How do you plan your camping trips

[cpaharley2008]

I would add a furnace and porta potty to expand your choices....as others have said, you have a portable tent with no amenities....

[jerrybob]

As for planning....we've done both.....reservations and free wheeling. If we are going to a specific campground.....we'll book ahead. Out here on the Pacific Coast.....that is sometime 6 to 12 months in advance. We have also made many trips to various states wihout booking a campground or even knowing what road we would be taking. I love these trips......never had a problem finding a place to stay......fun way to travel. Good luck....have fun.

[sunnyone]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I would add a furnace and porta potty to expand your choices....as others have said, you have a portable tent with no amenities....

Well, we do have a few amenities - a stove, a fridge, lights, a Maxxfan, a porta potty. I also have a Renogy 100W soler kit on order.
If we have an electric hookup, we can use our little ceramic heater; if not we pile on the sleeping bags and comforters.
I admit, I do regret not getting the furnace.

[sunnyone]

Originally Posted by jerrybob

.never had a problem finding a place to stay......

Even during the current, covid-induced surge of people camping?
How do you find your campsites when traveling without a plan?

[Civilguy]

We tend to be planners. I had long dreamed of putting on my flannel shirt and crewcut and heading out with the family Buick station wagon and a box of flapjack mix to look for America, but the 50's and 60's seem to have slipped away somehow and I've even lost my Simon and Garfunkel 8-track cartridges.

Broadly speaking, I don't think most National Parks completely prohibit dogs, but the policies are highly restrictive; you can't go on most trails, so your experience of the parks would be very limited. (Mrs. Civilguy has graciously given me a couple of years to have the parks experience before we take in another fuzzy lodger.)

From what I read, Arches, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Zion, Glacier and others are all extremely difficult to book. In a few, there was apparently a strategy to camp "nearby" at a commercial campground and then get in line by 6:00 AM or earlier to snag a first-come, first-served site in the park. But, policies have changed greatly in response to the record crowds they've experienced these past years, so you'll have to read up on specifics for each. I do know that there is currently no such availability in Yosemite except at Camp 4 which is limited to tent camping. Also be aware that many of the marquee Federal destinations require a timed-entry reservation just to enter for a day's visit.

Over the past few years we used to set up three computers and try to book sites at Yosemite on the 15th of each month, when successive one-month windows opened up. The sites disappear in moments, then there is a half-hour of shuffling around while people release their holds, or cancel sites that are not suited to their equipment. Sometimes we were successful, and perhaps more often we were not. It required persistence and planning. We haven't tried at all this year as we've got other destinations on the radar. As Yogi Berra said, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

The reservation systems are so flooded that people subscribe to bot services to be notified when a space becomes available. And, yes, policies do appear to favor the no-shows as in our experience there are always a significant number of empty spaces in "completely full" parks.

Many of the nicer Washington State Parks, especially the few sites with power, are just about unobtainable during high season (summer), especially so on weekends. They've recently introduced a system to provide notifications of availabilities when folks cancel. That's basically what the paid commercial bot systems do, so it's nice to see them take that step.

Oregon seems to have a bit more availability, broadly speaking, and they typically offer better sites at lower rates than Washington. These all result from long-standing differences in their policies and legislative support going back many decades.

I guess this isn't very helpful. However, I am heartened to see that a few of the folks here apparently still have their station wagons and flapjack mix!

[jerrybob]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

Even during the current, covid-induced surge of people camping?
How do you find your campsites when traveling without a plan?

We love travelling without a plan......we stay in private campgrounds....state parks....county parks whatever we find. For us.....the trick is to stop earlier than most folks.....we hit the road usually by 9am.....drive till we find something we want to visit and find a camp spot by 2 to 3 pm. Usually....folks are pulling out by then and we find a spot. When we don't have a plan......if we find something of interest.....we look for a spot and go explore. We've driven an hour down the road and stopped becasue we found something of interest. It is a rare occasion we can't find a spot to camp in. Like I said.....love travelling without a plan.

BTW.....I agree with Mike above.....state parks and Nat'l Parks during prime season take planning. We visit a few state parks here in Wash and down the Oregon coast every year.....for those trips we book a spot up to a year in advance. We rarely visit those place in prime season.....don't like the crowds. We also travel with our 80lbs pup.......if he is not welcome.....we don't camp there.

