COE campground change?

Thank you for the additional information and the link, PawPaw n Gram.

And the reason given for the reservation change? Well we have seen this first hand, year after year, especially at Fisherman's Corner. I am amazed someone with authority looked into the situation and did something to try and correct it. I applaud them for their effort.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
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The main reason the number of 'First Come First Served' sites are converted to reservation sites by the local Corps district is complaints from campers. Complaints about not being able to get a site without arriving mid-week; complaints about people saving sites for others (i.e. arriving Wed and paying for three sites, but only using one until Friday when two friends arrive); complaints about campground staff giving preferential sites to their friends; etc.

And I don't particularly like making reservations, accept when absolutely necessary. Being retired, we never adhere to a strict schedule. But we completely understand the reason it has become necessary for this C.O.E. change and totally agree with it.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:


If you want information about individual campgrounds and changes or to just make your opinions know - call the district or project office which runs the campgrounds.

For the two mentioned by the OP - it is the Mississippi River Project.

I see one press releases concerning the campgrounds and changes so that all "Class A" campsites will be reservable. But as with all reservable sites, people will be able to get those sites on a FCFS basis as long as the site isn't reserved during their planned stay.

Recreation Updates - Jan 15, 2015

I have tried calling the Corp offices in both Thomson and Rock Island on Friday. I left phone messages but have not heard back from them.

I want to thank you for the link. I had been googling looking for some kind of publication of the changes. This is the first one I've read. Wish I had known this earlier. We have no chance of camping at either campground for Memorial weekend as they are booked.

Johno02 wrote:
Reservation internet sites are not government, but a private concessionaire. A good portion of the reservation fee goes to the reservations service. Need we say more??

The reservation service gets a standard fee for each reservation handled. A tiny part of the reservation. Less than $2 for each reservation for the Corps of Engineers contract - which is a public document you can get with a FOIA request. Copying fees run about $25 due to the size of the contract.

Yes, adding more sites to the reservations pool does potentially increase the income for the contractor - Reserve America.

The main reason the number of 'First Come First Served' sites are converted to reservation sites by the local Corps district is complaints from campers. Complaints about not being able to get a site without arriving mid-week; complaints about people saving sites for others (i.e. arriving Wed and paying for three sites, but only using one until Friday when two friends arrive); complaints about campground staff giving preferential sites to their friends; etc.

Another reason is the campground attendant contractors / volunteers complaining about problems with too many people wanting too few campsites.

Reservations are easier to manage, cheaper for the Corps due to usually less manpower involved. The individual Corps districts have almost zero contact with Reserve America other than the daily reports and could care less about how much RA gets paid. It doesn't come out of their campground income.

Now, some Corps district offices are getting fed up with campers complaining and moving toward contracting out the operation of campgrounds to companies like RRM. That usually puts more sites into the reservation pool and fewer FCFS sites.

Some others lease out campgrounds to agencies like city, county and state governments. These campgrounds disappear from the national reservations pool, their management and reservations being handled by those agencies.

If you want information about individual campgrounds and changes or to just make your opinions know - call the district or project office which runs the campgrounds.

For the two mentioned by the OP - it is the Mississippi River Project.

I see one press releases concerning the campgrounds and changes so that all "Class A" campsites will be reservable. But as with all reservable sites, people will be able to get those sites on a FCFS basis as long as the site isn't reserved during their planned stay.

Recreation Updates - Jan 15, 2015

bobsallyh wrote:
Johno02 has it right. Just do the math on reservable site numbers and the take that the vendor gets. No, he doesn't get it all but a big chunk. Then check out how much you lose if you cancel. This happened two years ago at the Forest Service's Swan Lake, MT. campground. A new contractor got the bid to operate the CGs and immediately some unreservable sites became reservation only. And they took the nicest unreservable sites and changed them to reservable only.

This is what they did at both COE campgrounds. The sites that were not reservable were the most sought after.

Johno02 has it right. Just do the math on reservable site numbers and the take that the vendor gets. No, he doesn't get it all but a big chunk. Then check out how much you lose if you cancel. This happened two years ago at the Forest Service's Swan Lake, MT. campground. A new contractor got the bid to operate the CGs and immediately some unreservable sites became reservation only. And they took the nicest unreservable sites and changed them to reservable only.

Reservation internet sites are not government, but a private concessionaire. A good portion of the reservation fee goes to the reservations service. Need we say more??

As demand increases for a park I've seen this happen for State Parks. Camping is becoming more popular all the time.

rv2go wrote:

3oaks wrote:
We find The Brothers Family Restaurant just a few miles north on Rt 84 in Rapids City, IL, a great place to eat. Good food, good service, and big portions. And you can't beat the low price. :)

You fail to mention there is RV parking across the street between the railroad tracks and street.

I see you know that restaurant well, too.

I had that on my mind as I was typing my reply but inadvertently left it out. :R

We use the RV parking lot in the morning when we are leaving the area. All packed and ready to go after having breakfast at Brothers.

Great news!! thanks for the heads up...we prefer having reservations...hopefully they'll all follow suit...Dennis

Just talked to the ranger at one of our favorite National Forest Service campgrounds, and he told me that this year for the first time sites in that campground will be on the reservation system. Perhaps this is more widespread than just COE campgrounds?