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bgradert
Explorer
Jan 08, 2018

Fighting for campsites 6 months in advance!

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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.
  • Some of it is the way the sites work. Michigan for example locks out sites as people browse. I forget the delay, 15 minutes maybe?

    So if you have someone on the site just browsing one waterfront site after another, they'll all show as reserved to others.

    Use that as a weapon next year, get on a little early and start "browsing" and maybe you'll have a chance to lock someone else out.
  • Could it be that RV's are selling well? Lots more people buying RV's. We sold 60 units at a recent 4 day show. Few if any new RV parks being built.
  • Yes, it's gotten harder. In Fl. we have settled for parks inland and northern because they are a little less in demand.
  • It is getting harder, especially to get the better sites. We have to reserve 9 mos in advance and even then, we have to "cheat" the system to get the best.

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