Which do you prefer & why? Texas SPs just have "loop" reservations not sites. I have been trying for 6 years to get a lakeside site at a certain SP without any luck. I asked the Ranger this time what was the trick & she said " get here early. Very VERY early". And then she told me about a man just this past weekend who camped out in their lobby from 3-8 AM just so he could get a lakefront site. Ummmm I don't want one THAT bad!!

With 2 kids and a wife relying on me to make sure we have a place to stay on arrival, we do NOT just show up and hope for a spot.Picking a particular site vs just grabbing whichever one pops up first as "available" depends on the CG for us. I had to make reservations at several parks this year that we've never been to before. I tried to find pictures online or to get site recommendations here but most of the time I just picked one.Waiting 5 hours for a heavenly spot for a week's stay would stink but probably sooo worth the earned brownie points(;

I have ALWAYS admired the way Texas parks handle reservations. they make sure you have a site but it's first come, first served as to which site you get. Can't think of ANYTHING that is more fair than that.That's the opinion of one who uses campgrounds as a TRAVEL stop over and if I lived locally I may have a different opinion (or a better alarm clock :) )

We have always made reservations. I think the only place that comes to mind that I have not had a specific site reservation is when we stay in KOA's and Lakewood in Myrtle Beach. Every where else, it's always been a specific site. I like it that way. I like using satellite maps and see where the sites are and what their near. That way, I know ahead what to expect. If there is a picture of a specific site online, I will try and find it.

Much prefer a site, if we are familiar with the park. Some are larger then others. There is a specific state park where we go in Florida that has a hand full of large sites, but in the same park most of them are on top of each other, and we get a little worried when some idiot has a fire going three feet from the side of our trailer, or has their dogs leashed so close that they are doing their business on our site We won't even go to that park unless we can get the larger sites that we knowJack L

We prefer site reservations. We like just because we are "planners", and figure out everything in advance. Also, when we return to campgrounds, we usually have preferred campsites. I think I kinda sorta disagree with skipnchar, I think site reservations are "more fair" as I don't have the time and availability to "campout" at a front office to wait for the doors to open to get a site. By reserving, all sites are available to everyone. To avoid people "hogging" sites, our local state park has time limits on sites, you can only stay on a campsite for 2 weeks at a time, then you have to move to a different site. skipnchar:"That's the opinion of one who uses campgrounds as a TRAVEL stop over and if I lived locally I may have a different opinion (or a better alarm clock ) "-- yep, I'm one o' them locals!The only campground we've ever been to that doesn't do site specific reservations is Fort Wilderness in Disney World - but I am not sure if there is a bad site there!

Site-specific Ressies or whatever's available? Preference?

21 Replies

Ron8877
Explorer
Jun 14, 2013
When we were managing the last campground we assigned everyone a site when they made their reservation. This is fine if you aren't full but like someone else said if you are full then it can cause a problem. Say that you call on April 1 and want site 20 for 2 weeks starting Aug. 15. That is all fine and dandy but then someone calls and wants the same site for a month starting July 17 ending July 16. They can't have this site because it is already reserved starting the 15th. The only way to accommodate both of you is for one of you to move during your stay. The person who has come for a moth doesn't want to move and neither do you. So since you made the reservation first then the other person has to move. Now since they don't want to go through the hassle of moving just for 1 or 2 nights they say the hack with it, I will find a park where I don't have to move. So now because of 1or 2 nights I have lost a whole months site rent. Not good for the campground. The busier a campground is the more of a problem the site specific reservation problem is. There isn't a fair and equatable solution to this problem, that I can see.
Ron
ddndoug
Explorer
Jun 14, 2013
For those of us for whom retirement age still has not been achieved,... We rely on reservable sites so that we can get a decent site. Were we usually camp they have about half reservable /half non-res (truly first come - first served, which is different than the OP is asking about). We may not get out of work until 5pm on a Friday, so if there are no reservable sites, we look elsewhere. Plan and simple.

Doug
SC_camper
Explorer
Jun 14, 2013
We like site reservations. I can pick the site that will best fit our needs before we get there. Some sites have better boat access, nice swimming or not right next to the road ect. We dont like sites that are stacked up like parking lot spots, and I dont like sitting at the campfire with lanterns burning the night woods up. Most of the campgrounds we frequent have site reservations and we have campground maps with sites we like circled.

