The Snowbird Hunger Games...

[sande005]

Gulf State Park in Alabama opened up their winter monthly reservations for the 2024-2025 season today. Park has 496 spots, with 187 reserved for short term and camp hosts, so competition is for the remaining 309.

A special form is put on line at 8:00 AM. Based on the time it is officially submitted, they call campers in sequence to complete the reservation. They send out a confirmation with your time and place in line. The call takes care of details like which specific site, which months (Nov-March), paying a deposit, etc.

I was a bit slow this morning, and got it filled out and hit "submit" with a timestamp of 8:00:57. I'm #179 in line. Another got theirs in at 8:01:29 and is #438 in line for a spot.

So I likely will be able to camp there, but it will be chancey as to whether I get any of the 8 spots I would like. But the park really has no "bad" sites, just some that are slightly better...so anything will be good!

Not all is lost for those who were late - there are a good number that open up close to the actual dates, as people's plans change. One does need to periodically call to see if there are monthly openings, as they are not specifically designated on the normal reservation site. One may have to change sites from month to month, in some cases.

The mind boggles at the number of people all typing away at the same instant in this competition!

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

The mind boggles at the number of people all typing away at the same instant in this competition!

Yes, it is mind boggling.
I frequent a park in your area, Lebanon Hills on Johnny cake road in Apple Valley. Most years I show up for the Midwest Mopars in the Park show. Years ago you could make a reservation the week before. Now if you don't book'er in the first hour of the first day for reservations....you're out of luck if your trailer is over 25'. All the 25' and up sites will be gone. I said I can wedge my 32 footer in one of those small sites but the hosts said the size restriction is an inviolable rule.

 

[WhittleBurner]

Kind of sounds like trying to get a spot for the GD national rally!

 

[Recovering Workaoholic]

That's a great park. Spent 12 nights there along canal this past September. Have also had a spot there on the Middle Lake in 2022. Hopefully one day I'll get try my luck on spot for the winter. Have to get rid of the cows first though.

 

[BoredWeasel]

I always have a good chuckle at these posts.

How exactly does this happen? Stop recommending your favorite spots. Social media is not your friend, stop posting all those tasty campsite pics.

Social media influencers hold partial blame, I laugh when one of them recently posted a story very similar to this, His favorite campground was booked full when he tried to get reservations, he whined for 10 minutes about it. Of course he has posted pics and videos raving how great the location is, while his videos werent solely responsible, I am sure they contributed to the lack of availability on his preferred dates of travel. I posted and asked him if the extra clicks were worth it, he never responded.

The same goes for all those no overnighting signs. If you have a great overnight spot keep it to yourself or risk losing access.

It sucks this is what it has come too, but that is the reality. most are too lazy to do the leg work beyond a quick internet search. There are still great spots out there, but they are getting harder find.

 

[DougW9876]

I always have a good chuckle at these posts.

How exactly does this happen? Stop recommending your favorite spots. Social media is not your friend, stop posting all those tasty campsite pics.

Social media influencers hold partial blame, I laugh when one of them recently posted a story very similar to this, His favorite campground was booked full when he tried to get reservations, he whined for 10 minutes about it. Of course he has posted pics and videos raving how great the location is, while his videos werent solely responsible, I am sure they contributed to the lack of availability on his preferred dates of travel. I posted and asked him if the extra clicks were worth it, he never responded.

The same goes for all those no overnighting signs. If you have a great overnight spot keep it to yourself or risk losing access.

It sucks this is what it has come too, but that is the reality. most are too lazy to do the leg work beyond a quick internet search. There are still great spots out there, but they are getting harder find.

Yep, kind of like your favorite fishing hole. Tell the world how great it is and it won’t be great for long.

 

[Venturer]

Or the beautiful old roads that you can follow out in the country. I saw some one just this week post a picture of a beautiful spot that is on a creek in N.Ga. that I have been going to occasionally since the 1960's. I recognized it as soon as I saw the picture. Then ther was a couple of pages of questions as to where it is and then more "ohh we need to take our group up there blah blah blah. I can tell you that one as well as several others are not as pretty as they were years ago,and it is because of uncareing people that come in and trash the spots. It is a differant world we live in today with more of the ME ME ME folks that only care for themselves in the now!

 

[sande005]

What a bunch of curmudgeons! It's not like Gulf State Park is a secluded "secret" only know to a few. It literally is like trying to keep Yellowstone National Park a secret! It constantly ranks right at the top as being one of the best state parks in the country, and has for years. So any additional publicity really is moot. My post was just a commentary on the explosion of RV life in the last decade or two. Sure, keep your lovely small location campsite, scenic road, fishing spot on the down-low. The only lesson that should be drawn from this - when going to a top tier destination, one HAS to plan ahead.

 

[lorend]

Yep, kind of like your favorite fishing hole. Tell the world how great it is and it won’t be great for long.

I don't have any favorite spots that I tell anybody about. I just go catch a lot of fish with my dad. lol

 

[reubenray]

Gulf State Park in Alabama opened up their winter monthly reservations for the 2024-2025 season today. Park has 496 spots, with 187 reserved for short term and camp hosts, so competition is for the remaining 309.

A special form is put on line at 8:00 AM. Based on the time it is officially submitted, they call campers in sequence to complete the reservation. They send out a confirmation with your time and place in line. The call takes care of details like which specific site, which months (Nov-March), paying a deposit, etc.

I was a bit slow this morning, and got it filled out and hit "submit" with a timestamp of 8:00:57. I'm #179 in line. Another got theirs in at 8:01:29 and is #438 in line for a spot.

So I likely will be able to camp there, but it will be chancey as to whether I get any of the 8 spots I would like. But the park really has no "bad" sites, just some that are slightly better...so anything will be good!

Not all is lost for those who were late - there are a good number that open up close to the actual dates, as people's plans change. One does need to periodically call to see if there are monthly openings, as they are not specifically designated on the normal reservation site. One may have to change sites from month to month, in some cases.

The mind boggles at the number of people all typing away at the same instant in this competition!

I was thinking of trying to get a spot for January/February of 2025. But you said the reservations were for 2024 and 2025. So are the spots for 2025 already reserved?

 

[sande005]

They are, unless someone has canceled. Which happens more than you would think. In the last two winters there I have talked to a number of people who got spots much closer to their travel dates by repeated calling to see if there was anything. As noted, you may get one for one month, then get another for the next. I did meet one that had big signs posted in their site asking anyone leaving a spot a month early to let them know - but I think they then had to find another outside place.
This coming season, most of the premium sites will be kept back for daily/up to 2 week rentals, and the total number for seasonals will be reduced. Push back from state residents that can't find a weekend opening when they start looking for one closer to their desired dates. In a way understandable, but it is an issue, since on weekdays in Jan and Feb, many of the daily sites are sitting empty.
The Snowbird Hunger Games will again be held in early Nov., for the 2025-2026 winter season...