Reservation time for WRT campsites?

S

smlobx

Lost again
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May 25, 2015
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Hi folks. As many of you know the reservations for camping on the wrt starting on September 10th opens on May 10th.

I thought the reservations opened up at midnight mountain time on that date but in reviewing the website it says reservations open up at 8 am mountain time.

Is that correct or has their been a change?

Thanks. We are hoping to go out there this fall.
 
No matter what answer you get it may be good insurance to get on the website at 12:01 AM anyway just in case...


Last year I did just that...had all my info entered for each camp site and @ 12:01 MT I booked a site..we got all 5 campsite for our 6 day [3-1 to 3-6] stay [2 nights at White Crack] but I spent 6 nights in a row up at midnight and sweating out the bookings...well worth the effort!
 
Thanks guys. Yes I think I’m setting my alarm for just before 2 am Eastern time...just in case. We have some flexibility in the dates but it would be nice to snag the dates we want.

Wallowa, besides White Crack which campsites did you like?
 
White Rim Trail. Sioux and I spent five days on it in 2018. I've been going to Canyonlands for over 40 years and this was at every turn like... "WOW". We want to run it in reverse next time.
 
JaSAn said:
What is WRT?
Click to expand...
Sorry JaSAn. I should have spelled it out.
‘The White Rim Trail is one of the more epic off road trails in the entire National Park system IMHO. It is over 100 miles long and has some of the most stunning scenery in Canyonlands NP. Depending on your desired travel speed it can be driven in as little as one very long day or more commonly 2 to 4 days if you want to stop and soak in the scenery and do a little hiking. It usually requires a 4x4 vehicle as there are a couple of steeper sections but can be driven carefully with a regular hard sided truck camper although a pop up camper or other 4x4 would be better. We’ll be taking our Jeep Gladiator with a RTT as we want to do a few more difficult areas while we’re out there.

Because of this beauty and the requirement to stay in designated campsites Canyonlands have instituted a reservation system for the campsites that are quite competitive. That is the reason for my initial question.

Here is a report that has some great pictures to give you an idea of what it’s all about...

https://thetrekplanner.com/white-rim-road-travel-guide-canyonlands-national-park/
 
During the years in which I've been using the Recreation.gov online reservation for Federal campgrounds and other facilities, the phone lines and online access have opened daily at 10:00 am Eastern time, as adjusted for Daylight Savings time. Yes, connecting ahead of time and keeping the pages refreshed is the way to do it. The more popular of the Montana sites we favor are exceptionally difficult to book, so much so that we've stopped trying for dates at them.

Foy
 
smlobx said:
Thanks guys. Yes I think I’m setting my alarm for just before 2 am Eastern time...just in case. We have some flexibility in the dates but it would be nice to snag the dates we want.

Wallowa, besides White Crack which campsites did you like?
Click to expand...
smlobx - Though you didn't ask me, Murphy's Hog Back . . . . spectacular views.
 
UPDATE:

Well I thought I’d provide some feedback on how our armchair adventure actually went. ...

I set my alarm for 0145 Eastern time and got on the website. When 0200 rolled around ...nothing happened! So back to bed I went but like a kid getting ready for his first fishing trip I really didn’t sleep. I ended up logging on about 0950 Eastern time and started the waiting game again. I’m not sure if it was because I was on an iPad or what but I was not able to preload my choices so when 0800 MT rolled on the sites loaded and immediately they were all full for the dates we initially wanted which were 9/30 to 10/3. So I kept trying to adjust the dates and sites for something that would work and after about 5 minutes of bouncing back and forth we were able to get 2 campsites; Airport C on 10/4 and Hardscrabble B on 10/5.

I’m grateful that we were able to get these dates and am looking forward to exploring the area more!
 
My grandson (13) and I did WRT last July. We did not camp on it though- were staying at Colorado National Monument about 2 hours away.

Made an online reservation to drive the trail- only saw 4 other vehicles the entire day.

Interesting fact was we were supposed to pick up our reservation at the visitor's center. We got there about an hour before they opened!
So we headed onto the trail hoping to explain my way out of any difficulties.
Never saw a NPS person of any sort the entire day on the trail...

That was a very long day- 2 hours to get there, 11 to do the trail in my 4Runner and 2 back to the campground. I would love to do it again and camp- wasn't set up for it last year -we were camping in my Aliner, which of course trailers aren't allowed on the WRT- I think. Would have been a PITA with the Aliner in any case.

This year we are heading west again in my 4wd F150 and new to me ATC Panther so who knows...might be able to swing an overnight if we get there.
 
Well I went online today to make a reservation at the Dead Horse State park for the day before our arrival at the WRT and they are all booked...Looks like we will have a lot of company visiting the area ;-).

Any suggestions on where to camp nearby? Boondocking would be preferable if anyone knows of an area....
 
Vic said:
Eddie - sounds like a great trip and looking forward to following your progress on this trip. Hoping to replicate your WRT journey in a year or two!

-Vic
Click to expand...
Thanks Vic. We were suppose to spend a month or two exploring Newfoundland and Labrador but with the Covid situation still up in the air we decided to postpone it until next year. Hopefully by then things will calm down a bit and we can slow down and relax a little.
 
smlobx said:
Well I went online today to make a reservation at the Dead Horse State park for the day before our arrival at the WRT and they are all booked...Looks like we will have a lot of company visiting the area ;-).

Any suggestions on where to camp nearby? Boondocking would be preferable if anyone knows of an area....
Click to expand...
There are a few other campgrounds , Horsethief and BLM along highway 313 outside of Canyonlads NP. also Willow Flat inside Canyonlands. good luck and enjoy.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with the White Rim Trail, here is a nice view of it along with a great way to experience the area.


 
I'm confused about what you mean by a great way to experience the area:

1. On a mountain bike?
2. On a video of a couple of young guys experiencing the area on mountain bikes?
:D
Paul
 
Great way? Yeah ok, I wouldn't last 5 miles on a bicycle! Old and out of shape....
We did encounter quite a few bicycle riders on our loop of it last summer. One group was teenage with a couple of dad's riding sweep in a pickup... :LOL:
 
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