Thoughts on "New and Improved" Recreation.gov

I just looked at it, seems like they're still working on it. We don't have any upcoming reservations, but it does show our past ones. It will take a bit of getting used to, and I won't make a reservation for next year for another month or so.

 

Recently heard Wisconsin is switching from Reserve America to Camis... hopefully this will be a positive change for us!

 

I've never booked with Reserve America, much Michigan DNR uses Camis, and it works pretty well. It's ugly to look at, but that might be MDNR's fault. It works brilliantly, though.

 

As someone who works with websites and such... It can take a bit of development work and lots of "deciding" between people. Give it a few...

 

Indiana uses reserve america but has it's own website and it looks the same to me fortunately. I've always thought ours works pretty well.

 

Below are a couple of links that may be helpful in understanding the back story to recent reservation website issues.

Recent article:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2330471/camping-reservations-app-access-land

Somewhat dated:
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/tech...gh-hopes-connecting-vacationers-federal-data/

 

Just checked it out. The search seems to work the same, I can put in a campground or town and get all campgrounds in the area. I like that the campsite photos (when available) are big enough to see without having to click on them. If the campground maps work similarly, I think it will be fine.

California State Parks went from reserveamerica to their own system. It is still very cumbersome as you have to go the state parks website to find parks with campgrounds. Then you have to select the campground or loop you want, and THEN you can select a site. If you don't already know the campgrounds/loops, this means you have to go back and forth between two websites to select your site. I do a lot of checking out sites before I select the first time, so this is not real user friendly. Once I've stayed at the campground and have identified my preferred site(s), it'd be fine for me.

 

Thank you for not using the usual Kalifornia - that gets so annoying.

I think the problem was more trying to make a quick "improvement" after the scandals and not making the time for research and development. They fast tracked by using the current website as their base for the new reservation system. But the website is not effective for that. And they were focused on the interface between the reservations and the individual campgrounds.

One thing to remember is that California's park system is so much more extensive than other states. A few have more park lands, or more individual park units, or more visitors, etc., but California is the only state that is in the top 10 for most categories (may be in the top 5 for most, but I can't remember for sure). In addition, our park lands are the most varied geologically and in usage.

 

Florida State Parks site changed recently and I can't stand the new one. It's bulky and awkward. The previous site was much more user friendly. Now it takes me 3 steps to do what I could do in 1 step before.

 

Just checked it out with two campgrounds we use that I know are seldom full. Both Blanding Landing and Thompson Causeway in Illinois show no sites available through all of next year. I know that's not right.

 

It looks like they are keeping the old features, just updating and adding new. It may be to create a better interface with the agencies.

 

The COE campgrounds we like are on the system and I used to be able to search by site number list
or a map showing available sites. You could click on the map for various sites and get info and pictures . I'm not able to find this on new site. Like Orchid said, it takes longer to book.
Before change I could also go into my account and pull up reservation and search for cancelled sites now available for my dates . I cannot find this feature any more.
Not seeing progress here .

 

They haven't added the maps back in yet, but they state that they will be added back in.

I suspect the other features will be added back in once the maps are.

Just give them a bit of time to get everything back up and running and I think you'll be fine.

 

When do reservations open back up for these parks? It might be FCFS through April and if there is a 6 month booking window May isn't open yet.

 

I looked up Thompson Causeway and there is the following alert:

• Due to rising river levels, the Thomson Causeway will be closed starting Friday, October 12. A reopen date has not yet been determined. All reservations have been cancelled from Friday, October 12 through Wednesday, October 17. We will evaluate river levels daily to see if additional cancellations are needed. For further updates on park closures, please visit our website at http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Missi...er-Project/Recreation/Recreation-Area-Status/ or call the Thomson Ranger Office at 815-259-3628.

So that is why nothing is showing available - because they are not taking any reservations until they get a handle on the rising water levels.

 

That shouldn’t have any effect for reservations 6 months out online though.

 

It will if they don't input an "open date" into the system. Without an "open date" being inputted, the system won't have a date to identify as "available".