While we've not done a lot of traveling, I can't answer to your specific questions.  However, I did notice something in one place we stayed in our 9-day trek from Oklahoma to the Colorado Springs area.  Most of the places we were going to stop were either in spots where I knew there were a lot of spaces or they were in places where a lot of RV traffic might not be, so we didn't reserve anything for those two spots.  The third stop before actually arriving in our new home was a smaller RV park at the summit of Raton Pass at the border of New Mexico and Colorado.  We kind of wanted to be on the summit and be able to see good scenery, even if it was for only one night.  For that one, we did reserve a spot.

With the small park on the summit, we arrived somewhere around 1:30 to 2:00 pm and there was a lot of space, so we really didn't need to reserve.  But, as the day went on, more RV's arrived and the park began to fill up.  As for the overnight was concerned, not all spots were used, but I was still glad we reserved because we could choose a drive-through spot.  With our truck and fifth wheel being about 55-feet and the second Ford F150 vehicle, we needed all the space we could get.  And, as small as the park was, I wasn't sure I wanted to mess with backing into a spot.

So, with no real answer for you, I'd just say to let common sense be your guide.  Mostly, I think that I'd rather "take the chances" and have the opportunity to follow up on unexpected options without the fear of having to pay a cancellation fee because we chose to go a different route.

Terry

I agree with Jim, We never make reservations for nightly stops when traveling ahead of time especially on a week day. When we're close to stopping for the night my wife may find a campground and call just to make sure they have a space. Have never had a problem finding a place for the night.

We make advanced reservations when there's some place we absolutely want/need to be - such as attending an event, or over holiday weekends. And for last winter, we did reserve a 2 month spot well in advance - because we knew the park we wanted to be in would fill up.

That's rare for us however.

Other times, we mix it up. For the past month we've been exploring Michigan in prime summer vacation time, and wanted to be mainly in pretty state parks along the coast. So, I'd look online to see how full up the campgrounds where. If there were lots of options, we'd just show up and pick a site when we felt like getting there. If the options were scant, I'd made a reservation, usually no more than a few days in advance.

When doing a long repositioning, we'll play it by ear. If there are looking to be limited options up ahead, we may call ahead and reserve a spot for that night. But, we often wing it and just show up.

We like to leave lots of room for serendipity to interject with our routing and planning. And we're super comfortable adapting to where we end up. In 8 years on the road, we've never not found someplace we felt safe at for the night.

In our 7+ years fulltime, we only make reservations if staying a month or so. We have done 38 states and 5 provinces and the only time you need to reserve is long weekends, long stays in the south (TX, FL, Ca) and perhaps Canada in July & Aug. We have occasionally been turned away from places we wanted to stay but very rarely. The morning we depart we often call the park we want to stay at that night to see if they think we should book it...usually they say "no reservation needed".

This last winter was our first time going south (AZ & CA), and as I also like to play it day to day, I did not make reservations but would call in the morning for a place in the late afternoon. Along our route from IA to AZ, it was not a problem but once we got to NM and into AZ, it became difficult some days to find a spot. Usually I would call 2-4 campgrounds before I found availability. Once near Mesa, I had to call 7 "resorts" before I found a site.
We also found that PA was a waste during Dec - Apr in AZ and CA. We spent a good deal of our time at Escapee parks as they always had a site or we could boon dock for a night until a site opened up. State parks and Federal areas fill up quickly from what I experienced though we prefer them. We used RV Parks reviews to find campgrounds that met "our" criteria. Everyones criteria is different. We like spacious sites with great views, close to things to do in the city, but not in the cities, preferably. Also, dog friendly with dog parks if possible, but in Federal and state campgrounds one is not needed because walking is so enjoyable and areas spacious.
So what I am recommending is call a few days ahead and make reservations as it will make your life easier. That is what I did after a few weeks experience of searching for a site when we decided to enjoy another area.

Yes I was referring to Passport America, sorry. I found many parks would not honor it during those months, which is their busiest season.

