Campground availability for next summer

[familyman5]

I am considering purchasing a motorhome and traveling cross-country this summer. Five years ago I took a similar trip and it was not a problem getting into campgrounds. I’ve heard that over the last several years camping has gotten much popular iand sites are hard to get. Can those of you who are out there now tell me what it looks like at the campgrounds. I am considering purchasing a 25 foot class C RV so that I can have access to more campgrounds. Do you think that I will have difficulty finding availability Iif I try to find campgrounds along the way or will I need to book well in advance? Thanks!

[ReneeG]

We rarely, if ever, make reservations, but then again we always take our annual two week trip in mid-September. We found this year easier to get in to FCFS than last year, so it's bound to keep getting easier.

[familyman5]

JoeH wrote:
" I am thinking about a diesel, class A about 25 feet long."


I don't think you'll find a Class A diesel that short

Sorry, my mistake. I meant Class C

[Veebyes]

There are lots of variables but generally Sunday to Thursday is fine to wing it. Weekends in high demand areas can use a little planning.

We did a East to West coast 13,000 mile trip this year. Made reservations for Memorial Day, Independence Day & Labour Day. That was about it. The rest of the weekends it was call a few days before the weekend or even on the thursday.

[JoeH]

" I am thinking about a diesel, class A about 25 feet long."


I don't think you'll find a Class A diesel that short

[familyman5]

Thank you for the helpful replies. This is good news because it is very similar to what it was like when we did our previous trip. Glad to hear that things are not too overcrowded.
My next step will be to find the right RV to purchase. I am thinking about a diesel, class A about 25 feet long. I have seen some that have a Murphy bed to gain extra space during the day. Does anyone have experience with some of these different models and can make a recommendation?
I have found prices to be much higher than they were five years ago. Do dealerships and individuals normally discount substantially during the winter?

[valhalla360]

Holidays and/or prime locations, reservations have always been a good idea. Likewise snowbird parks mid winter can be more challenging if you aren't flexible.

But just meandering, we haven't had any issues. Usually call ahead a few days out. Spent 7 months last winter and no issues.

[stickdog]

There are destination campgrounds which are the ones you want reservations at. Those would be National Parks or other points of interest and make reservations sometime
months in advance. Overnight stops should be secured a day or two before.
The wife hates Interstates so we travel the blue roads and find many towns or counties have rv campgrounds. We use freecampsites.net.

[stripit]

Used to full time and was out there for 8 years, never really had any issues finding spots to camp. Always used private rv parks. Got off the road for 10 years and are now going out for 3 or 4 months at a time. I have found with a 40 ft rig like we own now, we have to plan way ahead in calling for spaces for us. Parks seem to have spots for shorter units, but once you have a larger rig it can get harder. Leaving in 2 weeks for a 1000 mile drive, need 4 parks to get to the place we will sit for a while. Ended up calling 7 parks before I got the 4 spots needed.