Spring/Summer Camping Reservations

[RangeMaggotBob]

Finally was able to make some camping reservations for this year. Kinda thought we were gonna be stuck home, but got lucky and found a few cancellations.

4/1 13nts @ Lakeview, AR on Bull Shoals Lake
4/25 5nts @ Bull Shoals/White River State Park in AR
4/30 5nts @ Bull Shoals/WR AR
5/20 6nts @ Lakeview AR
6/4 5nts @ Quarry Park at Norfork Lake in AR
9/17 8nts @ BS/WR in AR
42 total nights. Jeez- I thought we weren't going to find anything.

We are just camping local again this year. Not to get political, but the way things are, we can't afford to go anywhere else. But we are lucky. We have lots to do and see just around home...

[Nick Danger]

Have to reserve our 2024 spots this March or we'll be without.

[jbflag21ds]

Originally Posted by Nick Danger

Have to reserve our 2024 spots this March or we'll be without.

Sounds like you are wanting to camp at the really popular (aka crowded) places.

[Nick Danger]

Normandy Farms in Foxboro, MA. Very popular. Every time I go, every spot is occupied. Awesome place and my wife loves it.

[GolfingDave]

You are all scaring me. Reservations??

Only been at this since the first week of November and have not made a reservation anywhere. Heck, so far I usually don't know where I am heading for sure that day until I pull out in the morning. Usually have a general direction a few days ahead of time but even that has changed abruptly a few times already.

[Sunseeker16]

Originally Posted by GolfingDave

You are all scaring me. Reservations??

Only been at this since the first week of November and have not made a reservation anywhere. Heck, so far I usually don't know where I am heading for sure that day until I pull out in the morning. Usually have a general direction a few days ahead of time but even that has changed abruptly a few times already.

I travel like you. I don't make advance reservations unless it's a place I know I'm going to be way in advance. I might not get the most desirable spots but never had a problem finding a place to land.

[ChrisParise]

Originally Posted by GolfingDave

You are all scaring me. Reservations??

Only been at this since the first week of November and have not made a reservation anywhere. Heck, so far I usually don't know where I am heading for sure that day until I pull out in the morning. Usually have a general direction a few days ahead of time but even that has changed abruptly a few times already.

Depends on itinerary. If visiting popular national parks are on your travel plans making reservations near them is essential. I made reservations in November 2022 for a trip out west late July into late August 2023 from Wisconsin to the Rapid City area, Yellowstone and Glacier NPs.

I plan over nite stays along my journey.
Not a wanderer, I travel with a plan and purpose.

Locally, here in Wisconsin state parks are either full now or spots are scarce. Private parks not so much but they too fill up.

Sent from my SM-A505U1 using Forest River Forums mobile app

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by GolfingDave

You are all scaring me. Reservations??

Only been at this since the first week of November and have not made a reservation anywhere. Heck, so far I usually don't know where I am heading for sure that day until I pull out in the morning. Usually have a general direction a few days ahead of time but even that has changed abruptly a few times already.

If you stay away from popular destinations, you may not need reservations. But since the RV buying crazy over the past 2+ years, competition for campsites has gotten way worse. We live out West and always make reservations, even off-season.

[Virginian]

We're heading out March 15th on a cross country trip. I have reservations for the first 2 nights, one in Tennessee, and one in Alabama, then a few days reserved at Joshua Tree NP. I'll find the rest as we go. We did the same thing in 2021 and it worked fine.
I scout out free campsites and alternatives before we leave home, and carry the list with me.
It allows us to have a western destination reserved as a target, but meander wherever we want to go on the way back east.

[Nick Danger]

We haven't retired yet and live in one of the busiest locations for vacation travelers during the non-winter months. If we don't make reservations for specific times in advance it's a hit or miss (and usually a miss).

