GTNP 2021 Camping reservations required

[schindlerpiste]

I guess since Covid GTNP is requiring reservations at all the campsites. Gone are the days when you can roll up to lizard Creek on a Thursday and be assured of a lakefront campsite without problem. I have been to look online at Lizard Creek because I was wondering whether I could camp there in May. I can’t it is closed until June 11. Basically all decent campsites in the park have been booked until August and all good campsites have been booked for the entire season. And rant

[MarcusBrody]

We went to Death Valley last weekend and they weren't taking reservations, but the main non-RV campground was a mad scramble as things hit changeover time. They actually called the park police up to just stroll around and make sure people kept it civil. We wanted no part of that, so headed to another campground in the park that was much less populated, but it was wild. I'd never seen that sort of volume at a campsite.

Since COVID started, we've camped outside of Teddy Roosevelt, Grand Teton, Bryce Canyon, and Zion NP on non-park public land (as well as a lot of places that weren't just outside of the park. You lose the bathroom facilities and on occasion park campgrounds are in extra spectacular places like the lake at GTNP sounds like (but not always). Our spots outside of TR and Zion were amazing. I have a parks pass and campsites aren't expensive, but nevertheless I've become partial to camping outside of rather than inside the park.

[whipski]

dispersed camping at Goblin/Swell in UT is awful. piles of shit and paper everywhere. humans can be disgusting

[NBABUCKS1]

yeah public dispersed camping has taking a beating this year #vanlife. I can only camp weekends and and we try and get down there ASAP to secure places that were easy to get in years past.

goblin and swell attract all the brap brap motorsports crowd who do not give a shit about how they leave the land

[Danno]

dispersed camping at Goblin/Swell in UT is awful. piles of shit and paper everywhere. humans can be disgusting

I haven't been there in 15 years or so, but yeah. Moab was like that 25+ years ago, and then they cracked down on all dispersed camping within spitting distance, with designated sites and shitters.

It's why I won't camp in the designated free sites near Buff Creek and will only camp in the campground. While the free sites look nice and they are convenient to trails, they see so much usage that they surely are fields of poop with small islands of tents.

[AdironRider]

Leaving campsites a mess is not unique to the brap brap crowd. The brap brap crowd at least pays for a lot of cleanup and trail building through their reg and permit fees.

I've seen more bros with mountain bikes trampling and setting up new fire rings and in general douchebaggery in Moab than any motohead. The size of the motohead toy haulers kinda limits them to already established places. The mtb crowd also loves them some dance music blasting at 2am IME.

Basically humans in general suck when shit is free.

[Danno]

Yeah, it's not the motorsport crowd that's the problem, it's the human crowd.

[Garbowski]

I hate that we've gotten to the point of having to make reservations at midnight 6 or 9 months out, and I refuse to do it. That was the silver lining of living in the flatland I guess- less competition for the lesser goods. I'm dreading the post COVID world where showing up on Wednesday for walk ups is no longer a sure thing.

Land management is complicated of course, but I hope that we can find a way to open up new services. The population where I'm at (WA) has exploded in the last couple decades with little expansion in recreation opportunities. Hopefully the pandemic outdoor appreciation/overcrowding experience can get things moving.

[evdog]

Yeah, it's not the motorsport crowd that's the problem, it's the human crowd.

Friends and I call them "inside people", the crowd who only went to malls and gyms and "hiked" before covid but are now into camping. But have no clue about etiquette and no common sense at all in many cases. Of course this issue existed before that as there are assholes everywhere and in every sport but it has gotten 10x worse between covid, social media and general trend of going outdoors.

Requiring reservations is annoying too. I make plans last minute and stay flexible based on where conditions are good. Some friends do a big group trip every year and rent a big house months in advance. Owner wouldn't let them cancel or reschedule last year when all the Oregon fires made the air unbreathable. Doesn't seem workable to me. But for national parks I guess they need something. With the massive crowds showing up where would people go who couldn't get a campsite? They'd be hunting for spots, and then shitting everywhere right outside the park.

[rideit]

Leaving campsites a mess is not unique to the brap brap crowd. The brap brap crowd at least pays for a lot of cleanup and trail building through their reg and permit fees.



Basically humans in general suck when shit is free.

TBF,I don’t think much if any ‘new trail’ has been built in Teton Valley by permit fees, most of what is ‘new’ has been built by Mt. Bikers and Mt. bike clubs. . Most of those fees go to winter grooming for snow machines, and a little to backcountry maintenance. Almost everything is FS, which don’t use those funds.