[sunnyone]

So, when it gets to be 2 or 3 o’clock and you’re traveling without a set agenda, how do you find those campsites - use an app, a map, a state or federal website, a book?
By the way, we do most of our camping in the shoulder seasons, to avoid the crowds and the weather extremes.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

So, when it gets to be 2 or 3 o’clock and you’re traveling without a set agenda, how do you find those campsites - use an app, a map, a state or federal website, a book?
By the way, we do most of our camping in the shoulder seasons, to avoid the crowds and the weather extremes.

All of those you mentioned but rely upon good old fashion creativity when sources you referred to failed (see post #6 in this thread).
Back in our pop-up tent trailer days having a plan was more imperative. One of the primary reasons we gravitated to an enclosed fiberglass trailer was to free ourselves of the restraints of needing a plan.

[parmm]

Google Maps is your friend. I set up my travels using them. Getting up in years and can't drive the long hours like I use to, I try to limit my driving to 4 hours or so. When you figure in gas stops, rest stops, and lunch breaks, that works out to a 8 hours of travel time. I use Google Maps to map my route and find campgrounds or overnight parking sites. We try to use military fam-camps, corp of engineer campgrounds, and municipal (county/city/village/town) campgrounds and the like. Use my Garmin GPS to navigate between stops. I print a list of each stop along the way and put the next stop in the Garmin in the morning.



I use to use Microsoft Streets and Trips for mapping until they quite publishing it. Was a great mapping program, and easy to work with. I really miss it. Tried the RV mapping program from The Dryt, but it doesn't like me!!! Very difficult to navigate. If anyone knows of a good mapping program, let us all know what it is!

[Glenn Baglo]

You can also use Google maps satellite view to check campsite surroundings. Is it actually on the river, or is it next to Riverside Recycling?

[jerrybob]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

So, when it gets to be 2 or 3 o’clock and you’re traveling without a set agenda, how do you find those campsites - use an app, a map, a state or federal website, a book?
By the way, we do most of our camping in the shoulder seasons, to avoid the crowds and the weather extremes.

I say to wife.....we need to find a campground......we start looking what we pass.....sometimes she says to her phone....."Hey Google....campgrounds near such and such city" I honestly do not remember ever not finding a campground within a reasonable timeframe. Sometimes.....when Google gives us a campground......we'll call their number to see if they have availability. Seems we always find a spot.

[sunnyone]

Originally Posted by jerrybob

I say to wife.....we need to find a campground......we start looking what we pass.....sometimes she says to her phone....."Hey Google....campgrounds near such and such city" I honestly do not remember ever not finding a campground within a reasonable timeframe. Sometimes.....when Google gives us a campground......we'll call their number to see if they have availability. Seems we always find a spot.

Ok. Based on your answer and others, looks like I am under-using google. Thanks for the help.

[jerrybob]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

Ok. Based on your answer and others, looks like I am under-using google. Thanks for the help.

Good luck.....have fun....enjoy the trip!

[RollinMike]

Lots of apps for finding BLM and NFS land. Lots of the places marked for free camping on the apps are full of less desirable neighbors.

[garycarolyn]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

I’m starting to plan for a trip out west this spring, and am having trouble organizing my thoughts. We don’t have a lot of experience with our Scamp 13 yet. Just picked it up late summer 2020, and had a few modest excursions around Wisconsin that summer and last summer.
How do you plan your camping trips? Start with what you want to see, and then look for campsites? Start with where you can get reservations and plan your activities around where you’ll be staying? Forget reservations and wing it?
Our Scamp is pretty basic. No air conditioner, no furnace, no bathroom, no water pump/heater. Our preference is for state park type campgrounds with electric hookups, but reservations for those have been hard to get. (Although when we actually get to the campgrounds, there are lots of empty campsites. What’s that all about?)
Anyway, your tips for planning a trip with a small trailer would be appreciated.

When we traveled from Michigan to California we used the National Geographic Atlas that shows all the National Forest CGs, with our geezer pass it was wonderful to camp cheap and enter Nat Parks for free drive throughs and day trips. I love and depend on paper maps, husband uses Garmin for directions. Each to his own, but we got there just fine.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by garycarolyn

When we traveled from Michigan to California we used the National Geographic Atlas that shows all the National Forest CGs, with our geezer pass it was wonderful to camp cheap and enter Nat Parks for free drive throughs and day trips. I love and depend on paper maps, husband uses Garmin for directions. Each to his own, but we got there just fine.

