How to Secure Best Camping Reservations

Getting camping reservations has gotten extremely competitive. Today, I am going to show you what you need to be doing right now to secure your desired camping spots, because if you don’t you may not have a place to camp next season!

Getting a Camping Reservation Has Become Challenging

I have never experienced so many booked up campgrounds! Scoring a campsite reservation is going to be challenging next year as RV sales continue to soar and people in record numbers are choosing to go camping as a vacation.

This goes for National Parks, State Parks, Forest Service, and Army Corp of Engineer campgrounds, and others. Every website I visited about making reservations at a National Parks says…. you might miss out if you don’t reserve your campsite within minutes of when it becomes available. The South Dakota State Park website states, “For summer weekend stays, most campsites and cabins are reserved within a week of reservations opening.”

What does this mean for you and me?

Strategic planning and being organized is critical for securing a campsite… for where we want and when we want it! Especially if you are a weekend warrior like me… because weekend camping reservations book up the fastest.

Today I am going to share my 7 Step Camping Reservation strategy so you don’t find yourself without a place to camp!

7 Step Camping Reservation Strategy

Plan where and when you want to camp for the upcoming camping season

Yes, you need to plan for the entire season. If you intend to go camping 4 times, or if you are taking just one big camping trip you need to know when and where you want to camp. During the peak camping season, I camp at a minimum every other weekend so that is a lot of planning for me. But this first step is critical as you are about to see.

I created a Camping Reservations Google calendar to help me stay organized and make it easy for me to see at a glance the dates I want to camp and where I want to camp.

Plan your camping dates – number of nights
Plan your desired campgrounds

Find where you make the campground reservations

Most campgrounds allow for both online and phone reservations. I prefer to make online reservations because this is much faster and as I already shared with you many campgrounds book up fast… because speed is critical.

Determine the Campground reservation window

Now that you know where you need to make your online reservations review each website to determine the campground reservation window. They all have different camping reservation windows. It is critical you understand the reservation system for every campground you want to make a reservation at!

After you gather this information, make a cheat sheet.

On your reservation window cheat sheet write down the:

Places you want to make a reservation at
The number of days in advance you can make a reservation
The time these reservations open up

This information will help you create a strategic action plan.

The first thing you need to do is make any reservations you can right now.

Booking your reservation as far in advance as you can ensure:

You secure a campsite at your desired campground during your desired dates
You increase your odds of getting the best campsite

Create Reservation Window Alerts

You need to put the campground reservation window date and time on a calendar for each camping trip and set an alert – you need to be sure you are ready to make your reservation the very second online reservations open up!

Create an account ahead of time

Because you need to be logged in to make the online campground reservations you need to create an account on all websites. It is important you do this now so when your campground reservation window opens up you are not slowed down.

Research best campsites

It is very important you do this next step now because when your window of opportunity becomes available to make your reservation, this is not the time to try to figure out which campsites are best for you. Remember time is of the essence.

Go back to each website to research the campsites.

Find campsites that accommodate the length of your RV
Do you need a drive-through campsite?
Do you need hookups?
Or, maybe you want one with less shade if you are using solar.
Are there waterfront campsites?
1. If waterfront campsites are available, I am going to try to secure one of those.
Make note of your top picks – pick more than one… if your top pick gets taken before you have a chance to secure it, select the next campsite on your best campsite list until you find one that is available.