Community Forums

Jacjetlag · 01-31-2022, 12:38 PM

We've been poking around down here for a couple of weeks. The nicer parks MIGHT have a cancellation or two and we've gotten in for a couple of nights.

Being set up for boondocking with a solar/Lithium has helped on Harvest Hosts/BW. We've found a couple of gems there.The "last resort" (pun intended) is Cracker Barrel.
We stayed at one the other night that had 3 parking spots painted for RVs.
14 rigs spent the night there.

The bottom line....demand has far exceeded supply.
It would help a lot if folks would follow up and cancel reservations that aren't being used, alas, empty slots not being used.

jondrew55 · 01-31-2022, 01:47 PM

It really stinks that the current reservation system in Florida does not give any motivation to cancel a reservation. If you've booked for a weekend and you find out too late that you can't make it, you hardly get enough back to make it worth your while to cancel. I know I do just to open the site up, but you can tell from the empty spaces that a lot of times that never happens. I know some parks hold sites in reserve or put them on a first come first serve basis. But I'd never head out to a place if I did not have something lined up.

RKins · 01-31-2022, 04:24 PM

Welcome to our local FL people's nightmare. We can barely camp in our own state in the winter and I can tell you that all campers got a good dose of what our weather can be like over the past few days. State parks are booked 11 months in advance - so as people are pulling out they are already adding a calendar event to book in one month for the spot they just left, 11 months in advance. Drives us locals crazy. Luckily I have thousand Trail membership that I can book out 180 days in advance, so I can usually get a spot for 10 days or so to hang out with my Sister and BIL.

jleonard · 02-01-2022, 06:28 AM

Quote:

It would help a lot if folks would follow up and cancel reservations that aren't being used, alas, empty slots not being used.

Yes that would be nice. But as stated for a Florida senior, staying in state parks is almost free. So it's easy to blow off a reservation and not say anything.
We have been managing to get out once a month for a few days or week, but that about it. It's tight here for sure.

MCCOHENS · 02-01-2022, 06:52 AM

Just booked 2 nites, feb 11-13 on a recreation.gov campsite in the middle of florida. They had a bunch of sites available. Also, try hipcamp, florida water management and even search for camping in each county website. I am sure with the cold weather there is more demand but spend some time on the computer and do more searches, you may be surprised.

Lisa013143 · 02-01-2022, 08:35 AM

I live in Tallahassee and in November decided to go RVing within 300 miles from me in FL or GA. I could not find a state or private park that could give me 5 consecutive days in Dec., Jan. or Feb. Pre COVID this wasn’t a problem. Also, the cost of staying in a campgrounds has increased dramatically. I guess so many people have discovered RVing since COVID. It is a safer way to travel and fun.

momdoc · 02-01-2022, 04:09 PM

Florida state parks suck when it comes to releasing unused site. I am sorry but if you do not show up for your reservation and do not call to park then your res should be cancelled and given to someone else (maybe to a "walk in " inventory. Also if you do this more than once maybe you lose your right to make future reservations for 8012 months. I bet a lot of sites will open then.

BTW we are Fl residents who full time traveling around the country. We are planning to return to FL next winter and we have already gotten a few months of reservations already.

Mile Marker 42 · 02-01-2022, 04:15 PM

I don't think it's just Florida. It's everywhere. Good parks are always booked in advance.

hohenwald48 · 02-05-2022, 05:24 AM

With the senior resident rates in Florida state parks, it's frequently cheaper to NOT cancel a reservation and just pay for the night.

2cyber71 · 02-05-2022, 05:40 AM

I’m all set I have reservations for 6 RV parks in Florida for next year already.
2 on the east coast 1 in the keys, 3 on the west coast from January to March 15th
We did 4 weeks this yr, but I made my reservations a yr ago

BTW my 6 week summer trip was booked last summer

I’m booking next fall now.

klspahr · 02-05-2022, 07:05 AM

We started going to Florida because my wife was doing shows and I hated winter. We could park and stay at the shows during the weekends. During the week we stayed where we could. It all worked out, amazingly. But since she retired from the biz, we made reservations in advance and stayed two weeks at a time mostly in state parks. (We have stayed at most of Florida’s state parks over the years.) And yes, we seen tons of empty spots in parks that were “full”. Since then we bought a small bungalow, sold the class a, bought a class b with the proceeds, and now we come and go when we want. When the temperatures moderate up north we head back.

As a side note: last year my sister and her husband bought a condo, this year they sold it for double what they paid. Crazy huh? They’re smiling.