MADISON, WI (WSAU) — A pilot program is starting this camping season to let campers reserve spaces for the same day.
The Wisconsin State Parks and the DNR are launching a pilot program on May 1st to allow for same day camping reservations. These reservations are only available at 15 state parks for the 2019 camping reservation season.
Paul Holtan the Communications Specialist for the Wisconsin state parks program says the goal of the same day reservation program is to make the most of campground usage in spite of cancellations.
“We also want to accommodate people that do a lot of last-minute camping. So if you haven’t made plans ahead the day you’re looking to go camping, you can check the reservation website. And you can find out where there would be places where you could make the reservation that day. And we have actually waived the reservation fee, you just have to pay the camping fee.”
Holtan says many state parks have been at 100% reservations for campsites in recent years. So the pilot program is a way to accommodate those campers who used to be able to find first come first serve campsites.
“And there were a lot of people that used to be accustomed to coming in looking for a first come first serve site. We don’t have those in many places anymore. So this is a way to try to accommodate that for people that really are just looking for last minute campgrounds.”
Ten of the parks taking part in the pilot program will have yellow phones that campers can use to reserve a campsite for the same day. Holtan describes that process. “Those yellow phones, you can pull up to the campground, pick up a yellow phone, and you’re connected directly to the reservation system.”
The 5 parks without yellow phones, Lake Kegonsa, Council Grounds, Mirror Lake, Devil’s Lake and Peninsula state parks, have strong cell reception. So Holtan says you can make reservations at those parks on your cell phone.
Same day camping reservations start on May 1st and are available until the last day of the reserved camping season on November 30th. Holtan says the State Parks Program hopes to expand the pilot program to more campgrounds next season and eventually to the entire state.
The state parks currently involved in the program are Amnicon Falls, Big Foot Beach, Big Bay, Potawatomi, Mill Bluff, Nelson Dewey, New Glarus Woods, Rocky Arbor, Tower Hill, Yellowstone Lake and previously mentioned Lake Kegonsa, Council Grounds, Mirror Lake, Devil’s Lake and Peninsula state parks.
