Road trip reservations needed?

[Toad]

Did 2500 miles last year from Washington State to south central California on interstate 5 then back along the east side of California, Oregon, Idaho. Reservations a must in this new Covid state we are now in.

Just finished a 4200 miles to Lincoln Nebraska through Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska, idaho, Washington and made reservations almost 6 month's in advance because park's were booked up.

Did deviate 1 night and stayed in Rolling Springs Wyoming at a KOA "TERRIBLE" got the only remaining site, stuck behind some huge petroleum tanks.

Not like the old days of spontaneity for sure.

Planning a trip now for next May to Arizona through Saint George Utah and grand canyon, already finding places booked out.



QUOTE=Rickdicks;986065]I'm planning out my first multi-week trip, travelling from Georgia to the Grand Canyon. One of my big concerns is finding a place to stay each night on the way there and back. Since bad weather, bad traffic or any number of things could cause a delay, I'm wary of reserving a particular spot each night weeks in advance. I'm equally wary of not being able to find a spot if I don't. I'll be travelling off-peak season.

What's the view from you road veterans? Do I need to book well in advance? A day or two in advance? Or can I count on finding something along the way? I'm open to staying in a rest stop/truck stop type of setting if necessary, if that helps.

Travel will be mostly along interstates.[/QUOTE]

[bill3kirk]

We always make reservations. I've found the larger the RV the fewer the spaces making it almost impossible for us to "wing it" unless we want to boondock.

[Anazeteo]

I do extensive travel across the country and usually make reservations well in advance; usually a month or two. I have never had a problem with any reservations that far out in advance. There have been times I had to make a last minute change and was able to find another campground within the area I needed. Still, I prefer to take measures to secure a campsite ahead of time. One recommendation for the Grand Canyon: stay in Williams, AZ and take the train into the Canyon.

[Mad5581]

My wife and I did a cross country trip in 2019. We choose to book spots for every night. In my opinion it's all about where you plan to stay, what day of the week your planning to be there and your size. We have a 43 foot NP so we didn't really have the option of just taking whatever was available. Plus my wife is a bit of a stresser. That said most of the parks we stayed in we would have had no issues getting a spot just showing up or booking same day. We left from OR in late April and our turnaround point was in Charleston SC. The one thing to keep in mind is special events along the way. We struggled to get a spot booked even in advance in Nashville. We couldn't figure out why until we got there. We stayed there during the NFL draft. Oops... it turned out awesome but was kinda a head scratcher at first. We ended up getting about the last camp spot available in New Orleans because little did we know we ended up there during jazz fest. Again ended up awesome but also expensive as heck for a festival we didn't know about and didn't plan to go to. My point is I would probably book most of the spots in advance and the days you don't book in advance try to book as you go and if you can't get something there is always walmart or rest stops. You might also look into harvest host membership. They have locations all over the country and they specialize in over night stop overs. You pay upfront then nothing to book spots the day you plan to arrive. They don't have hookups but are definitely nicer and safer then rest stops and walmarts. Good luck and safe travels.

[Goldie50]

I-20 in Greenwood La there is on nice overnight RV park just beyond a truck stop on the north side of I-20.

I-40 exit 60 on the west side of Amarillo Tx on the south side is the Oasis RV park. Great over night stop.

Have fun and be safe!

[RPR]

Hard to pass up the Big Texan Rv Park with the Big Texan Steak House close by.

[Fleetman]

We usually stay @ Walmart/Sams Club or area church parking lots. Never had any issues. Much cheaper.

[Kim Gass]

We traveled from Maine to California and back in 44 days last Feb and first half of March.

We had reservations at National Parks because they were not allowing walk ins. We had a virtually empty campground in Big Bend . There was plenty of room in Death Valley except for the full hook up sites . We had reserved those.

We had reserved sites going cross country and in each campground we stayed at from Jean Lafitte to San Antonio KOA and Lake Mead and Kingman KOA over half the sites were empty. We came back day to day( no reservations) and again had no issues. If you have a National Park in mind reserve. Same if you want a resort.

We found the app RV Parky useful when we found out each day where we might wind up.

We did have a little slowdown in Texas and were glad we had not reserved that night. We spent 9 hours going 120 miles in the ice storm when most everything went off the road. Sat in a whole lot of traffic cursing and when we could , we ferreted out ranch roads. Actually wound up in a motel as we were tired of freezing drizzle. Its ok to cheat.

[berwin]

The only time we make reservations in advance is when we plan on staying somewhere for several days. Otherwise, we stay in Walmart parking lots, friends' driveways, and if we need to dump tanks, start calling around noon to find a place where we expect to wind up that night.

[Kim Gass]

Originally Posted by Fleetman

We usually stay @ Walmart/Sams Club or area church parking lots. Never had any issues. Much cheaper.

Do you call ahead? I haven't done either but it's an option for sure

[twdenman]

Book Grand Canyon and wing the rest. You will enjoy the Journey more than your destination. And the GCNP is awesome, at sunrise or sunset. Don’t miss one of those.

Originally Posted by Toad

Did 2500 miles last year from Washington State to south central California on interstate 5 then back along the east side of California, Oregon, Idaho. Reservations a must in this new Covid state we are now in.

Just finished a 4200 miles to Lincoln Nebraska through Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska, idaho, Washington and made reservations almost 6 month's in advance because park's were booked up.

Did deviate 1 night and stayed in Rolling Springs Wyoming at a KOA "TERRIBLE" got the only remaining site, stuck behind some huge petroleum tanks.

