Reserve or not reserve

Originally posted by kindell We are headed out on a 7-western-state trek (and hitting the Pod Rally in S.D.) and we have made reservations at every layover. We talked to friends who have traveled and they all say non-reservation stops are risky, Especially if you have been traveling a long distance, you don't want to add to your daily travels trying to find a place to stay. However, once you are in a park you can always add days, if you wish, to your itinerary in that particular park. Happier trails to y'all.

That is no longer true in many campgrounds, most notably in my experience, at National Parks that use Reserve.gov.  If you have a reservation for Thursday through Sunday morning, someone else may have your site reserved from Sunday through Wednesday.  You will get booted from your site on Sunday in that case.  They may find you another site, if they have one, but you could be out on the street.

TT

Makes sense Tars Parkas.

For National Parks during the season I make our reservations 6 months in advance that's usually as far in advance as you can make them. Having said that in NP's that don't take reservations I have had good luck showing up early and waiting with everyone else. I'm amazed at how hard most of the rangers will work to find you a space. On the road for overnight quick stops we usually wait until after lunch decide how much further we want to drive then use the AllStays App on our i-phones to call ahead and make a same day reservation. 

Welcome back! It is nice to have the peace of mind knowing that I have place waiting for me when I get where I am going.

Reservations.....a good thing.