campsite availability from FL to NY/MI mid to end of August

As I said in another recent post I do not attempt to camp at SP or Fed parks or forest campgrounds during the three month vacation period but instead wait until wonderful September to roll in.

Just completed over two weeks great camping and fishing at two California SPs in May. July and August are too hot for me anyway and during vacation everything, everywhere is jammed up/crowded with way too many campers at the state and Fed parks. This would be a miserable experience for me with large family and other groups occupying sites next to me. No piece and quite.

During this time I camp if weather permitting at more remote undeveloped campgrounds in the national forest or BLM lands where I can find glorious piece and quiet. Even these places are sometimes crowded up with the noisy off road vehicle crowds. I do just fine rest of the year. Time marches on.

2014 Dodge Ram V8 1500 4x4
2008 Dodge Ram V10 2500 4x4
2001 Dodge Ram V8 1500
1998 Dodge Ram V8 1500

We left FL at the end of Apr, traveled to Missouri the across to Utah and now we are at Helena MT. No problems finding sites but commercial parks have ramped up their prices. What used to be an average of 30-40/night is often 50-60/night now. You can stll find lower prices but you will have to look harder.
We do use a mix of commecial, Fed parks, State Parks, Famcamps and Boondocking.
Major NPS parks have to be reserved months in advance as always. So they are not on our list for the most part.

We have found that many more USFS camps have First Come sites than we expected.

Unhappily our fav YNP BLM dry camping park was flooded and not returned to operation by the BLM. But we found a USFA park in Island Park this year.

You can always find a way to do something or not to do something. The choice is yours.

Have been on the road eight days , Florida to Colorado , have had NO problem finding sites . No reservations , we just call when we get close . State Parks , Corp Parks , Passport Parks . Tomorrow we just got three days on the Arkansas River in Colorado . We still have 5 weeks to go . We are equipped to dry camp if we have too .

Here in GA, the days of a spontaneous weekend beach or lake trip to a state park or COE campground are basically gone. You can luck into a cancelation sometimes. It's easier to find sites at private campgrounds, but they tend to be small crowded sites.
The good parks are pretty much booked as far out as you can book them.

Wanderingbob

You must be luckiest man alive! buy a lotto ticket and split the winnings with me?

We visit some pretty popular SP's and while it's true that weekends are usually locked up pretty tight, during the week we've never had a problem even in the height of summer. Sometimes you have to pivot, make adjustments or check a few places, but we've always found a way to make something work out. We've even called CG's directly and they might put us in an overflow for the night. Where there's a will there's a way.

Have been on the road eight days , Florida to Colorado , have had NO problem finding sites . No reservations , we just call when we get close . State Parks , Corp Parks , Passport Parks . Tomorrow we just got three days on the Arkansas River in Colorado . We still have 5 weeks to go . We are equipped to dry camp if we have too .

wanderingbob wrote:
Have been on the road eight days , Florida to Colorado , have had NO problem finding sites . No reservations , we just call when we get close . State Parks , Corp Parks , Passport Parks . Tomorrow we just got three days on the Arkansas River in Colorado . We still have 5 weeks to go . We are equipped to dry camp if we have too .

We might need some pictures of this trip, just because.

Hope you're enjoying yourselves.

As far as Michigan goes, its like what a lot of other replies have said - essentially anything good or good enough is booked out as far as the park allows. As a resident, it drives me nuts; gone are the days of "Hey, its a nice weekend, lets drop the chores and go camp!". Post COVID has changed our camping style from many close-to-home weekend trips to two or three big trips to far off destinations planned 12 months ahead. Thats life, I guess!