Recreation.gov / Reserve America

[Slow Moon]

Seems to me that many of the complaints here are about things probably not within RA’s control. I suspect that “information on site sizes” are provided by the park jurisdiction, not RA. Also, reservation policies that allow “tying up long term blocks of rentals with very little consequences for cancellations for those week ends they don’t use” are almost certainly set by park jurisdictions, not by RA.

Also, I’d like to again suggest that comments are more useful if they reveal the park jurisdiction.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by Slow Moon

Seems to me that many of the complaints here are about things probably not within RA’s control. I suspect that “information on site sizes” are provided by the park jurisdiction, not RA. Also, reservation policies that allosw “tying up long term blocks of rentals with very little consequences for cancellations for those week ends they don’t use” are almost certainly set by park jurisdictions, not by RA.

Also, I’d like to again suggest that comments are more useful if they reveal the park jurisdiction.

I agree with you and I am pretty sure the FL State Park System is in control of their parks, not RA. All my experiences with RA/FSP have been quite positive, not that I’ve been able to get my first requests but I understand why if I don’t. I don’t blame RA who does a remarkable job of handling most all the reservations across the entire country!

Our problems as campers are we don’t always have a lot (if any) flexibility in the dates we want or the lot sizes, etc. we need. So we blame RA when it isn’t their problem. There a lot more of us these days and there are only so many sites - be patient and do your homework ahead of time when using RA!

[Grunter13]

All complaints and positive remarks have their place but to be able to reserve every week end during the peak season with little consequences is still a major point of contention. It unfairly ties up campsites that could be booked for longer stays. Fortunate for in state residents but unfortunate for out of state campers that travel many hours to stay for up to 14 days.

[LisaLeighG]

We go to one of the campgrounds on regular basis. Just last time we made reservations, we noticed it “tied up” the site for a day, just by making the inquiry. My friend would check on a specific site, would then check another. We were not able to reserve one that she had checked, until the next day.

[RacerRalph]

Originally Posted by RitaB

i just ran into that same pattern. In fact the campground I wanted was listed as walk up past the date the site stated. I kept checking ever day. Then one day I couldn't check until afternoon and found all the reservable sites taken. I got an idea and changed my dates not to include the weekend and guess what most of those sites opened up. Changed my plans and got a site for 5 days. Seems a lot of people plan they whole weekend camping and schedule every weekend as soon as they can. At $15 a night it was worth it to them and it was a national park so it cost me $7.50 a night with my senior pass and no entrance fee.

$7.50 to reserve and $10.00 to cancel, not much incentive there to cancel.

[TNCVOL]

Spending 2.5 weeks in a 30 ft. Cruise America rental out of Salt Lake City in Sept. (after Labor Day). Planning on touring southern Utah and hitting national/state parks. Do I need to reserve campsites at various locations? Do they usually accommodate a 30ft camper? And can I drive the camper to the national parks and take day hikes or do they have size limitations? Which campgrounds do you recommend to stay at...and to avoid?

[Reverse_snowbird]

Reservations are recommended at state and national parks, but usually they have some first come/ first served sites. Crowds do thin after Labor Day, but don't disappear. A 30 ft rig is often the limit at some parks. Try www.recreation.gov for reservations and info for national sites.

You can drive the rig into the national parks for day hikes. However, parking at trailheads can be limited.

I'd suggest visiting the individual national parks websites and usually there is a link in the upper right hand corner to 'Plan your visit'. Lots of good information.

State parks information for Idaho is here: https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by TNCVOL

Spending 2.5 weeks in a 30 ft. Cruise America rental out of Salt Lake City in Sept. (after Labor Day). Planning on touring southern Utah and hitting national/state parks. Do I need to reserve campsites at various locations? Do they usually accommodate a 30ft camper? And can I drive the camper to the national parks and take day hikes or do they have size limitations? Which campgrounds do you recommend to stay at...and to avoid?

