Reasons why the campsite is booked by the time you click through

Have you ever received an alert, clicked to book the spot, and it was already gone? You aren’t alone. If you use a campsite scanner like Campnab, you’ve probably already experienced this situation. In the following article, I’ll explain why the campsite/permit might be gone once you get to the booking site. I’ll also note some factors that might make an available site seem unavailable.

Someone else got there first

If you click on an alert and the site is already gone, someone probably booked those dates before you clicked through. “Bullshit!” you say. “I clicked through the second I got the alert. No one could have done so faster.” I feel you, but this (sadly) isn’t the case.

Here’s the deal. There may be hundreds of campers looking for the same spot as you. If even ten people click simultaneously, only one will get the site. To the rest, the alert will seem bogus. Instead, it’s simply a probability issue. Plus, there’s a gap between scans, meaning that if someone was already on the booking site, they might have spotted the opening in real-time.

Here’s a video that explains why you might receive an alert for a reserved campsite:

You waited too long

Some of us see time differently. For example, when my 15-year-old son says he’ll do something “right away”, he means in 5 minutes. And when he says “in 5 minutes”, he means never. The same thing seems to happen when it comes to alerts. Some folks tell me they clicked “immediately”. When I check our log files, I might see that they in fact waited several minutes (sometimes hours).

Campsites get rebooked very quickly—often within seconds. When you receive an alert, there’s no time to waste. Setting a custom ringtone for alerts is a great way to remind you to stop what you’re doing and try to book the site. You can learn how to set a custom ringtone in this post.

If you’ve already done this and are still missing out, you might consider upgrading your plan tier. Our Awesome tier scans most frequently. In the linked article, you can read about our variable scan frequencies.

It’s a partial opening

Another point of frustration is when members receive an alert, click on the link provided, and see the wrong dates available. This experience often leads members to send me emails noting that something must be wrong with our system.

The reason for this is actually more straightforward—but no less frustrating. Campers often cancel long stretches of dates. The ones you’re scanning for might only be part of that opening. So, let’s say someone cancels a reservation from July 1st to July 12th. If my scan is for July 9th to 10th, I’ll get an alert.

However, others could also be trying for similar dates. So, if I get there and only see the 4th – 7th and 11th available, someone booked the same days I wanted—and left the others. In this situation, it looks like a false alert, but it’s just a matter of someone having booked only a few of the dates that opened up.

You’re looking at the wrong date

We try to send the best links we can, but the way a booking system is built affects where we can direct you. For some openings, we can send you to the exact campsite and date. For others, we can only direct you to the campground. In such cases, you might need to advance the calendar manually.

Often, folks don’t realize they’re looking at the wrong month. They see the calendar with nothing showing as available and figure they’ve missed out:

However, if they advance the calendar to the date they’re scanning, they will see the opening:

The Equipment type isn’t selected

Some booking systems employ approaches that can be confusing for campers. One issue that often impedes folks is results not showing due to an incomplete search. For example, if you don’t select your Equipment Type, available campsites might appear unavailable.

So, if you don’t see the site you’ve been alerted to, select your Equipment Type from the dropdown and click “Search”.

If your Equipment Type matches the current availability, it will then show as available. If it doesn’t, you might consider augmenting how you camp to make this trip work. (E.g., If it’s a tent-only campsite, you could leave your RV at home and “rough it”.)

It’s an ADA site

I know what’s happening whenever a camper tells me that the campsite they were alerted to “doesn’t exist” on Reserve California. Reserve California does something unique with ADA campsites. They separate these campsites into a separate grouping—apart from all other campsites in the same campground.

So, if you get an alert for an ADA campsite available in a California State Park, you need to check the box next to “Only Show ADA Camp Sites”:

Once you’ve done that, the booking system will show the available ADA campsites:

Please note that ADA campsites are designed for campers with accessibility limitations. For this reason, those who do not have disabilities should avoid booking ADA campsites.

The group size isn’t set

When it comes to permits, entry points and group size can affect results. So, if you receive an alert and the permit isn’t available, you might have too large of a group selected:

Reducing the group size can sometimes reveal the opening:

Admittedly, this doesn’t really help if you intend to go hiking with a larger party than the permit will accommodate. However, it does help explain why a permit might not show as available.

There are restrictions on the site

I live in BC and mostly camp at provincial parks. I like many things about our provincial parks, but I don’t like the policy that requires campers to book the entire long weekend. (This means those who can only camp for part of the weekend aren’t allowed to reserve a campsite.)

Here’s an example of this. Let’s say I have a scan running for Manning Park and wish to arrive on the Saturday of the Labour Day weekend. Upon clicking through on the link, I see that the site has “Restrictions”:

When I scroll around a bit, I see that the long weekend has specific arrival/departure date requirements:

So, when I change my arrival and departure dates, the site now changes from Restrictions to Available, and can be reserved:

It’s a hidden campsite

Sometimes, a site is in the park’s booking system database but hidden from the system’s calendar and map. What I describe sounds unlikely, but I’ve seen it happen.

You need a direct link to reach the hidden campsite in these instances. As our system can send links to the exact campsite on most systems, we sometimes spot openings that regular booking system users wouldn’t see as available.

Those who received the alert and manually searched wouldn’t find the opening. However, clicking on the link would reveal the available campsite, which the camper could then reserve.

Admittedly, this is a very rare scenario. I’ve only seen it happen a couple of times. That said, when it did, the campers who booked the site seemed pretty darned happy with their good fortune.

It’s a locked campsite

A few state park agencies (including Reserve California and Florida State Parks) employ a site locking approach. If the site is locked for future release (they don’t always lock canceled sites) you’ll see a lock on the site you were alerted to. This lock indicates that the opening is held for release at a future time.

This isn’t a big deal. It just means you’ll need to return at around the time your alert indicates to attempt to book it. Nevertheless, the lock can be a bit perplexing if you’ve never seen it before. Also, the time the system reports isn’t always that accurate. They often unlock earlier/later than indicated. As such, it’s good to check the site before the scheduled release and closely monitor it.

I delve into site locking/unlocking more in this video:

It could be a false alert

Sometimes, an alert is a bad one. We don’t see many false alerts with campsites, but they do occur. Most often, we see this happen when there’s some booking system glitch that makes it look like a site has opened up that hasn’t. Again, this is pretty rare.

Conversely, we do see some number of false alerts with some permits. Enchantment permits result in a large number of false alerts. Such alerts are due to a glitch in which a permit flickers from Reserved to Available—and back to Reserved. Our system (rightly) sees this status change and produces an alert, but it’s a false alert, as the permit wasn’t available.

Again, false alerts tend to be limited to certain permits. So, if you believe you’re receiving false alerts, get in touch, and we will try to pinpoint and correct the issue.

What to do next

Let’s say you just received an alert, and the site isn’t available. Most probably, someone booked it before you, but it’s worth running some quick checks to see if you’re missing something.

Check the calendar on the booking site. Is it advanced to the correct month? Take a peek at the Equipment Type. If that menu is empty, select your camping setup and hit “Search” to see if doing so makes a difference. Is the opening marked in orange and labeled “Restrictions”? If so, try to find out what restriction is affecting your search. If the site has a lock on it, plan to return it when it is set to release.

If none of these are the case, just keep trying. Needing to do so can feel tedious, but we’re all in the same boat. Even canceled campsite reservations are in high demand, so be patient and persistent—and hopefully, you’ll get lucky on the next one. 🤞

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