Georgia State Parks

I am not retired and neither is my spouse. We also have a child in school. Unfortunately I have to schedule vacation in December for the entire next year, choosing a week at a time. I can't just pick the weeks I want, I have to pick one week and after everyone else picks a week, I get to choose another week. 2 people can't be on vacation at the same time. So you can see a little bit of dilemma for us.

Therefore we use the week as we can. Normally usually leaving a Friday afternoon or Saturday morning and returning the following weekend. When going to someplace like a GA State park, we will make a reservation for a site that we will fit in and accept it if it works when we get there. We rarely camp in GA State Parks. We more or less camp in COE parks there.

Fortunately, NC State Parks (where we live now, used to live in Georgia) allows you to reserve specific sites.

I see no need to complain about it, it's the way it is.

I also am a a big fan of many of the GA state parks, who yes, lives in Florida. And I am retired so I can get there early. But let me give you my example of the frustration with the current system. Vogal SP is one of my very favorite parks. I have a 38 ft 5th wheel. The web site lists ALL of the sites as capable of putting a 40 ft RV on, except for the pop up loop. Summer and fall it is always full, even mid week. I reserve a site. I show up on Sunday when the weekenders are checking out. I have my pick of available sites, but nothing available is big enough or has access for my rig. On top of that, sites I could get on are taken up by tents or pop ups that could have gone into the pop up loop that still has spaces open. (Note I am not saying they should not be there, as they have every right to camp in their favorite sites, too) Now I am a long way from home with a reservation I cannot use, and all the other parks are full. Yes, I have been in some tough spots even with site specific reservations, but I do still prefer them. Even if I was a Georgia resident, I'd still have the same problem.

I have no problem picking a site specific reservation to somewhere I've never been before - I use Google maps and look at it from above. Never been disappointed.

I don't have a problem with Fl. or Ga. rules.
If I'm going to one that is site specific, I generally have done a 'Recon', and know what fits my needs.
If I'm going to a Ga. park, I arrive on Thursday and have my pick
of good sites. (Ain't retirement great)

BTW: I live in N. Alabama, and have to arrive early for spots
at our state parks.

answerswillvary wrote:
Moderator Note:

Trading personal attacks is a good way to get a thread locked down. Consider yourselves warned.

Sandi

Snide remarks from the high and mighty types will always solicit a response from me regardless of the consequences but I acknowledge I have been duly warned. I am no stranger to closed threads, deleted remarks, or spotting members who think they are special.

jaycocamprs wrote:
Other times we take an extra day and go to the State Parks. Seems like they don't have a problem filling sites, as most summer and fall weekend the parks are full or near full. As for it being an advantage for locals, maybe. Or maybe we should charge non-residents more, like they do in other states.

Exactly. Before I was retired, I took the extra day, sometimes two. It was a part of my annual leave and worked out great. If I took my vacation time all at once, I always scheduled my vacation to start on a Tuesday so that I would arrive at a cg on a Wednesday and had my pick of the camp sites. Creative scheduling and personal leave can work out quite well.

There are advantages to both systems. If we are going on busy holiday weekends we go to the COE parks that are site-specific reservation. Other times we take an extra day and go to the State Parks. Seems like they don't have a problem filling sites, as most summer and fall weekend the parks are full or near full. As for it being an advantage for locals, maybe. Or maybe we should charge non-residents more, like they do in other states.

peaches&cream wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
The answer is quite obvious, it is done to favor the locals and non working population at the expense of those of us who work. Unless you can go camping anytime you like in the middle of the week or live near the park and drop off a camper and pay for days you are not really using you are just out of luck in getting a nice campsite. I find this approach very unfriendly to weekend campers and working families. Fortunately I live in a state with a great state park system that allows site specific reservations, provides important details about each site and a photo. In addition because the state park system is so popular there are plenty of other sites that offer additional information about specific sites. I dislike the GA system and I can rarely use their parks for these reasons.

Like you said. It is designed to discourage people like you from using the facilities. Guess it's working. :S

ROTFLOL!!!

fla-gypsy wrote:


You mean like showing up in Florida and complaining about how crowded it is,the cost of everything and telling us how it's done back home? Think about it!

Yep. Just like you did in the above quote about GA. If you don't like GA SPs there's plenty of others who do and you won't be missed. Think about it!

fla-gypsy wrote:
The answer is quite obvious, it is done to favor the locals and non working population at the expense of those of us who work. Unless you can go camping anytime you like in the middle of the week or live near the park and drop off a camper and pay for days you are not really using you are just out of luck in getting a nice campsite. I find this approach very unfriendly to weekend campers and working families. Fortunately I live in a state with a great state park system that allows site specific reservations, provides important details about each site and a photo. In addition because the state park system is so popular there are plenty of other sites that offer additional information about specific sites. I dislike the GA system and I can rarely use their parks for these reasons.

Like you said. It is designed to discourage people like you from using the facilities. Guess it's working. :S