One thing that has changed a lot since this article was written and everyone bought RVs during COVID: good luck just showing up and finding a camp spot. Pre-2020, we'd either just show up to a state park on a Friday night, or maybe reserve a spot a couple of days before. Not anymore; I booked all of the spots we might want, or at least could even find available, in March or so and even then we had to schedule around available spots, and not the weekends we necessarily wanted.
Now, maybe it's just WA state, but if we hit the road for an extended period I'd be reserving spots ahead of time even at places far less popular than, say, Yellowstone.
Yeah, it's super busy out there now. This is one reason for boondocking. I pretty much don't even look at campgrounds anymore, knowing they'll either be full, or I'll be packed in between two noisy groups when I'm trying to relax. I don't have an RV, and I imagine it's a lot harder to drive those up a forest service road in the Cascades, but there are still plenty of places you can go (looks like that's the author of the article's preferred method too).
This year in Colorado so far hiking trails and camp sites have been way less utilized especially not on the popular weekends. The last 2 years it was as you described booking months in advance but so far this year you can nab a same day spot at most parks during the week and there is much more overall availability. Hiking trails and parks I've done are probably 30-40% as busy as they were this time last year. It definitely is starting to feel like people are moving on and doing other things this year.
It’s not just WA. It’s everywhere. New campgrounds are popping up fast and people are becoming disenchanted with the failure-prone covid wagons, so I don’t think it’ll be this way for long.
Figured it wasn't just WA, my parents in FL don't camp as much as they used to, but they're saying the same thing on the occasions that they do go out.
I imagine it'll die off because as you point out, folks will find out that RVs always need something, and in a lot of ways are kind of a pain-in-the-ass. But, man, thought it would have happened by now.
I'm knocking on wood real hard with this one, but I'm going on about 20k miles in my 2013 Airstream with no incidents (bought in 2020). Only major thing I did since getting it was change the original tires and get the wheel bearings repacked. Cross country road trips was what led us to go with an Airstream and so far I haven't regret it a bit.
Likewise. Camping used to be spontaneous up until Covid. We might book a popular site a few weeks in advance but only for popular ones on holiday weekends.
Now they can be booked months in advance when you've no sense of how available you'll be or what the weather will be like.
For Michigan's booking system, people also game it by booking long stays that finish on the dates want (thus getting around the "within 6 months" booking window) and then cancelling down to the dates they want for a paltry cancellation fee, given how in demand they are.
Do you worry that there is more or less an arms race with competitors like arvie.com, and the entire industry is basically just adding service fees on top the costs of booking a site?
Not sure there is a fair approach beyond a lottery. Parks could embrace demand, and auction the sites off, but that is trading one bias for another.
I don’t think it’s much of an arms race. There are practical limitations to scan frequency that’ll keep most groups operating within the same general constraints.
Added costs/fees are somewhat inevitable. I spent $25 for two small bundles of firewood on my last camping trip. Everyone’s got to make a buck somehow.
I see Campnab as a convenience. Anyone can refresh the booking system manually, but doing so is time consuming. Some folks are happy to pay for that convenience.
Campsite availability is largely a supply and demand problem concentrated around busy centers and amplified during certain times. Drive a little further and go on the weekdays and it isn’t as much of an issue.
Perhaps lotteries would help. Some permits have been switched to this approach. I’m not sure how practical they are to implement across the board, though.
Personally, I don’t think any solution will actually solve this problem. That said, a lot of campsites do sit unused when folks fail to cancel. Reminders a week in advance of a trip could help with this. Some areas also have policies that discourage no-shows.
Using wanderinglabs has helped me get reservations at campsites when it seemed almost impossible to find availablity. Taking my kids to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park when school gets out. Keep up the good work - great service.
It seems as if about the only things WA State Parks has invested in for the past 40 years are parking lots and a new headquarters building in Tumwater.
This is largely a west coast problem. We are doing a trip to the west coast this summer (sitting in the shade of my RV in AZ right now on our way) and we had to book a lot more in advance than other destinations. The past few years in the central and east we can usually find a spot day of unless it is right near a major attraction.
I am sitting at a campgrounds in Sweden right now. There are a few dozen cabins, of which maybe a handful are being rented. Six, maybe, at the most. Meanwhile, the camping area is absolutely packed with RVs and camper vans. So, maybe not just Washington?
I don't think most people care enough to bother you, but there's very little "stealth" about a Sprinter/ProMaster van. They used to go unnoticed but they don't anymore. It's a dead giveaway when there is a MaxxAir roof vent and solar panel(s).
Something that the massive volume of "urban campers" in the Bay Area has taught me is that if you're not being hassled by the cops/locals for sleeping in your vehicle, its not that you've somehow gone without notice, its that nobody cares enough to do anything about it. Folks who put a lot of effort into "stealth" are optimizing for a problem that's comparatively easy to solve (just park somewhere else) if you somehow manage to avoid the worst possible consequence (a parking ticket), while also making themselves more attractive to thieves (who are looking for work vans that have tools they can fence).
I draw the line at not having a private shower and toilet. Yeah, a lot of van dwellers utilize gyms for this, but I don't want to tie my basic hygiene to external sources.
I don't read parent as saying not to have a shower and toilet, I think they are just saying make the vehicle appear more utilitarian so as to not draw attention.
Port-a-potties and portable showers are a thing. They are cheap, lightweight and don't take much space. Not as good as gym showers but sufficient if you want the option not to rely on them.
Washington might have more populated parks simply because they have a state-wide pass for getting access to a wide variety of camping spots for cheap. Other states I've been to still have some kind of registration and check-in process where you need to pay cash on the spot for each place you go to
I usually just pull off at a truck stop for sleep if I'm traveling, but even those have been getting filled up lately. Plenty of exits will just have semis lined up on the shoulder because there's no room anywhere else and they can only drive so many hours by law.
I think this is one of the reasons motorcycle camping is seeing such a huge increase. Those that liked to camp moved to overlanding. Then that filled up. So now they are moving to adventure bike camping.
For me, it looks like a La Quinta while the sun is up, and then just before sunset, I head back out to make sure the alignment on my telescope is set. It also looks like a couple of cans worth of mosquito repellent. It looks like plenty of water. The last time I went when it was that hot during the day, it was still above 90° at 2am.
This is one of those adventures where brave blurs into crazy
You are sheltered, that doesn’t count. People frequently get hypothermia on the beaches in NorCal because it’s windy with 60F humid air and that’s with clothes.
> You know many Canadians wear shorts at 50F, right?
Shorts are clothing FFS! “Slightly more of my leg is exposed while I’m awake” is not the same as being able to sleep naked without shelter.
Humans came from warm clients in Africa. Living in the north depends on critical technological advancements that quickly puts it outside of “”nature (fire, clothing, construction).
> You must be from a place that gets hot.
Not at all, I grew up in miserably cold environments (high mountains in Wyoming). When you grow up with it you become blind to all of the basic technologies your life completely depends on.
Now, maybe it's just WA state, but if we hit the road for an extended period I'd be reserving spots ahead of time even at places far less popular than, say, Yellowstone.