Walk-up only

[Minnesota_is_Ho]

Hubby and I love taking our kids camping in the fall. However, there seem to be an abundance of state parks/ COE cg's that are "walk up only". We have one park nearby that is stringent with the rule that you have to be there with your camper on Fridays to claim a spot. Others are more relaxed, you can call in to reserve a same-day spot. Do any of you run into this and are there strategies? I would hate to drive 1+ hours to a park just to find out it's full.

[campigloo]

2gypsies; we are getting familiar with the old part, just not quite the retired part. Can't wait to try it out! 13mths to go.

[2gypsies1]

First-Come, First-Served (Walk-up) is how everyone camped years ago 🙂 - all summer long, and it seemed to work. We were never turned away.

Many public campgrounds have this policy nowdays beginning the day after Labor Day and early spring. Many times if you try to reserve a site online, you'll see "not available" on the sites. That doesn't mean the campground is full; that means they are now not accepting reservations. If you see this during the summer that means those sites are for "Walk-up" only. Most national parks and national forests put aside a certain percentage of sites for those without reservations (walk-up).

Someone mentioned "Walk-IN" sites. They are definitely for tenters.

Your best bet is to first call the park to see how full they are. Then try to arrive either Thursday or Friday morning for a weekend spot. Chances are sites from Sunday evening thru Friday morning will be readily available. This is how we get the majority of sites all summer long. We rarely make reservations. Sometimes it's good to be old and retired. You can be flexible. 🙂 Good luck!

[GordonThree]

Now that off-season is here in Michigan, several of the State govt campgrounds I have visited showed as sold-out on the reservation system, but were almost empty in real life. The last two I visited, I didn't even have to check-in. Just picked a site, dropped my registration and check in the slot and enjoy the weekend.

However, I know some State CGs show as sold out and they really are, like Ludington State Park, that sucker is still packed. Confusing!

[camperpaul]

When I was hosting at IBSP, we had 192 FCFS campsites and 44 reservable campsites.

In a typical week we would be full on Thursday afternoon. A lot of people would come in as early as Tuesday to set up camp thus making sure they had a site for the weekend.

When RA took over the reservations, the ratio res:FCFS changed to 212 reservable and 24 FCFS.

The campground is now a ghost town Monday through Friday.

[jason4598]

Walk up and walk in are two different situations. Tricked me the first time I dealt with it.

[deleted-2]

Lots of camping grounds are going into "walk-up" now that the high altitude season is coming to close.

We drove up to Sugar Pine (Giant Gap) last week.
Normally packed...pretty empty on a Monday.
Only about 2-4 weeks left to the end of season depending.

[jason4598]

Most parks I go to, would not sell out in the fall.

[Dakzuki]

I understand "walk in" sites to be for people on foot or bike. Non reservable sites are just that...first come. That's the way it is around here.

[camperdave]

We had a local place that used to be like that, I hated it. I would have to drive out there Thursday after work with the trailer, get a spot, then come back home for work on Friday. Then drive back out again with the family Friday night. If you came out Friday night, odds were 50/50 of getting a site, a risk I could not really take. It switched over to reservation some years ago, much better for me personally.

[korbe]

Oh. I was confused. I thought, "walk up only" meant tents only, and no RV's.

[beemerphile1]

If you call ahead they should be able to tell you if they have vacancies. They should NOT hold walkup sites for someone.

Another way of saying it is 'first come, first served'.

If you want to be sure of getting a site, go on Thursday or even Wednesday. We have done it, drive to work from the campground on Friday and when you return there is no set up needed because you did it yesterday!