Yes the geezer pass is wonderful. On our way home from Canada one year we went through Yellowstone to save about 200 miles to get to Colorado. The day pass was $70 per car and we were free. Also National Forest Campgrounds are half price Sunday through Thursday. We also use paper maps but our Tom Tom won't work in our RV when we have it. We make very few reservations except when we are going with a group or a special place to do things. We've had a few times of finding a place to stay difficult but we can always stop at a truck stop. It's nice to just go at your own pace and stop when you want to. For everyone's info both people should get their own geezer or as I told the woman my geezerette pass in case one person should pass on. I've heard over the years that the passes may be stopped but whoever has one can still use it.

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

First join Boondockers welcome and Harvest hosts.
www.boondockerswelcome.com and www.harvest host.com. Boondockers Welcome is ordinary people who have space to put up 1-2 travelers in their yards. You might want to invest in a portapotty and backpackers shoers for this option (I used to make my own backpackers showers but you might want to check out Venture wipes)
Harvest Host is usually businesses that let you park overnight at their parking lots. Good manners dictate you make a purchase in return. This you will HAVE to be self contained for. Many BW hosts offer anelectric to hook up to and many will ask $5 or $10 for utilities. This gives you a viable alternative if you can't find state or county campgrounds near your desired stop.
I learnt in my 20 years in Boy Scouts to always have Plan B, even if its only parking in a state or federal forest and putting up a tarp. Always- ALWAYS- have a Plan B. Flat tires, automotive troubles, tummy bugs- who knows what else may delay you getting from A to B or C. We had to park overnight in an automotive dealership twice for Lilsnoozy problems. Not a harvest host site either time.

Plan occasional 2-3 night stays at a place for laundry, rest rooms and catching up on sleep, not to mention getting out to see the sights.

[cpaharley2008]

Years ago on my first trip out west resulted in dizzy spells, turns out altitude sickness was still around....

[neparker]

Like Ruthie and Jon, I generally start my trip planning with where I want to be sure to stop, then plan a route based on that. I use RV Trip Wizard to figure out my route and stops. (Highly recommend it!) I then make reservations based on whether they're needed.

I generally don't like to do one night stops, so when I'm making plans for an overnight stop, or even a lunch stop, I consult the books "Off the Beaten Path," and "Atlas Obsura" (also online), to see what's in the area. As a result, some of my most memorable moments have been in these "just stopping for the day/lunch" locations.

[Mattedfred]

How Do We Plan?

That depends.

If we want to attend one of the many weekend music festivals held around Ontario we research camping options near the festival site and reserve ASAP.

If we want to join our group of close friends at Ontario Conservation Areas or Provincial Parks, we reserve 6 months in advance.

If we want to join them for an annual Canadian Thanksgiving weekend camping trip at a private RV park, we reserve ASAP.

If we want to camp on any weekend in July and August, or any long weekend between May and October, here in Ontario we either reserve 6 months advance or leave it to the last minute to see if there's even 1 serviced site available. Every single campsite within a 5 hour drive of Toronto is usually booked during these times.

Most years we plan a 1 or 2 night trip at a nearby Conservation Area in early May so we can test out the trailer and all of our gear. Our final camping trip of the year is usually in late October at this same Conservation Area or a Provincial Park a few hours away. Neither of these trips require a reservation.

We typically plan a 2-3 week road trip every September. Sometimes it includes our annual 6 day backcountry canoe trip. If it does, then we usually depart on the Sunday or Monday of the Canadian 'Labour Day Weekend' and only reserve the first night. If we're heading to Quetico Provincial Park (Northwestern Ontario) to canoe, it's a 2 day drive. After the trip, we try and take our time coming back home and only reserve a site for the next campground if it looks like it's filling up. If it doesn't include our canoe trip, we're usually heading to Quebec. We've never had to make a reservation when travelling there in September.

So, we reserve if we know demand is high and we must camp at a specific park on specific dates. Otherwise, we abhor the steep reservation and cancellation fees here in Ontario and prefer to roll the dice and show up without one.

Probably our biggest lesson learned is to count every day you are changing locations as a 'travel day' regardless of whether it's a 3 hour drive or a 12 hour drive. You never know what can happen on the road, and it puts less pressure on you to get there because you had something important planned at the next destination on your travel day.

The second biggest lesson we've learned is to always book 2 consecutive nights at a destination, unless you're only 'passing through'.

Since we learned these lessons, while travelling the world and travelling in our trailer, our trips have become more relaxing, more enjoyable and left room for serendipitous events that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

My wife has 10GB of data on her phone. If we don't have reservations then we use Google maps to search for more than one campground along our planned route and if they aren't close to or fully booked we just show up. This is for our trips to Quebec in September. We know all of the parks along the route out West to Quetico so we don't need to use Google maps for those trips.

Safe travels and enjoy your trip!