Booking issue/question - Recreation.gov

[klpca]

I am trying to understand an issue that I am having on the recreation.gov booking site. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears!

In my opinion, the only thing more difficult to book than a summer timeshare week at a highly rated beach location, is a campsite in Yosemite Valley. The only booking time/date is the 15th of the month, right at 7:00am (Pacific time). I was poking around this morning a few minutes before 7am and lo and behold, all of the inventory was loaded. I clicked on a site, added some random dates in May and clicked book or reserve). I got to the next page (friggin miracle) but it's been stuck there for over 15 minutes now. I don't need these dates - I was only checking to see what time the inventory was loaded - but I am trying to figure out what is happening and how I can prevent this from happening when I am actually trying to get a reservation. I am getting this error message:

Booking Reservation...
We’re experiencing heavy traffic, but we’re still trying to secure your spot.

I am hanging in there to see if it ever goes through and I highly doubt it, but if this happens to me in the future, I want to know if it would actually work.

 

[PamMo]

Good luck!

 

[PigsDad]

We’re experiencing heavy traffic, but we’re still trying to secure your spot.

I have never seen a well-run government web site -- they all seem to have major issues. I guess when it is government employees who get paid whether or not the site is useable, the resulting product is usually crap.

Kurt

 

[vacationtime1]

It sounds as bad as Marriott's website.

 

[klpca]

Well, I never got past that page, so no reservation for me. I am on the site periodically and I have never seen the inventory load early (before 7am), so I wonder if the fact that I was booking before 7am caused the issue? Who knows. It isn't usually this wonky. I have found that when you click on an available campsite you either get a message that lets you know that someone else is got it before you, or if you get the page with the cost (where I was) which means that you got the reservation.

That said, after all of that we decided that we *did* want to visit and I found a 3 night stay in a fabulous site. We're going to rent an RV since the weather can be iffy in late April/early May but we're looking forward to a few nights in the valley, and we're going to try to add a few nights in Sequoia/Kings Canyon too.

 

[dioxide45]

I have never seen a well-run government web site

Has there ever been a well-run government ANYTHING?

 

[isisdave]

I am trying to understand an issue that I am having on the recreation.gov booking site. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears!

In my opinion, the only thing more difficult to book than a summer timeshare week at a highly rated beach location, is a campsite in Yosemite Valley. The only booking time/date is the 15th of the month, right at 7:00am (Pacific time). I was poking around this morning a few minutes before 7am and lo and behold, all of the inventory was loaded. I clicked on a site, added some random dates in May and clicked book or reserve). I got to the next page (friggin miracle) but it's been stuck there for over 15 minutes now. I don't need these dates - I was only checking to see what time the inventory was loaded - but I am trying to figure out what is happening and how I can prevent this from happening when I am actually trying to get a reservation. I am getting this error message:

Booking Reservation...
We’re experiencing heavy traffic, but we’re still trying to secure your spot.

I am hanging in there to see if it ever goes through and I highly doubt it, but if this happens to me in the future, I want to know if it would actually work.

This doesn't match my experience in booking Corps of Engineers sites on recreation.gov -- the booking window begins six months before the check in day, and yes, at 10am ET, which I always though was a disadvantage to Westerners -- eastern people are at work and sitting at their desk, while those in Pacific time are commuting and Hawaiians are asleep. I don't know anything special about the 15th, and I've never seen sites loaded early, so your experience with May dates just seems weird.

Be sure you're already logged in. Practice a few days before your preferred date to get the rhythm. Make sure your PC clock is synced, and don't try to do this on anything but a desktop with high-speed Internet. Starting a few days early means you might get lucky if you book a start date that's a weekday -- remember you can trim the reservation later, if it doesn't exactly match your preferred dates. Hit the critical button one second before 7am.

On the practice days, look at the already-booked dates and sites and try to guess which are least likely to be snapped up first. This has to do with how many unbooked days beyond checkin there are. Have a list of two or three -- you won't have time for more than that. I wish there was a way to specify "I'll take any site."

Look again (refresh the page) at 7:16 or so -- some folks will put a site in their cart but run into problems with connection or credit card or whatever, and never finish the booking. These are released after 15 minutes.

But don't do any of those thing before I finish my bookings for next summer, please!

And by the way, the ReserveCalifornia site is just as bad, just in different ways.

