How to book a campsite on Reserve California

Struggling to book a campsite on Reserve California? You aren’t alone. I know this because I speak with campers every day. Although I am in no way affiliated with Reserve California or California State Parks, I often offer campers tips on how to make reservations in California’s state parks.

If you (like me) remember rolling into a campground in the ‘70s and having your pick of campsites, you’re in for a rude awakening. Lots of people want to go camping, and this demand greatly exceeds the available supply. State beaches are even more competitive, with many selling out within moments of opening for reservations.

Create an account on Reserve California

Some California State campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Most times, though, you’ll want to make your campsite reservations online. Doing so will allow you to make plans in advance, know that you have a place to stay—and avoid getting turned away at the park gate.

So, create an account Reserve California right now. You’ll need this in place to make reservations on the site, and you don’t want to do this at the last minute. The process is straightforward with you providing some general information (name, email, address, password).

Be sure to note the email address you used as well as your password. I like to add this to my web browser’s auto-complete settings. This helps me avoid fumbling for a password when campsites open for reservations.

About the Reserve California platform

You can reserve national parks in California on recreation.gov. There are also private parks, county parks, and other campgrounds in California (I wrote about those camping opportunities in my article How to find places to camp in California.) For this article, though, I’ll focus on Reserve California—the platform for booking campsites at California’s state parks.

Reserve California takes phone reservations through its customer call center at (800) 444-7275. You can reach the center 7 days a week, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time. (Note that this line isn’t available on some key holidays). For most, though, booking online will be easier as online bookings can be made at any time of day at www.reservecalifornia.com.

Understanding Reserve California’s booking window

Don’t assume that all parks operate in the same way. I’ve found that park policies vary from one area to the next. As such, it’s wise to learn a little about the jurisdiction you wish to camp in, how it operates, and what the agency’s booking policies are like.

Reserve California operates on a 6-month rolling booking window. This means that each day at 8:00 a.m. PT, Reserve California opens up booking for that day 6 months out. Any new bookings made for that day can be set with a departure date extended into otherwise unbookable dates (depending on their maximum stay rules).

Here’s an example: Let’s say today is July 7th (because it is as I’m writing this article). If I wish to camp at San Elijo on January 8th, I can attempt to make that booking tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. PT. This park allows for a 14-day maximum booking, during low season, which means I could reserve up to and including the January 21st.

This booking window is important, as popular parks sell out within minutes—sometimes seconds—of opening for reservations. So, if you have set plans on camping at a specific park for exact days, you’ll want to set an alarm or launch day (when campsites release for booking).

Research where you’d like to camp

Trying to “wing it” on launch day is a bad idea. I’ve probably already made this clear, but I think it deserves to be said again. If you’re looking to stay at a popular park in California, expect to see all of the newly available sites get booked by 8:01. This might sound like an exaggeration. I assure you that it is not.

As such, you can’t just visit Reserve California on launch day thinking you can browse open sites and take your pick. Nope. You’ll need a plan. Let’s talk about that. I’ll start with the passable plan before presenting a better approach.

At least 24 hours in advance, visit Reserve California and check which campsites are opening up for bookings tomorrow morning. Run a search for the date and campgrounds you’re interested in. You should also apply your camping needs or vehicle parameters, to see only campsites that work for you. Make an ordered list of your top selections so you know exactly which ones to check in the morning. OK—that’s my passable approach.

A better strategy is to always be planning. Ask fellow campers where they like to camp, and what to look for at these parks. Get a notebook and fill it with these recommendations. Visit campsite resources like Campendium to familiarize yourself with parks and find ones that interest you. Also, with each campground visit, make note of which sites are more or less desirable. This will be a handy resource when it’s time to book.

Put the odds in your favor

I like most campers, but some can be frustrating. The campers I find challenging are the ones who insist on only the best. They want not only the premium sites with all of the hook-ups; they also want the very best views on the busiest days, for minimum stays of a week. (Oh, brother!) If you’re one of these folks, let me break it to you: Expect to be disappointed.

Me? I’m chill. I’ll camp almost anywhere, and I keep my camping rig small and maneuverable. I don’t need hook-ups, expect a perfect view, or demand a long stay. Heck, I’m just happy to step away from my desk, get outside, and fire up my sauna. The rest is just gravy.

If you’re willing to lower your expectations—and work a little for them—there’s no shortage of camping opportunities. Consider camping on weekdays, while school is still in session. Go in the off-season, because cooler nights scare off fair-weather campers. Open yourself up to shorter stays in parks/campsites with fewer amenities. Drive a little farther, and opt for some less popular parks. You might even opt for the campsite that’s next to the toilet or highway—because most others won’t.

Get up early on release day

Let’s pretend it’s launch day. Sites open up when? That’s right: 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time. You’ll be on your computer at what time? NO! Not 8:00 a.m.! Didn’t I make it clear how quickly campsites get booked? Haven’t I repeated myself enough already? Sheesh!

All kidding aside, you’ll want to pull up Reserve California’s website a bit early. Let’s say 15 minutes in advance. Sign into the website immediately, so that you don’t lose any time when sites are released. OK—you’re mostly ready. Now a few tips that might come in handy:

Beware the CAPTCHAs!

CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.” It’s probably good they came up with an acronym for that phrase, because who wants to say “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” more than once?

