Reservations only ??

[JCR-1]

RV's selling like mad, population is expanding like mad, and campgrounds are not. Seemingly every family has a camper of sorts these days and the Campgrounds are filled to capacity months in advance. In some cases you need to make a reservation a year ahead of time. Look out Wally world soon to be your problem.. I see more and more signs that say no overnight parking..but not sure if that means no unattended vehicles and just disclaimer that we can tow your car. I have even seen some folks unhitch , slides out and go sightseeing for the day. The day is coming = No mas !!

[Community Alumni]

#1nobby wrote:

proxim2020 wrote:

Walmart does crack down on those who abuse their overnighting policy. There's tons of videos on Youtube where Walmart has called out the police to clear their lots. These people were obviously living or camping in Walmart's parking lot. I don't really have sympathy for these people. Sam Walton wanted to give RVs a place to get off the interstate and rest for the evening, not a home or a campground.

Whitehorse, Yukon.

The Walmart lot in the summer is FULL of campers on the perimeter of the lot......lots of TTs with NO TOW VEHICLE in sight!!
Conservatively...at least 30 "campers".

It's up to the local managers to decide if they want their lots cleared or not. When you're the only one around in a town with population 26k and you have 9 times that in tourist visiting, I can see plenty of dollar signs.

[JCR-1]

Herein lies the problem.. More campers than campsites.. Maybe out west things are a bit better for boondocking but east coast is packed to the gills and Walmart seems to be their only refuge.. and of course there are those that simply will take advantage of any freebie. All good things usually come to an end.I have even seen people living in their cars , trailers and even prostitutes working . I have stayed overnight and had vagrants knocking on my door looking for food. Not good !!! Most Walmarts are great , and hope they will be for us in the future so lets be good Stewarts.

[_1nobby]

proxim2020 wrote:

Walmart does crack down on those who abuse their overnighting policy. There's tons of videos on Youtube where Walmart has called out the police to clear their lots. These people were obviously living or camping in Walmart's parking lot. I don't really have sympathy for these people. Sam Walton wanted to give RVs a place to get off the interstate and rest for the evening, not a home or a campground.

Whitehorse, Yukon.

The Walmart lot in the summer is FULL of campers on the perimeter of the lot......lots of TTs with NO TOW VEHICLE in sight!!
Conservatively...at least 30 "campers".

[rbpru]

Out west we were roaming from place to place and decided to see the London Bridge. We discovered that Spring Break was on so we had to call ahead.

If you go to a place that is a popular destination when the travel season is on you will need reservations. Even our state parks fill up on Halloween and the forth of July.

Nothing mystical here, just folks wanting a good time.

I will say the Good Sam's campground website has saved us a lot of hunting for sites from time to time.

[ppine]

I am retired and like the off season and mid-week. Nevada is 87% public land. In July and August we mostly avoid public places and boondock camp only.

[gheicher]

One reason I bought a TT was to travel without making reservations and as many have pointed out, that is becoming increasingly difficult. The camping business is going the way of the airlines and due to increased volume and tighter profits, for the consumer it is a much less enjoyable experience. Many of us would like to see the "good ole days" but probably not going to happen.

[Community Alumni]

When it comes to expansion, the opposite is true in Texas. The State has recognized the growing need for expansion and upgrades by allocation 94 percent of the sales tax on sporting goods and recreation to the parks system. That's really good news because for years the park system had been grossly underfunded. There's 5 new state parks going up on acquired land and a laundry list of new construction projects within existing parks.

Some of the popular parks fill up with reservations, but if you watch it close enough then you can catch when someone has canceled. A lot of times you can just show up to the gate, ask, and there's a canceled reservation that never made it back into the main system or there's overflow sites available that aren't reservable. Not something I recommend if you're coming from hundreds of miles way to get to your once a year vacation, but the option is typically there nevertheless.

I don't think Walmart as a whole will ever change their policy allowing overnighting. Really it works in their favor. I would say that most of those who overnight at Walmart will go in to buy something; I know I do. A lot of those signs you see actually come from the municipality which have ordinances against overnighting in parking lots. From what I see, they're seldomly enforced by the local government.

Walmart does crack down on those who abuse their overnighting policy. There's tons of videos on Youtube where Walmart has called out the police to clear their lots. These people were obviously living or camping in Walmart's parking lot. I don't really have sympathy for these people. Sam Walton wanted to give RVs a place to get off the interstate and rest for the evening, not a home or a campground.

[CavemanCharlie]

I kinda like the local parks that don't take reservations at all. They are a first come first serve basis. They have a 7 day stay limit.

There are a few local parks that take reservations for the year on Jan. 1st. These are also the parks that are mostly seasonal campers. They have like 1 or 2 spots for non-seasonal campers. Those spots are then reserved by the seasonal people. I don't like that fact that these are "public" parks that my taxes go to maintain and then only a few people get to enjoy them.

MN state parks now have same day reservations. The holiday weekends are full. But, any other weekend you have a chance to get in because someone might cancel.

Iowa state parks are 3 months out for reservations. But, only about half of the Iowa camping spots at their parks are reservable. The other half is first some fist serve.

SD state parks are 3 months out for reservations. But, you can cancle up to 2 weeks in advance so if you keep checking you can often find someone who changed their mind and cancelled.

I've never been anywhere else so I don't know how it is done in other places.

