Plan the Ultimate National Park RV Trip
Plan the Ultimate National Park RV Trip
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In this episode, we share some of our top tips for taking an RV on a national park road trip, from finding campsites to passes and discounts.
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Thank you Jason. Very helpful video and content.
Great info! I couldn’t wait to get my NP senior pass. Though I usually boondock, I have taken advantage of the 50% campground discount. However, I was unaware of the discount also being applicable to some tours! Thank you so much!
We just learned something interesting about the two week gaming trick. As you said, we’ve found that to work at parks around the west. But is does not work at Joshua Tree, there you can only book 5 nights into non-released dates. For example, today May 8 you can book a site at Black Rock Campground for November 8-13 but not 8-14 or any further. The two week policy would allow November 8-22. I don’t think I mind, it seems like an OK way to make things more fair overall. There is also now written policy at rec.gov that if you book into non-released dates you have to wait 18 days after the original booking to make any changes. Look at Changes and Cancellations under Rules & Cancellations: "If a reservation is made that includes dates beyond the maximum booking window, that reservation cannot be changed until 18 days have passed from the original booking date."
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Entrance fees to NP’s should be waived for actual taxpayers. Ridiculous.
Problem with reservations site for national parks, is that there is no way to see if there’s been a cancelation. Their alert does Not work. We’ve had issues with it
Nice tips Miles! I do a lot of camping, mostly in NP campgrounds in a 21 foot no-slide travel trailer and mid-size truck. I can get in 95% of places with this rig. In terms of reserving a site and picking one that will fit an RV, I’ll add a couple of things that Miles did not mention: (1) The trick/loophole to reserve 14 days ahead of your actual desired date DOES NOT allow you to cancel 5 minutes later like was mentioned. Sometimes it can be weeks until you are able to make the adjustment for the dates you actually plan to use the site. You do have to pay for all the 14 days at the time of reservation, and then get a refund when you make the adjustment. Not everyone can afford this on their credit card, but people do it… (2) In addition to the site length, also pay close attention to width if you have a slide on your RV, and also how level the site is. Since many older NPS sites were designed for parking cars and tent camping, it is quite frequent for the sites be relatively narrow or have side obstructions (trees, rocks) that do not allow you to open a slide. Also, leveling an RV (front-to-back) is a lot easier for a shorter rig than for a longer one (it’s a matter of geometry). SO, a 30 ft site may allow you to park a 30 ft trailer in it, but you may not be able to level it and you may not be able to open your slides. So my advice for NP campgrounds is to have the shortest RV that suits your needs, and hopefully without slides. Recreation.Gov has excellent and insightful notes on each site, and people have increasingly reviewed the sites and add note about level and obstructions, so do check those out in addition to the aerial images.
Love š your videos.learning alotš
Excellent! SO helpful! Thank you!
Hello Good Folks.
Excellent information. Thank You Sir.
Some thoughts from my experience being a Volunteer Host (2018 to 2023) in U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management Units. Met many wonderful people; only a handful of "knuckleheads" (really).
1) Do some homework (no snark intended) before heading out. Check for changing conditions while on the road, and, while you have good connectivity.
2) Recreation.gov website is not "run" by the Federal government. Years ago the competitive contract was won by Booz, Allen, Hamilton Company. The $9.00 reservation fee is a baseline business cost (i.e., not refundable).
3) If you can’t keep a reservation PLEASE cancel it asap. It was common for campers to ask when they could slip into a "No Show" reserved site; 48 Hours is the usual requirement. I only made the mistake of jumping the gun "once"; I still have bruises! š®
Best to All…
Thank you so much Jason this great information to know. Itās so helpful. Glad they have websites that will you find a campground that would fit your Rv.
A 20ft van gets you into anything except walk-in tent sites. Also lets you onto restricted roads. Get high clearance 4×4 and go even more places. Get a tent for the kids. You are camping!
Good info thanks!
Great information. My husband has an lifetime pass. He was recently disabled. Is there any advantage to getting a forever access pass?
Help! I have a question about National Park reservations. They are very confusing to me. I am looking at a site in Madison Campground, Yellowstone. I says "RV SITE UP TO 30-FT WITH EXTRA VEHICLE PLUS TENT UP TO 12 X 12 Sleeps up to 6. These sites may be used as RV only, tent only, or a combination of RV and tent. If RV or trailer/tow only, maximum combined length of vehicles is 30 feet, plus one additional vehicle is allowed (maximum length of 20 feet for extra vehicle). The picture shows a Class C (large) and an SUV. I know our 23" TT and HD pickup will easily fit in this site, however per the wording it looks like we would not be allowed to reserve it. How does this work?
Oh, poor advice! Always plan for your truck. The people you impact are your neighbors.
If thereās a pit toilet, thereās a way.
We’ve traveled from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains in our 17 foot RV trailer. Thing I like is that the pad might be small for big campers the spaces have plenty of room around them. Your next store neighbor is not an arms length away. 99% of the time we stay at fed., state, or Army Corps. Campgrounds. The staff is always friendly and helpful. Their are some books out there that list the different campgrounds, which is helpful when you don’t have cell phone service. The park system is one of the jewels of this country.
Is the Senior Pass the same as the Golden Age Pass,
These parks are owned now by China.
Does the Seniors pass apply to Canadians? Any of the other passes too?
Very nice job, Jason
One of your best information videos ever, Jason!
You definitely covered it all well! Beat places to camp, for us!
And how long can a ClassB expect to be, to fit in urban metered parking on streets?