In addition to a terrible name, and only slightly better acronym, CAPTCHAs are generally a nuisance. They require you to either type out some largely illegible scrawl, slide a puzzle piece in place, or “identify all the bikes in a photo”. That said, CAPTCHAs are quite good at preventing bots from stealing your campsite reservations, as these require human interaction. This benefit probably outweighs all of the inconveniences I mention.

You might not feel this way if a CAPTCHA appears at the exact moment you attempt to reserve a campsite—especially if you miss out on the spot as a result. So, try to get the CAPTCHA out of the way in advance. Find the campsite you’re interested in, and try to trigger the CAPTCHA (maybe refresh the page a couple of times). If you can get the CAPTCHA out of the way now, you might be able to click the Reserve button without interference.

Check your clock

As noted in the previous paragraph, hitting Refresh repeatedly can trigger a CAPTCHA. For this reason, it’s best to avoid hammering the booking page overly hard while waiting for the campsites to open up. (I wish I could offer exact notes on what triggers a CAPTCHA, but my experience with these has been a bit varied.)

One thing you can do is open up a website, like this one, that shows the accurate time. This’ll help you know when to act, in anticipation of the 8:00 a.m. release time. Open this up in one browser window, and move it to the side of your screen. Have the Reserve California website open—to the campsite you want—in another larger window. This will allow you to view both the exact time and the available campsite without needing to switch browser tabs.

Steer clear of campsites that others are watching

One neat attribute of the platform Reserve California uses is the viewer count. This count is visible for each campsite listing. It allows you to see how many people are looking at the same campsite as you—which gives you an idea as to how hard it will be to reserve.

Think about this like a bet. If 50 people are looking at the campsite as you, there’s a 2% chance that you’ll get the spot. To me, those aren’t great odds, but if you’re set on a specific campsite you might need to take them. I like a sure thing, or as close to one as I can get. As such, I’ll generally opt for a campsite that no one, or only a few people, is looking at.

A lot of folks are fearful about bots booking up campsites. For the most part, I think these fears are misplaced. Here’s a video about why bots aren’t much of a concern. The real issue comes down to numbers. If you want the perfect spot at a popular park for a busy weekend, you won’t be the only one attempting to book it.

Enlist your spouse or a friend

There’s a good chance that you won’t get the campsite you’re after on opening morning. Sadly, you could very well miss out on your second and third picks, while trying to book the first. So, unless you have more than two arms, or have cloned yourself, you should bring in some help.

Refer to that list of campsites you’re interested in, and ask someone you know to try to book Option 2. Got more than one friend? Awesome! Perhaps they can target Option 3. I hate that it gets this competitive, but sometimes you need to do all you can to make that reservation happen.

The important part: Just get the campsite in your cart. Once one of you has done so, book that campsite and release the other sites so they’re made available to other campers. I should also mention that you generally have ~15 minutes to complete your reservation before the booking system releases it from your cart.

Other minor technology recommendations that might help

Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but I find computers a lot faster to navigate than phones. You can scroll, click, type, and navigate more quickly with two hands than one. Plus, computer-based user interfaces seem to be snappier—in part given the added screen space. So, I recommend ditching your phone and opting for your computer when time is of the essence.

Owning a modern computer with decent specs will help, as will having a reliable internet connection. You needn’t get carried away on this front, but seconds count when booking campsites. If your computer is always displaying a loading spinner and the fan is running at full tilt, you might consider some upgrades.

Closing unused programs and only keeping essential browser tabs open is also a good practice. I also avoid opening Reserve California in more than one tab. The booking system used by Reserve California is built as a single-page application (SPA), which can be a bit finicky at times. Limiting this site to one tab/window might help avoid weird loading errors.

The 15-minute trick

Remember my tip on getting others to also add available campsites to their carts—just in case? Well, this tip is certainly not a secret. Many others use this same technique. I’ve even heard of some employers enlisting every staff member to help them try to book a campsite.

Do you know what happens when all those people book a site? They either remove their unwanted sites or abandon their carts—which is awesome! Typically these reservations get reintroduced to the pool within 15 minutes.

So, if you don’t get the campsite you’re after on the first go around, don’t panic. Pull up the list view of campsites and keep an eye on it for changes. Odds are you’ll see a few things come up around 8:15, and perhaps even a few more at 8:30.

Monitor Reserve California for campsite cancellations

Despite writing this article, I rarely attempt to book campsites on the opening morning. This is in part because I hate the panic-like feelings involved at these times. It’s also because I’m not good at planning camping trips 6 months in advance. Almost every campsite I book is as a result of someone else canceling.

Here’s the deal: Lots of folks book campsites months in advance. Many of those people change their plans before their camping trip. When they do, they’ll cancel their camping reservations, opening up an opportunity for other campers to book their campsite. A shocking number of campsite reservations get canceled over the season. You just need to know when they come available.

Reserve California offers a “Notify me” service that will send you an email whenever a campsite opens up matching your criteria. These alerts offer up a great opportunity to snap up a cancellation. Meanwhile, if you need a little more fidelity in your campsite scanning, a third-party tool like Campnab allows for more customization and options. If you’d like to give it a spin, you can view the California parks we monitor on this page or create a scan from the Campnab homepage. Plans start at $10/month and many tell us that they find the service quite helpful.

More articles about camping in California

• How to Book a Campsite on Recreation.gov
• How to find places to camp in California
• How to Receive Availability Notifications for a Sold-Out Campground
• How to Make a Last-Minute Campsite Reservation

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