Re: Camp reservations

not sure when things changed, but it was new to me. when i got my camping reservation on the internet, i knew to go to the reservation office to get things in order etc, but when i did, they said they do it different now. instead of having to report to the office to get your campsite, all you have to do is show up at the campsite and talk to the gate employee to get in. you don't even have to have your printed reciept from the internet, just simply show your I.D. and that's it. they already have a list of who is reserved right there. pretty simple and sweet if you ask me.

i had forgotten my reciept at home and thought it would cause problems but it didn't matter one bit.

The past few years I have had the same experience.

In fact one year there was no attendant at the gate, so we just went to our site and set up.

Nobody ever came by to say anything to us...except the normal warnings on bears.

I agree it is a pretty sweet way of checking in to the site!

---

Dan

Dan-O wrote:

> The past few years I have had the same experience.
>
> In fact one year there was no attendant at the gate, so we just
> went to our site and set up.
>
> Nobody ever came by to say anything to us...except the normal
> warnings on bears.
>
> I agree it is a pretty sweet way of checking in to the site!

I think it's self-policing. If someone shows up without a reservation and takes a site, one goes to the camp host who can then just unceremoniously boot them out, or (better yet) call on an LE ranger to boot someone out.

Seems like standard operating procedure to me for any kind of accommodation. While I usually have my reservation printout available when I check into a hotel, motel, etc., most of the time I've only been asked for my last name and some I.D..

I haven't done any developed camping in Yosemite recently, but I have been to Forest Service campsites elsewhere in the Sierras. Over at Fallen Leaf in Tahoe, everyone had to check in and they had several master lists of the day's reservations; you reserve a parking pad size, check in before selecting a site, and come back to the camp host after selecting a compatible site. I'm pretty sure that with my ID and credit card I could have been checked in even without my reservation number. At Stony Creek in Sequoia NF, the camp hosts weren't even available and apparently didn't want to be disturbed unless it was some sort of emergency. Each site had a marker with the names of reservation holders for the next week or two. I didn't even check in until about my third night, as I wanted to pay for an additional car for my (now) wife who joined me. I tracked down the grandson of the camp hosts as he was doing his rounds (I also told him I ran over a squirrel that ran under my car - he said don't worry about it); he told me to come back later and get my slip and pay for the additional car later. I did leave a day early to take her to Yosemite (managed to get a Thirsday room at the Best Western in Mariposa on the same day in late June).