Weird Campground Rule

[freedommachine]

Camping reservations! I wouldnt camp at a place that takes reservations, seems weird to me. Thats half the fun in going camping is not knowing where you will wind up. Take off with a full tank of gas and hope I get a spot I like, if not move on and see what else I find. Isnt that part of camping, is to going exploring. Wheres the fun and adventure if I have it all planned out.

[Barney]

I can't say I blame the campgrounds. Somehow the most natural solution would be to just show up and rent a spot, but I know during the season it may not be possible to do so.

[Forester]

That is absolutely annoying. But like what others have pointed out, if the reservation system was abused, then they have no option but to resort to First-Come-First-Served basis rather than have people pay in advance and don't turn up.

[ChadTower]

Really, there's nothing you can do either way. Either you take reservations and deal with people who paid but did not show or you do not take reservations and you deal with people who show up early and then don't use it until the weekend. No matter what you do there are going to be people who work the system to their own advantage without regard for others.

IMO, the mix of reserved and nonreserved works best. I can't drive my family 4 hours without knowing we'll have a spot somewhere. We don't get there friday night until 9 or 10pm. I just wouldn't be able to do it where we like to go if there were risk of wandering around that late with two kids in the car. OTOH, the nonreserved sites are great for people passing through without a solid plan. There is room for both.

[BUUZBEE]

we go to the lake each memorial weekend, they take reservations, but when we go to the sierras, and now this year yosemite, first come, first serve! fingers & toes crossed LOL

[ejdixon]

Originally Posted by freedommachine

Camping reservations! I wouldnt camp at a place that takes reservations, seems weird to me. Thats half the fun in going camping is not knowing where you will wind up. Take off with a full tank of gas and hope I get a spot I like, if not move on and see what else I find. Isnt that part of camping, is to going exploring. Wheres the fun and adventure if I have it all planned out.

That's a great way of looking at it, freedommachine.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if I'll have search around to find a camping ground that's got a slot available if I'm alone, with my friends or my girlfriend. It might be a totally different matter if you're camping with children, especially if you'd want to start getting them to love camping and enjoying the outdoors.

[hummingbird]

Honestly, we don't usually camp at anything other than the primitive sites. The local spot doesn't take reservations so it's first come, first served. We usually have the choice of two or three spots so it's no biggie.