Tip on making reservations for a campsite

[CajunCamper]

I don't know about you but I get nervous when making reservations at a campground that I've never been to before especially if the campgrounds website has very few if any pictures. I even get nervous booking a site in a campground that I've been to but am unfamiliar with the sites that are available. You know most campgrounds have that one or two or more sites that you see and think "Wow I would hate to get stuck with that site." I mean sometimes you drive a few or several hours or even days to get to your destination and a bad campsite can ruin a trip.

I even get nervous taking someones word about whether a campground or campsite is nice without seeing pictures, because everyones likes and dislikes are different.

Just last week I was faced with the issue of booking a site for late May in a campground in Florida that we have camped in before, but the sites that we were familiar with were not available and the campgrounds website did not have pictures of the area that was available. I called the campground and they gave us a very blurry discription and said "yeah those sites are nice" in a very non-convincing manner. Well I stressed over it because we were hoping for a nice site close to the lagoon so we could slip our kayaks into the water without having to load them on our TV and drive to a put in point. Well I was on Reserve America and I took a chance and booked a site.

About an hour later, I'm still stressed over the site I booked, so I took a shot in the dark and went to "webshots.com" ya know one of those sites where you can upload and share your photos? Anyway I did a search on their website typing in only the name of the campground. I was amazed when the search returned over 200 photos of this camground taken by ordinary folks that enjoy camping like us. Even more to my amazement one family had camped in the same site that I had reserved and posted photos of that very site. They even showed a photo that said "this is the short path to the lagoon from our campsite" and even showed photos of the beach at the lagoon. After seeing this I became very excited because the campsite is everything we had hoped for.

After that I thought well I just got lucky, so I began to search other campgrounds around the country,(I only searched for state parks, National Park campgrounds and national forrest ) and everything I searched for returned photos of the campgrounds. Some had more than others, but there were at least photos to give us a feel for what we might expect.

So that's my tip on making reservations at campgrounds you have never been to. Oh I don't expect to find a photo of a specific site everytime, but I think searching for photos on these type of websites in combination with reviews and information from other campers and camground websites and brochures can only reduce the stress and increase the odds of you having a very enjoyable stay in the campgrounds you choose to visit.

Happy Camping

CajunCamper

['tiredTeacher]

I don't know about you but I get nervous when making reservations at a campground that I've never been to before especially if the campgrounds website has very few if any pictures.

CajunCamper

Me, too. Thanks for the idea. Ima gonna use it today!

[fallsrider]

What a great tip, Cajun! I had never thought of that.

I, too, get a little nervous reserving sites that I've never seen or can't remember. The right site can leave your family with a wonderful memory, but the wrong one can do just the opposite.

The flip side is that I should post our pics of sites we've stayed on in case others want to do a search.

Thanks again!

[my toys]

A great idea!!! Thanks for the tip.

[3ontheGo]

I just searched photos on Flick'r a few days ago for the same purpose and it worked great! The only downside was that my son came in and saw the photos and decided that in addition to the 4 days I'd booked for August, he wanted to camp there for his birthday, too. So my research ended up costing me another $100 (two nights plus gas).

[cmack98]

I am the same exact way!!!

I have tried "google-ing" the name of the campgrounds I was inquiring about, but never had much luck.

I usually post on here or over at PUX for some insight (check out my current post for Lake In Wood Campgroung in Lancaster PA).  

On the other hand, I do try to chime in if I know about a campground.  I try to list extensive reviews/descriptions on rvparkreviews.com, and taking pics...

I am going to go to webshots and flickr now!

Awesome idea guys, I can't believe I didn't think of it first!!!!

[sacrawf]

Great idea.  Thanks!

[tlhdoc]

I have been using webshots to look for pictures of campgrounds for several years.  I also have posted pictures of campsites for other campers.  So if others would do the same and post pictures of campsites in a campground we could help each other out.

[haroldPE]

Great idea(s)!!  I also have been using google maps (in satellite mode) to check out the aerial image of the sites as well.

[AZsix]

I have been using webshots to look for pictures of campgrounds for several years.  I also have posted pictures of campsites for other campers.  So if others would do the same and post pictures of campsites in a campground we could help each other out.

That is a great idea. I will be sure to take plenty of pictures of Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon in June. Along with showing the good sites we may also want to post pictures of the sites to avoid.

[Global Mom]

Although I have not tried it yet, another site that may also provide similar results is World Is Round.  

[srds]

Lots of imfo on youtube also

[ScouterMom]

heres a actual CD ROM guide you can get of Wisconsin State parks.  They actually have photos and descriptions of every single campsite!


http://www.wis-parks.com/index.html

Wouldn't it be nice if someone did this for other states as well???


Laura

[danwors]

Great idea(s)!!  I also have been using google maps (in satellite mode) to check out the aerial image of the sites as well.

Yep - Google Earth is awesome for this.  You can't zoom down to 50 feet, but you get a pretty good feel from 1000 feet what the site is like...whether you're too close to the pit toilets, high traffic areas, etc.