How to go with the flow but restricted by reservations?

[TX_JamesGang]

I realize summertime is a busy time, especially in Colorado. BUT, we are newly retired and just bought a TT and was (naively) thinking we could just drive, stop when we feel like it, stay couple days and move on to the next place but how do you have any type of 'freedom' in an RV if all the RV spots are booked up months in advance? Since we are new, I hate the thought of boondocking everywhere until we know what we're doing. We've gone on a couple of 2 nighters close to home but had hookups (and would PREFER to have hookups mostly).

How in the world can you be free when so much pre planning is needed to secure a spot? (Other than going to Colorado in the dead of winter). We plan on leaving Texas middle of ajuly and head toward Yellowstone and Washington State with no particular return date set.

Advice?

[2gypsies1]

We full-timed and traveled constantly for 16 years and rarely made reservations. The key is to be flexible, pull in early in the week and early in the day and don't limit yourselves to full hookups. Our first choice is always a public park - national, state, COE, national forest, county and city.

For the 3-day holidays we don't go where the vacationers go. We'll find a nice quiet place not near any water - lake, stream. We let the working folks have their fun. We go to those places when they leave.

Even Yellowstone and Grand Teton Nat'l Parks have plenty of campsites that aren't even reservable. Again, you need to be there early morning to get a site. Stay nearby the previous night.

Someone mentioned that you must have a big RV and that's why you want full hookups. I really don't understand that comment. Big RVs have large holding tanks so they definitely don't require full hookups. . just the opposite. We love boondocking with our 40' motorhome and our tanks can last 12 days.

It can be done. We could never do constant reservations.

[tenbear]

We have traveled coast to coast several times and many other multi-week trips and rarely reserve a site. We also usually have a FHU site. Holiday weekends in resort areas we will reserve a site but otherwise we just wing it.

We usually stop about 3 o'clock, before the crowd arrives. Rarely have we had to go to a second choice.

[skipnchar]

We traveled almost exclusively without reservations. There are a few things you can do to make this easily doable. Avoid the three big holiday weekends (those were almost the ONLY time we'd break down and reserve a campsite or RV parking spot). That being said, we also planned trips for before school is out and after it starts up again, when going to popular family places like National Parks. Weather is usually better then anyway, traffic is lighter and campgrounds are much easier to get without reservations. We always kept our PPA membership as an emergency locator, though RV Parks are our least favored place to stay. Another good resource is my "Don Wrights guide to Free and under $12.00 camping". It's a two volume set with thousands of camping opportunities that meet those criteria. The GOOD news is that NONE of them are a retail parking lot (the only place less favored than an RV park). Another tip is to leave early and arrive early. Get your travel finished for the day by early afternoon and your odds go up a lot. WE've traveled through 49 states and much of Canada using this method and so far we've been somewhere every night 🙂

[rfryer]

I don’t know what sort of RV you have, but since you prefer FHU’s I’ll guess it’s a larger one. And they don’t lend themselves well to impromptu stops. Commercial parks are you best bet. I have a little 16’ and it’s a rare event that I can’t get into the popular park campgrounds even in prime time. The HU’s are your problem, dry camping you’ll have a great many options even if the size imposes some limitations on you. And be aware FHU campgrounds in the parks are limited; there is only one campground in Yellowstone and the Tetons that have hookups. Stopping early, avoiding weekends and prime time will all give you an edge on finding a spot. But by far, willingness to dry camp will maximize your options.

[Sea_Dog]

PAThwacker wrote:
we reserve 6M to 9m in advance to camp at State Parks. The entire summer gets planned during week 1 of January.

I am happy that I do not travel with you.

We will leave in a week for a three or four week tour
of the Canadian and US east coasts.

We will not be making reservations, as I have no idea
of where we will be, or when we will get there.

About three in the afternoon, we check out the Woodalls and the
GPS to see what is in the area.

Only once, several years ago, in California,
did we hit a campground that was full,
the lady sent us up the road to one that was much better.

We prefer private campgrounds, not a fan of state or national parks,
have stayed a couple of times in Wallmarts in smaller towns,
would not try it near an American city!

