Grand Teton Campgrounds new reservation deal

[bobsallyh]

New reservation deal in the Grand Teton NP.

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2021/01/more-campgrounds-in-grand-teton-national-park-move-to-reservat...



EDIT: Fixed link.

[Crowe]

I'm a planner so I actually prefer reservations. I don't like leaving anything to chance and it makes it much less stressful for me. I'm not that good at "on the fly" type of traveling but that may change when I get to the point when I'm not pigeonholed into just a few weeks.

[Veebyes]

Nope, not for us either. We are also travellers rather than vacationers so while we have a pretty good idea of where we are going, we don't necessarily know when we will be there.

14 years of at least 5 months on the road each year & we seldom make reservations. We have done Yellowstone & Gros Ventre 4 times. Never a reservation. Gros Ventre one time over a July 4th weekend.We arrived on the Thursday, plenty of sites, & left the following Tuesday, the place was virtually empty. The busy nights were Saturday & Sunday.

Allow reservations, yes, but hold a certain number of sites, suitable for all sizes, on a first come basis.

[Acampingwewillg]

Haven't stayed at GrosVentre in years but it was always a place you could turn to to get an overnight or longer stay at the last minute. First time I stayed their it was a Saturday afternoon in July....only place you could get into!

With reservations, I think that option will be gone.

[colliehauler]

Dislike reservations, then you have to be on a schedule. I gave up being on a schedule when I retired. I always manage to find a place to park the RV. I also try to go during the off season or shoulder season's (dislike crowds).

I understand those with limited time on vacation having a place reserved for them. Try to let these working folks have the prime season, after all there paying my SS. LOL

Might try Sturgis this spring, go to deadwood when it is dead and see the black hills and Mt Rushmore.

[ReneeG]

No thank you to Gros Ventre. Years back I would've told you yes, but we drove through this last fall to look at it again and they added sites that made the back in tight and near zero maneuverability just to drive around! Sad.

[Matt_Colie]

We are not campers as much as we are travelers, so making reservations with much advance notice is simply impossible. If we stop at or call (are cell phones great) and get told all the slips are reserved, we consult with RVparky to see if there is something in striking range. There often is not.

So, on a side note, we have gotten very good at Wallydocking, Blacktopping, Turnout Camping, Flatspoting, Sandtopping, Beachcamping and Stealth Camping. This and even a little real boondocking.

We travel as a self contained unit, so I do my best not to pay for things I might never need or actually want.

Matt

[monkey44]

The problem with ALL sites reserved, well, it's all sites reserved. Which cuts out a lot of more casual traveling campers. NO public campground should be total reservations.

I know Genie and I have asked several times at NP or ST parks if we can stay in a vacant site, only to be told no, that one's reserved, and find it empty for days at a time while we boondock and come back, to find it still empty.

There's no easy way to satisfy every one, but to go all reserve is eliminating an entire segment of campers, especially in the more popular parks. It's especially unsatisfactory for retired seniors that have the flexible dates on trips, and wish the freedom to actually Flex that schedule.

A truly fair way is some reserve sites, some first-come, permanent. And, if reserved sites are not occupied the first night, then it becomes open. That would eliminate those reservations that purposely reserve multi-sites, then pick the one that works for them, and ignore the others which often remain open but unused.

[bukhrn]

Good for Some, but will be despised by others, as I saw no mention of keeping a portion of the sites open to FCFS, I personally like the reservations, last time we were at Gros Ventre, we waited about 2 hours to get a site in D loop.