How far do you post in advance?

My wife and I will never have to worry about that again !

Last year we bought a RV site in a park on Key Largo.
In October we will be hauling a new 37 footer into it and leaving it there permanently.

Good bye Reserve America !

Jack L

this is my plan for this winter,

I have a reservation already for 1 month in Mission Texas (commercial place) ... November. never stayed in a commercial place before.
I did ask for the largest Standard site and Near pool and showers.
and got a double wide site for single price.

I know it will take me 5 days to get there. maybe 4. ( 1,800 miles )

then after some rest and looking, sight seeing.. will look around for state parks or other commercial sites to go visit. then decide on December stay. then January, etc... till time to go back home. choices...

Where are you planning to go? In Florida, below Tampa is preferred for warmth but there are plenty of openings above Tampa.

There are places around Gulf Shores, Alabama, including Gulf State Park which is very nice. About 10 mi. north are plenty of parks.

Louisiana and Mississippi are much cooler in winter and they're really not snowbirding destinations so there are plenty of available sites without reservations.

Texas - around Fredericksburg and San Antonio you'll find sites and also as you go further south. In winter you don't want to be further north than San Antonio.

New Mexico - even the southern part gets cold and windy so you'll find plenty of sites open.

Arizona - Winter areas start at Benson along I-10 and over to Tucson then up to the greater Phoenix/Apache Junction area then as far north along the Colorado River up to Havasu City and south to Yuma. These are winter areas. Don't plan any further north than Phoenix - too cold. No problems getting sites without reservations except for some 'resorts'. Lots of boondocking on BLM lands in Arizona and southern California.

Basically - you can travel without reservations easily except deep south Florida.

We love Arizona winters - sun daily! Even with our 40' motorhome we traveled without reservations.

Life is a journey, not a destination...

I would say that most of the over 55 parks are booked early and maybe a site or two available for a short term stay but they may not be the best sites. Some of the large family type parks may have openings for a longer term but it is hit or miss at best. I am sure you will find a place: it just may not be where you wanted or the site you would have preferred. With more and more baby boomers hitting the roads I have seen it get harder and harder to just go as a free spirit.

In South Florida, I reserved a site at a county park 13 months in advance, and when I got there, someone else was in my site and they put me in overflow. Many regular Snowbirds make their reservations for the next year while they are still there, so they can get their favorite site, and many of the campgrounds try to accommodate their "regulars". I've also made reservations for the end of January, a couple of weeks in advance, but I had to take what they had available.

pedally wrote:
Thanks for the replies. I was thinking going down south in the winter months, maybe staying a week at a time in certain campgrounds and exploring. Are they usually booked up with snowbirds?

Life is a journey not a destination

This is exactly what we did last winter. We had the next stop lined up before we checked into the current one (one hop ahead in reservations). The only issue we had was trying to find a spot south of Sarasota (Ft Myers, Naples etc). Spots were available, but very expensive. Seems that most people down there go to the same place every winter and booked the spot before they left last year. Everywhere else we went (central FL to the panhandle to the gulf coast an back through TX and MO), we had no problem getting a pot 2-3 weeks out.

I like to move around. If you're just going to stay in one spot, get a park model or a condo.

Irish2 wrote:
We reserved our site last winter for this winter in Florida.

Which is why everyone else must reserve 6 months in advance.

I prefer the seat-of-the-pants method. Nothing ruins an RV trip faster than having to be somewhere at a particular time. Some areas south of I-4 in Florida for instance (where all the Canadians go), you can get a spot but you'll pay through the nose for a tight spot where you can't even extend your slides. Just not worth it. Plenty of other places not crowed and reasonably priced. Check out the forgotten coast.

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking going down south in the winter months, maybe staying a week at a time in certain campgrounds and exploring. Are they usually booked up with snowbirds?

Life is a journey not a destination

The answer depends on what time of year you are traveling and your preferences. On our winter trip south (November to April) we don't make reservations for the campsites we go through on our way to our "destination" campground, but we have reserved for the next 3 years in that campground as the sites are in demand and we want to get the same site back each year.