[RangeMaggotBob]

Just to reply to my own post, we used to just head out with no reservations; never really had a problem. But as I said, this year we're staying local. You can usually find a place around here without reservations at the COE parks, but the state parks are a different story. Bull Shoals/White River is already booked out til the end of October. Give or take a few cancellations.

[K_M_H]

What we've noticed if we start booking too late is that some (not all) booking sites will email you a notification to know if a spot just opened up. God Bless the person that came up with that idea. That being said, there are some places we cannot book, even being at the upper limit of their bookings (I'm looking at you Smith Point, NY). Finding campgrounds has definitely gotten a lot more more competitive, at least in the Mid Atlantic area.

[sherman12]

Yeah, we've found out that trying to book state, C.O.E. and other gov't types of parks is tough if you are a couple of days past the booking window opening. We tried to book one of our favorite "go-to" NYS parks for any time in July thinking the window was 6 months (been doing this for 15 yrs, my bad) only to find out all sites are gone for virtually the whole month because the BW is 9 months! Also found it almost impossible to book local state parks where we would do weekend getaways at just about gone too.

Virginian, we went from Western NY beginning last May across the good 'Ol U.S to Napa and Yosemite and we did not have a single problem finding campsites for dates we didn't book in advance. That said, we did advance book the heavy tourist areas like Yellowstone NP, Moab UT area for Arches and Canyonlands NPs, Napa, and certainly near Yosemite NP. We only booked in advance about half of our projected 60-night trip wanting to leave open time and dates to zig and zag if we found anything interesting along the way. Most pricing was in the $30-$60 per night range. The best, Juniper County CG just outside of Idaho Falls, ID at $30 per nite FHU after we got evacuated from Yellowstone because of the June flooding, and one of the absolutely best campgrounds we have ever stayed at, an 11-out-of 10.

[Chief T]

All nice spots around my mom's in Mt. Home.

Safe and happy travels.

[Larry-NC]

Just paid the annual rental for our "year-round" site in southeastern Virginia. I paid early to get a discount, bringing it to under $1200. Water included, electricity metered. No sewage, tote and golf cart used.

[sau51]

We aren’t going far either. Made some reservations at state parks in Idaho and Oregon as soon as they opened. Made reservations to stay at Mt. Hood, Or. for most of July. You have to make so early these days. Oh well. The state parks are cancellable for a few dollars, so you don’t lose the entire deposit.

[MCTroy]

We have our reservations through June. Then we will go to our summer site and wait out the crowds. We want to.plan a trip to Ashville NC or near Townsend TN. Haven't decided on where or when yet.

[garywilson]

Only twice have I had an issue with 'wandering' and finding a place.
One was the Table Rock State Park in Branson, went to a COE.
The other was GSMNP during the eclipse, went to a commercial campground in town for 2 nights.

With all your time near Bull Shoals, a trip to Ranger Boats in Flippin Ark is decent entertainment.
We stopped at a small town Tractor Supply near Flippin for dinner after dark. Teen aged boy in a PU was sitting in the lot (just him and us). Suddenly, it started raining teen boys...must have been at least seven or eight of them, and all of them in a hurry to meet with the original one. All of them jumped out of their trucks and stared in the back of the original PU. They seemed kind of excited, so I figured it must be a deer or some other dead body.

Strolled back into Tractor Supply and my curiosity was satisfied.
He had just bought a new tool box for his truck.

[glen1971]

I just got my holidays finalized on Tuesday and now we're looking at where to go. We're hoping for a week and change in early June through Wyoming. Do some site seeing around Yellowstone, then not sure. Have to see what we can get into for reservations. If not Wyoming, maybe Utah and check out some of the parks there. It's been a few years since we've been in either area.

[sherman12]

Glen, if you visit Wyoming spend a couple of days in Cheyanne! Great town to walk about. On Fridays, they have free music at the old train depot in the center of town with a beer tent, a nearby brewpub, and food trucks. Good time. We stayed at AB RV Park only 2.5 miles from the center of town. Real nice clean park that also sold great smoked BBQ right at the office.