Last night my lovey and I made reservations at 8 different national forest campgrounds. So far this is two trips per month through July. All made through Recreation.gov and Reserve America. Both were flawless.I work part-time my *week* is Friday through Sunday so Monday morning we pack it up and head out for four days and three nights. This mid week camping schedule is ideal, quieter and way less people.With the Golden Age card the average camping fee is around 7.00 per night. There is a reservation charge but I think it is fair and certainly worth it.All camping spots within 3 hours of our home in Boise. This is one of the reasons we moved here. Most of them on the water either lakes or rivers.We had to wait for the *reservation window* to open to make a couple of reservations until this Sunday we will fill in the rest of the season then.I love it when it is all planned and paid for in January. AND if we want to go more on the spur of the moment we go on our unscheduled weeks.Jesseannie

That is awesome!The only thing bad about that is that you eat the fee and one night (I think) if you have to cancel. But you takes your chances!

We do the same thing! We have reservations for every-other weekend throughout the summer. Really gives us something to look forward to.

So did I. I went to bed late and was laying there and it dawned on me I had not made the reservations for this year. we waited too long last year and theparks were full. DW was taking chemo and we just skipped our minds. But I jumped out of bed and grabbed my wallet and am happy to say I got all the sites I wanted.

coolmom42 wrote:That is awesome!The only thing bad about that is that you eat the fee and one night (I think) if you have to cancel. But you takes your chances!Most just have a modest cancellation fee if you cancel far enough ahead of time.

We had all of our winter sites for this year covered last year, and soon we'll start making our reservations for next winter. Our 4th of July week and Labor Day week reservations are already in.

Camping reservations made for the season | Good Sam Community

Pine_Barren
Explorer
Jan 06, 2018
We have 6 confirmed reservations already for this year. The 11 month window for state parks here in Florida you have to get the sites then at certain parks or your pretty much out of luck. Happy Camping to everyone get out and enjoy nature and our beautiful country.
jesseannie
Explorer
Jan 05, 2018
Seems like the reservation window varies, but we have three spots on our calendar that dont open for reservations until January 7th so I will be hitting them at 12.01am that day.
There is a cancellation fee that equals the reservation fee usually 10. But we very seldom cancel once they are on the calendar.
Jesseannie
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Jan 05, 2018
Thom02099 wrote:
How do you get around the 180 day window?

At least some state parks have an 11 month window. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and NY come to mind quickly. The national parks are usually 6 months.
Jim2007
Explorer
Jan 05, 2018
I usually book about 3 month in advance for busy areas. But maybe I should book earlier for a trip we are planning to the ore. Coast. Jim2007
mdcamping
Explorer
Jan 05, 2018
Somewhat similar for us, were still 55 and doing 40 so we book either one 3 to 4 day trip per month starting in april to OCT. We also have a planned a 2 week trip to Canada.

We have booked a mix of state, private, COE campgrounds for this year and working on more bookings. :C

Mike
ScottG
Nomad
Jan 05, 2018
Thom02099 wrote:
How do you get around the 180 day window?

Ours is 9 months, plus a little more if you know how to work the system ;
Thom02099
Explorer II
Jan 04, 2018
How do you get around the 180 day window?

ETA: I've got all my bookings in place through the end of June (every other weekend), but the 180 day window here in Colorado is pretty much everywhere I want to book. And that's with Recreation.gov. For one place in RMNP, I was up bright and early waiting for the window to open on my chosen day, and I STILL only got my 3rd choice of sites.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Jan 04, 2018
We had all of our winter sites for this year covered last year, and soon we'll start making our reservations for next winter. Our 4th of July week and Labor Day week reservations are already in.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Jan 04, 2018
coolmom42 wrote:
That is awesome!

The only thing bad about that is that you eat the fee and one night (I think) if you have to cancel. But you takes your chances!

Most just have a modest cancellation fee if you cancel far enough ahead of time.
old_guy
Explorer
Jan 04, 2018
So did I. I went to bed late and was laying there and it dawned on me I had not made the reservations for this year. we waited too long last year and theparks were full. DW was taking chemo and we just skipped our minds. But I jumped out of bed and grabbed my wallet and am happy to say I got all the sites I wanted.