd reservation (in same or a different site for July 15-30.
28 days x $35.00 $980.

Commercial campground cost $980 which will only get you 5-6 nights.


So the locals (within a couple hour drive) books this federal site for 28 days (4 weekends plus some)
Sets up camper on site, and goes home during the week, locking out every else.

There needs to be a rule that camper must be occupied (with emergency allowed). I think Thousand Trails has that rule


This was not a problem until they added electric.

[cboss]

Originally Posted by TowPro

As an example, I can book July 1 through 15 (leave date 15am)
and have a 2nd reservation (in same or a different site for July 15-30.
28 days x $35.00 $980.

Actually you can only have 14 days in a 30 day period from 30 May - 5 Sep, so you cannot have two back to back reservations. Most all the Federal CGs are like this. Some CGs this rule applies all year.

Also you can only have 99 consecutive days other months of the year.

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/c...51431?tab=fees

[D W]

14 days is the rule for AK State Parks year round. On Federal Lands 14 days is also the max stay. After that you either go home or relocate at least 30 miles away from you previous campsite.

[ppine]

Camping is easy if you go to the less well known spots.
Go in the off season.
Go on a week day.

I don't use my trailer much in the summer, but I sure like from fall through spring.

[Martsing]

Originally Posted by D W

We stopped venturing outside (to the lower 48), over six years ago, but I remember when the 9 month window for WA State Park reservations opened, you'd better be on it, and this was long before COVID. We have friends in WA State and they tell us it is still the same way today. Nothing has subsided. The private parks thrive because folks can't get into the state parks. This is the new norm.

State and National Parks are always different. The popular ones have always been tough. I was specifically talking about private campgrounds and their daily costs/add-ons.

Marty

[Sharon455]

Originally Posted by ppine

Camping is easy if you go to the less well known spots.
Go in the off season.
Go on a week day.

I don't use my trailer much in the summer, but I sure like from fall through spring.

I’m in Arizona. I would love to use our MH more frequently, but it’s too hot in the summer and snowbirds have played the overbooking game from late fall into Spring. Like so many others we choose not to sit at computer at midnight 6 months in advance.

[PHISHN2]

Originally Posted by cboss

Actually you can only have 14 days in a 30 day period from 30 May - 5 Sep, so you cannot have two back to back reservations. Most all the Federal CGs are like this. Some CGs this rule applies all year.

Also you can only have 99 consecutive days other months of the year.

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/c...51431?tab=fees

How do they police that? As in, how do they know that two separate reservations from two separate credit cards, phone numbers and email addresses, are the same equipment? This is part of why I said it is easy to cheat the systems. Aside from DNA there is no way to identify people. About the only thing they can do is require license plate info and limit the person showing up to claim the reservation to that exact license plate, and only that exact license plate. Changed plates or vehicles between the time you made the reservation and the day you show up? That's on you to notify them of the change. If you show up with a different plate, regardless of vehicle, sorry bud, you lost your money and reservation.

[TitanMike]

In my case, along with many others, I use my Americat the Beautiful lifetime senior pass to get a duscount at Forest Service and other federal sites.

I have ti give the number of the pass that can easily track how many days and where I camp.

There will always be people trying to game the system and those who go along with the rules with no issue. Count me among the latter.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Forest River Forums mobile app

[cboss]

^^^2^^^
I could not agree more. We love the Federal CGs has we do get a discount.
But I will not "cheat" the system.
As Recreation.gov gets smarter (and it will) Cheaters Beware!

[Sharon455]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

In my case, along with many others, I use my Americat the Beautiful lifetime senior pass to get a duscount at Forest Service and other federal sites.

I have ti give the number of the pass that can easily track how many days and where I camp.

There will always be people trying to game the system and those who go along with the rules with no issue. Count me among the latter.

We don’t game the system either, but since we each have an America the Beautiful pass we could easily make separate reservations back-to-back. I remember people talking about it a few years ago.

[Nick Danger]

Don't hate the players, hate the game!

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by Nick Danger

Don't hate the players, hate the game!

Remove the players, game over.