Many others have more experience boon docking, I.e., Linda and Howard. But to me, it represents staying in a location for more than one night without water, electric or sewer hook-ups. I don't count Wally World as boon docking, it is just a place to sleep for the night. (We generally stop if we have had a late start and drive until 9 or 10 pm and leave early in the am, before 8.). I also always buy something there to give them my business for the opportunity to park.

We boon docked at Quartzite this last winter for a week. Personally I do not see the attraction. But, we have boon docked by a nice trout stream in some locations in the Midwest and out west and that is beautiful and totally enjoyable. Also, on some BLM lands out west.

As we are just 7 months into full timing, we are still "learning". But we have been campers and RVers for most of our married lives and I camped with my parents growing up. Full timing is a totally different experience. It is a new lifestyle, not vacation as in our past live. Loving it! You will too!

This is great information.  Y'all are actually calming my nerves a bit.  At times I envisioned slaving over the laptop and plotting out courses (I could still do this for the fun of it) and making reservations out the ying yang.  Appears, with a few exceptions, that this isn't necessarily the case.  I really like the approaches many of you have and are taking.

If there is no objection, I'd like to expand the conversation.  Also in one of the older threads (2011 I think), folks were talking about various maps, trucker maps, and the like.  What are folks using these days to navigate?  More technology, or still hard copy maps?  I'm also assuming maps of BLM lands and such?  Folks insight to this would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

As you can see there are as many opinions on this as there are RVers. We mostly make reservations, but usually only a month or two out…we have a basic plan with CGs picked out for the whole travel season but unless we have some must-be-there's make reservations as we go except for holidays. Holidays book up early so it's nice to have a guaranteed spot, much less angst on Connie's part that way. 

That at said, our current spot we had none, but did call a couple of days before to make sure there were spots and had a backup another 30 miles up the road, we would have called for a reservation before we headed that way. This park has 28 sites and turned t to be almost full of rigs but they've obviously parked for the summer as we have seen few to no people until Friday PM, and they'll likely be gone Sunday PM. 

The Junkman wrote:

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Has anyone been booted from the spot they where in because someone else had reservations for that spot ?

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 Steve,

We had reservations for our current site.  When we arrived on the scheduled day, "someone" was still in our reserved site.  He knew in advance that he would have to move to another site in the park, but he forgot what day to do so.  They put us up overnight in an unreserved site, and the next morning, "someone" had moved to his new site and we moved into our reserved site.

Now, all that said, we will be in our current location for some time to come, that amount of time to be determined at a later date.  Our site is normally for long-term guests anyway.

Terry

The Junkman wrote:

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Has anyone been booted from the spot they where in because someone else had reservations for that spot ?

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 We were once in Bangor, Maine.  The park had a reservation system that locked people into specific sites and they were left with lots of sites with 2-3 days in a row empty, so those who didn't reserve months in advance ended up having to move.   

 

Barb

 

BarbaraOK - would love to know where you found places in Seattle, this last summer was so frustrating for us on that front.

Now, all the comments about not making reservations had me chuckling because I almost always have reservations. We follow the outdoor art show circuit. For those art shows that do not provide free RV parking, I look for the closest, most reasonably priced RV park near the art show. Proximity is important to us when we're working 10-12 hour days and we love finding a facility with a good laundry room for the Monday AM after the show before we head out to a more remote location.

We tend to move frequently on the weekends, arriving on Saturday if we can. Guess what? You want to arrive at a popular state park in AZ in the winter or the NW in the summer on a Saturday, you better have reservations. If you want a 2 week stay in a popular time of year, you better have reservations. Of course, we also much prefer state and county parks, aren't big fans of RV resorts. Maybe if we weren't so picky it would be easier.

I also like to make reservations for specific sites if we can, I like to know that I'll have a water view or a nice secluded, quiet site or a site that is along a creek or river. Those sites book up fast but having a site like that adds contentment for us. Just made some reservations in AZ in Nov over Thanksgiving, same place we stayed last year so I knew exactly which sites were most interesting and which ones I wanted to avoid.

I read the cancellation policy before making reservations and as long as it's not too onerous (like WA state new policy), I don't mind making plans in advance. We're already planning our travel schedule around art shows and family events so I might as well find somewhere nice to stay that we'll look forward to, or at least that's my philosophy.