[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by hal

A word of caution: You should be in contact with the campground reservation office or the campground host if you have made reservations and you know that you will be late arriving. For example if you have reserved three days and for some reason, you will not arrive in time to use the site on the first day as planned, you should contact the someone to let them know you will instead arrive on the next day(s). Other wise, if you do not show up on the first scheduled day, the camp host may also re-sell your site to someone else. Most, if not all, Colorado State Parks and Federal Parks have instituted this policy.

Hal

The rule is you must claim the campsite before checkout time (usually 11 am) on the day following the reservation day or you will lose the entire reservation. Essentially the same rule for occupying a reserved hotel/motel room. If you call and explain circumstances for a delayed arrival (e.g. vehicle breakdown), you might be able to get the campsite held. But otherwise, as Hal notes, if the site isn't claimed by checkout time, the Host will allow whoever's waiting to grab it. Have seen this many times...hence no site (in Colorado at least) will ever go unused for more than 21 hours (check in time on reservation day to check out time the next day). The problem (at least here in the Rockies) is many Forest Service campgrounds are so remote the hosts don't have electronic communications...no phone, no cellphone, even no radio...so there can be a lengthy delay before a message is delivered by hand to the host.

2 years ago I had a hinge break on my Tow Vehicle's driver side door...on a Sunday afternoon about an hour before I was ready to hookup the trailer and leave for the campground (which was about 4 hours away). With a barely attached door, I didn't feel safe leaving town for 4 days. Called the number listed for the campground and got the answering machine in some office of the management company (Thousand Trails) that the Forest Service contracts with to supervise the campground hosts...who are volunteers and who do not have phones. The next morning (Monday) I managed to wheedle a body shop into an emergency fix of the door hinge and actually got underway around 11 am. Called the management company again...got the answering machine again. But when I made it to the campground in mid afternoon, the host said his manager had relayed the news of the delayed arrival and the site was being held. **whew** Good thing too...the host said 2 people were waiting at 11 am for the first opening but he told them they couldn't have the one I had reserved. **double whew**

Moral of the story: unused reserved campsites don't get left unused more than one day and it's critical to call if you can't occupy before the grace period expires.