[NYCgrrl]

JCR-1 wrote:
RV's selling like mad, population is expanding like mad, and campgrounds are not. Seemingly every family has a camper of sorts these days and the Campgrounds are filled to capacity months in advance. In some cases you need to make a reservation a year ahead of time. Look out Wally world soon to be your problem.. I see more and more signs that say no overnight parking..but not sure if that means no unattended vehicles and just disclaimer that we can tow your car. I have even seen some folks unhitch , slides out and go sightseeing for the day. The day is coming = No mas !!

I interpret no overnight parking to mean attended or unattended.

No way I'd camp during high season's weekends or holidays w/o a reservation. In most of the coastal areas it sounds like a recipe for disaster complete with in-vehicle snark about who planned this trip, LOL.
Since we are semi-retired and live in a temperate zone, I find it simple to make reservations far in advance and just as easy to change 'em as needed.

Most people with small children around know the school and work schedules and can plan in advance as well.

I suspect I'm used to planning certain aspects of my life out and am not a true spur of the moment person on this level.

[mtofell1]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

falconbrother wrote:
Man, we came so close to getting burned not making reservations. We were going to the mountains, like we had done many times. But, it was a big weekend, like Labor Day or something. We got to the campground and they were sold out. But, someone on one of the long term sites have moved their camper for the weekend, so they allowed us to stay there. We never travel without reservations.

I would also agree that there's not enough campgrounds. For example, Wilmington NC. The only campground there is the KOA and they are landlocked. It's a great campground but, you better make your reservations months out, a year out or more for holidays. In the off season we have driven to Myrtle Beach without reservations because there is plenty of open spaces, once or twice. I tend to still make reservations just in case something comes up and we roll in after hours.

I have often thought that owning a campground would be a great idea. If you had property within a short drive of Wilmington it would be a gold mine. There is a small campground in Carolina Beach but, it gets bad reviews.

Owning a park can be a good investment. But it sure isn't for the risk adverse, or anyone looking to turn a quick buck.
Building from scratch would require purchasing the ground. Getting all the engineering, environmental and permitting documents completed. Then you have to get approval from the local authorities, which often means public hearings. They will get massive public backlash against a "trailer park" being built in their neighborhood.
If you get past the permitting process, you have to build the park. Likely, there will be government requirements for the roads, for the services provided (i.e restrooms if all sites are not restricted for full hookups only), ADA accessibility, site size and spacing (fire codes etc.), water and sewer requirements etc.
Once you get it built, you have to advertise. It will take a several years for your ads to populate the guidebooks, the organic internet searches, the GPS devices, review sites, etc. All that time you are paying your employees, paying your taxes and paying for those ads without getting full returns.
Oh, and no bank or financial institution is going to finance this project. You MAY be able to finance the ground with a 50 percent down payment, but all the other costs are going to have to be paid for by ready funds. A fifty site park can easily cost a million dollars or more to construct if it is in a good location and you want to do it at least half right. That's a lot of money to lay out and not expect to make a return for at least 5 years. Hence why a building crane is an animal you seldom see over bare ground with a sign saying "RV Park, coming soon".

Great list of hoops to jump through. So many folks just think building something is as simple as calling a construction crew. By the time you get to make that phone call you're 90% done 🙂

Regulations, zoning, land use, neighborhood associations, planning commissions - local, state and/or federal. I'm amazed (and thankful) that someone is willing to take all this on. You wouldn't catch me even considering it.

[falconbrother]

Terryallan wrote:
Fact is. IF you want to go to Myrtle beach in the summer. you have to have reses. ALL CGs are full from the middle of June to the end of September. You may get lucky, and catch a cancelation. But mostly. If you don't reserve at least 12 months out. you ain't going, or have to settle for the worse sites.

And it is pretty much the same in the NC mountains. The good CG fill up in A HURRY.

We always do, New Years, spring and fall.. The last time we stayed at one of the Big Surfside campgrounds on a major summer holiday my wife said "never again". Spring bike week was a regular for years till my best buddy passed. I love to go down there because you just kick back and relax, walk on the beach and eat too much.

[Sandia_Man]

It's obviously wise to reserve in advance when going to our country's popular destinations during the height of their seasons, but RVing among a throng of people has grown less attractive over the years for us. Even so, it seems we subject ourselves to this madness at least a couple times a year.

When RVing, we make every effort to avoid using private parks, particularly under these circumstances. We much prefer state, COE, county, city, and federal campgrounds, unfortunately this is not always feasible. Private parks are OK when we will be out and about using our rig just to sleep in.

One of the things we like about state, COE, and similar parks in our region is that they maintain a certain number of sites that can not be reserved in advance. If we are in the mood for a helter skelter type of RVing experience, we can arrive a few days early and secure a spot even on major holiday weekends.

[Terryallan]

Fact is. IF you want to go to Myrtle beach in the summer. you have to have reses. ALL CGs are full from the middle of June to the end of September. You may get lucky, and catch a cancelation. But mostly. If you don't reserve at least 12 months out. you ain't going, or have to settle for the worse sites.

And it is pretty much the same in the NC mountains. The good CG fill up in A HURRY.

[ppine]

I rarely make reservations, because I don't like to camp in places that are crowded, and I don't like being on a schedule. Once in awhile a place might be full, but there are others around.