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upper pines campground

How to Play Master Chess on Recreation.Gov

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How to Play Master Chess on Recreation.Gov

If you’ve camped for a little while, you know that Recreation.gov is the U.S. government’s central travel planning website for 14 federal agencies.  This website is the place to go to make campground reservations at national parks, national monuments, USDA federal forest service areas, and other federal lands.  Real time availability, amenities offered, location information and more can be found for each campground on the website.  Some examples of the most popular campgrounds are:

Upper Pines Campground at Yosemite

Kirk Creek Campground in Big Sur

Twin Lakes Campground at Mammoth Lakes

Nevada Beach Campground at Lake Tahoe

Federal public campgrounds like the ones listed above have become increasingly difficult to reserve due to overwhelming demand.  Reserving a campsite even six months in advance (the standard maximum advance reservation time allowed by Recreation.gov for most campgrounds) often isn’t enough to guarantee getting a spot.  And trying to secure campsites at the most popular campgrounds (like the ones listed above) can be like playing the lottery to “win” a reservation.  The Dyrt, a popular RV travel website, ranked the hardest to book campgrounds in the U.S. for 2024 with Nevada Beach Campground at Lake Tahoe ranking #1.

Seeing The Dyrt report on the hardest to book campgrounds presented a challenge too good to resist.  We’ve already used strategies to successfully book three of the top ten campgrounds on the list, but wanted to see if it was possible to not only secure the #1 spot, Nevada Beach Campground, but also get reservations there on Fourth of July weekend!  This is no doubt a popular summertime destination for campers and their families, plus a winning fireworks show on the lake right under your noses!

What’s Special about Nevada Beach Campground?
Campers here can step right out onto the beautiful soft sandy beach and dip their toes into the crystal clear waters of Zephyr Cove while being surrounded by snow-capped mountains.   With multi-million dollar lake front homes here, it’s no wonder why campsites at Nevada Beach Campground at $47/night are so popular.

  1. Scenic Beauty – The campground offers panoramic views of Lake Tahoe with the Sierra Nevada mountains as a backdrop. Sunsets here are particularly spectacular.
  2. Spacious and Serene – Unlike some of the more crowded campgrounds around the lake, Nevada Beach provides a quieter, more relaxed atmosphere.
  3. Beach Access – One of its biggest draws is the wide, sandy beach, perfect for swimming, sunbathing, paddleboarding, and picnicking.
  4. Proximity to South Lake Tahoe – While offering a peaceful retreat, it’s just a short drive from the lively attractions, restaurants, and casinos in South Lake Tahoe.
  5. Hiking and Biking Trails – The campground provides easy access to scenic trails like the Lam Watah Nature Trail, ideal for exploring the local landscape.
  6. Pet-Friendly – Unlike many Tahoe beaches, Nevada Beach has a designated dog-friendly area, making it a great spot for visitors with pets.

Master Chess Strategies to Employ on Recreation.gov

The 6 Month + 14 Day Strategy

Most campsites on Recreation.gov can be reserved 6 months in advance (on a rolling basis).  So, to reserve a campsite on July 4th, the earliest one can make the reservation is at 7 a.m. (PST) on January 4th.  However, at a popular campground, by January 4th, many if not all the campsites may already be reserved for July 4th!  This is because reservations are allowed to break the 6 month advanced reservation rule if the reservation is made for dates preceding the blocked reservation period.  For example, if a reservation was made on January 3rd for July 3rd, then the reservation could be extended up to 13 days beyond July 3rd (14 day maximum stay limit).  At the time of this writing, reservations may be made for up to 14 days and modifications can be made without charge up to four times (adding/removing dates and changing campsites) as long as the new stay dates are not “completely different”.  In turn, to get a big edge on the competition, plan to make a reservation 14 days earlier than the desired end date.

In our case, we wanted to be at Nevada Beach Campground through July 6th.  So, we counted back the days from July 6th so that our reservation would be 14 days (June 22nd) and then attempted to make the reservation for 14 nights starting June 22nd on December 22nd at 7 a.m. PST.  The upside is that you can try again the next day if all the available campsites are taken on reservation day but there are still open opportunities for the next day.  The downside to this strategy is that although you will get all the money back for the days you don’t use when you modify your reservation, you will be initially charged for the entire 14 days (which in our case was $664) and, in the case of Nevada Beach Campground, there is a long freeze period to wait until you are allowed to shorten the reservation dates (“to ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation.”)  This means that you may have to pay the full 14 day reservation amount on your credit card statement initially, but it will eventually be refunded several weeks later after you drop the days you don’t want to use.

