Should I make reservations or wing it?

[SteveWoz]

This might be the most general of general questions but since I'm a relative newbie - at least in terms of owning a motorhome - I really want the opinions of more experienced RVers. I'm planning a 3-week family trip this summer starting at home in CT and heading west to at least the Montana Rockies, but possibly all the way to the West Coast. I figure it will take 4 or 5 days to get to MT traveling at a comfortable pace. I'm wondering whether you all recommend making campground reservations along the way and in MT or is it safe to make decisions about where to stop on a daily basis. I figure boondocking is always an option. I know there are a countless variables but this question is already fairly long.

Thanks in advance!

[Airdaile]

Nothing ruins an RV trip like having to be somewhere at a particular time.

[MarkTwain]

RVing without reservations across country requires what Mark Twain called "A high level of tolerance for Ambiguity". Making and planning with reservations is not the same as getting married, having open heart surgery or having kids, reservations can be cancelled or changed with a simple phone call. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by making reservations for your RV trip. When making reservations, always as what the RV parks cancellation policy is.

[ken56]

It took losing my reservation money 2 times to learn a lesson. Never make reservations for an overnight, there is always a place to park. Get the RVPARKY app. on your phone. We start looking at about 1 or 2pm for a park to stay at an estimated distance to get off the road at around 4pm. Makes for a nice relaxed evening. The app has all the info you need.


For your destination and stays over 3-4 days make reservations and plan accordingly to make it there on time.

[wanderingaimles]

Without knowing what you and your group like, it's rather difficult to make suggestions, but I will offer how we have approached it usually.
We try to get 250-300 miles a day, we generally didn't travel more than two days before we took a day off. Theme park, beach, something to get everyone (kids mainly) out and moving, and then we would roll another day or two. And the shorter travel days left time for the kids to hit a pool or to stop and shop as needed.

Dont race across the country unless you really have to, taking your time, unplanned stops at interesting locations builds better memories than a pre programmed trip which if one thing doesn't go as planned, then forces you to race like crazy to get back on schedule.
Take your time and enjoy the family.

[Ivylog]

Agree with the above post and forget the West Coast with only 3 weeks. Does your wife drive your rig and how old are the kids? I would plan on going through Chicago at night...after 9PM even leaving Friday evening if that gets you there at that time. Since you are self contained I would wing it once past Chicago.

Will do 3 months again this summer out West without any advanced reservations. We move and resupply on the weekends when public CGs are more likely to be full...dry camp Monday to Friday unless it’s a long weekend then may stay put.

Even driving 500 miles/day you will use a week of your 3 coming and going. I still do the 1500 miles to CO in two days staying at a Sams on the one night.

[Veebyes]

Wing it & make reservations. Is that clear? Wing it Sun-Thur. Make reservations for the weekends. Watch out for special event CG demand. Always easier to get dry camping sites e.g. in Grand Teton NP Gros Ventre CG is mostly dry. Hardly ever full.

[timmac]

SteveWoz wrote:
This might be the most general of general questions but since I'm a relative newbie - at least in terms of owning a motorhome - I really want the opinions of more experienced RVers. I'm planning a 3-week family trip this summer starting at home in CT and heading west to at least the Montana Rockies, but possibly all the way to the West Coast. I figure it will take 4 or 5 days to get to MT traveling at a comfortable pace. I'm wondering whether you all recommend making campground reservations along the way and in MT or is it safe to make decisions about where to stop on a daily basis. I figure boondocking is always an option. I know there are a countless variables but this question is already fairly long.

Thanks in advance!

I wing it till I am close to where I will spend a couple nights or more, but Montana in the summer the campgrounds will get full, I know cause last summer I had a hard time getting the good campgrounds, never went without a campground but the ones I wanted were booked out and full for weeks.

[Big_Katuna]

I apologize, I didn’t answer your question.

