Fish Creek Pond Campground - Reservation Tips

Reservation Tips

About Reservations

Fish Creek is a VERY popular campground. As such reservations during the summer months of July and August is HIGHLY recommended.

To check site availability and/or reserve a site you must visit the Reserve America site at reserveamerica.com or call them at 1-800-456-2267. The campground itself does not handle reservations.

Sites may be booked exactly 9 months in advance of your booking at 9am EST at the earliest.

Sites book up very fast! Plan ahead to ensure you get a site. You can check online at Reserve America to see what sites are open, or select the Date Range Availability to see when sites become available. By planning ahead you have more chance to get a site during your desired dates. The more flexible you are, the easier it is to get a site. Booking multiple sites for a large group on the same dates is often challenging but many groups are very successful at booking them, just not aways all together.

For bookings in peak season, sites available for each day will book up within seconds of the 9am window. Be sure to get online immediately at 9am to greatly improve your chances of getting one of your desired sites.

Sites that show available for only one or two nights cannot be reserved as Reserve America has a three night minimum. These site become available only to walkups, that is someone who physically arrives at the park. You cannot reserve or call ahead for these sites.

All inquires, reservations changes, cancellations or refund inquiries are handled ONLY by Reserve America.

Changing or Cancelling a Reservations

All changes and cancellations must be done through Reserve America by either going to reserveamerica.com or by calling 1-800-456-2267.

Changes

There is an $9.00 reservation change fee required to make a change to any reservation. This fee is substantially less than the fees associated with canceling a reservation and rebooking a new reservation. Any reservation with a departure date that is more than 9 months from today can not be changed for 18 days after the reservation was made.

Cancellations

If you choose to cancel your reservation, a non-refundable $9.00 fee will be assessed.

Cancellations made within 8 days of your arrival date will result in a refund equal to the amount already paid less the non-refundable reservation and cancellation fees and your first night camping fee.

To cancel a reservation more than 2 days prior to the date of your arrival, you can cancel online or contact the Reservation Center at 1-800-456-2267. To cancel a reservation within 2 days of your arrival, please call the park at 518-891-4560.

Reservation Tips

For bookings in peak season, sites available for each day will book up within minutes of the 9am window. Be sure to get online immediately at 9am to greatly improve your chances of getting a site. Although you may call in your reservation, you are at a disadvantaged as most savy campers will have already booked a site as soon as 9am arrives.

Plan ahead! Use the Date Range Availability option on the reservation system to see when sites become available prior to your desired dates. Make a note of sites that will become available then be sure to be online or on the phone at EXACTLY 9am on the date a selected site opens up.

If you are not successful, continue to monitor the reservation site. Often sites are cancelled, even as far ahead as late fall through the winter months. Diligent campers are often rewarded with a site! Many campers also inform others that they are going to be cancelling a site here on the Campers Forum as well as on Facebook.

Consider booking late June instead of July for your peak season holiday. It is easier to get a site nine months in advance for a late June date than a July date.

Consider booking in mid to late August if prior weeks in the summer are booked. There is less demand for mid to late August dates than prime July dates.

Try booking early in the week or at the end of a weekend. There tends to be more turnover on the weekend than at other times. The more flexibility you have, the more successful you can be.

When booking several sites for a group, it has been said that calling is easier. The agent can secure a number of sites quickly and then take all the various credit cards for each individual booking (each individual can only book one site).

About Walkup Sites

Walkup sites are designed campsites that may not be reserved ahead of time. They are set aside for campers who arrive at the campground, without a reservation but are also used as 'replacement sites'. A walkup site may be used as a replacement site should there be a problem with another campsite (for example flooding), in the case where a camper cannot get onto their reserved site due to equipment size or obstacles, or if a camper is having problems with a neighour. There are 26 walkup sites. 18 of the walkup sites are right on the water, 8 are off the water. In prime season (July/August) there are typically very few sites that are actually available for campers arriving as a walkup so don't count on there necessarily being a site available!

