Fighting for campsites 6 months in advance!

The overbooking and cancellation has to be addressed by the DNR. Not sure how they should handle it, but it is a game, for sure.

Has anyone actively advocated for more county, state and federal campgrounds?

There will be another recession and parks will be less crowded for those who can afford it. I don't know when there will be a recession, but it always goes in cycles. Anyway, I plan to work during the summers when the parks are most crowded with families and then cruise (and spend my savings) the rest of the year.

Terryallan wrote:

bgum wrote:
You are kidding, you had trouble booking a site for the 4th of July?

Kidding, Right!.

July 4th week in this area is booked solid 12 months in advance, and at Myrtle Beach. All the CGs are booked solid from June thru Sept.

I agree with others. More people camping, less sites to chose from.

We usually have to call Myrtle Beach Travel Park early this year to get a summer 2019 site up near the ocean. There are a certain sites that we ( and many others ) like !

RV sales are doing very well. People that have RV's will occasionally use them. Holidays and summer are the busiest times for vacations.

We grew up camping, but mainly state parks. My wife and I started camping as a family 12 years ago. I remember our first trip was in my dad's older Class C motorhome. We left Christmas evening and drove to Florida without reservations and stayed for a week at Tropical Palms RV in Kissimmee, FL (just outside Disney) for 10 days. 7 years ago we called a week before leaving for Florida and found a spot near Anna Maria Island in February.

For the last 2 years we haven't been able to book a spot at our campground in Anna Maria. They give first dibs to the people who stayed the previous year. We had a new born son and didn't go February of 2015. We called at the end of February 2015 to reserve for 2016 and were told that the current tenants had all requested sites for 2016 AND there was a waitlist of 100 people for 75 or so sites. They weren't accepting anyone else on the waitlist at that time. Same thing happened in Feb 2016 for the Feb 17 dates. Same thing last year for Feb 18 sites.

Economy is doing well, fuel costs are relatively low. Land values are increasing and homes are selling well. We are losing open campground space to new housing tracts. The tide will turn again in a couple years and we will find ourselves able to get more sites with less hassle. It ebbs and flows over the years, but I think that more campgrounds close every year than new ones open.

bgradert wrote:
All-

Is it me or is booking campsites getting harder and harder? I have spent the last couple weeks trying to book a week in July at Ludington SP in Michigan and it was darn near impossible. There were about 15 sites available from July 8-14 this morning and within seconds they were gone. I was lucky enough to snag one of them just a few seconds after the six month reservation window opened. I also experienced the same difficulty booking Grand Haven for the 4th but a site did open and I was a able to book.

Last year I had to book 15 days at Platte River so I could get the week I wanted. I then went back and cancelled the days I did not want.

Have you all experienced the same frustration when booking sites?
I was speaking to my 75 year old parents who have camped all their life and they are very frustrated with trying to book sites. In fact so frustrated they sold their fifth wheel.

I heard the millennial's are buying campers left and right. Not sure if this is true.

We camped at Ludington State Park for years. I remember as far back as 12-15 years ago I would be on my desktop and my wife would be on the laptop at the opening bell and the night before I would scope out what should be available. Ludington is a bad park to get into and has been for a long time. We go in the fall now after school starts to avoid the madness. Honestly we found some new favorites we like just as much without the hassle. Some times you just need to move on.

Dan

ScottG wrote:

bgum wrote:
You are kidding, you had trouble booking a site for the 4th of July?

Who said anything about the 4th of July? :@

Even then, our CG's are always about 90% full (100% booked) and holiday weekends are really no different crowd-wise.

We hosted at South Beach SP near Newport, OR in August and September, the campground FULL sign didn’t come down until late September!

There's a campground we go to in Old Orchard Beach, Maine the first week of July. When we arrive, you put a deposit for the next year........been that way for 7 years now. If we don't do it, we'll lose our favorite site.

My wife and I are currently enroute to Florida for the balance of the winter. This evening we're discussing our FL state park preferences for NEXT winter, so we can start making reservations the moment the 11 month windows open. Same thing we did LAST winter. Our 4th of July week and Labor Day week state park reservations were also made within a few seconds of the window opening. With Reserve America, one thing that has worked for us on some occasions, is to check back about 15 minutes after the initial window opening. Folks using multiple computers and logins sometimes hit on more than one site, and then complete the reservation for only one of them. The RA system locks out the others for 15 minutes before releasing them for others to pick.

My post about the 4th was tongue in cheek.