The folks I know, that go to campgrounds with section reservations, set their equipment up on Wed or Thurs and dont really start camping until Fri after work.
wannavolunteerF
Explorer
Jun 12, 2013
Georgia reserves site types, and you then choose your specific site when you arrive. As for the poster who commented on someone getting a big site, so they couldn't fit, GA may list 25 ft, 35 ft and 45 ft types.. or some similar numbers.. Some parks don't have site types, because all are at least the same fairly large size.. One of my favorites is that way, and all the sites are at least 50 ft.

the site specific sites are hard to reserve if you don't know anything about the sites... I have spent many hours trying to find a site at at FL state park, because I had to check the size of each site individually on a busy weekend. and I have run into finding a site that was available for one day and then another two spots down that was available for the next. So because everyone picked their favorite (and their almost identical) I am without, unless I want to spend half my time moving from site to site.
Lantley
Nomad
Jun 12, 2013
happybooker1 wrote:
Mountain Mama wrote:
What really gripes me about(some;I don't know if they all allow this or not)TX SPs is that you can be there bright and early WITHOUT your rig, select your site and put the receipt on the post and leave. NO equipment has to be on the site!!! SO I would call the ranger back and see if you have to have equipment there or not...Maybe you can do that at that park.

Since I live 4 hours away from THIS park (Inks Lake -- which is always nice & one of the few "constant level" lakes in TX. Which means droughts don't affect it). So going without equipment would not be possible for me.

And I think some people misunderstood the question to mean "you just drive to a park & walk-in, hoping for a site." I meant I HAVE reservations for a certain 'type' of site. Just when I get to the park I choose from what's vacant AT THAT TIME in that category. Sorry for the confusion. I guess I worded my explanation wrong.

Yes I understood the OP to mean they reserve a spot to fit your rig. But not an exact spot. You get to choose from available vacant sites that will accommodate your RV
happybooker1
Explorer
Jun 12, 2013
Mountain Mama wrote:
What really gripes me about(some;I don't know if they all allow this or not)TX SPs is that you can be there bright and early WITHOUT your rig, select your site and put the receipt on the post and leave. NO equipment has to be on the site!!! SO I would call the ranger back and see if you have to have equipment there or not...Maybe you can do that at that park.

Since I live 4 hours away from THIS park (Inks Lake -- which is always nice & one of the few "constant level" lakes in TX. Which means droughts don't affect it). So going without equipment would not be possible for me.

And I think some people misunderstood the question to mean "you just drive to a park & walk-in, hoping for a site." I meant I HAVE reservations for a certain 'type' of site. Just when I get to the park I choose from what's vacant AT THAT TIME in that category. Sorry for the confusion. I guess I worded my explanation wrong.
Mountain_Mama
Explorer
Jun 12, 2013
What really gripes me about(some;I don't know if they all allow this or not)TX SPs is that you can be there bright and early WITHOUT your rig, select your site and put the receipt on the post and leave. NO equipment has to be on the site!!! SO I would call the ranger back and see if you have to have equipment there or not...Maybe you can do that at that park.
magnusfide
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2013
wanderingbob wrote:
I worked in a CG that would not let you reserve a specific site ! The main reason for that policy was , suppose you wanted site # 12 , the camper in there left on Wednesday and you wanted it on Saturday . We could not let it set empty for three days just because that you wanted it .

Precisely.
wanderingbob
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2013
I worked in a CG that would not let you reserve a specific site ! The main reason for that policy was , suppose you wanted site # 12 , the camper in there left on Wednesday and you wanted it on Saturday . We could not let it set empty for three days just because that you wanted it . We might have a camper sitting there with cash in hand wanting that site . Popular sites sell without reservations . We have many times suggested that you might pay the down time to hold your spot , many did just that .
mowermech
Explorer
Jun 12, 2013
Around here, we don't have that problem. There are very few reservable sites in State Parks or USFS campgrounds; at least, the ones we are likely to use. Some USFS campgrounds have reservable GROUP sites, but individual sites are mostly "First Come, First Served", and if you pay for a site you must occupy that site the first night.
Of course, there are exceptions, as always.