If you're planning your trip ahead of time and know where you want to stay I would definitely check out the campgrounds you're headed to. I really don't know if Reserve America handles all national and state parks but if those are your destinations it's worth the time to try RA and book if possible. After Labor Day will give you more opportunities as most schools are back in session by then, but weekends may still be problematic so I'd get to it as soon as you know your itinerary.

As far as the 30ft unit, I doubt you would find any campground that couldn't handle that size unit - maybe not on every site but there should be sites for a 30 footer at most campgrounds.

Good luck! Enjoy your travels.

[Linnemj]

We visited the five major national parks in Utah last September. You definitely need reservations if you want to stay inside the park. The reservation window opens 6 months out from day of arrival so they may be fully reserved. There are cancellations quite often so you may still be able to get a site with constant checking back online.

We have a 30’ travel trailer and most places had multiple sites to accommodate us. Zion was the most difficult to reserve. The good news is if you stay in Zion and Bryce Canyon they both have an excellent shuttle system to get you to hiking trails. The other parks have various size parking lots at trailheads. The problem is that people park cars in the spots saved for RVs. If you arrive early at trailheads, like 7 AM you should be fine.

For the Moab, Utah area check out Dead Horse Point State Park.

Best of luck, it is a great area to visit!

[ADOR]

I just came back from a 4 day camping at Zion National Park. We left yesterday 07/03. When I was making the reservation, everything was showing up as booked/reserved. I checked everyday, at least 5-6 times a day. Finally, something came up available for the days we wanted to go camping. When we got there, there were several sites that were unoccupied for a day or two. However, there were also fast turn around on some sites, where people only stayed for 1 night. I guess the .gov reservation website is not being updated as frequent as they should.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by ADOR

I just came back from a 4 day camping at Zion National Park. We left yesterday 07/03. When I was making the reservation, everything was showing up as booked/reserved. I checked everyday, at least 5-6 times a day. Finally, something came up available for the days we wanted to go camping. When we got there, there were several sites that were unoccupied for a day or two. However, there were also fast turn around on some sites, where people only stayed for 1 night. I guess the .gov reservation website is not being updated as frequent as they should.

Glad you were able to get the reservations you wanted. Obviously, your diligence paid off. When you consider all the National and State park reservations Reserve America handles, it's pretty amazing they do the job they do. When campers just don't show up the campgrounds usually keep the site open in case they do and in other cases, campers cancel at the very last minute. In both of these cases, RA has little chance to put that change in their date base, in time for campers looking at the last minute for a site. And of course, all of the reservations RA handles are done electronically and probably a human isn't involved. So I think we have to give RA credit for the great job they do. Like you, campers have to be more diligent in checking often, even every hour (or more often), as reservations change at the last minute.

[DanMistyMiler]

Originally Posted by bobsteele

I had a very frustrating go around with Reserve America this morning trying to book Topsail Hill state park campsite in Florida. The 11 month window opened this morning at 8 a.m. for the dates we wanted and I tried to get one of the sites that showed available, but as soon as I pressed "Book these dates" button it immediately showed that it was already reserved. I repeated this three more times with other sites that showed available and with the same result - it said available but when I tried to book it said not available. I finally tried one more site and the reservation went through. The only thing that makes any sense is that in the first 5 minutes of booking availability for this date there were a lot of people trying to do the same thing so that someone else got the first four sites milliseconds before I pressed the button. Very frustrating

My experience with ReserveAmerica on making reservations, at least for Indiana State Parks, has some key requirements.

1. Your reservation can not be more than 6 months in advance.
2. Reserve America seems to use calendar dates to determine 6 months in advance, not days.
3. Consecutive camping days must still be made 6 months in advance.

