Any hints to score a reservation on Recreation.gov

Make your reservation to arrive a day earlier. I'm guessing you are trying to reserve a site starting on Friday. Instead, book it for Thursday arrival.

We have to book exactly six months in advance at a popular local state park for Wednesday arrival when they have special events.

We have been doing the same thing. But we finaly timed it right and found an opening. A fast computer seems to help. Not sure why the fast computer helped but that's bern my experience.

I have never experienced an issue when I was booking at the window opening. I have noticed at times it would not go through immediately but would a few minutes later

All good replies. Yes we have been attempting to book at the maximum allowable booking window, 6 months and then you can reserve an additional 13 or 14 days from that date. We're all over it the first day that a site in that campground comes available. We've went so far as to have 3 family members on different computers with the USNO clock running in an adjacent window and then staggering when we hit the BOOK NOW button. One will go 2 seconds early, one will go 1 second early and the last one will hit right on time. The person that hits 3 seconds early usually get the TRY LATER message while the others get INVENTORY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE message. It doesn't appear that there's really any trick other than to keep trying. Thanks for your responses.
Al

Keep checking back... Cancellations do happen!

Hard to grasp why you are having this problem. We have to deal with it. Only way to get a reservation. Keep trying.
One of our favorite Oregon state parks (ainsworth) began requiring reservations beginning 8Am on a Monday. I checked availability the night prior and found several sites already taken. I asked the reservations folks how this could be? They had no idea. What a sad joke on us

Book midweek camping. Book late in the reservation window, even extending a bit into the next period. Book less days, just one day taken eliminates your search space availability. Have several computers trying for several sites.

Good luck.

Oasisbob wrote:
I checked availability the night prior and found several sites already taken. I asked the reservations folks how this could be? They had no idea.

Makes ya go HMMMMM doesn't it!!!


The popular ones in North Idaho are snapped up immediately and show as booked solid all summer up to the maximum booking window date. I'll just keep plugging away at it, nothing more to do I guess but I still wonder if anything goes on behind the scenes at the reservation agencies that we aren't aware of.
Al

smkettner wrote:
Book midweek camping. Book less days, just one day taken eliminates your search space availability.

I appreciate the thoughts, however, whatever one chooses for search criteria, one can still see what is available and when when a site will come available by using the DATE RANGE AVAILABILITY tab. ;)
Al

I too have asked myself this question. I am just guessing, but it may be that people are making reservations over the phone. I have run into this too many times for it to be a computer issue on my side. If it's not that, then maybe their system just defaults to none available right at the 6mo mark when too many people are trying to get on to book - example, 10 people max on their system at any one time, default to nothing available. Try back in a few hours or even a day and see if you still have the problem. That would be my only advice.