 

[klpca]

This doesn't match my experience in booking Corps of Engineers sites on recreation.gov -- the booking window begins six months before the check in day, and yes, at 10am ET, which I always though was a disadvantage to Westerners -- eastern people are at work and sitting at their desk, while those in Pacific time are commuting and Hawaiians are asleep. I don't know anything special about the 15th, and I've never seen sites loaded early, so your experience with May dates just seems weird.

Be sure you're already logged in. Practice a few days before your preferred date to get the rhythm. Make sure your PC clock is synced, and don't try to do this on anything but a desktop with high-speed Internet. Starting a few days early means you might get lucky if you book a start date that's a weekday -- remember you can trim the reservation later, if it doesn't exactly match your preferred dates. Hit the critical button one second before 7am.

On the practice days, look at the already-booked dates and sites and try to guess which are least likely to be snapped up first. This has to do with how many unbooked days beyond checkin there are. Have a list of two or three -- you won't have time for more than that. I wish there was a way to specify "I'll take any site."

Look again (refresh the page) at 7:16 or so -- some folks will put a site in their cart but run into problems with connection or credit card or whatever, and never finish the booking. These are released after 15 minutes.

But don't do any of those thing before I finish my bookings for next summer, please!

And by the way, the ReserveCalifornia site is just as bad, just in different ways.

Seeing all of the inventory early was so weird!!

 

[Elan]

Has there ever been a well-run government ANYTHING?

Off topic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and painless my dealings with the Social Security Administration have been. I'm sure this will be met with numerous rebuttals disproving my thoughts, but up to this point, I'm impressed. Web site is fairly intuitive. Forms are clear. Folks I've talked to have been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

With respect to recreation.gov, the website is far better than it used to be. But, we've largely given up on camping as the reservation rules changed at our favorite campground (along with Covid introducing many newbies to camping) and it's almost impossible to get a spot now. I used to go into work to get a faster Internet connection to nab a spot. The past couple of years I've had no luck from home.

 

[WinniWoman]

Off topic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and painless my dealings with the Social Security Administration have been. I'm sure this will be met with numerous rebuttals disproving my thoughts, but to this point I'm impressed. Web site is fairly intuitive. Forms are clear. Folks I've talked to have been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

With respect to recreation.gov, the website is far better than it used to be. But, we've largely given up on camping as the reservation rules changed at our favorite campground (along with Covid introducing many newbies to camping) and it's almost impossible to get a spot now. I used to go into work to get a faster Internet connection to nab a spot. The past couple of years I've had no luck from home.

I was going to say the same thing about the SS website.

I have never heard of the recreation.gov website.

 

[klpca]

Off topic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and painless my dealings with the Social Security Administration have been. I'm sure this will be met with numerous rebuttals disproving my thoughts, but up to this point, I'm impressed. Web site is fairly intuitive. Forms are clear. Folks I've talked to have been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

With respect to recreation.gov, the website is far better than it used to be. But, we've largely given up on camping as the reservation rules changed at our favorite campground (along with Covid introducing many newbies to camping) and it's almost impossible to get a spot now. I used to go into work to get a faster Internet connection to nab a spot. The past couple of years I've had no luck from home.

I hear you on the changes to the availability of camping spots. We have been trying state parks. They are still full, but getting a reservation is easier than the national parks. Also, try the recreation.gov waitlist. I set up a practice waitlist for Yosemite using dates for early Sept. About 3 weeks before the random dates that I selected, I was getting notifications daily. So the game is check daily. It's just like searching on Interval for timeshare availability. Persistence will pay off. We lucked into a site for a long weekend last July (Twin Lakes in Mammoth, Ca). Apparently it is super popular and fills up immediately when sites are released but I just happened to find it sitting in open inventory. And don't forget - we get a 50% discount when using our Golden Eagle pass.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I have some experience over the years with the Recreation.gov online reservation system. The thing I've learned and had to utilize in booking for my upcoming big SW USA road trip is that sometimes it is better to book more than you need and then adjust the reservation a week or two later, than wait to book your actual dates when they first come available (typically 6 mos out). I know it doesn't seem fair or "right" but if you monitor how the reservations come in at the start (6 months out) and then how days here and there seemingly open up, you'll recognize what folks are doing, which creates challenges for others trying to get their dates.

