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30 years ago there was no campsite reservations.
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not online.
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What is the rolling reservation trick? I don't like the sound of it.
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We have been using that trick for years to get a site in Killbear during the summer. The loophole is there and if you don't utilize it you don't get a decent site. Simple as that. Personally I think they should make the penalty big enough that it discourages its use but for now it is what it is. Even with that method you were still left hovering over your keyboard at exactly 7am ready to pounce on a site. Miss the opening of the booking time by as much as 30 seconds and you were likely going to fail that day and need to be ready the next day. It is a jungle out there folks.
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So luckily for me these games only go on in places I would prefer not to go to. Easy access places that are extremely busy. I would always prefer to be at least 5 portages in. 
Sometimes that is not possible though.. if you are traveling with younger kids etc. I agree with petey, unfortunately if you want to stay on say OSA lake in August you have 2 choices. Play the game or go somewhere else.
They have done somethings to make it harder to overbook and then cancel extra nights. You can only book OSA and Killarney lakes for a max of 4 nights I think. Still can't stop people though.
Would like to see max # of nights in places like Little Eagle too and maybe the more popular Cabins...
Higher cancellation fees on reservations that drop say more than 7 nights might help too.
Last edited by ShawnD (4/26/2017 8:35 am)
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Yeah, I'm fortunate enough to not have to play games with my interior reservations, since I'm not staying on any of the easy-access lakes anyway. Many times I don't even bother with reservations and just book when I get to the permit office.
My experience with car camping bookings, especially at busy parks, it's that you pretty much have to play those games to get a 'preferred' site. It means you get multiple chances at your preferred sites on your preferred dates, instead of only one shot at it.
The other way is to be on the lookout every day, multiple times a day, for sites that suddenly become available when others who have used that trick call in to shorten their stays. You more or less know when that's going to happen since the longer they wait, the more it'll cost them, so it just means a week or so of close monitoring at the right time for your preferred dates. I booked 3 nights in the Pinery to take my family camping this July that way (my daughter is 18 months old, so not quite ready for the Algonquin interior yet!). I got a great site about as close to the beach as they come.