Example. To make a reservation for the weekend of April 26, 2019 it must be made no earlier than October 26, 2018 at 12:00:01 a.m. A reservation can not be made for April 27, 2019 at that time and ReserveAmerica will show the site as unavailable (because it is not 6 months out). To reserve for April 27, 2019 you must make that reservation on October 27, 2018 at 12:00:01 a.m. On holiday weekends or busy times that fill up quickly, you have to make multiple reservations for the weekend/week. During time that are not busy, you just simply wait until all the days are reservable. In this case, you would wait until October 27, 2018 to make the reservation for April 26 and 27.

This is just my experience with ReserveAmerica for State Parks in Indiana.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by DanMistyMiller

My experience with ReserveAmerica on making reservations, at least for Indiana State Parks, has some key requirements.

1. Your reservation can not be more than 6 months in advance.
2. Reserve America seems to use calendar dates to determine 6 months in advance, not days.
3. Consecutive camping days must still be made 6 months in advance.

Example. To make a reservation for the weekend of April 26, 2019 it must be made no earlier than October 26, 2018 at 12:00:01 a.m. A reservation can not be made for April 27, 2019 at that time and ReserveAmerica will show the site as unavailable (because it is not 6 months out). To reserve for April 27, 2019 you must make that reservation on October 27, 2018 at 12:00:01 a.m. On holiday weekends or busy times that fill up quickly, you have to make multiple reservations for the weekend/week. During time that are not busy, you just simply wait until all the days are reservable. In this case, you would wait until October 27, 2018 to make the reservation for April 26 and 27.

This is just my experience with ReserveAmerica for State Parks in Indiana.

For Florida, it's 11 months. NY State, 9 months. So it's entirely up to the state to set their own "window." And yes "milliseconds" do make a difference. For NY State we had to get on the RA site at 12:00 AM plus a second or two after to have any kind of a chance to get a cabin rental at the Wellesley Island State Park. That reflects the demand for that type of rental in that park. Often I couldn't get the exact cabin I wanted and had to take my second or third choice. Other times I was shut out of the dates I wanted entirely because someone had booked into my date range. That's the way it goes! And it's not RA's problem!!

[babock]

Originally Posted by DanMistyMiller

In this case, you would wait until October 27, 2018 to make the reservation for April 26 and 27.

That's not what we have found at least for CA and Utah parks and National Parks. On October 26th, you could make reservations for April 26th and 27th.

[dbarr]

Henderson Beach State Park site 54 just opened for aug. 4-10.
Truck is still in the shop. Sucks!

[dbarr]

Originally Posted by dbarr

Henderson Beach State Park site 54 just opened for aug. 4-10.
Truck is still in the shop. Sucks!

Gone by 8:00 this morning!

[OscarsMom2]

I’ve been trying to get reservations at Harris Beach State Park, Oregon, for 2 nights now. I push the Book It button at 12:01am and every time, there is an error message and it is reserved by someone else.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by OscarsMom2

I’ve been trying to get reservations at Harris Beach State Park, Oregon, for 2 nights now. I push the Book It button at 12:01am and every time, there is an error message and it is reserved by someone else.

Is the reservation site’s clock in a different time zone?

[OscarsMom2]

No, we’re in the same time zone. When I clicked on Book Site, at exactly 12:00am, I got an error message that said, I couldn’t book until 12:01 am, so I waited until 12:01 and lost it. I saw that another post said the reservations open at 12:00:01. There is a difference in 1 second versus 1 minute, so I’ll try that tonight.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by OscarsMom2

No, we’re in the same time zone. When I clicked on Book Site, at exactly 12:00am, I got an error message that said, I couldn’t book until 12:01 am, so I waited until 12:01 and lost it. I saw that another post said the reservations open at 12:00:01. There is a difference in 1 second versus 1 minute, so I’ll try that tonight.

I found this old article about making reservations for the prior eclipse in 2017. Read down toward the bottom of the article and you will see 12:01AM?

Also, have you got 2 computers? Fire them both up and be ready. Fire one at 12:00:01 and if error fire the 2nd at 12:01:01....

https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/Pages/ne...ervations.aspx