The Day Before Plan

Log onto Recreation.gov the day before making reservations to check which campsites are available for your desired dates.  Make a list of your top 5 campsites.  One useful website,  Campsite Photos, provides images of most campsites (and the Pro version puts green stars on their favorite campsites).  Campendium is another useful website where users sometimes list their favorite campsite.

Game Day Plan

Plan to be on Recreation.gov at least 10 minutes before game time (7 a.m. PST).  Sign into the website and open multiple browsers so that at least three are visible on the computer monitor.  Select the desired reservation dates on each window, click on the desired campsites for each, and then position each window close together so that the Add to Cart buttons are close to each other.  Open the official Time website and position it such that the time and seconds are visible along with the campsite windows on the same monitor screen.  Click the Add to Cart buttons sequentially starting at 6:59:59.  Most likely you will get a message saying the system is working on your first request and the other clicks will be put on hold.  So, it’s really a one shot deal (but having multiple clicks allows you to get the second or third reservation request out in case there’s an issue with the first one – e.g. too early).  The system only allows one account to make a single reservation at a given time.  Therefore, if there are more people in your family household, have each open their own account and be prepared the same way to make the reservation.

Post Game Strategies

If you didn’t get a reservation, check back at 7:15 a.m. (Recreation.gov releases incomplete reservations back into inventory after 15 minutes).  Hit F5 on your PC screen (Cmd + R on Apple) to refresh the website right at 7:15 a.m.  Sometimes people no longer finish the reservation for a variety of reasons (e.g. someone else in family booked, reservation at another location, ….) and a campsite might become available (blue A).

Use the Set Availability Alert button – blue button below listed sites.  Input your start date and the number of nights desired.  You will receive an alert via email as soon as a campsite becomes available.  Make sure you have the ability to log into Recreation.gov on your mobile phone and that you carry your credit card with you.  That way you will be able to secure a reservation wherever you are when you get an email alert.

Use Campflare.com – like the alert button on Recreation.gov, Campflare.com is a free service that will notify you via text/email when your desired dates become available.

Be flexible – if you are able, being flexible allows you to keep trying daily until you are successful!

Have an Alternate Game Plan – don’t sweat it if you don’t get a spot at a popular campground.  Even with all the strategies listed above, it still takes a bit of luck to land a site at one of the most popular campgrounds in the U.S.  Fortunately, there are a lot of campgrounds out there and there are many ways to find alternatives.  For example, Recreation.gov has a list of Available alternatives under the list of sites on every campground reservation page.  And, The Dyrt has a free map which shows most of the campgrounds in your desired area.  If you are flexible and open minded about travel locations, there will likely be a campsite available to you.

Lastly, and most importantly, part of the fun of camping is the joy of playing Master Chess on Recreation.gov and winning.  Oh, and stay tuned for our Nevada Beach trip report in July 2025!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything

No Hookups, No Problem!

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No Hookups, No Problem!
While going through my pre-trip checklist (see my article “Use Checklists to Prevent Problems”) right before heading out to Yosemite a couple of weeks ago, I noticed our heavy duty surge protector hadn’t been used in a while.  The surge protector has been sitting in its cardboard box on the top shelf of our garage cabinets and collecting dust for some time.  In May 2021, we were fortunate to be able to stay within the park at Yosemite (Upper Pine Campground), but had to plan for no hookups as the Yosemite campsites don’t have any (which is often the case in National and State parks), so we didn’t need to take the surge protector.  During the trip, we used our 100W solar briefcase (two 50W panels) every day, and even though our campsite was mostly shaded, there was always enough sunlight to keep our Scamp’s batteries well charged.

