Traveling No Resservations

[kathijoz]

Hi Everyone, My husband and I are going to venture out next summer on our first long trip to celebrate retirement.  Our tentative plan is to leave SF Bay area round mid-June and travel for 2 months.  We plan on going north to Glacier Nat'l Park, up to Lake Louise, go west to Vancouver, then go south through Washington, Oregon and back to the bay area.  My first thought was to make reservations at RV parks near Glacier and Lake Louise, because we know we want to spend 7-10 days at each place.  We were just going to "wing it" the rest of the way.  I will make a list of RV parks, and maybe call a few days ahead when we think we will be in that area.  I'm having second thoughts because of summer travel.  In CA, many of the campgrounds can be reserved months in advance, and it's difficult to find a place at the last minute.  Is this true everywhere?  Are there enough campgrounds out there to figure we will find a place?  We wanted to be able to just be spontaneous since we are going places we've never been, and we aren't sure how long we will want to stay in one place.  Should we make reservations and hold off the spontaneous idea for off season?  Any tips, thoughts, recommendations from those of you that have done this for awhile would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JudyJB]

If you were doing this in late September or October, I would say go ahead and be spontaneous.  Or even if you really did not care where or how far away from attractions you minded staying.

But you have chosen the worst time of year to travel without reservations, AND you have chosen the places that attract tens of thousands of people each month, or even more.  I just finished a couple of weeks in Oregon and Washington and did a similar northwest trip a couple of years ago.  All of the state parks had been booked for months.  And I expect that commercial campgrounds were in the same situation.  I never saw an empty spot.  So, yes, being booked months ahead of time is typical in the summer, especially in high-traffic area.

Were you planning on getting sites with electric hookups?  Or even full hookups?  And how big a rig are you driving?  All of this makes a difference in how easy it is to find camping places.

Some people will tell you they never make reservations. But if you ask where they stayed, you will find it was probably in what is called "dispersed" camping or national forests, or even Wal-Mart parking lots.  They also may have stayed quite a ways from the national parks you mention and had to drive in 50+ miles each day.  Also, commercial campgrounds along interstates can usually be booked at the last minute, but that is not where you seem to be going.

My recommendation is to do some serious research and make reservations, or to reschedule to another time of year so you can be more spontaneous, but I would still recommend reservations in the national parks here and in Canada.  Allow yourself enough driving time between campgrounds so you can stop and enjoy places along the way--like about 100 miles between places.

 

[Molaker]

We travel without reservations all the time.  We use Good Sam Club, Passport America, National and State park websites, Corp of Engineers, campground POIs from POI Factory and an aging copy of Road Trip Navigator 2012 among other resources to narrow our search as we approach the end of the day.  So far, after two 6,000 mile plus trips out west, a couple to Florida, 3 or 4 to upstate New York, 1 to the Michigan UP and one to the Black Hills to name a few, the only reservations we've made have been when we were meeting friends or family on specific dates.


I will say, we have a Winnebago ERA 24' class B which makes it a bit easier than horsing around a 35-40 class A if finding a landing spot becomes difficult.

 

[SargeW]

I agree with Judy. If you have a real sense of adventure you can wing it. For me, I like knowing that I have a place to set up, plug in usually, and not be in WalMart. I also don't do truck stops, or rest areas unless there is some dire emergency. Sometimes "wing it camping" in the summer months my put you in a part of town you may not feel safe being outside of your rig. Those places you can usually get into. 

If you want to know what it may be like getting into an area, try this.  Go to a campground rating site, IE: rvparkreviews.com  or RVparky.com.  Search an area for campgrounds where you may want to go and give them a call now. Ask about a reservation on weekends in the June - August months when kids are out of school.  This is usually when campgrounds are usually at capacity.  What you will most likely find is that Sun - Thurs is usually possible. Weekends are booked way in advance. 

You are starting research early, which is a great idea.  Get as much info as you can now to avoid a rocky start later.

 

[Tom]

We're also from the Bay area, and have made reservations maybe twice in almost 30 years of RVing within California, across the US, and in Eastern Canada. Only one time were we turned away, and that was at a California state park on a holiday weekend, so we drove a couple of miles down the road and found a campground with space available.

Like Marty, we don't stay at WalMarts, truck stops or freeway rest areas.

Sometimes "wing it camping" ... may put you in a part of town you may not feel safe being outside of your rig.

That's one reason we don't stay at WalMarts; They don't buy property in the better parts of towns.

 

[jandk]

Hi folks.  I just joined the forum a few weeks ago.  My husband is retiring in about 2 years or so and we will be on the road fulltime.  I've been doing lots of reading on the forum and as I read this discussion I'm interested in finding out your reasons for not staying overnight at Walmart, rest areas, truck stops, etc.  We are planning to spend weeks/maybe a month at a time in national parks as we travel; but I was thinking as we are on the way between parks we would overnight in one of these spots.  Are you saying that you overnight only in campgrounds/rv parks?  And if so, how much do you hook up and set up, etc if you are only there for one night?  Are you feeling unsafe in these other areas for an overnight stay?  What about Cabelas or Cracker Barrel, etc?  Thanks for your information and expertise!

