Self Check-in when the office is closed

I stayed at a self serve private CG once. Might have been in Alpine, TX or close by.
Also at Dessert View CG at Grand Canyon NP. We were there for a week and saw tent and car campers abuse the self serve several times. In after dark, and out early the next morning before the Host made his rounds.

WE run into it once in awhile, as said, most of the time you just find a site and see the office people in the morning. I recall once in east CA we found the office closed until 2 PM and we were not waiting that late so we left the money with one of the residents. Hopefully it made it to the right spot.

I know parks have different systems for self check in. PA State Parks Have a listing on a bulletin board of the sites that are already booked, so make sure you choose a site that isn't booked. Just because it's empty doesn't mean it isn't taken. I showed up after dark to a site I had booked on line 6 months earlier, only to find someone in my site who didn't know the system. He just picked one that was empty. Had a fire going and his tent set up and everything. He wasn't thrilled when I asked him to please move, but I didn't really have much choice. There weren't other sites that would accommodate my trailer. That's WHY I booked that specific site 6 months prior.

yes just pick a spot, and some times were gone before they open, leave money a slot.

Pretty common at Michigan State Parks ... The ranger at the gate has been replaced by a yellow phone and some distant call center