Planning ahead

[tom and susan]

We will be picking up our new 5.0ta in mid April. We plan to travel down Hwy. 101 and head back east to Georgia thru Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We are total newbies. I love having the freedom to go where we want and stay as long as we want. But I am worried about the need for reservations. I'm scared of being stuck on the road with no place to stay for the night. Do you make campground reservations, and if so, how far in advance: one day, a week, the whole trip? I would really appreciate advice from those with more experience. Susan

[Ian and Sue]

About 4 years ago we traveled for 6 months from Jan 1 to June 30 without campground reservations across the south, gulf coast, Texas to Big Bend, S New Mexico, S Arizona, S Utah, S Colorado and home to VT. We always tried to arrive on a Thurs and stay till Monday. In the western national parks that are first come first served plan on arriving early in the morning so you pull in as someone pulls out in places like Zion, Arches, etc. Be early and be flexable and you will be ok.

[cpaharley2008]

The nice thing about your Escape is you will be comfortable no matter where you stop. Other than the ai conditioning, you do not need hook ups (assuming you have solar and dual batteries) and we often stop in rest areas and sleep for 4-5 hours and back on the road, but we stop the next night for shower and so on and this means we make a reservation that night, calling ahead normally they hold you a spot. We use KOA and use their app.

[Tom W]

On a November trip we found some popular parks such as Joshua Tree fully booked for the weekends. At the same time we found the Grand Canyon empty! Being at a popular spot early on a Thursday should get you in before the weekend crowds.

[tom and susan]

Thanks! Those are helpful suggestions. I hadn't thought about them Mid-week availability being better then weekends. Of course! It's a good fall back plan to stop at a rest station for a quick nap.

[Greg A]

Cracker Barrels, Wal-marts, Casinos are good options if you are ready to stop and parks are full. No fees, and with Cracker Barrel a wonderful breakfast in the morning.

[steve dunham]

Most State,Parks have an on line reservation system ( Reserve America). If you have Internet service you can check their site and see what's available . We have often found that during the week 1/3 to 1/2 of the campsites are vacant. I see no sense in paying a reservation fee to reserve a site in a park that's half empty / full
If the park has only a couple of sites available then we bite the bullet and make a reservation.

[tom and susan]

Thanks for your quick responses. This forum has been such a great resource. Susan

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by tom and susan

Thanks for your quick responses. This forum has been such a great resource. Susan

Tom and Susan, we picked up our 21 in April of '16. Like you, we were concerned about availability and made 25 reservations to slowly get us back to CA. We came down 101 and stayed mostly in state parks, but some private parks. We found all parks less than 1/2 full. If I did it again in April, I would not make reservations and allow for more flexibility. You're gonna love the Oregon State Parks. Have a great time!

[kstock11]

My wife & I picked up our Escape on May 2nd 2014. We had no reservations going into the trip. We took someones advice & kept our distance per day to 150 miles or less. By getting up and on the road early, we arrived at the campgrounds early. We stayed at non-commercial campgrounds the whole trip. Once Memorial Day came, we sometimes made reservations or else arrived early Friday & stayed through the weekends. If a sign says "campground full," check with the volunteers as they sometimes weren't full if you were early.

[Rossue]

You also forgo some potential serendipity by reserving. Almost never do it.

[blhvet]

The most annoying thing that Alberta Parka has done in the last few years is make large numbers of campsites in many parks "Reservation Only". I remember setting up mid-week in June at Boulton Creek in Kananaskis, and being told that I had to leave because the entire campground wAs now "Reservation Only". There were 5 sites occupied in the entire campground. Nothing but a money grab for the $12 reservation fee. And there's no cell or internet access, so you can't make a reservation when you're there. Frustrating.

[t-twnbob]

In April, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I like to use Campendium to look for campsites in unfamiliar areas. It's free to register and is a great resource.

[float5]

From mid-April, hopefully campgrounds in the north will be open but there could be some problem with that. Some or many may not open until later. That has been our biggest problem when trying to go out early. There are often a few state parks in a state kept open all year where there is a frost-free faucet and electric, with the rest of their campgrounds closed until mid-April or later up north. Depends on which states. A few days into your trip, most places should be open.

We had to make reservations for a whole list of places for most of a month because we picked up in August. You don't need reservations except possibly some weekends depending upon how popular an area might be. Weekends often book up at campgrounds the same way hotels often do.

[tom and susan]

Wow, thanks for all ya'lls replies. It sounds like we'll be OK without over planning. I tend to be an obsessive planner and worrier, but, as Rossue points out, the point of the Escape is to embrace a more serendipitous style. It's getting exciting. Susan

[Mike Lewis]

I picked up my Escape in April 2014. I took two months to return to Florida and I don't recall problems finding camping sites due to campgrounds being full in April-May. I can tell you that some national park campgrounds are closed until May; the north side of Grand Canyon comes to mind. Still haven't been there.

On subsequent trips I found it best to travel on Sunday - Wednesday to avoid the weekend crowds. I try to travel so that I arrive at my next campsite in early or mid-afternoon. This gives time for campers to vacate the sites in the morning and is early enough to get a site before late arrivals show up.

[MyronL]

We rely on WalMart for a convenient overnight stop in the middle of a big trip. They are usually handy, have other trailers there, always safe, quiet, well lit. Best is to use your GPS to find one ahead, because they're not always visible from the highway.

Word to the wise: On a recent trip we overnighted at a TA that had a hundred eighteen wheelers parked, many running their engines all night. We parked in an area near the building we thought was only for RV's, or so a sign said. By 3 am I got dressed and moved us as far away from the two big trucks who had pulled in beside us in the night, and then kept us very wide awake.

[Red Dog]

Tom and Susan

As may have posted, we too fly by the seat of our pants and have found no issues. We stopped planning too far ahead. You will be fine.