CG Reservations during Peak Season when Arrival Dates Change

In Shenandoah, if you will be showing up on the weekend, you may need reservations. If you show up on Sunday afternoon, you will probably have many sites to chose from, as there are many walk-in sites there.

I highly recommend Ricketts Glen State Park in PA. The waterfalls are absolutely beautiful with fall color.

Typically, I look at the reservation sites when I decide I will be going in that direction. If there are already few sites left, I will make a reservation. Or, if I know I 'must have' a particular site, I will reserve it (Site 180 in big meadows, for example) any chance I can. If there are plenty of sites available, I will wait until my plans firm up or I see that the sites are filling.

We've rarely made reservations in 16 years of full-timing and have never been turned away. We pull in early afternoon and don't move around on the weekends. We couldn't imagine being on such a strict schedule. Sometimes you might want to stay longer and sometimes it wasn't what you expected and want to move on after a night.

If you feel the need for reservations, make them from your previous stop when you can better judge when your next arrival will be.

We just bite the bullet. I don't like showing up in popular campgrounds or tourist areas w/o a reservation. I've seen too many instances of people turned away in those instances, or having to settle for something really unsuited for them.

Cancellation fees are a fact of life at many RV parks. If you do not want to pay the fee and are not absolutely sure about the timing, then best not to make reservations. And hope you can find something else in the area.

Changing arrival dates can also be problematic in popular areas. Calling to change the arrival date to three days earlier or later than originally planned and you may find they are already booked for those days and you are out of luck for that park.

As noted, you can almost always find some place in the general area to stay, but it may not be the most desirable place to stay. And in worse case, you may be in a Walmart parking lot.

In our area if you want to stay at state parks in the best spots then you have to reserve far in advance and jump through all the hoops.
Our entire camping season is reserved 9 months in advance - and sometimes more. I like it because it gives me something to look forward to.

On a trip like that we almost never make reservations more than a day ahead of time. We've never not had a place to stay, although once in a great while we didn't get our first choice of campgrounds.