The following sites are always set aside as walkup sites, and they cannot be reserved (you'll notice they don't show up on Reserve America either): 9, 12, 28, 45, 72, 78, 89, 90, 102, 136, 137, 257, 289,
A2, A7, A8, A9, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, C1, C4, C7, R1, R2

All other sites are normally reserveable, except they automatically become walkup only sites for short periods whenever the number of days between reservations make is less than 3 days (the minimum reservable period).

You cannot reserve, call ahead or otherwise 'hold' a site. The only way to get one of the current walkup sites is to arrive at the front gate in person and ask for one.

For dates after the Labor Day long weekend, ALL sites become walkup only. You cannot, and do not have to reserve sites for dates after Labor Day. Just show up, and choose a site!

Fall Reservations

After Labour Day only sites 1-34 are available for reservations, however sites 1-169, A1-22 and C1-17 are typically all open and available for walkups up thru Columbus Day weekend. Many campers assume that because they only see sites 1-34 and often most of those show as reserved, that there is no availability at Fish Creek in the fall. Not true! Sites 1-169 are normally open right thru Columbus Day weekend. Sites 35-169, A1-22 and C1-17 are all available for walkups. Your best bet is simply to not reserve, and just pick an available site that you like when you arrive.

Columbus Day weekend can be very busy IF the weather is decent and warm. In this case, it is wise to arrive earlier on Friday if possible to ensure you get a suitable site. One year many campers ended up camping at the beach parking lot because all campsites were occupied by early evening.

Reserve America Bugs and Oddities

The Reserve America website has many issues to be aware of, and these still exist on the September 2013 updated version of their website for the Find Campsites feature:

1) If you select sites with Waterfront no sites will every show as available for any time period. This is not true as Fish Creek is mostly waterfront sites. Do not use the Waterfront selector!

2) Selecting RV sites, Trailer sites or Tent sites will result in the same sites showing up. All sites may be occupied with a tent however a handfull of sites are actually only useable by those with tents. If you select RV or Trailer sites, be sure to enter your equipment length!

3) If your RV or motorhome is over 40ft, and you enter any number above 40 as the length of your equipment, no results will ever show up. There are many sites that are designated as 30 or 40ft sites that would fit a 42ft trailer for example. Enter 40ft and use the fishcreekpond.com Campsite Guide to check the site details as well as photos to verify that your equipment will fit.

4) Do not use the Pull-through drive selector as none of the sites at Fish Creek are coded as being pull-through! There are several that you can pull-through however. Check the fishcreekpond.com Campsite Guide or Campsite Photos to check if a site looks like you can pull-through if that is important to you.

5) The Loop selection pull down has two entries for Sites 001W-034, B001-B005. Selecting one of these will only show sites 1W and sites 1-18. The other entry will only show sites 19-34.

6) The Loop selection pull down has two entries for Sites 138-159. Selecting one of these will only show sites 138-149. The other entry will only show sites 150-159.

7) The Reserve America campground map has several important errors on it:

Sites C8-C16 show on the opposite site of the road, and off water. Sites C8-C16 are on the other side of the road and are directly on the shoreline of Fish Creek. Use the fishcreekpond.com Map Navigator for accurate placement of each campsite.

Sites in the 200's are not accurately positioned on the Reserve America map. There is also no large space as is shown between sites 230 and 231. Again use the fishcreekpond.com Map Navigator for accurate placement of each campsite.

Sites in the high 200's and low 300's are mislocated as well on the Reserve America map. Site 290 shows as being the last site by the far gate by the road. This is not correct. Site 305 is the last site closest to the road (Route 30). Sites 291-305 show as being out on the highway, ie Route 30. This is not correct. ALL campsites are located along the campground road around the ponds and none are located out on Route 30. Again use the fishcreekpond.com Map Navigator for accurate locations of each campsite.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

As of July 1st (2010), any normally reservable site that is only available for 1 or 2 nights will now be available for reservations for 1 or 2 nights. This new rule does not go into effect until July 1st, and does not include the normally designated walkup sites.

Note! This site, fishcreekpond.com is in no way affilated with the reservation system. As such your only avenue is through Reserve America for your reservation needs.