Question About "Walk-up" Camp Sites

2DHoop wrote:
I noticed that there are a number of "reserve-able on-site only" sites. Am I wrong to think that if I show up and ask for what's available with a 30A service and water as a "walk-up" I won't be laughed at and it might actually work out? Or is there a secret to this and I just better plan on running my Honda 2000 and have the family give my the stink eye all weekend?

The answer varies greatly depending upon the type of campground (private resort, federal USFS, federal COE, state park, etc.)

Basically a campsite that is in a reservation system can be reserved either two or four days out. i.e. Today, Tuesday, I can only reserve a site at a COE campground in Texas starting on Thursday night. But I can only reserve a COE campground in Arkansas starting on Saturday night.

If you show up at either campground today, the gate attendant computer shows the site as open - and they can give you the site. However, it is possible that my on-line reservation might not yet show up in their system.

Some federal gate attendants have real-time access to the reservation system and could block the site you get out for up to 14 days. Some do not have real-time access to the system, and your request for 14 days at the site will not process until the overnight hours. And my on-line reservation for that site would have priority over your walk-up booking.

So you could go to a campground, be told you can have the site for two or four nights, and that they would try to extend your stay at that site for two weeks. Then be told the next morning that you will have to vacate the site on Thursday or Saturday.

This is how the Reserve America system works - which is the contractor for Recreation.gov for the federal government and many state parks systems - about 40 states.

I have found it is essential to make reservations for a site with utilities if planning to spend one of the five holidays at a campground - Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas-New Years (Yes, folks use campgrounds in the south a lot in November, December and January in the south.)

You will likely have to use a non-utility site if there is not a late cancellation for a utility site for the holiday.

It is not a secret - but you have to understand how the system works. The nice thing about the Reserve America system used at federal and many state parks is that the 'Availability' Tab/Page will show you which sites are reserved starting on which days - so you can ask for a specific site knowing it 'should' be open until X date.

We show up at a federal COE park near our kids/ grandkids without a reservation several times a year. I always check Recreation.gov on my phone stopped at a wide spot on the access road before I reach the gate, and ask for a site I've already checked to see how long it is currently open. This COE gate attendant has real-time access to the system and can book me into the spot immediately. Some busy times, I have to take a less desirable spot, but I know when I get there which spots are booked within the time period I want to stay.

Yet, on the same lake, the best park does not have real-time access to the system, and I never show up at that park without making a reservation - because the park is usually fully booked on weekends between May and October.