Virginia State parks new site specific policy

Funny you started this thread, as I'm totally frustrated with the Reserve America in regards to VSPs. I was looking into visiting Douthat this fall, for the first time ever, but the system employed by Reserve America is awful. It looks like the entire CG is full, when the folks at their campground office told me it's not the case at all. Makes things difficult for first time visitors to any park....I like being able to drive in and scope out the best of what's available when I get there. Like others have mentioned, that seems to be a thing of the past and it's no good.

Personally, I like site-specific because I don't have an open schedule. However, I've read many folks who don't like the site-specific for many reasons including yours. I think the best alternative for any state is to make every other site one that can be reserved. Give you folks with ample time to pull in and find one of your choosing. Gives me the ability to find a site that fits my rig and the knowledge it will be available when I show up. Best of both worlds.

Has anyone asked if/confirmed that VSPs still have walk-up sites available?

It's sort of my understanding that there are now three methods of getting a site at VSPs:
Site-specific via R/A
Non-site-specific via R/A
Walk-up at the park office

I have nothing to back that up though. Just supposition on my part.

Guess I'm just too much of an old timer. 25 years ago, camping could be more spontaneous. Nice weekend, go for it! Now one has to plan their trips in the beginning of the season, just to catch a spot. Weather be dammed.

We used to like it that way too. But times have changed. There are a lot more retirees and families camping these days.

We're firm believers that all public campgrounds should be half reserve and half show up and get a site.

Problem will always be at least two groups: Families that have specific plans, vacation days, or family issues want to reserve (and often that gets abused) ... and families that want the freedom to stay longer or arrive at a 'convenient travel time' without a forced arrival and departure date ...

Unfortunately, many of the public CG's look at budget only, and say it costs less to allow a web service to reserve sites (altho' that's debatable) ...

We seems to have a movement towards subcontracting jobs that once were employment in the public agencies. I can't imagine it's less costly in the long run to contract it, but that's what's happening in a lot of venues. And it allows service performance to degrade (as in RA).

It means one segment of the camping public is often left out in the wind - those that want the freedom to arrive and get a site vs. those that want a site date in advance. We should always have both, but it looks like that may be a thing of the past coming at us.

johnvb wrote:
Anyone here who camps at the VA state parks have an opinion on this?

One of the reasons we enjoy the state parks was the fact that the reservations were non-specific. We like camping 4 or 5 nights in a row, say from a Thursday to a Sunday or Monday. Showed up (with reservations) and picked a site. Then if there is a day or two with inclement weather, no biggie.

Now when I check the Reserve America website, the campground sites are tied up for the weekend, with holes before and after. Doesn't seem like an "improvement " to me. Now no different than the competition. The camp host are probably digging it, less work for them.

Epic fail, Virginia State Parks! :M (rant over)

I agree with you.

GMandJM wrote:
Thanks for the heads up on the subject. I see what you mean now.

One of my fave sites at Chippokes isn't reservable. (Kinda of wish it was.)

Looks like the reservable sites have photos now.

Actually,Chippokes has some reservable sites.I know this because I resevered one for the end of September. Many state parks are like that and I prefer that so I know I can reserve my favorite site.

Yep, I noticed that, as well. Some sites are reservable, others are not. And it wouldn't appear that any of the 18 RV sites at Chippokes are set aside specifically as walk-up only.

RV sites 1 - 7 are reservable

And the highest number of available non-site-specific reservations is listed as 11 on random dates.

At least that will keep people from making the trip there and finding no spaces are available.

Bob806 wrote:
Funny you started this thread, as I'm totally frustrated with the Reserve America in regards to VSPs. I was looking into visiting Douthat this fall, for the first time ever, but the system employed by Reserve America is awful. It looks like the entire CG is full, when the folks at their campground office told me it's not the case at all. Makes things difficult for first time visitors to any park....I like being able to drive in and scope out the best of what's available when I get there. Like others have mentioned, that seems to be a thing of the past and it's no good.

Douthat is a gorgeous park and area. If you have a decent size RV, you are going to want to stay in the Whispering Pines section. The furthest from the lake, but the newest section. I imagine during the fall "leaf colors" season, the place fills up completely.

I was just at First Landing State Park, and there was quite a variety of sites - some just for tenting, some for RVs up to 20 feet, some for RVs up to 30 feet & some for larger units. I had a non-site-specific reservation, and had my choice of 4 30-foot sites. One looked somewhat unlevel, one would have had me configured a bit awkwardly to use the site, and 2 were OK. I was in a Class B, so I might have had more difficulty in a larger unit.

I strolled through the site-specific area, and it appeared to be mostly larger sites, some quite nice. I believe people pay a bit extra for the site-specific reservations, and that seems fair. If people are worried about fitting into a space, or arriving so late they'll have a poor choice of sites, they have options.

Of course, any reservation system should have a sufficient penalty for canceling to discourage folks from tying up sites they don't really intend to use.