 

[hoddinron]

Have to go along with Tom - no reservations planned before we leave.  We've been traveling by RV's for 20 years, and done many 8 - 12 week trips across the country from Florida to WA State.

We've always been able to find campgrounds.  However, if you MUST stay in a certain very desirable CG or area, and that CG defines your vacation, then perhaps you should anchor your travels around getting to that or those places.

On our last trip out west a few years ago we even managed to find sites in Cheyenne for the Frontier Days week long Rodeo a few days ahead!  We don't just roll into town and start looking though.  I'll use "Allstays Camp and RV" app, locate possible sites, and call a day or two ahead.

We don't use WalMart parking lots for camping, because we tried it twice and had bad experiences both times.  One time we were shown where to park my a very nice WalMart employee on a golf cart.  Then we went to a movie, and when we came back a large Motor Home had parked right next to us and was running his generator.  Fumes came pouring into our open windows.  We don't have a generator, so we had to have open windows.  The WalMart Employee came back and told us to follow him to a "better spot for us."  It was along the green space next to the main entrance of the parking lot.  Everything seemed fine until midnight when we experienced water being sprayed into our RV by their sprinkler system.  We had to get up and move again. 
The other time involved loud cars and teenagers coming and going and cursing in the parking area all night keeping us from getting a good night's sleep.

Hope this helps.

Ron and Joyce

 

[SargeW]

Well, that's one prime example why^^^.  I view Walmarts, truck stops,  and rest areas as emergency stops only. The occasional WalMart security has NO responsibility for you or your stuff at all. They are tasked with keeping the store safe, period.  Any belief  beyond that is delusional. Truck stops are for commerce of the business there, and rest stops are temporary resting locations, at best. 

That doesn't change the fact that some folks swear by them, and always will. That's not why I RV. I want to be able to relax,  walk the pet, maybe chat with other RV'ers.  Not be stared at by shoppers lugging groceries to their cars, or opportunists deciding what I may have that they could liberate from me in the middle of the night.

 

[Tom]

[quote author=jandk]I'm interested in finding out your reasons for not staying overnight at Walmart, rest areas, truck stops, etc.[/quote]

Browse the discussions on our Camping at Wal*Mart and other non-campgrounds message board, and you'll see folks' reasons pro and con.

 

[spacenorman]

We prefer to have reservations when we're traveling - even if they're made just a couple of days previously.  While the "just jump in the coach and go where the wind blows you" thing has a nice sound to it - in reality it's rare for us to take that approach to traveling.  It's very seldom we leave our driveway without having a destination (or at least a direction) in mind.  If we've got a destination in mind for a given leg of a trip - it's pretty safe to say that we've also got a timetable as well.  My feeling is - if I've got a destination and a timetable - I may as well take a few minutes, do a little web searching, identify a park or two that look to fit the bill - and make the reservation.  I don't need the stress of wondering where I'm going to "land" lurking under the surface all day long.  To be honest, I think that having a reservation tends to create opportunity to get creative.  I don't have to start thinking about finding a place to stop at early in the afternoon so that I'm ahead of the rush.  Instead - I can take the scenic route to get there ... add a couple of stops along the way if the urge hits.  Pulling in at 6 -7 pm ain't a big deal if you know you've got a confirmed spot.  Pulling in at 6-7 pm hoping a park has a spot available ... not so much. 

Obviously, off season trips (and we take quite a few of those!) mean plans can be a lot looser.  So can overnight plans for stretches where you're simply transiting long stretches.  If the first park you try doesn't have a spot - there's usually another one 30 minutes down the road to try.  Worst case - you can wing it with a dry overnight stop at a Walmart type stop.  BUT - anything where I care about where we're stopping - we make reservations.     

 

[JudyJB]

I don't stay at Walmarts or truck stops because I am an older woman traveling alone.  If I were part of a couple or male, I might do things differently, but I just don't feel comfortable sleeping alone in my vehicle in parking lots.  It would probably be safe, but I would not be able to sleep well if I heard strange noises in the middle of the night.  And there is no way I would feel comfortable getting out and investigating in the middle of the night. 

Oh, and I have had a few of my college students write papers on the lack of security at Walmart!  And they have written about the parking lots during the day, not camping at night!   

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Considering the times and places you are traveling, I think reservations would be a very good idea. Popular places during busy times.  You know where you are going and, since you are staying several days, you probably want a "nice" campsite rather than just an overnight plug-in, so it makes sense (to me) to firm up the arrangements.  In between, just traveling around, you can play it somewhat more loosely.

Glacier, and the Banff-Lake Louise area are major destinations throughout the summer and fall.  They are quite busy even in October, let alone in mid summer when families travel a lot.  Reservations there will take a lot of pressure off you.