[naturist]

I, too, find reservations needed only for holiday weekends, and then mostly at popular destinations. Places like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon South, Yosemite, require reservations always, but most places have open sites most of the time.

If you plan to arrive early in the day, say mid-afternoon, there's always time to look around for an alternate campground just in case the one you went to first was full. And frankly, arriving later leaves no time for a leisurely cold one before supper, and makes the whole experience too much like work.

[BB_TX]

If you want to stay IN popular parks, especially during heavy travel months, then you will have to have reservations to ensure you get to stay there. If you do not mind staying outside the parks and driving into them each day, then there are usually private parks within a reasonable drive that you can likely, but not guaranteed, get a site without a reservation. May not be a place you would prefer, but at least a place to stay.
You will just have to plan to be very flexible. Keep an RV park guide book handy and/or, if cell service is available, check rvparkreviews.com to find parks local to that area and call ahead to save driving all around looking for an opening. And in worse case, expect to maybe spend an occasional night in a parking lot somewhere.

[PAThwacker]

we reserve 6M to 9m in advance to camp at State Parks. The entire summer gets planned during week 1 of January.

[beemerphile1]

We make reservations for holidays, special events, and at busy tourist parks. Otherwise we just wing it day to day.

[time2roll]

I can't imagine all the commercial parks are filled with reservations needed.
But yes if you want to stay in national parks it is usually best to have reservations.

[CloudDriver]

Since you are retired, you have options that working folks and those with school age children don't have. Namely, to avoid the months of July and August and travel during the "shoulder" seasons of Spring and Fall, when many non-retired folks and those with children are stuck at home.

For example, we left NJ back on May 19th, arrived at Grand Teton NP on May 30th without anything but same day reservations along the way (including over the Memorial Day weekend). We then spent the first two weeks of June in Yellowstone and have been back at Grand Teton since the 16th. We do mostly first come-first served campgrounds and only go to a FHU campground when we need to dump tanks, about once a week. Not needing hookups all the time greatly increases our campground options. During our month at Yellowstone/Grand Teton, we made several same day reservations and a couple 3-5 days ahead.

It's getting crowded here now, so time to head for home for the Summer.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

It is an RV. Stop anywhere and boondock.

[dahkota]

TX.JamesGang wrote:
was (naively) thinking we could just drive, stop when we feel like it, stay couple days and move on to the next place but how do you have any type of 'freedom' in an RV if all the RV spots are booked up months in advance?
Advice?

We have been doing it since February. I have reserved ahead of time twice since then - both times we knew where we 'had' to be and it was on a weekend. If you use Sunday and Wednesday or Monday and Thursday (if moving twice per week), it is pretty easy to get walk in sites. Most places are only full on the weekends. This summer we 'walked in' to sites in Custer, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Flaming Gorge, and Dinosaur National. And those are just the big ones. Many state parks also have unreservable sites available, some with power and water.

I think your biggest problem is requiring hook-ups. But, we haven't found it difficult to stay in commercial parks with FHU as a walk in so far. In fact, they seem to be more empty on week days than the state and federal parks.

So far, the only place we have passed onis Moab. We could have had a site in a commercial park (1/2 price PA rates, even!) but could not get into Dead Horse Point or Arches at all. We skipped it and stayed at a commercial park (1/2 price PA rate!) near Bryce.

You just need to be really flexible and willing to use an app or website to see what is near where you are going. We use Passport America and USCampgrounds.info.

Good luck!

[Earl_E]

The fact is if you want the most popular campgrounds in the busiest recreational areas during the tourist season you will find it hard to go with the flow. You aren’t going to go with the flow at Yellowstone in July or August. That is the busiest time of the year.

When we full-timed we seldom made reservations. We were usually into the cg by 2 or 3 pm and could find spaces. BUT we wintered in southern AZ and had to have reservations. For me, going with the flow means accepting what is and that means accepting you can’t go the busy places during busy times.

[Old-Biscuit]

Be flexible.......

We FTd for 7 yrs. We made reservations for holiday weekends at CGs.
Otherwise we pretty much winged it for a lot of the time.......COE, fairgrounds, city parks, state/national parks (except for weekends in popular areas)

We also traveled on Mondays and stayed a week most places.......first come/first served spots.