Not like the old days of spontaneity for sure.

Planning a trip now for next May to Arizona through Saint George Utah and grand canyon, already finding places booked out.



QUOTE=Rickdicks;986065]I'm planning out my first multi-week trip, travelling from Georgia to the Grand Canyon. One of my big concerns is finding a place to stay each night on the way there and back. Since bad weather, bad traffic or any number of things could cause a delay, I'm wary of reserving a particular spot each night weeks in advance. I'm equally wary of not being able to find a spot if I don't. I'll be travelling off-peak season.

What's the view from you road veterans? Do I need to book well in advance? A day or two in advance? Or can I count on finding something along the way? I'm open to staying in a rest stop/truck stop type of setting if necessary, if that helps.

Travel will be mostly along interstates.

[/QUOTE]

[fsimms]

We have a large Pinnacle fifth wheel therefore we must be careful about overhead tree limbs and spots that are too tight. We are self contained so no need for hookups every night. Instead we use the RV Parky app to find suitable free overnight parking for tomorrow's drive. We like to stay at Cracker Barrel restaurants when traveling the interstates. They usually have generous parking in back and are happy to have you so long as you visit their store. If you arrive before 5:00pm you'll find plenty of open parking. We read the reviews on RV Parky and then zoom in on the parking lot with Google Maps set to Satellite View. This allows us to know in advance exactly how to best manuever within their lot. We always use this app to scope out several alternatives like Camping World and Walmart. This way we have a few options to choose from along the way.

[Usmade56]

I travel Michigan to Arizona and back every year on mostly US highways in fall and spring. Stay at roadside parks, small RV parks, elks lodges and vfw lodges. No reservations, no problems. Traffic is light and roads are for the most part equal to or better than interstates. Towing equinox 4 down so 65 mph is recommended max anyway. Recommend you consider a day or 2 at monument valley on your trip. Only half day away from grand canyon. Skip 4 corners, nothing there but Indian hucksters. Monument valley, a must see.

[Della]

We traveled 2000 miles from VA to WY last year, actually during the pandemic. We had a route planned, and we used a book from Camping World called "Next Exit"- I studied it a bit before the trip to see how it works, but I did the driving in the morning, and BF did the afternoon shift. So while he was driving, I searched the Next Exit book for campgrounds, made some phone calls, and most of the time I was able to get us a spot at a campground. Some very nice, others not so much, but we could plug in and sleep. We did 2000 miles in 3 days, coming and going. We split up the driving, and kept Pilot and co-pilot seats filled, watching for exhaustion for each other. We had reservations at the Mount Rushmore KOA, so that was the first reserved night, then on to WY- stayed in Cody, and then closer to Yellowstone in the National Forest. Soft sided campers were being turned away from the National Forest campgrounds. Coming back was Labor Day weekend, so we didn't have much luck even getting the phones answered at the campgrounds. We boondocked at Walmart, but Cracker Barrel looked like a good option too. Good Luck! Bon Voyage!

[Old and soft]

4 corners was closed when we rolled thru in early july.

[artie p]

We mostly used Allstays.com to find campgrounds on the fly. Like the morning of an evening stay. Harvest Hosts.com is great for relatively free overnight stays. $79 to join. OUr experience was from NY to California and back from April 30 to about June 8. The real popular attractions will need advance booking such as the St Louis arch and the train ride to Grand Canyon from Williams, AZ and the camping in Williams. We waited too long and missed out. Sayre, OK has a city campground for $12 with electric and water and dump on the road outside. Good luck

[BigRedGrandPa]

Traveling from Georgia to New Mexico is the same thing we did earlier this year (stated in Florida). We had friends that we could camp at but most of it was at state parks. It's easy to get state park reservations during the week even during peak camping seasons. If you are traveling during the peak camping season and need to stay at any campground during the weekend you definitely have to plan ahead. Speaking of a person that lives in Colorado you have make reservations in Colorado three to six months ahead for weekends. That's why we camp during the week. Getting back to the question at hand. Texas is the only state along your route that let you camp over night at a rest stop, but not at any, it has to be a particular one that has accommodations (i.e. parking space). You can boondock along the way at several places. Pilot gas stations, Walmart's, Cracker Barrel, etc. You could go to this web site to find boondocking sites along your route https://thedyrt.com/

[spark of insanity]

We stayed at the KOA in Williamsburg. It is right off the highway and very well maintained. I think. We did a Grand Canyon tour to avoid the crowds and to make it more personable. We don't wing it we do it right. Hire a tour guide. This one was terrific saw lots. We now want to do the north rim but don't see that happening for a long time. But I do agree I would make rsvp to at least one campsite. We stay at rest stops. We had no problems and everyone respects you. The truckers are also watching as well. Good luck with the journey. This was one awesome trip for us.

[Holy Cow]

Been to the Grand Canyon 6 times. Really didn’t think about there being another side. This year we were in Utah and family wanted to see the Canyon. I was reluctant but took them to the North Side. OMG it’s amazing. I will never go back to the south side again. So much more peaceful and less crowded. Coming from the East, take the Gallop exit on I40 and follow GPS. Yes, it further and longer, but worth it. Serious. It’s worth every second to go to the north rim.

[garywilson]

I make reservations for the destination.
On the road, not so much.
WalMart, Sams, Lowes, wherever I am around supper time as long as there is not a local ordinance against parking overnight.