How much harder or more stressful is it finding campsites now?

[JFXG]

bpu699...... X2 on what Atreis said. Parks that are near famous attractions, and parks that are somewhat convenient and popular among regional residents often fill weekends rapidly as soon as they open up online reservations. BUT...... they also sometimes have a relatively high no-show rate. One family might book 7-8 weekends between Mem Day and Labor Day, and then cancel if some other events pop up. Some parks try to prohibit this (as they should), but it can be difficult to enforce.
Check periodically and see. Don’t be discouraged, but it can be hard. If you want to go to the same place lots of other people want to go to, you may have to compete. ☹️. We’re retired, so we have the luxury of avoiding the crowds. Any “attractive destinations” we want, we go to midweek in the off season. Glacier in late Sept, Grand Canyon in January, you get the picture.

[Teamfoxy]

Weekends in season, especially Holiday weekends, are always harder to get, but not impossible to get. We book well out for stays near both our children's homes because we are not flexible about the timing or the distance from them that we want to stay. Other than that, we never book more than a week in advance and seldom have a problem.

[Barbaraok]

Originally Posted by Teamfoxy

Weekends in season, especially Holiday weekends, are always harder to get, but not impossible to get. We book well out for stays near both our children's homes because we are not flexible about the timing or the distance from them that we want to stay. Other than that, we never book more than a week in advance and seldom have a problem.

Obviously you've never been in the PNW between Memorial Day and Labor Day!

[WaltH]

Originally Posted by JFXG

Any “attractive destinations” we want, we go to midweek in the off season. Glacier in late Sept, Grand Canyon in January, you get the picture.

Not to hijack the thread, but my wife and I are thinking of trips to these two areas once she retires at the end of this month. We were thinking about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in mid-September. Is that considered off-season enough to find a spot? (We might be looking to dry camp or boondock, which might make it easier?) We will be traveling from Idaho, which might also be a consideration. (I don't know what the roads through Utah and/or Nevada and Arizona are like in January.)

[MRUSA14]

Originally Posted by WaltH

Not to hijack the thread, but my wife and I are thinking of trips to these two areas once she retires at the end of this month. We were thinking about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in mid-September. Is that considered off-season enough to find a spot? (We might be looking to dry camp or boondock, which might make it easier?) We will be traveling from Idaho, which might also be a consideration. (I don't know what the roads through Utah and/or Nevada and Arizona are like in January.)

Dry camping or boondocking always makes things easier as it expands the universe of sites that you can choose from. September is usually easier to book than July or August as the kids are back to school which takes many RVers off the road. But there are variations. Fall weekends are normally booked tight in New England and this may also apply to the GC, as the foliage is a big draw that time of year.

[PandS]

I’ve always been more comfortable with the security of reservations. This served us well when we spent the summer of 2019 in Alaska. We’re 44’ long, so we don’t fit in every site of every campground. When making reservations for five months of travel this summer, I was quite surprised how difficult it was to book something in some areas. More than one campground in the upper Midwest told me that they have never been this completely booked, this early. The place in New England where we stayed last summer told me the same thing. Ironically, we got a week at one place because they had a cancellation that day. The people who cancelled couldn’t get reservations for the rest of the trip they had planned, and therefore were changing their plans and staying close to home. It seems that people who stayed put last summer are planning to be out and about this summer. With all due respect, folks who have not made reservations in the past may be surprised this summer when looking for a last minute stay.

Susan

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by WaltH

Not to hijack the thread, but my wife and I are thinking of trips to these two areas once she retires at the end of this month. We were thinking about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in mid-September. Is that considered off-season enough to find a spot? (We might be looking to dry camp or boondock, which might make it easier?) We will be traveling from Idaho, which might also be a consideration. (I don't know what the roads through Utah and/or Nevada and Arizona are like in January.)

Sept is an awesome time for the North Rim. You might even see the aspen in glorious yellows. If you can't get into the national park campground then stay right outside the gate at DeMotte national forest campground - right on the highway.

Just south of DeMotte - perhaps 1/4 mi. on the right is a good, flat gravel road and you only have to drive back about 1/2 miles before seeing many nice boondocking spots in the national forest.

We used all 3 options with our 40' motorhome.

[WaltH]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Sept is an awesome time for the North Rim. You might even see the aspen in glorious yellows. If you can't get into the national park campground then stay right outside the gate at DeMotte national forest campground - right on the highway.

Just south of DeMotte - perhaps 1/4 mi. on the right is a good, flat gravel road and you only have to drive back about 1/2 miles before seeing many nice boondocking spots in the national forest.

We used all 3 options with our 40' motorhome.

Thanks for that info!

[sandiegoman]

I have gotten skunked out of national parks for a while. Always missed the first day and people seem to grab them up. I have started to use Campsite Notifier on the APPSTORE. I think its in BETA. Its free but works very well. Good luck out there.

[carybosse]

We have been trying to get some shakedown cruises in with our new 32 foot travel trailer. Parks in Texas, at least other than far west Texas, along I-20 and the Hill Country are booked. They open up reservations 5 months in advance, and they are usually snapped up in a day or two.

We actually contracted to buy our trailer in early November, picked it up in Tyler Texas in late November. Wife loves Tyler State Park, she booked a campsite at Tyler State Park in November before we even had our trailer for the first available - in Mid-March.

I don't see us ever truly boondocking, need electricity at least, unless I go after a generator.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by carybosse

We have been trying to get some shakedown cruises in with our new 32 foot travel trailer. Parks in Texas, at least other than far west Texas, along I-20 and the Hill Country are booked. They open up reservations 5 months in advance, and they are usually snapped up in a day or two.

Sounds like you're talking about state parks. Here's a good Texas resource for finding other public parks. Also, try some Corp of Engineer parks. They're awesome! This may help you. Good luck!

https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdo...ampgrounds.pdf

[JFXG]

Originally Posted by WaltH

.......We were thinking about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in mid-September. .........We will be traveling from Idaho, which might also be a consideration. (I don't know what the roads through Utah and/or Nevada and Arizona are like in January.)

North Rim in Sept should be beauty! We were on the South Rim that January, 2014. It was cold, sort of windy, but still doable. Drove through some snow for a while heading down to Williams.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Sounds like you're talking about state parks. Here's a good Texas resource for finding other public parks. Also, try some Corp of Engineer parks. They're awesome! This may help you. Good luck!

https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdo...ampgrounds.pdf

Thanks for the file, downloaded it and shared with my wife as well.

Most of the KOA - Yosemite Sam - private campgrounds I have seen look like a can of sardines. We like a little space between the campsites, and the state parks here in Texas seem to do that well, or at least better than the private one. Did a lot of tent camping in my younger days, a lot of those pictures in your guide brought back great memories of places we have been.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Sounds like you're talking about state parks. Here's a good Texas resource for finding other public parks. Also, try some Corp of Engineer parks. They're awesome! This may help you. Good luck!

https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdo...ampgrounds.pdf

Thanks for the file, downloaded it and shared with my wife as well.

Most of the KOA - Yosemite Sam - private campgrounds I have seen look like a can of sardines. We like a little space between the campsites, and the state parks here in Texas seem to do that well, or at least better than the private one. Did a lot of tent camping in my younger days, a lot of those pictures in your guide brought back great memories of places we have been.