Re: Backpacking in the Middle of Campground Reservation

We have a reservation in the Valley (Upper Pines) for a week in mid-July. During that time we may try to do a 3-day backpack and thus we'd be away from the campsite for a few days. (We already have our wilderness permit). Our ability to be able to do the backpack is up in the air for reasons I won't bore you with, but if we are able to move forward with the backpack trip can we cancel some days in the middle of our reservation but still preserve the back end, or is it okay to leave the site abandoned for a few days? (Maybe we just need to find a "house sitter"!). Thanks for any input!

I don't know how possible it would be to cancel just the middle portion of a reservation. I thought that the only means of modification was to transfer or cancel an entire reservation.

You should have no problem staying away for a day, although theoretically they can consider a site abandoned if nobody is staying there. We found another place to stay for a night after a bear visited another campsite and my wife was too freaked out to stay there that night. We left our tent up, padlocked our bear box, and returned the next day. We hadn't been at our site for at least 24 hours. I went up to the entrance kiosk and asked them about it. I was told there would be no problem doing just that.

You should have no problem going out, but I don't think you'll be able to just cancel the middle of your stay.

You can change your reservation for a non-refundable fee of $10. Call the number on your reservation and they can split your days for you and give you a refund for days you are not using. I called because I have a week in Wawona and I might need to change it to only 4 nights or two at the beginning and two at the end (around our valley stay). They told me that they can adjust a campground reservation any way you like, for a $10 fee, but to make sure you call at least two days ahead to avoid any other fees.

Empty sites bring lots of questions to campers around those sites and I have seen people scoping out sites for later use (they come in at night, set up, and are gone by morning). I don't know if they have a reservation or not, but once the host in the kiosks are gone by 3 or 4, anyone can cruise through a campground. Since the reservation is in your name, you might be liable for anything that happens while you are gone (bear box citations, etc.). Better to be safe than sorry!