More campers than parks

[Lightning55]

This year we have only been out in the 5th wheel 2-3 times because we can't find any places to go that haven't been sold out on the weekends. Northern CA State parks, especially on or near the coast seem to be booked solid, even this late in the year. Going east into the foothills or Sierras isn't much better.
I'd be money ahead if I rented an RV a few times a year than making a huge investment in an RV that we can't use.
Sorry for the rant but it's frustrating to watch the tires go flat on the trailer from sitting in the storage lot month after month. Is this a problem all over or just in Northern CA?

[am1958]

Lightning55 wrote:
This year we have only been out in the 5th wheel 2-3 times because we can't find any places to go that haven't been sold out on the weekends. Northern CA State parks, especially on or near the coast seem to be booked solid, even this late in the year. Going east into the foothills or Sierras isn't much better.

It's probably people all running away from the fires you have there...

Just a thought...

[mdcamping]

"More campers than parks"

We still working 40 and I do 90% of my booking in January, now except for the reservations I know I need to book a year in advance, some of which I have had hrs, minutes or seconds to book a popular campground in a preferred location, and yeah the last 5 yrs it seems to be getting worse... good for business for the rv parks/campgrounds I guess.

Were not set up for boondocking, doesn't make sense for us, especially with us still working and our present "bridge" RV :C

Mike

[2oldman]

stevennlv wrote:
Pretty much anything north of Boise along the rivers in the summer time is gorgeous.

Burley along the Snake is (was) one of my favorites.

[ajriding]

everyoe's house in CA has burnt down, they are camping from necessity, though seems their plastic trash cans survive.

[stevennlv]

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

IdaD wrote:
You're in a very populated area. Go north into Oregon or east into Nevada and you'll find all kinds of wide open spaces to camp in and explore.

Forget about Idaho, though. Nothing to see there but potato fields.

What??? You just killed our spring plans!

Twin Falls and onwards.:(

Somebody is either full of stuffing or trying to set a decoy and keep everybody away. Pretty much anything north of Boise along the rivers in the summer time is gorgeous.

Head up to McCall and check out the hot springs.

[bikendan]

Lightning55 wrote:
This year we have only been out in the 5th wheel 2-3 times because we can't find any places to go that haven't been sold out on the weekends. Northern CA State parks, especially on or near the coast seem to be booked solid, even this late in the year. Going east into the foothills or Sierras isn't much better.
I'd be money ahead if I rented an RV a few times a year than making a huge investment in an RV that we can't use.
Sorry for the rant but it's frustrating to watch the tires go flat on the trailer from sitting in the storage lot month after month. Is this a problem all over or just in Northern CA?

Actually, it's way worse in SoCal. We used to live in NorCal and SoCal. We now visit off-season.
The OP is well aware about dry camping since less than 1% of California State Parks campsites have any hookups.

Camping in California during peak times, has been difficult for decades. What has changed is now even the off-season requires reserving sites months in advance. Retirees are booking up state beach campsites for almost the entire winter.

[JAC1982]

I'd wonder how much of this issue is due to all the forest fires that have happened in Northern CA for the past couple years. Could it be some people are living out of their RVs more if they were unable to rebuild their home, or rebuilding is taking a long time, so they end up becoming nomads? Or they are construction workers up there for all the work available.

But yeah same issue here in CO, anywhere within 2 hours of Denver Metro is really hard to get into without a reservation made well in advance. It is what it is... more people, and they're not building more campgrounds.

[naturist]

Granted, most campgrounds are full on weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day, especially the popular ones. By the same token, they are pretty much ghost towns during the week. The trick, at least around here on the right coast, is to pick a campground that still has first-come-first-served, ie, unreservable sites. Then do your traveling on Tuesday-Thursday and stay put over the weekend.

For the last 5 years, I've hosted at an NFS campground that has been wildly popular for decades. About half our sites are non-reservable. Even as popular as it is, it is never full mid-week.

As for the paucity of boon docking opportunities here in the east, 'tis true they are hard to find, but they do exist, just perhaps not where you might want them to be. The Washington-Jefferson National forest not far from where we live has lots of them, some in designated campgrounds, some in "dispersed camping" some free, some charge a nominal fee. Few are easily found via the internet, however.

[ReneeG]

wgriswold wrote:

IdaD wrote:


Twin Falls and onwards.:(

I just got back from Twin Falls and visiting my sister. The bridge over the Snake River is the only bridge in the US where base jumping is legal. We saw several parachuters jump off.

We were were told that people come from all over the world to jump off the bridge. It is well worth a stop.

Perrine Bridge. A litter further east is a platform where Evil Kenevil jumped or drove off from.

[colliehauler]

Lots of great places just have to go out of your comfort zone.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Our strategy is to start early -- like in the onset of spring.

Downside, some campgrounds, specially in our favorites, the national parks, are still closed.

[Jayco-noslide]

Campgrounds do seem way more crowded than when we started in the 70's; however, I think your problem is probably pretty local. Campgrounds in large parts of the country aren't that loaded. The problem with beautiful areas with lots of attractions is that everyone wants to go there. We snowbird in Fl. and on the Gulf coast every winter but we have to reserve way ahead and go to parks that are inland and northern Fl. Still lots of great places.

[wgriswold]

IdaD wrote:


Twin Falls and onwards.:(

I just got back from Twin Falls and visiting my sister. The bridge over the Snake River is the only bridge in the US where base jumping is legal. We saw several parachuters jump off.

We were were told that people come from all over the world to jump off the bridge. It is well worth a stop.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

IdaD wrote:
You're in a very populated area. Go north into Oregon or east into Nevada and you'll find all kinds of wide open spaces to camp in and explore.

Forget about Idaho, though. Nothing to see there but potato fields.

What??? You just killed our spring plans!

Twin Falls and onwards.:(

[Lynnmor]

Yes, you can book sites months ahead of time, but where is the freedom when your life is an endless list of appointments? Many here in the east, where boon-docking is scarce, reserve sites and just tie them up in case they need them, and don't care if they forfeit the deposit. When you reserve, then you need to accept the unbearable weather that might develop at your appointed time. The freedom we had years ago is pretty much gone and with it the best experiences.