By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com
It’s hard to think about anyone having serious reservations about summer camping along Oregon’s central coast. Tide pools, sand dunes, the incessant thrum of the surf – what’s not to like?
In what is emerging as a record-setting year, however, it’s also true that if people don’t have reservations to camp, they are likely to find themselves plain out of luck.
That’s the word from those managing state, federal and private campgrounds, which right now are turning away hundreds of would-be campers every day due to lack of available sites.
“In years past, we had to turn away anywhere from 100 to 150 people a day because they didn’t have a reservation,” said Dylan Anderson, who oversees operations at South Beach State Park in Newport. “But this year, that number has jumped to 250 people a day who call or show up hoping for a site. We just have to inform them we are completely booked.”
The same scenario is playing out at campgrounds up and down the coast as throngs are intent on breaking out of their post-Covid lockdown with a camping vacation.
“Our advance reservations are definitely running higher than in past years,” said Amanda Remund, who with her husband, Ron, runs the Waldport/Newport KOA in Waldport. “It’s just really busy out there.”
The key to avoiding the peril of struggling to find a last-minute stay elsewhere – and, really, there are no good alternatives, short of finding a highway pullout – is making a pre-trip reservation, say Remund and others.
If, that is, anything is available. In most cases, it’s not.
Reservations go online for all campgrounds
Campgrounds up and down the central coast have online reservation systems in place, which regularly end up booking the most popular camping spots most weekends. This year, however, even weekdays are filling up weeks, if not months, in advance.
RVers currently enjoying the splendid sea-side views at the Sea Perch RV Resort south of Yachats, for instance, probably booked their sites at least one year ago, said Barbara Shepherd, who with her husband, Tony, manages the property.
“We’re booked clear up to December right now,” she said. “And our 10 ocean front sites are gone for next summer, as well.”
Carl G. Washburne Memorial State Park between Yachats and Florence instituted a reservation system this year for the first time, due primarily to Covid concerns and the knowledge that crushing numbers of campers were likely to start showing up.
That’s turned out to be a wise decision.
“Pre-Covid, we definitely weren’t staying full every night of the week,” said Ben Ervin, the park’s ranger. “But now? We are full pretty much every night of the week. It’s definitely busier.”
Chris Havel, Oregon state parks’ spokesman, said the newly instituted reservations-only system at Washburne State Park marks a historical turning point.
“The new system feels like the end of an era, where you had at least a couple of weeks where those reservations aren’t needed,” he said. “Now, the demand is way too high. And we’d rather have a reservation system in place than end up turning away 200 people who are desperate for a place to stay and nowhere else to go.”
Pent-up demand appears to be driving the activity that has coastal roads so full this year, Havel said.
“It was completely normal for us to break records every year from 2012 to 2018,” he said. “We pretty much leveled off in 2019 and 2020 doesn’t count because of the Covid shutdown. We don’t have hard numbers in for this year yet, but I won’t be surprised to see us exceed the prior record years of 2018 and 2019. In a word, we are just very, very busy.”
Federal camping sites, overseen in the central coast area by the Siuslaw National Forest, are seeing the same surge in visitors.
“Based on reservations and fee receipts, it appears we’re seeing an increase in reservations for this time of year,” said Lisa Romano, the forest’s public affairs staff officer. “The majority of our campsites are now on a reservation system and so reservations, as early as possible, are necessary.”
Federally managed campgrounds still hold a few sites open on a first-come, first-served basis, she added, but even those are filling up remarkably quickly.
“The closer you get to your arrival date the less likely any sites will still be available,” Romano said.
Spillover from RVs and tent-campers turned away from sites has led to more people trying to stay overnight in areas designated for day-use, camp managers say. So far, however, it has not led to those vehicles being ticketed for illegal camping, according to commanders from both the Oregon State Police and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Reservations needed
Matt and Kate Wahlquist of Bear Lake, Utah experienced both ends of the tourist hordes recently.
They live in a popular lake area of Utah, where Matt is a teacher, and rent their house for a month each summer so they can travel with their three young children.
They were headed to Beachside State Recreation Site north of Yachats – the same place where Matt proposed to Kate 12 years ago. When they arrived without reservations, however, they were told the camp was full, forcing them to spend one night in a motel. The next day they were first in line at 8 a.m., when some day-to-day sites opened because of cancellations.
“We come to the Oregon coast every other year,” Matt Wahlquist said. “But we’ve never needed reservations before.”
Yvette Hollis, one of Beachside’s two campground hosts, has advice for visitors.
“This campground is always full,” she said. “We tell them to make reservations nine months out.”
The Wahlquist’s next stop was Sunset Beach State Park near Coos Bay – where they have reservations.
Tom and MaryAnn Ewald of Medford planned a little further ahead, making reservations at Tillicum Beach campground nine months ago – shortly after buying their Dodge RoadTrek conversion van. Now, they’re working their way south-to-north along the coast.
“This is about the only way you can get out and about,” Tom Ewald said of their vehicle purchase.
“But,” MaryAnn Ewald added, “It feels like everyone’s on the road.”
Reservations and all.
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com
We’re currently RV’ing on the Oregon coast. We made partial reservations at state parks a couple of months ago, and have improved our itinerary as we go. How? You can access the Reserve America website and attempt to make a reservation for a specific park and date(s). If nothing is available (often true), the website will allow you to make an “availability notification”. You will receive an e-mail in the event of someone else’s cancellation. You’re welcome.