Minnesota State Parks go reservation only for camping

[dewey02]

We have camped in MN State Parks for years and we love it.
We are also impulse campers. If we get the bug, we say "let's go camping this week." We're not the sort of people who make reservations 1 year out and then have to abide by a schedule we've set for ourselves.

This has always worked fine, because MN State Parks have always had about 60% of their campgrounds on the reservation system, and about 40% non-reservable or first come/first served. Sure, sometimes on busy weekends there are none available, but usually during the week you can get a non-reservable campsite.

But MN DNR has just announced that they are putting ALL of their campgrounds on the reservation system "as an increased service and convenience to the public."

I don't consider this a good thing. Under the old system, if you got a non-reservable site, you could decide to stay as long as you wanted (up to 14 days) just as long as you re-upped by 11 AM. But now with all slots on the reservation system, even if you find a slot that is open and claim it with a "same-day reservation" made at the park, someone else may have already reserved it for the next night, or 3 days from now and you will have to leave.

I understand that having some, or even a majority of sites on the reservation system is a good thing, and we've reserved sites when we are travelling and want to ensure a place to stay along our route. But I also think that at least some sites should continue to stay as first come, first served for those who are a bit less structured in their travels.

[DeanRIowa]

I like the idea that all sites are reservable as I am coming from out of state and need a guaranteed site. Many people around here go to a campground, place their RV one/two days ahead of time on a site, paying of course.

Dean

[rexlion]

Michigan state parks don't charge a reservation fee to those who walk in and ask about a site for that night. And MI has climate and scenery similar to MN. So all the folks who don't like the MN reservation system can drive east a bit and enjoy some great MI state parks. 😉

[monkey44]

We should never have to pay a reservation fee if we're standing in the office. Especially for one night stay. Period!

And, the sites should be available for some reservations and some walk-ins. Excluding one category of camper may be efficient and profit oriented, but that does not make it fair. The reservations systems are pushing the "every site, every fee" model purely for greed reasons.

[Tvov]

Connecticut state parks have been using Reserve America for years now. The "reservation fee" is per reservation, not per night - so if you make a reservation for 3 nights, you pay one fee, not three.

You can walk up to get a site without a reservation, but you can't escape the fee... if you walk in to the campground office to see if they have room that night (they usually do), you can "reserve" the site right then, but you still have to pay the "reservation fee" - even though you are standing there in person. Oh well.

People used to line up hours in advance to reserve prime sites, and also would "game" the system to stay on prime sites almost all summer. The online system has reduced that abuse, and allowed other people to use sites that were almost impossible to get. Some people still work to game the system, but there are always "those people".

Do I like it? I go back and forth. It has opened up many campsites that used to be virtually impossible to get, but the fees can be a bit over the top. It is better for people who need to plan in advance.

[austinjenna]

For me its great for some of our popular parks. I make a rez and know I have a site. Before I had to go to the park, and with some of our popular parks I am talking about going at 2AM and wait with the others who have already started to gather, someone would make a list of the order the folks pulled in and give it to the office when they opened. The office would give us a list of folks who have not re-upped their site yet.

Then we would walk around with that list and pick out like 5-6 sites that you would be interested in. Maybe the person would at that site might stay another day..maybe not..maybe the folks ahead of me waiting wanted that site, maybe not. It was a total crapshoot and lots of times folks left because there was nothing available. So there is nothing like wasting a lot of time to maybe get a site.

At some of our larger parks I can get in without a rez that day so I save the 8 bucks.

You will just need to change the way you camp with the new system. It makes it fair for other folks to get into these places and enjoy it as well. So your stay another day or 2 on a whim is over.

We would do the same as you if the weather was iffy, get the site for one day and see, if it turned out nice we re-upped for the day if not we left.

[daboy]

South Dakota does this as well. you can reserve 90 days in advance. I like to do things last minute and spontaneous, so most weekends I end up not going anywhere because nothing is available.

[VTLee]

It is the reservation companies that are pushing the states to do this. It is a total rip off to have to pay an extra $8 to $10 a night to some company that is doing very little. Some of these companies want the whole reservation fee up front and have a cancellation policy that keeps a big chunk of that money. Want to bet the state never sees it?

[rexlion]

Thanks dennysemn, that's great to know. I rarely make reservations, and if I can't fit into a SP along the north shore my favorite backup location is Eckbeck. I'm still safe! 🙂

[dennysemn]

rexlion wrote:
Will MN do this for their state forest CGs also, or just the state park CGs?

This would be for the state parks only. the state forests will continue as they have been:"Campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Fees are collected at the sites."

