Do you make reservations?

Yes, we usually reserve. Everybody RVs differently, and some of us can't help ourselves. (Meaning - we're compulsive planners.)

I don't want to miss anything or leave things to chance, and really enjoy all the research. I put together a binder of phone reservations or emailed confirmations, street address, and notes on local attractions. If it is a "walk-in, no res" campground, we plan to get there early enough in the day to get a site, and have a plan B in mind.

We pack a lot of activity into our two-month trips and often book raft rides, tours, railroad rides, etc as well. I like to be in a campground with character related to the area (not just a place to sleep), in the best type of site at a reasonable price when possible, and the closest location for our plans.

And in the winter, like others, if we want to get out of the cold for a few weeks and have great waterfront spots in FL, planning ahead makes it happen.

For me, it's very relaxing to wake up, enter the address into the GPS and know how far we'll be driving that day, arrive by mid-afternoon, and settle in to a nice location overnight, for a few days or longer. It's kind of like a caravan. Everything is planned ahead. We've stayed in some great places.

Our trips are busy but not marathons. I build in plenty of time for just relaxing, finding unexpected things, and rolling with the punches of weather delays, repairs, government shutdowns, etc.

When we are heading back to the barn, which can take a few days up to a week, then we take the "see how far we get" approach and just make a phone call to book an overnight each day.

We saw the "campground full" sign quite often in late August into mid-October this year, and not just on weekends. I think that's becoming more common as baby boomers hit the highways.

We always make reservations because in most places you can see the CG map and pick your lot:W

Auburn CA and we were on our 7th and last day there when the better half broke her foot. We wanted to stay an additional 2 nights so she could seek treatment but they told us they were booked up and we had to move. Couple of weeks later and wanting to stay a long weekend in Newport OR and they told us we had to wait until Sunday to come in so we did. 62 days on the road this Summer and that was the only 2 issues we had.

Reservations equal no flexibility and we usually do 3-4 months out West with only making a few. Like the OP it helps that you are in a MH so boondocking is not a problem if you cannot get into a CG until the next morning. Most of the CG I stay at do not have a phone and showing up Friday in a big rig is not going to work. Show up Sunday afternoon or Monday and there will be plenty of sites, even for a big rig. I've found that boondocking during the week and moving and resupplying on the weekends works well for us. Five days in one area is usually about right for us with some exceptions. On a long weekend I may make reservation a few days in advance or come in on Wed if Friday is the holiday and stay through the weekend. I've found this site very helpful for finding Public CGs as it's on a map. I usually have a idea of which CGs I'll try for before we get to an area.
The exception is SE Florida in the winter where we ended up buying a RV lot.

When traveling if I don't have a reservation I usually call a campground by 4 to make certain there is a place for me that night. This gives me the flexibility to change direction or stay longer if the mood strikes.
On our 4 month trip to Alaska, the only reservation we had was in Denali NP at the Tek campground and we stayed exclusively in campgrounds.

I was an always make reservation guy but having just returned from a nine week trip out to the west coast I have changed my mind. Being locked into reservations for almost every night didn't allow any flexibility. We found places where we would have liked to stay a few more nights but could not break the schedule. On the flip side, if we did not have reservations on the Oregon Coast we would have been searching last minute. I now believe a combination of reservations at very popular locations and no reservation allow some flexibility and the security that we need on traveling trips.

Now if we are going to a destination and stay, like Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, FL, we will make reservations 11 months in advance. I will carefully pick our campsite for the stay.

During our 12 years of RVing (5 months in summers) we made reservations only before long weekends,the rest of the time we like to be flexible so do not really know how long we will stay in one place -It worked till now....

As Soricobob noted, we make reservations for the 'destination' campgrounds that we know are in demand (Colter Bay in the Grand Tetons, and the Yellowstone campgrounds are examples.) When on the road looking for a place to stay for a night or two, we'll look ahead in the early afternoon to see what CG's are coming up and how far we want to drive. When we pick a 'target', we'll call ahead and make a reservation for that night. Works for us...

I almost always make reservations, but not so that I know I'll have a site. I like to be able to pick the specific site so it meets my needs better.

Cabo Paul wrote:

Is that your experience?

No.

The east coast is a little crowded. Just showing up may work in the off season, during the middle of the week, if you aren't picky about site location, or you stay mostly at private parks. However, if you only have weekends it is better to guarantee a spot will be waiting for you.

Yes, there are places I can stay in Florida between January and March but, they aren't places I would really want to stay for any length of time. Which is why, if I want a beach front site in the keys in the state parks, I have to reserve eleven months in advance.

Yes, I can stay in Shenandoah National Park on an October weekend without a reservation, but chances are I will end up at one of the small no generator sites with my neighbors snores keeping me awake at night. If I do make a reservation, I can have one of the sites with a beautiful view of the valley and mountains (though I will probably have to plan six months in advance).

There are four state parks in Maryland that, if you do not reserve at least a month ahead of time, you will not get a site on summer weekends. If you want a prime site with views, level parking, and/or electric, six months in advance is a good plan.

Personally, I don't like to settle for what is available when, with a little bit of planning, I can have exactly what I want. We do take last minute trips occasionally but I check the reservation system before we leave to guarantee a site will be there when we arrive. Who wants to drive four hours for nothing?