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Reader Participation Day: Have Campground Or Lodging Reservations Gotten Too Hard to Obtain In Some National Parks?

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By Kurt Repanshek - June 22nd, 2011

Has the difficulty in obtaining a reservation for either a campsite or lodge room in a national park become too much hassle to deal with in some cases?

That seems to be a reasonable question in light of the stories out of Yosemite National Park that some campsite reservations are being auctioned off to the highest bidder and considering the fact that you have to start months and months in advance to secure a room in some park lodges on the dates you want, not the dates that are left over.

Of course, that's supply and demand for you.

But when some folks on Twitter are lamenting that "(W)hen you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is (wrong)", and when our lodging experts, David and Kay Scott, relate that in mid-May on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon "accommodations are fully booked nearly the entire season. If you wish to stay here, be certain to make a reservation very early. Consider that our visit here was marked with windy and cold conditions and even the campground is at full capacity," well, we have to ask you, the park goers, if something is wrong?

Have you stopped going to any particular national park because it's too difficult to land a place to lay your head at the end of the day? If so, what suggestions would you make to the National Park Service to address this situation?

Comments

Submitted by admin on June 23, 2011 - 7:19pm.

Just want to warn people who try to use the website for "National Parks Reservations" which is not associated with the parks nor is it concessionaire of the parks.  The form asks you to fill out your top three choices of lodging for a particular park which I did.  However, I checked "any lodging" and they came back and without me being given an opportunity to confirm or decline the place they had, they went ahead and charged my card.  Now that I want to cancel the reservations because it looks like a "dump", they are charging me $20 to cancel.  They are probably making a lot of $20 fees since they don't give you the opportuntiy to say "yes" or "no" to what is available.  Just a warning to all.


Submitted by admin on June 28, 2011 - 2:43pm.

We decided last week that we wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, North Rim. I went on line and booked a cabin there ($140 for two beds) and another one in Jacob's Lake ($120 for two beds) which is nearby. No problem getting either . . . I must have been luckier than I realized!


Submitted by admin on June 29, 2011 - 6:03pm.

I just booked for two weeks out at North Rim, Zion and Bryce.  No problem.  You just have to watch for cancellations.


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