If for some reason you cant get a timed entry pass you may still be able to enter the park. For instance at Arches the timed entry is between 7am and 4 pm. If you arrive before or after that time you wont need a timed entry pass. Also at Arches, if you have a 4wd high clearance vehicle, there is a 4wd road to access the park. To do this you must have already paid the entry fee or had an annual or other pass.
Really great video with soo much good information! Also thank you for sharing your personal experiences. I’m 62 years old and just started really traveling three years ago, mostly snowbirding to get away from Wisconsin winters. I use pop-up truck camper and tow an enclosed trailer with a UTV for trail riding and just returned from a 105 day and 6,429 mile trip to the SW USA. Thank you for sharing all latest & greatest RV news along with your knowledge & experiences.
This is great information. Next summer/fall of 2025 we’re taking a long road trip and want to hit the big parks out west (Yellowstone, Teton, Glacier.) Saving this for reference. Thank you!!
We visited Arches last October. Waited till 6pm the night before each day to book the reservation for the next day. Never had any issues getting a pass. They were usually 10:00am or later passes but they were available and, at that time of day, the line to go through the entrance wasnāt very long.
Thank you very much for the great info. Iāll be joining that Facebook group for sure!
I wasn’t able to find an alert function on the recreation.gov *app* — maybe it’s only on the website?
You were overflowing with good info on this video! Thanks!!
This sums up all the lessons we learned after planning two RV Road Trips to the SW of the USA (2019 and 2023). We are from the Netherlands and had to find out all these things our self. Extra difficulty was that we had to plan 5 week trips for two families with kids in the midsummer high season and we wanted to stay in the NP’s preferable at sites next to each other. For both trips we managed to book all the sites that we wanted. It took so much preparation. If would have had the information in this video then, that would have saved us a lot of time. For us the preparation was part of the holiday experience. I fondly remember the session in which we sat ready with 5 people ,each with 30 browser tabs prepared with the preferred sites, watching the world clock turn 16:00 (local time here in NL) to book sites at Upper Pines in Yosemite. And then like crazy run through the tabs and hit the reserve button. And then check if we had the sites we wanted. And that worked. We created photo’s of that session that went into the photo book of the trip. My brother has taken on the strategy of booking earlier with the extra days and then returning the unused days on his trip last year. Another tip for people booking from outside the USA: take notice of daylight saving times. For one of our bookings the booking opened a few days after daylight savings went into effect (don’t remember if that was at our side or in the state of the NP) and we almost missed the booking opening.
I was considering after I retire into next year eventually purchasing a very small RV and driving out west to these parks. But after watching the complications due to over crowding, reservations, frustrations, potential disappointments etc. āWhy bother?ā Itās better to avoid the zombie masses. Find other destinations, or donāt even bother with the whole RV bit period. Life is to short.
If you’re reading this and you’re THAT person that makes a camping reservation months in advance and you don’t cancel when you know your planned trip isn’t going to happen… there’s a special place in you know where for you. The number of no shows at Zion and Glacier that I’ve personally seen is nauseating. Don’t be THAT person, cancel your reservations!
And how long can a ClassB expect to be, to fit in urban metered parking on streets?
I have been wondering how on earth people are booking more than 6 months ahead!! Thank you for leveling that playing field!!
When talking to Vetrens let them know they can use thier DD-214, thier discharge papers to get the pass.
Yeah I just learned that the hard way about booking more days than you need up front. The girl at recreation.gov told me about it when I called in. She helped me out and got me a spot in the Tetons. You usually have to wait a certain number of days before modifying it.
Good info which I knew sooner but it worked out.
This content is gold. Just finishing up a 19 national park trip and much of what Jason discussed is spot on. Planning and more planning will help. While the concessionaire might be expensive, if your trip is dates are set, then spend the money as their reservations can be up to 12 months in advance. Practice and become proficient at dry camping. It expands your options greatly.
Beware of buying annual passes AT a park. I was told "we have no passes left" and they couldn’t credit my admission fee towards an annual fee, or say when annual passes would be available again. In other words, just keep coming back and paying a daily fee every day, until months later when the got cards back in stock. This feels like an intentional scam to me, since one phone call could get cards shipped down to them overnight, and applying a credit (even to a prepaid application) is nothing more than paperwork and courtesy.
A really good policy would be to simply say "we’re out of passes, just come in and enjoy your day."
i would like to visit the national parks, just too many social media smooth brain folks acting like they do
I know people who reserve several state and national forest campsites well in advance. They sell and make a little money off what they don’t use but this way they are assured they will geet the weekend they want, with mutliple groups if they choose.
Upgrade your battery system to a big lithium system. That will cost money, yes, but it will allow you to use an Incinolet, an incinerating toilet that produces a handful of white sanitary ash–AND NO BLACK TANK EVER AGAIN.
Two comments! First, I was dying as you festured Watchman AND explained how to game Rec.gov. I may blame you if I canāt get my booking now. (Kidding! Sort Of!). Secondā-the overhang is no longer really usable for us in a diesel pusher. Weāve de-aired over enough tall concrete plintgs that I just donāt count on the ability to overhang anymore. Great video Jason!
Hearing Disability with hearing aids and wife was on top of ensuring I got the lifetime access pass.
Add Red Rock Canyon in Nevada to the timed entry parks
I should be closing on an RV in the next two weeks and then I will really make progress on my quest to visit all 428 sites in the National Park Service. A little worried about the more popular parks but I will remember to take to slow and don’t force it.
Thanks for this information! You managed to include a whole bunch of good stuff in one video and I appreciate it.
Wow. Weāre very intimidated and overwhelmed by what we thought was going to be a relaxing ,simpler life. You are a god send!