Our campsite at Yosemite also lacked any other hookups (e.g. water and sewer).  However, there is a central dump station at the entrance of Upper Pines Campground and drinking water spigots at each bathroom.  We dumped on the way into the campground and used our Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution so that we didn’t need to move the Scamp all week!  I filled up our portable Grey tanks (four 5 gallon jugs) once during the week and drove them to the central dump early in the morning when there is little activity at the dump station and poured them out.  Filling our Fresh tanks was easy using our dolly and 6-gallon water jug.  The water spigot near our campsite was just a short walk away and the spigot had high pressure, so filling our Fresh jug was super-fast.  I made two or three water refill runs during our Yosemite stay.

Having had a chance to reflect back on the past year and a half since receiving our new Scamp 13’ using our trip log book (see my article “Take A Page From Star Trek and Log Your Travels”), I was surprised to realize how few times we actually used any types of hookups!  We sometimes used electrical and water hookups while staying in the driveways of family, but for the most part, our stays have mostly been at National and State parks where no hookups were provided.  And, these stays have usually been at locations where central dump stations and water spigots were available and our solar panels (along with our Jackery 500) served to maintain a sufficient charge on our Scamp battery.

Along with solar panels, we rely heavily on liquid Propane during most of our stays.  Propane does a great job of powering most of our appliances which can run on this gas.  Propane is efficient and can last a long time.  Appliances in our Scamp that can run off propane are the gas stove, refrigerator, furnace, and hot water heater.  The great thing about propane is that you can carry a lot of it (we always carry 2 Viking composite propane tanks) and it can be run without hookups.  One tank can usually last us over 10 days even in very cold weather when we run our furnace.  One just has to take care to follow proper safety protocols when running propane.  Small travel trailers are usually outfitted with combination carbon monoxide/propane detector alarms; the one in our 2020 Scamp 13’ is located near the front door under one of the dinette seats.  It’s essential that every small travel trailer have one of these alarms because carbon monoxide and propane gas exposure can be lethal.

After almost two years of travelling with our Scamp 13’ to mostly State and National parks, we’ve learned that during our stays water is usually available via spigot (or it can be brought in containers) and electricity can most often be provided by the Sun using solar panels (assuming good weather).  We’ve noticed that the Scamp’s electricity demands are not high (especially if using a battery bank, such as the Jackery 500 in which to run non-essential tasks like watching the 12V television and charging devices like phones, cameras, etc.) and propane can also be used to alleviate electricity demand by powering our refrigerator.  And, lastly, we’ve learned we can extend our time between trips to the Dump Station by as much as 5 or 6 days by using portable containers to hold Grey Water.  Ultimately, it’s the Black and Grey tanks that force us to a Dump Station (see my article “Why It’s Smart to be a Zen Boondocker….”).

So, instead of steering clear of campgrounds without hookups, embrace them and expand your options for adventures.  And, once you understand the constraints of your small travel trailer, you can plan your trips so that Dump Station stops occur when you need them (such as every five or six days), allowing you to stay in one place longer and more easily (by using portable Grey Tank containers which can be dumped independently of your trailer).  Happy Camping!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Yosemite National Park

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Yosemite National Park
May 10th – May 16th, 2021 (6 nights)

Yosemite is a must see National Park mainly because of its abundance of scenic beauty.  Waterfalls, huge granite sheer mountain walls, wildlife, and a beautiful valley with meadows and countless hiking and biking trails add to the immense wonder of the park.  If you can reserve a spot at one of the campgrounds in Yosemite, consider yourself very lucky as these spots are extremely difficult to get.  For tips on getting a spot, see my previous article “Winning Yosemite’s Campground Reservations Online Lottery”.

The drive from Carlsbad, California to Upper Falls Campground in Yosemite takes between 7 and 8 hours.  To make the drive easier, we decided to stop midway both on the drive up and way back home.  We stayed at two Boondockers Welcome locations, so the overnight stays didn’t cost us anything (other than the $50 annual subscription fee).  We stayed in the driveway of a nice home in Visalia going to Yosemite and at a miniature donkey farm in Bakersfield on the way home (this was our 2nd visit!).  Using this subscription is a great way to make trips easier and get some interesting experiences!