I had to "play this game" with my 2 night bookings for both Zion NP and Arches NP due to their popularity. For each, I was needing just 2 nights in a campground inside the park. Because when the site opens up for reservations at the 6 month window, you can actually then book forward additional days (I think 7 nights max) to cover the dates you actually want/need. You can then release the earlier dates you don't want, keeping the actual one you do. When you do this, they will amend your reservation and refund the nights you cancel. It goes pretty smoothly and without much of a delay on the refund.

Be aware however, if you are using a discounted US NPS pass (like the seniors or access) you can not have multiple reservations for the same date(s). So I would suggest booking the most necessary park/dates first using your NPS pass, then then go from there.

So as an example . . . for Zion NP, I NEEDED 4/25 & 4/26 for 2 nights, but I initially booked at the 6 month window for 4 nights 4/23 through 4/26. I later dropped 4/23 and 4/24, keeping just the two nights (4/25 & 4/26) I needed.

For Arches NP, because I had already used my NPS pass for the discount at Zion, I booked for the full 7 nights (4/23-2/29) in advance at the full price. When I cleared/released the extra nights at Zion (with the discount), I was able to adjust my Arches' reservation to just the 2 nights (4/28 & 4/29) I needed AND add my access pass for the half-price campsite discount.

Sure it was a bit of a hassle, and I had roughly $150 tied up on my credit card for about 3 weeks, but at the end of the day, I was able to get the campsite dates that I needed for these popular national park campgrounds. And yes, accessing the reservation system precisely at 9am CT was essential in getting the exact campsites I needed. In order to be able to know what campsites in each campground I wanted, I did quite a bit of research ahead of the booking windows. For me car camping solo, and needing to be near their toilets, this part of the process was also important so I could get right to the specific campsite I wanted and not lose time trying to figure out what's open and where I wanted to book.

I hope this will be helpful to you and others in the future.

 

[Elan]

I have some experience over the years with the Recreation.gov online reservation system. The thing I've learned and had to utilize in booking for my upcoming big SW USA road trip is that sometimes it is better to book more than you need and then adjust the reservation a week or two later, than wait to book your actual dates when they first come available (typically 6 mos out). I know it doesn't seem fair or "right" but if you monitor how the reservations come in at the start (6 months out) and then how days here and there seemingly open up, you'll recognize what folks are doing, which creates challenges for others trying to get their dates.

I had to "play this game" with my 2 night bookings for both Zion NP and Arches NP due to their popularity. For each, I was needing just 2 nights in a campground inside the park. Because when the site opens up for reservations at the 6 month window, you can actually then book forward additional days (I think 7 nights max) to cover the dates you actually want/need. You can then release the earlier dates you don't want, keeping the actual one you do. When you do this, they will amend your reservation and refund the nights you cancel. It goes pretty smoothly and without much of a delay on the refund.

Be aware however, if you are using a discounted US NPS pass (like the seniors or access) you can not have multiple reservations for the same date(s). So I would suggest booking the most necessary park/dates first using your NPS pass, then then go from there.

So as an example . . . for Zion NP, I NEEDED 4/25 & 4/26 for 2 nights, but I initially booked at the 6 month window for 4 nights 4/23 through 4/26. I later dropped 4/23 and 4/24, keeping just the two nights (4/25 & 4/26) I needed.

For Arches NP, because I had already used my NPS pass for the discount at Zion, I booked for the full 7 nights (4/23-2/29) in advance at the full price. When I cleared/released the extra nights at Zion (with the discount), I was able to adjust my Arches' reservation to just the 2 nights (4/28 & 4/29) I needed AND add my access pass for the half-price campsite discount.

Sure it was a bit of a hassle, and I had roughly $150 tied up on my credit card for about 3 weeks, but at the end of the day, I was able to get the campsite dates that I needed for these popular national park campgrounds. And yes, accessing the reservation system precisely at 9am CT was essential in getting the exact campsites I needed. In order to be able to know what campsites in each campground I wanted, I did quite a bit of research ahead of the booking windows. For me car camping solo, and needing to be near their toilets, this part of the process was also important so I could get right to the specific campsite I wanted and not lose time trying to figure out what's open and where I wanted to book.

I hope this will be helpful to you and others in the future.

This is what we've done as well. Book a longer term stay and then pare back to what we actually wanted. In fact, this is sometimes a good way to find some near them availability as some folks don't cancel their unwanted "extra" days until near the start of their intended stay. So it behooves one to check back regularly when attempting to nab a spot.