 

[BruceP]

I live about 3 hours south of Glacier Park. Their are length restrictions for RV's in the park on going to the sun road. There are a lot of campgrounds on hwy near Colombia Falls. My recommendation would be to make reservations near the parks. Glacier Park gets over a million visitors a year so the campgrounds fill quickly. It is also fishing time and people from around the world are in Montana fly fishing at the same time. The good news is that you are going to be in some of the most beautiful country in North America. I was just up in the park in May.

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

I suggest that you always make advance reservations in popular places, as you already intend on doing.  Then, though, also make reservations over holiday weekends.

We are planners and fulltimers, and I generally have reservations made everywhere we intend to stay, made months in advance.  I'd rather have a reservation made and then have to change it (giving up the deposit) than have to settle for the last available campsite somewhere distant from where I actually wanted to be. 

But that's just us.  I know that a lot of people like to freelance and they report that it works fine for them.  I've actually done a bit of writing on the topic: http://pastorscott.com/travel/planner-or-freelancer/

 

[Dragginourbedaround]

We are full-timers and travel about 10k miles a year and usually make reservations for Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday through Thursday night you can usually find a spot in most campgrounds. If we plan to be in one spot for any length of time we will make a reservation. We have spent many nights in Walmart, Cracker Barrel, and Cabella's without any problems. We've been in Walmart where security drove by through out the night checking on us. We only use alternate camping if we can't find a campground first. If the weather is too hot we prefer campgrounds for the electric hook-up to run our A/C. If we don't feel safe anywhere including Campground's we move on.

 

[UTTransplant]

Like some of the PPs, we do reservations for the sites important to us. That includes National Parks and other destination sites, especially during high season. The travel to and from those spots is more flexible, though we do take a look at AllStays to see what our options are. We usually call the anticipated park by noon or one to see how full they are. I am one of those who doesn't like to just find any old spot to pull off into; I like someplace pretty If all I can find is someplace to just pull off, I generally only level the trailer and hook up the electricity. We always drive with a nearly full water tank, and we can go a week on our waste tanks. The exception is the day before we go into a dry camp site for a prolonged time, like a national park. Then we dump all the tanks and make sure we have a full tank of fresh water.

We do have one Walmart we stay at on trips back to family because there isn't a convenient alternatitive that fits our schedule. However it is in a relatively small town in Wyoming at a high enough elevation to be cool at night. It is 400 miles from our home, and we generally pull in around 5 or 6. We haven't stayed anywhere else like it, just because we don't have to. I enjoy boondocking on public land, but I really don't like dry "camping" in an urban parking lot.

 

[kathijoz]

Thanks everyone for the good information.  I will definitely make reservations for Glacier and Lake Louise because that's the main destination of our trip.  I like the idea of contacting different RV parks to get an idea of what they say.  I'm the planner in the family, so I'm glad I started my research early.  I'm sure as time goes by, I'll have lots more questions.  Thanks again for everyone's input.

Oh, by the way, we stayed at Wal Mart twice when we went to Yellowstone.  It is definitely worth it if you are merely looking for a place to sleep. Sometime my husband will drive 10-12 hours, and all he needs is time to eat and sleep and hit the road again.  Downside is Wal Marts are very bright, so be sure to bring something to cover the windows.  On the flip side, it's a good thing they are bright, that makes me feel a lot safer.

Kathi

 

[WILDEBILL308]

Yes you can travel without reservations. Just don't expect to show up at any national park and find a campsite. I will just point out if you go to Glacier I would stay on the west side. I spent a 4 days on the east side and 4 on the west side. I have been in 6 National parks in the last 40 days. If you don't make reservations way in advance you will not be staying close to any of them.
Bill 

 

[Rancher Will]

In over 50 years RVing, I don't remember my wife and I ever getting a reservation for camping. We Use the God Sam Travel Guide and Passport America (We are Life Members of both). On our trips when we plan to stop at a Campground or Camping park, we just check the directories and about 2 or 3 PM we phone the Camp Park to let them know that we plan to be there. A very few times we were told, on the phone, that the campsites were full and usually, we were advised on the phone of another nearby place to call. Otherwise we would just check our directory again for another choice.  We have never failed to locate a camping site when needed.

Many times, when we are traveling and need only a few hours to stop over night, we just stop at a free location such as truck stop, local business customer parking area such as WalMart, Krogers, Auto Dealerships, etc., city park, rest area, or, in the Western States, just off the highway onto a local country road that has a wide "pull-off spot".

 

[Utclmjmpr]

  I find in my travels that many folks that do NOT reserve ahead also do NOT care the price and don't price shop. A month ago in the Yellowstone area prices were running as high as $160.00 per night,, I like to stay in the $30.00 dollar range. I sleep better knowing I can camp 5 more times for the price of one of those nights..>>>Dan