Yosemite has several campgrounds and we chose to stay at Upper Pines.  This is a fantastic campground nestled within the pines and having a sheer granite wall towering high overhead.  There are 240 campsites at Upper Pines and each has a picnic table, food locker and fire pit.  Although there are no hookups, there are bathrooms and access to drinking water from central spigots.  There is also a Dump Station at the entrance to Upper Pines campground.  We found the Dump Station to be completely empty throughout the day.  It gets busier around midday when people are checking in.  Although the campground has a lot of shade, there was enough sunlight at our site #126 to keep our solar panels out and charging our Scamp battery.  Site #126 was rated for a travel trailer with maximum length of 12 feet.  It is the responsibility of the camper to ensure that both the travel trailer and tow vehicle fit on the campsite pad and do not stick out onto the roadway.  With our Scamp 13’ and our Volvo XC40 (around 14’) we were still able to just fit by angling our tow vehicle slightly to keep the nose off the road.  A longer tow vehicle or trailer might have a problem in this short campsite.  So, it’s important to read the campsite description before reserving to make sure your setup will fit!

We made sure to use the Dump Station on entry to Upper Pines campground (which also includes a fresh water filling area) so our Scamp 13’ was completely dumped as well as filled with fresh water.  Fortunately, we carried our Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution with us so we did not need to move our Scamp 13’ the entire 4 days at the campground!  On the morning of the 3rd day, I filled our 4 five gallon grey water tank jugs and drove them to the Dump Station and poured them out there.  We didn’t have an issue with our Black tank as it can generally go for about 6-7 days with two people.  Our electrical needs were taken care of by using our solar panel briefcase each day.

For just $26 per day, staying in Upper Pines Campground is a fantastic bargain!  It’s an easy walk or bike ride to sites throughout the Yosemite Valley, including Curry Village, the general store, Cook’s Meadow Loop, and Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.  And, a lot of great trails, like the Lower Yosemite Fall Trail, Cook’s Meadow Loop, Mirror Lake Loop, Valley Loop Trail, Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trails, Mist Trail, John Muir Trail, and Yosemite Falls Trail are all easily accessible from Upper Pines Campground.  We chose to walk throughout the valley, but bike rentals are also available.  Alternatively, for a nice hotel within the park, plan a stay at The Ahwahnee hotel and expect to pay over $500/night!

The campground was very quiet but populated.  We had the opportunity of meeting a nice retired couple travelling in a van from Maryland (tent campers).  They invited us to dinner at their campsite one night (great salmon and rice dish) and we cooked them pasta on another night.  They are on a four month trip across the country visiting National Parks.   We were fortunate with the weather and crowds.  Every day was clear and sunny and afternoons were warm but not too hot.  We experienced dramatic starry nights and enjoyed watching the climbers’ lights as they scaled the faces of some very high vertical walls in pure darkness.  Our days were filled with long walks throughout Yosemite Valley and early morning hikes.  Our favorite hike was up to Vernal Falls – the most interesting part is a steep stone staircase that goes up to the top of the falls.  A rainbow forms across the stairs due to the heavy mist created by the water fall.  We ventured out to Yosemite Valley almost every night to enjoy the stars and engage in astrophotography.

Our four nights at Upper Pines Campground went by very quickly.  Yosemite is a great place to get outdoors and also relax.  There’s hiking, horseback riding, fishing, biking, boating, climbing, and countless other activities in which to engage.  We did speak to one of the rangers and he advised us that it does get like Disneyland in the summer with serious crowding.  So, if you can arrange it, go in early to mid-May because the weather should be good (although can be unpredictable), the water falls are generally raging, and it’s most likely going to be less crowded than during the summer months.  Yosemite National Park gets 5 stars!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Winning Yosemite’s Campground Reservations Online Lottery

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Winning Yosemite’s Campground Reservations Online Lottery

It’s no surprise that Yosemite National Park is a wildly popular destination – with magnificent waterfalls, sky-scraping granite rock formations, and ancient giant sequoias; the park saw over 4.5 million visitors in 2019!  Additionally, having over 800 miles of hiking trails within 1187 square miles of park, Yosemite is a popular destination for anyone loving the outdoors.  And considering camping fees are only $26 per night for a stay in an outdoor wonderland and chance to sleep under the stars, it’s no wonder winning this lottery is a crapshoot!

