How far in advance?

[Jay & Valerie]

How far in advance do you have to book your campsites?

As some of you know, I travel a ton for work so it is hard for me to plan very far in advance. As I look around and state parks around me, they are all full for at least 2 months in advance.

So, how far in advance do you book your trips? How do you find new campgrounds?

Any other thoughts you might share?

 

[AlCat]

find out how far in advance your state's campsites open up. It could be 90 days in advance, for example. Pick the weekends you might want to camp, and then book those in advance, and just swallow the cancellation fees if you can't go. That's really the only way to go in places where sites book months in advance.

California has to be the most expensive state to camp, and the cancellation fees are close to nothing, here. Maybe $15 to cancel.


-Al

 

[AlCat]

This state park in California starts booking SEVEN MONTHS in advance

http://www.reserveamerica.com/camp...roundDetails.do?contractCode=CA&parkId=120011

you can get a mid-week site next week, but if you want a Saturday.....I didn't see ANY sites available on a Saturday for weeks.

so you need to book wayyyyy in advance and then just swallow the cancellation fees if necessary. Or don't camp.

and cancellation fee is $7.50, so.....small price to pay to secure a campsite, IMO (though I know many folks may have NO cancellation fees, lucky dogs)

 

[Betsey]

Generally, we don't book sites ahead of time unless it is for a gathering.

We like to just "go" and figure out our stops as we travel. We often have an "end of the day" general destination in mind, but it can change based on what we see & do along the way. We rarely stay at private campgrounds...we like county, state & national parks & forests.

We've really not had an problems finding a site and that includes many trips to Yellowstone. Even got a site at the Grand Canyone on 4th of July weekend without reservations. Only once in 14 years of teardrop travel have we found no sites available at a particular campground but ended up just going to another one nearby.

It really depends on whether or not you are comfortable "whinging" it and possibly, where you are planning on going.

 

[fpoole]

Yah, I would plan to book for the spring (Frank don't do summers) in Nov/Dec... Steamboat Rock, WA (near Coulee) and the Olympic peninsula used to be tough ones...

For those that don't open until 6-months prior, I'd set the calendar reminder with the link and book it asap. As summer approaches, late Spring, it becomes more of a chaos so book accordingly.

For me, it's not a big deal to book earlier than later. While 50% of the time I'll leave a night earlier and pay for it, but oh well, I got the spot I wanted...

I've been hung out on Whidbey Island and simply just turned around and came home. They had 3 options there, both full and one not open yet... so piece O mind, I'll book...

Assuming i have a destination in mind, which I usually do, that's why I was going...

fun...