Reserve America: a minor rant.

2012Coleman wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

Earl E wrote:
One thing I learned is that states have a huge input into the site.

Many states will only put in maybe 50% of their sites so others are available by phone or drop in

. Other states submit photos of each campsite. Others put limits on how many days can be reserved. I have found in many cases when it looks like I can't get the dates I want, I can call and get them. Don't know about PA but it may not be all the sites fault.

X2
I found this out when I asked a Florida State Park about reservations and the park mgr said he couldn't take reservations you HAD to call Reserve America. He was not allowed to take reservations at the entrance booth.

BUT if you pulled in and personally inquired about staying THAT night plus a couple of days he COULD take your reservations and money!

True - FLa state parks keep some sites off Reserve America for walk-ups. I'm not sure if they will tell you over the phone if some are available, but since I reserve my sites, I'll never find out.

I agree it's to easy to reserve a site rather than chance it. Regardless of the method of reservation or the vendor handling them some folks are just challenged to try and learn something new. The States that use this system obviously do so to reduce the cost of reserving sites and create and income stream. Being a regular user of the park system also gives me some insight into which sites I want and Florida uses a site specific reservation which works well for those of us who will do a little research and puts everyone on a level playing field as to choosing a site.