We rarely do reservations while moving as I hate to have a mileage deadline BUT we rarely drive past 4-5 o’clock. Once we know where we’re going to land, we start looking for places on Google or a book and are off the road before most people stop.

I also dislike backing and setting up in the dark.

I have seen parks fill up after we checked in. And you can usually pick out a nicer spot.

For your destination at places like Black Hills, you better book ahead. Watch out for festivals like Sturgis Bike Week, Baloon festivals, etc.

Join Passport, too.

Now that were retired, we always stay two nights and explore the next day and extend if we find stuff I want to see.

I rest better knowing I can sleep in and not have move in the AM.

[gbopp]

If you're anywhere near Chicago, plan on line delays in traffic.

[Big_Katuna]

Three weeks out west and back isn’t a vacation, it’s running a Marathon.

You’ll be driving past a bunch of places that many people go to on purpose.

Five to seven days is about right for the Black Hills which would let you stop and two nights a few times each way to break up the drive.

Or maybe a few days driving in Yellowstone. Stay in Cody.

You should also plan on losing a day or two for mechanical repair.

Some places in between is Amish Country in Ohio, also Warther Carving Museum in Dover OH.

[Johno02]

When we first started, we travelled far and wide with no reservations, stayed at a lot of state parks and COE campgrounds with no problems. Now, however, with the increase in RV travelers, reservations are almost required for weekends. Plenty of places during the week, but weekends are almost impossible. Many places sit empty during every week because all the sites are reserved for two days, weekend only, so you have to leave and go to Walmart for the weekend. And many places will only take three day or more reservations for weekends. Many private campgrounds still do have some weekends available, but either call first or make reservations far in advance.

[Johno02]

When we first started, we travelled far and wide with no reservations, stayed at a lot of state parks and COE campgrounds with no problems. Now, however, with the increase in RV travelers, reservations are almost required for weekends. Plenty of places during the week, but weekends are almost impossible. Many places sit empty during every week because all the sites are reserved for two days, weekend only, so you have to leave and go to Walmart for the weekend. And many places will only take three day or more reservations for weekends. Many private campgrounds still do have some weekends available, but either call first or make reservations far in advance.

[jplante4]

Very aggressive schedule. I would recommend dropping the west coast idea and make your destination Glacier NP and the Grand Tetons. That would be five 10 hour days to get there and 5 to get back, leaving 10 days for exploring and a couple for just in case. You won't be seeing anything on the way there and back besides rest areas and gas stations and rolling into a campground late and leaving early won't make you any fiends. Use freecampsites.net to find a place to pull over every 500 miles. It'll get easier the further west you get. I think you'll find that after 5 hours of driving, it won't seem like a vacation.

For a comparison, we set out on the same trip last summer. From Cape Cod out to Ohio, then up to the UP of Michigan and out US2 to Glacier and Puget Sound. Of course being retired, we set a leisurely pace of 4-5 hours on the road then staying somewhere for 2 or 3 days. We set aside 11 weeks out and back and didn't make it to Glacier because of fires. We didn't have reservations anywhere when we started, but instead made reservations about a week in advance. The only time we didn't get into where we wanted was Labor Day Weekend.

I'm a big fan of winging it, but as other have mentioned, if you're going to popular places over a summer weekend, you should book it now.

[lhenry8113]

We wing it. We are members of Good Sam, KOA and Passport America. I check these 3 Websites/Guide Books to see if there are recommended campgrounds n our route for the following day-within 250-400 miles of driving each day. Usually there is a variety of campgrounds and I start phoning. We have ended up at some really great campgrounds that we wouldn't have thought of otherwise. We always try to arrive at a campground 3-5:00. That way, if we don't like the site assigned to us we can look around to find 1 that fits our needs better. Also, we have a smaller Class C now so there is a larger variety of sites available to us.

[bikendan]

If you plan on staying in popular areas, in the summertime, make reservations.
You may already out of luck, at some popular places, for this summer.