[MinnCamper]

dewey02 wrote:

MinnCamper wrote:
I guess I'm one of the people who are actually happy with this change. You should still be able to be spontaneous. Just because they can reserve all of the sites doesn't mean that all sites will be reserved. Just call the campground the day before or morning that you want to go and ask about openings. The nice thing now will be that you can reserve same day. We've called the same day and were told we couldn't reserve but could drive there and if the site was still available we could have it. I'm not willing to drive 1-2 hours to find out someone took the site a 1/2 hour before we got there. This was I can reserve that site for myself same day.

But this comment ignores one HUGE issue. The issue isn't getting an open site, it is being able to STAY on an open site. Yes, you can go to the park and might find an open site, and do a same day reservation (and they don't charge a reservation fee for that).

When some sites were non-reservable, the person in the site had control over how long they wanted to stay (up to 14 days). Now that control is taken away. Sure you might find an open site today, but tomorrow or the next day or for the weekend, that site will already have been reserved by someone else. So you will have to move to another vacant site (if there is one) and potentially only stay there for a day (if someone else has it reserved for the next day). Monkey44 has stated this has already happened to him in another State. Or you'll have to leave the park completely.

Being retired, we prefer to keep our schedule flexible. We may make a decision to go camping this week. We don't like to have to reserve months in advance. And once we get to a State Park campground, we are flexible in how long we want to stay. If the weather is forcast to be bad, we may only stay a few days. If the weather is nice and the park has lots to see and do, we may stay the full 14 days. All we had to do was to re-up each day by 11 AM. Now, that option is taken away, because others may have reserved the site (and during the summer, all of the sites especially those with electricity are ALWAYS full on the weekends).

You make a very good point that I didn't think about. Since we are not retired yet, we still need to make plans ahead of time.

[Bipeflier]

E-mail sent to MN. DNR registering my objection. We will be changing our plans to visit MN this summer and find somewhere else to spend our money.

[dewey02]

MinnCamper wrote:
I guess I'm one of the people who are actually happy with this change. You should still be able to be spontaneous. Just because they can reserve all of the sites doesn't mean that all sites will be reserved. Just call the campground the day before or morning that you want to go and ask about openings. The nice thing now will be that you can reserve same day. We've called the same day and were told we couldn't reserve but could drive there and if the site was still available we could have it. I'm not willing to drive 1-2 hours to find out someone took the site a 1/2 hour before we got there. This was I can reserve that site for myself same day.

But this comment ignores one HUGE issue. The issue isn't getting an open site, it is being able to STAY on an open site. Yes, you can go to the park and might find an open site, and do a same day reservation (and they don't charge a reservation fee for that).

When some sites were non-reservable, the person in the site had control over how long they wanted to stay (up to 14 days). Now that control is taken away. Sure you might find an open site today, but tomorrow or the next day or for the weekend, that site will already have been reserved by someone else. So you will have to move to another vacant site (if there is one) and potentially only stay there for a day (if someone else has it reserved for the next day). Monkey44 has stated this has already happened to him in another State. Or you'll have to leave the park completely.

Being retired, we prefer to keep our schedule flexible. We may make a decision to go camping this week. We don't like to have to reserve months in advance. And once we get to a State Park campground, we are flexible in how long we want to stay. If the weather is forcast to be bad, we may only stay a few days. If the weather is nice and the park has lots to see and do, we may stay the full 14 days. All we had to do was to re-up each day by 11 AM. Now, that option is taken away, because others may have reserved the site (and during the summer, all of the sites especially those with electricity are ALWAYS full on the weekends).

[monkey44]

MinnCamper wrote:
I guess I'm one of the people who are actually happy with this change. You should still be able to be spontaneous. Just because they can reserve all of the sites doesn't mean that all sites will be reserved. Just call the campground the day before or morning that you want to go and ask about openings. The nice thing now will be that you can reserve same day. We've called the same day and were told we couldn't reserve but could drive there and if the site was still available we could have it. I'm not willing to drive 1-2 hours to find out someone took the site a 1/2 hour before we got there. This was I can reserve that site for myself same day.

Yup, works fine, as long as you don't mind paying a reserve fee of about nine bucks for a night or two in a sixteen dollar site. That's the one of the REAL reasons for all reservations - Tack on a fee.

We arrived at a CG in Wyoming. We wanted a week, but could only get three sites for a couple days each, and move. "OK, we'll take it."
Twenty-seven dollars for the reserve fee for each of three sites because it wasn't the same site for a week, and we were standing right there in the office. PLUS a day-use fee each day in the park, unless we bought the annual pass for $15 more ...

[MinnCamper]

I guess I'm one of the people who are actually happy with this change. You should still be able to be spontaneous. Just because they can reserve all of the sites doesn't mean that all sites will be reserved. Just call the campground the day before or morning that you want to go and ask about openings. The nice thing now will be that you can reserve same day. We've called the same day and were told we couldn't reserve but could drive there and if the site was still available we could have it. I'm not willing to drive 1-2 hours to find out someone took the site a 1/2 hour before we got there. This was I can reserve that site for myself same day.