RV's verses rv & campsites

2gypsies, that is it right there. There is no shortages of sites. There is a shortage of sites when & where some folks want to go. The more flexible, the less demanding you are of CG amenities, such as FHU, great view, pull through, close to attractions, weekends etc., the easier it is for reservations or even no reservation sites.

No different than any other travel destination or air seat really when there is high demand there is a shortage.

I think you all need to broaden your horizons and try camping in different types of campgrounds then you'll get sites.

Do you really need all the amenities that you're paying for? If not, try a plain Jane park with only the basics.

Do you need to be right next door to a popular tourist attraction? Move 20 miles away and you'll get a site.

Do you need to stay right in a popular city? Move to the outskirts.

Do you need hookups? RVs are self-contained. Try national forest camping or boondocking in the beautiful boonies.

Do you need a private park? If you enjoy scenery and bigger spaces try public parks: state, county city, Corp of Engineers, national forests.

Don't want to make reservations? Pick parks that don't accept reservations. They're out there - even national parks.

Try more shoulder season travel.

Try more mid-week trips.

It really is doable. We full-timed for 16 years and used all kinds of parks and/or boondocking. We traveled constantly and in Canada, the Yukon and Alaska. No problem for us without making reservations. If we have had to make 5,840 nights of reservations we'd would not have lasted 16 years! :)

What is this lack of sites all about?? :)

We have a membership in a CG network that allows us to book up to 90 days in advance across the US. We plan our trips way in advance and book as close to 90 days as possible esp. on long road trips and don't have problems getting sites. We camp happily all season long. But, if we want to add another day or two while there on a longer trip or we can't go on a planned weekend and need to re-book, it's a high probability we can't but can depend on where it is. Lower level memberships are often max 60 days in advance booking and is when it can start to get difficult. We can also stay up to 21 days and don't have to be out of their system between stays.

Wildfires are now becoming a challenge in some areas each year and you may need to make a sudden change of plans at the last minute. You may need to find a new route or destination and one or more new CGs and also cancel your old reservation(s). Couple summers ago, we were due to stay at a KOA near Yellowstone and cancelled the day before due to a nearby fire. At first they weren't going to return our deposit but eventually did after DW's pleading with them about the nearby fire. That's when having a laptop & Verizon mifi really helped us find a new CG to stay at enroute back home.

An issue sometimes is finding a half decent site in a CG. Arrive on the wrong day and wrong time of day and you may well find yourself having to use a really substandard site - tight squeeze, next to the main road or dumpsters, dusty, seedy/noisy neighbors, no satellite, etc., etc.

'Course, you can always stay at a Casino, rest stop or Walmart. Camp on! :W

Oasisbob wrote:
That is true in Oregon. So hard to get a site in most nearby state parks. One reason we found is so many are finding it way cheaper to live in state parks in their RV than to rent an apartment. Last trip we met three families doing this. Who can blame them?

It would be great if RV parks tripled their rates so the ones living full time would move on.

Not sure when you are trying to make reservations, but we normally don't have a problem because: We camp in April/May or September/October. We normally don't do weekends. We will go in on a Sunday and leave on a Wednesday or Thursday. We usually stay at State or Federal parks and try to avoid the most popular ones.When making reservations, we make them months in advance of our trip. So try these things and see how it works out.

You always take a chance on site availability. I like being able to wander around 'til I find a good spot.

2oldman wrote:
Dry campgrounds in hot weather are the best bet, Su-Th. People are just too cheap to run their generators very long.

+1 and thank goodness for that! Imagine having a moron campsite neighbor running his contractor (or even a Honda) generator and A/C 24-7....

Bob Vaughn wrote:
I am convinced there are 10 times more RV's and Campers than there are campsites in America. Every time I try try to make a reservation there are no vacancies ......

We have run into this as well. Started for us last winter in Florida. Trying to make reservations a week to 2 weeks out nothing available where we wanted to go.

Tried to make reservations last part of July for Janaury and February. Some places already full and others filling up fast.

August around us was booked solid could not get to where we wanted to go.

2oldman wrote:
Nothing like somebody getting up and going to work to break the ambience of a forest campground.

Oh well..... don't camp near me then, as I often camp and commute back and forth to work from the campground, there is only so much vacation time to go around / burn through. On the days I am at a campground and do not have to go to work, I am probably heading off to the lake to fish at around 5AM, or heading out with the yak about midnight to fish and returning to the site around 4 AM. So much for the ambiance.

Veebyes wrote:
It all depends. Depends on a high demand area or not. Depends on day of the week. We left a MD SP last tuesday. Only one other camper was left in the loop. Over the weekend the electric loop was near full. The dry loop was all but empty.

That is my experience as well. Have been camping a lot since prior to the supposed sales boom, during, and after. A minumum of 55 nights from March to December yearly, and I see no noticeable difference in occupancy rates today than I had seen in 2008, at least at PA State Parks and nearby ACOE facilities.