How to find last minute campsites for your RV

In yesterday’s article on how far in advance to book campgrounds, I mentioned…

But when we went down {to Florida} just a few months ago, we had no reservations at all. We found $55/night camping at Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys for two nights, just 24 hours before we got there.

Booking last minute isn’t for everyone. But if you’re someone whose style of RVing skews towards more adventure and explore, booking too far in advance can stifle your ability to wing it a bit and be in the moment.

Often, though, that means you don’t know where you’ll be staying the next day.

When we’re in adventure mode, we try to book campgrounds a few days out from where we’re going. That gives us a little bit of buffer, without locking us in to a rigid travel plan.

So how do you find last minute campgrounds?

We use a handful of apps—including Google, Campendium, and Harvest Host—to find campgrounds. Then we use their online reservation tool or just give them a call to see if they have openings.

A lot of campgrounds have last minute cancellations, and you’d be amazed what opens up if you’re flexible and only staying for a day or two.

If we want to stay more than one day but a place has no availability, we also have a lot of luck looking for each night separately.

Most computer systems look for spots in their system that are open all requested days. If you don’t mind moving from one spot to another, you can often stay multiple days at the same campground by booking each night separately (or giving them a call).

And if you’re really in a tough spot, you can just show up.

Many campgrounds hold a few spots just for walk-ins. They won’t show up in the computer, and can’t be booked online or over the phone. But if you show up in-person and ask, they’ll let you have it.

It’s a gamble, of course. And the bigger your rig, the less likely you’ll find something that will work with this method. But it’s an option if you need it.