Chapter 1: The planning timeline

A group trip has two dates that everything else hangs from. Booking day is the day reservations open for the nights you want. Arrival day is the day you pull in. This chapter is organized around those two dates, because the usual advice ("start six months out") is only right for some campgrounds.

Find booking day first

How far ahead reservations open depends on the campground. A few published examples show the spread:

Two campgrounds in the same park can sit at opposite ends of that range. Yosemite also warns that its releases "sell out within minutes." So the first job is to open the official page for the exact campground you want and write down the date and the time of day, with the time zone.

Then count back about four weeks. That is when the real work starts.

Four weeks before booking day: get commitments

You cannot book a site for "probably around twenty." Limits are specific, and so are the fees you will be collecting.

• Send one message that asks each household for names, nights, sleeping arrangements, vehicles, dogs, and dietary needs. Set a reply deadline.
• State the expected cost per household and when money is due. Chapter 3 covers how to set that number.
• Agree on first-choice and fallback dates. A fallback the group has already approved lets you book on the spot when your first choice is gone.
• Decide between one group site and a cluster of standard sites. That is Chapter 2.

Two weeks before booking day: hand out roles

One person holding every job is how trips fall apart. These roles cover most groups:

In a small group one person can hold two roles. The organizer should not be treasurer if it can be avoided; splitting them keeps the money visible to someone else.

The week before booking day

• Create or sign in to your account on the reservation site and confirm the password works.
• Save your payment card. Check its limit against the full cost.
• Read the listing for your target site again. Confirm people, vehicle, and equipment limits against your numbers.
• Agree with your deputy who books what. Two people trying for the same dates can end up holding two reservations and paying to cancel one.
• Collect the money, or at least a deposit, now. People who have paid show up.

Booking day

Be signed in before the release time. Book your first choice; if it is gone, go straight to the fallback you already agreed on. When the reservation is confirmed, save the confirmation email and send the group the campground name, site name, dates, and what they owe.

If everything is taken, you are not finished. Reservations get cancelled. On Recreation.gov, cancelling a group overnight facility less than 14 days before arrival costs the $10 service fee plus the first night's fee, so an organizer who has to cancel has a reason to do it earlier than that. Group sites can come back at any point, and they come back without announcement. An alert service saves you from checking by hand: OpenCampsite, which publishes this handbook, checks for openings and sends a text or email when a site opens for your dates.

After you have a confirmation

• Permits. If the trip includes a ceremony or an organized event, ask the park whether it needs a permit. Yosemite, for example, accepts special use permit applications no more than six months and no less than 30 days before the event.
• Menu and gear. Kitchen and gear leads publish their lists and ask for volunteers against each line.
• Carpools. Match drivers to the site's vehicle limit, not to convenience. Extra cars need a plan before arrival day.
• The brief. Draft the one-page rules brief from Chapter 4.

Two weeks before arrival

This is the organizer's decision point. Confirm the final headcount against the site's minimum and maximum. If the group has shrunk below a minimum, or the trip is off, act now. On Recreation.gov the larger penalty for group overnight facilities begins inside 14 days. Its cut-off windows also vary by location, typically between zero and four days before arrival, so do not count on making changes online in the final days. Location-specific policies override the general ones; read your confirmation.

The last three days

• Check the weather forecast and the park's current fire restrictions and alerts.
• Send the brief, the arrival plan, and a map pin for the campground entrance.
• Confirm who the site lead is and when they will arrive. Late arrival can cost the booking: Yosemite states that a party that has not checked in by the morning after its first night has its reservation cancelled.
• Give the deputy a copy of the confirmation, and ask the campground ahead of time whether someone other than the reservation holder can check the group in.

On site and afterward

The site lead checks in, walks the site, and marks where tents, cars, and the kitchen go before others arrive. On the last morning, assign a sweep: fire out and cold, trash packed, nothing left on the tables. Within a week of getting home the treasurer sends the final accounting and settles differences, and you write down what you would change. Next year's organizer will thank you, and it may be you.

Checklist: the timeline on one page

The checklists on this page print cleanly, one box per line.

• Booking day and release time found on the official page, in my calendar
• Household commitments collected by a deadline
• First-choice and fallback dates agreed
• Group site or neighboring sites decided
• Roles assigned, including a deputy
• Account, password, and payment card tested
• Money or deposits collected before booking
• Confirmation saved and details sent to the group
• Permit question asked, if there is any event
• Menu, gear, and carpool lists published
• Final headcount checked against site limits two weeks out
• Rules brief and arrival plan sent three days out
• Final accounting sent within a week of returning