Reserving rv sites

[Melissarv]

I'm a newbie...I hate pre planning...I base when I travel on how busy my business is and can't often book ahead.
This is the reason I've just bought an RV as I want the convenience of going anywhere I want whenever I want.
How difficult is it to get a decent hookup spot with a days notice or same day these days...
Is it impossible in summer?
Assuming winter is slow most places in the US

Any feedback would be great as I'm hoping I can kinda fly by the seat of my pants??

[dwaynebmsg]

If you want to camp at popular places like State parks, National Parks, beach areas, or near any popular venues, then advance reservations are a must. The more popular the area, the more in advance you must make reservations. There are a couple of sites that you can join and they will let you know about sudden vacancies. Perhaps others know about them or have experience with them. Bottom line, you might want to make reservations as far in advance as you can.

[Gary RVRoamer]

As dwaynebmsg described, it all depends on where you want to go, and also when. Weekdays are more available than weekend, and holidays are really tough. Likewise any time when kids are out of school. And how "picky" you are in your criteria are also a factor. If you can be flexible, there is almost always some place available, though it may have limited services or be a bit shabby.



Plan on calling ahead or using internet to find a spot as soon as you know about where you will be. We've traveled extensively making plans as we go. Rarely made reservations far in advance unless it was a known popular destination.

[glwinger]

As Gary said, if you are planning to go near any tourist attractions, you may need to call well in advance. Time of year also makes a difference. Early and late in the year, most campgrounds are not as busy except on weekends.
We try to plan our trips in December or January for the up coming year.

Already have one for May and one for September, but both of these are popular areas. And the kids are still in school.

[tpaul]

We usually have 2 or 3 places we really want to stay, sometimes as much as a week. Those places I make reservations well in advance. Sometimes as much as 6 months. The rest of the trip, often taking a month, is more flexible but as noted, if some stops are going to occur on a weekend or holiday, then they too may require some advanced planning. I also will often set up some 2 or 3 day stops along the way which gives some flexibility if we run into bad weather or decide we want to take a side trip. Understand that we are wimps and don't do any boondocking yet and prefer full hookups. Makes a difference if you are willing to make do with what's available. Lots of state parks have very limited full hookups that you can reserve but may have a bunch of sites with more limited or no hookups that can be easily had. And then there's national forest campgrounds, mostly dry but more available.

Have done this for the last 7 years since we bought our RV and it has worked well and has allowed us to see a lot of the country and numerous national parks. 1 big trip in late spring/early summer and 1 big trip in late summer/early fall. Visiting grandchildren in California and New Hampshire and taking our time.

[Lantley]

I want the convenience of going anywhere I want whenever I want.You will need reservations in adavance
How difficult is it to get a decent hookup spot with a days notice or same day these days...Very Difficult
Is it impossible in summer?For the most part yes

[ChrisDParise]

I wouldn't count on finding any spot in a national park area just showing up.

I've made reservations in November for a spot in July and August.

[jimfishes]

This morning was 3 weeks straight trying for a specific site in a CO NFS CG. Finally got it starting July 28. NFS and many states don’t open reservations until a rolling 6 months prior. Good luck.

[High Road Travelers]

It would really be nice (very nice) if we could just travel in our RV's and stop when we wanted at a good campground or camp site, but that is not a reality in most parts of the country.
Sometimes when traveling we can find a spot by searching the internet for a one night stay, but it will not be near a popular area.
Long ago this type travel was not so difficult, but now it's too many people.
Thanks,

[Brunnie]

Originally Posted by Melissarv

I'm a newbie...I hate pre planning...I base when I travel on how busy my business is and can't often book ahead.
This is the reason I've just bought an RV as I want the convenience of going anywhere I want whenever I want.
How difficult is it to get a decent hookup spot with a days notice or same day these days...
Is it impossible in summer?
Assuming winter is slow most places in the US

Any feedback would be great as I'm hoping I can kinda fly by the seat of my pants??

IMHO.... For those last minute trips, learn to boondock, you should always be able to find a place.

We are like you in that work and other obligations make it difficult to make spur of the moment plans, thus we boondock.

[FrozenInTime]

Tourist spots, forget it, they're booked in advance. We have no problem finding places when we want, as long as we stay away from tourist spots or cities. We generally travel on 2-lane roads away from interstates. Summer when kiddos are out of school, weekends can be a pain about any where/time. But, we're retired and can be very flexible. We boondock/drycamp often but we have a built in genny so can do without FHU most days we're out n about.


You didn't say where your from/at, and the RV. Different sections of the country are vastly different.

[Jkwilson1989]

Winter isn’t slow. Places where it’s warm are booked far in advance. Places where it’s cold are closed for the season. Mostly.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by FrozenInTime

Tourist spots, forget it, they're booked in advance. We have no problem finding places when we want, as long as we stay away from tourist spots or cities. We generally travel on 2-lane roads away from interstates. Summer when kiddos are out of school, weekends can be a pain about any where/time. But, we're retired and can be very flexible. We boondock/drycamp often but we have a built in genny so can do without FHU most days we're out n about.

I agree with this. You can find sites without reservations if you don't want to be in a tourist area and if you travel the secondary highways. Also, it helps if you boondock on public lands.

[ThisIsUs]

We are on day 83 of an up to 173 day trip since leaving Alberta and we haven't booked or reserved one CG. We like many others are totally self sufficient with good sized tanks, battery/solar array and thus far we haven't found anywhere we wanted to stay we couldn't find somewhere to park for the night we felt safe and comfortable at.

After reaching as far SE as Biloxi Mississippi, outrunning a recent historic storm from Lake Charles LA back to Corpus Christi TX before it hit, we are now slowly headed NW overnighting last night and tonight at Sunland Racetrack & Casino near El Paso NM ($15/Night elec & water hook up). We spent several days on the National Seashore Padre Island etc ($4/$8 or $7/$14 per night dry camping and the RGV at various locations near fishing piers for the most part boondocking as is our preference. We like to travel more so than stay sited in one spot for a long time.

Set yourself up to be off grid efficient for a few days/week and you'll find most places you want to visit you'll be able to. We are happy camped outside of Yellowstone National Park on public lands but others need to be inside the park so they reserve well in advance. To each their own but yes it is absolutely possible to not reserve and we've been doing it this way for the most part for over a quarter century.

Individual personalities dictate each one's comfort levels as with all things in life. For us reservations don't phase us in the slightest. If headed to NYC for example, we always have some buffer room built in our plans and might reserve a week maybe couple weeks prior at best of arriving there. If nothing available we'll shuffle/juggle and make it work one way or another

Enjoy the Journey and happy travels.