Now, during the Pandemic, Upper Pines campground may be the only one open for reservation requests (and only partially with up to 50% of campsites remaining closed for social distancing) out of 13 campgrounds in Yosemite.  And, even before the pandemic, Upper Pines campgrounds has been one of the most popular in Yosemite Valley since it offers roomy campsites under tall pines with stunning views of El Capitan and Half Dome.  But, with only 240 campsites (and much fewer with current restrictions in place), Upper Pines campground reservations become a lottery on the 15th of each month (reservations are released one month at a time, five months in advance).

(1).  The first thing you will need to get a campground reservation at Yosemite is a free account on recreation.gov if you don’t already have one.  This is the online system that allows for reservations across the National Park system.  Once you have your account setup, you can search campgrounds you want and review site lists which give details about each campsite.  After you decide when you want to visit Yosemite, log onto recreation.gov and search your desired campground.  For example, search Upper Pines to get a site list description of the campground, fees charged, and the chance to view the list of sites and site availability.  It’s a good idea to go through the sites well in advance and pick out 8 to 10 sites that will accommodate your small travel trailer (many have detailed descriptions of the campsite, such as whether it is in shade or close to a restroom).  Pick some sites that are highly desirable (such as overlooking a meadow or stream) and some that are average.  This will increase your odds of getting a spot because there are many more people trying to get the highly desirable spots.

(2).  Figure out when you would like to go to Yosemite and count back five months to understand when you will need to make your online reservation.  For example, if you want to go sometime between May 15th and June 14th, you will need to make a reservation online five months earlier at 7 a.m. PST on January 15th.  At the present time, the system does allow you to extend your reservation past the 14th if your arrival date is on or before the 14th.   This presents an interesting strategy in allowing booking into the next reservation window which is not yet open and, in turn, possibly increasing your chances of getting a campsite.  For example, if you want to stay in the second part of June for a week, you could still book on January 15th by booking an arrival date on June 14th and checking out June 21st!

(3).  Get your list of 8 to 10 sites ready for the morning of the 15th.  Don’t worry about booking more than one site, because you are actually not booking the campsite until you go through the complete reservation including payment.  Clicking on Book Now will just hold the site for 15 minutes until you complete your reservation.  If you don’t follow through with the reservation, the site will be re-released to the public after 15 minutes.

(4).  Plan to start online prepping at around 6:30 a.m. (PST) on reservation morning – sign into your account and start clicking on each site you want (making sure it hasn’t already been reserved during the previous reservation cycle, if it is close to the date of the previous month cutoff).  The recreation.gov website will automatically open a new browser window for each site you click on.  You will now have multiple browser windows open (one for each desired campsite,  perhaps 8 to 10) with each displaying the Book Now buttons and price of the stay.  Open up an accurate time website like this one to carefully monitor PST.  As soon as the time hits 6:59 a.m. and 50 seconds start clicking on each Book Now button in your windows.  The idea is to get your reservation in exactly at 7 a.m.  If you are just a little too early, the reservation request will bounce and you will have to click Book Now again.  You are likely competing against thousands of clicks for 240 or less campsite spots.  Once you reach the end of the windows, go back to each of the windows from the start to see if you got lucky.  If you did, you will see a shopping cart on the top right with 1 item and a timer counting down from 15 minutes.  If you do not complete your reservation within 15 minutes, it will be released back into inventory.  All available sites will usually be gobbled up within a couple of minutes or less.

If you didn’t win the online reservation lottery this time, don’t despair.  First, check back on recreation.gov around 7:15 a.m. the same morning as there is a good chance some reservations didn’t go through and the sites have been re-released for purchasing.  When searching at 7:15 a.m., select your dates and then View by Availability.  If you see a campsite that may work, click on it immediately to at least secure it for 15 minutes while you figure out if it really is a viable option for you.  If no campsites are available, and you are feeling especially lucky, you could just drive to Yosemite and see if any first-come, first-served campsites are open.  Please check here if this idea seems thrilling.  If this sounds a bit too risky, another option is to stay outside the park at a private campground.  Or, you can try using CampFlare– a free service website that scans the reservation systems for last minute openings and notifies you when a campsite becomes available.

Having a small travel trailer will greatly slant the odds in your favor at winning Yosemite’s Campground Reservations Lottery because most of the campsites are small.  So far, I’m two for two at this lottery!  Hopefully the above tips will put you in the winner’s circle as well!  Good luck!  See you up at Yosemite!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.