Ahhh yes the reservation systems or lack there of...
Back in the day when you wished to go camping - you just went!! There were simply more campgrounds and spots then people wanting them. Everything was first come first serve.
However on 'popular' dates/campgrounds/areas things might get more than a little troublesome. While sometimes you could 'shift' or 'pre-extend' your trip by showing up 1 then 2 and then 3 days early to get a spot there might be times when you could not do that and/or even doing that was pointless.
Then comes what we call "the parade".
The seemingly endless stream of would be campers driving though the campground(s) looking for a open spot. Sadly many/most of which will be forced to simply drive home as there is no available spots in the area at all.
IDK about the rest of you but logging a multi hour trip to simply VIEW where you can't camp and repeating it in reverse is NOT something I'd like to do - ever.
Add in the complexity that many RV's might require a minimum driveway length and can't seemingly park almost anywhere like car campers and most of us truck campers and folks start looking for and demanding reservation systems.
Around here most campgrounds have reservation systems and most have sites that are saved for FCFS campers.
Then the frustration in actually getting a reservation! With short seasons and reservation "windows" an entire campground can get fully reserved within MINUTES of the window opening!!
While more remote and primitive sites generally fill slower than easy access sites, (and some don't have reservation systems) "Boondocking" requires no reservations.
It seems to me that cancelations you always forfeit the reservation fee and if you don't cancel with enough time for someone else to reserve it, at least 1 day of rental.
- Mark0.
