Community Forums

tiger63 · 07-10-2009, 06:52 PM

Can anyone tell me why the Corps of Engineers have chosen to not allow reservations thru " Reserve America " all you can get is "Walk in First Come first Serve".

How can one plan a trip when you cannot be assured of a place to park your rig!

This is unacceptable to me, I send in my taxes to provide these folks with a job and the pay check they recieve. What gives here?

TXiceman · 07-10-2009, 07:14 PM

This is the way the Corp parks were in the past. I have never had any success with Reserve America and have gotten to where I refused to use them.

You always have the option to use State parks or private campgrounds.

Ken

powerboatr · 07-10-2009, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger63

Can anyone tell me why the Corps of Engineers have chosen to not allow reservations thru " Reserve America " all you can get is "Walk in First Come first Serve".

How can one plan a trip when you cannot be assured of a place to park your rig!

This is unacceptable to me, I send in my taxes to provide these folks with a job and the pay check they recieve. What gives here?

hmmm i always reserve a spot.....even last week at maumelle? and i can say i have always had a positive experience with them,

"CAMPSITES ARE RESERVABLE JANUARY 1st - DECEMBER 31st (YEAR-ROUND)
Campsite fees:"
mof i just cut the above from their website

maybe its jsut the specific park your looking at, is it a big tourist area? or high use park

KIX · 07-10-2009, 07:28 PM

We've run across some COE parks that do not take reservations. Seems like they were all low use parks and they always had space available. Your mileage may vary.

Hitchhiker · 07-10-2009, 07:38 PM

The Corps of Engineers uses Recreation.gov for reservations and their website makes no mention of such a policy change.

COE website link.

Ray,IN · 07-10-2009, 09:01 PM

"reserve America" I think that company is a rip-off. Indiana went to them for state park reservations. Now it's more expensive to camp in IN state parks, and_ people have learned how to manipulate their system to lock-in a specific site for most of the year. Just try to make a reservation on a holiday weekend. When a governmental unit "out-sources" their responsibilities it is an admission that they cannot do the job efficiently.

saydiver · 07-10-2009, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

"reserve America" I think that company is a rip-off. Indiana went to them for state park reservations. Now it's more expensive to camp in IN state parks, and_ people have learned how to manipulate their system to lock-in a specific site for most of the year. Just try to make a reservation on a holiday weekend. When a governmental unit "out-sources" their responsibilities it is an admission that they cannot do the job efficiently.

It's cheaper for USACE to outsource the work. It doesn't mean they can't do the job.

I made reservations with Reserve America in the past few months and was very satisfied with the system, except when I needed to change sites, I had to call, instead of handling it online.

Sue <--- retired USACE contractor

Dolph · 07-10-2009, 09:54 PM

I guess the Corps is using most of your tax money to pay for it's main purpose, building dams and levees, etc. The parks are just a little something extra. I volunteered as a Park Host earlier this year at a day use park. Such complaints from folks using this no fee park. " Not enough parking places, not enough tables, water in river too cold" Guess they thought that their tax dollars were not being used to their satisfaction either.

powerboatr · 07-10-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolph

I guess the Corps is using most of your tax money to pay for it's main purpose, building dams and levees, etc. The parks are just a little something extra. I volunteered as a Park Host earlier this year at a day use park. Such complaints from folks using this no fee park. " Not enough parking places, not enough tables, water in river too cold" Guess they thought that their tax dollars were not being used to their satisfaction either.

well there you have it, they obviously aren't tapped into all that extra warm water from all this global warming, darn govment types

nothing like a COLD river

saydiver · 07-11-2009, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger63

Can anyone tell me why the Corps of Engineers have chosen to not allow reservations thru " Reserve America " all you can get is "Walk in First Come first Serve".

How can one plan a trip when you cannot be assured of a place to park your rig!

This is unacceptable to me, I send in my taxes to provide these folks with a job and the pay check they recieve. What gives here?

The Reserve America system doesn't allow you to book a site at the last minute. It only allows advance reservations. I believe it was at least three days in advance. Any sooner and it says walk-in only.

Sue

Dmiles · 07-11-2009, 07:16 AM

When I've actually been able to find a vacancy through Reserve America, it has gone without a hitch. The problem I have is finding any sites available on weekends in the summertime. I figured it's because this is the time they are most slammed.

We tend to stay off the beaten path this time of year. Being local to VA Beach, we have found there are tons of nice places where the tourists ain't. Once the kiddies go back to school, everything opens up nicely, and it is just when we start getting some of the best camping weather of the year in my opinion.

Izzyblueye · 07-11-2009, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

"reserve America" I think that company is a rip-off. Indiana went to them for state park reservations. Now it's more expensive to camp in IN state parks, and_ people have learned how to manipulate their system to lock-in a specific site for most of the year. Just try to make a reservation on a holiday weekend. When a governmental unit "out-sources" their responsibilities it is an admission that they cannot do the job efficiently.

I have to agree with RAY from Indiana. Indiana's reservation system sucks. I quit using Indiana c/gs because of it. I am not going to be told that I have to reserve certain days (Fri-Sat-Sun), in order to get the dates that I want.

Freebird23 · 07-11-2009, 10:12 AM

Just stayed a week at Bandits Roost in N.C.,No problem . About 40% of sites are first come,and easy to get during the week , but not on weekend.It worked same as last year,

Luck---Bill

two2go · 07-11-2009, 01:22 PM

For the original poster, COE and other federal sites are through recreation.gov, not RA. No reservation fee when I did it last month and I got my Senior Pass discount. I agree with most gripes about RA, but they are the only game for state parks (many or all?--Colo. is one). But, the site works and is informative, and has helped us for reservations at times that are crowded. They are the Ticketmaster of camp sites, a slightly helpful evil to drain off more consumer money. But nobody is forcing me to camp.