State Parks Reservation System Is Shut Down

Just as thousands of would-be vacationers will be seeking reservations for a tour of Hearst Castle or a choice spot at a state campground, the California Parks Department has been forced to shut down its reservation system.

Park officials said the bankruptcy of the contractor who provides the reservation service has left it without adequate resources to handle about 50,000 callers who will be trying to get summer reservations in January.

“We aren’t making any advance reservations for a while. Everything is on a first-come, first-served basis,” said department spokesman Ken Colombini.

The shutdown of the state parks reservation system is one more aggravation for vacationers, especially those seeking to commune with nature in an increasingly overburdened public park system.

This year, flood damage and traffic congestion drove thousands of visitors away from Yosemite National Park. Other national parks, meanwhile, have grappled with environmental problems as an overload of visitors took its toll on natural resources.

State parks have provided a welcome alternative for many, especially in California where 264 parks offer everything from a view of mating elephant seals to a chance to gawk at the opulence of a bygone era.

California state parks draw 73 million visitors a year. But state officials said it will take at least until early spring before a new reservation system can be put in place. Reservations already held by visitors will be honored.

The shutdown will have its greatest impact on vacationers seeking campground reservations for the peak months of July and August. Normally, the department starts accepting reservations seven months in advance and gets a glut of phone calls in early January and February.

Now callers will be told to wait until further notice to make those reservations.

Although a large number of people are being inconvenienced by the shutdown, Colombini said it would have been much worse if it had occurred in the summer, when calls come in at the rate of 160,000 to 200,000 a month.

A bigger problem may be at Hearst Castle, which uses the same system and only takes reservations eight weeks in advance. By early spring, the popular tourist attractions will have to handle all its patronage on a first-come, first-served basis.

Jim Allen, a spokesman for the facility, said usually about 50% of the visitors have reservations and the remainder show up hoping to get a spot on the tour.

So far, he said, the shutdown has not created any problems, but he urged those without reservations to arrive early.

The department has contracted for years with a private firm to provide reservation services for its 10,000 campsites, Hearst Castle and tours of the elephant seal grounds at Ano Nuevo State Reserve, south of Half Moon Bay.

The current contract, which expires Dec. 31, is held by Destinet Service Corp., a San Diego firm. Earlier this year, the department sought bids on a new contract and selected a competitor, Park.Net, to take over in January.

Destinet filed suit, contending that the award to Park.Net was improper. A Sacramento district judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the state from putting a new contract into effect until the case could be heard.

Destinet, meanwhile, agreed to continue providing the service. But on Friday, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed it doors. Officials could not be reached.

Bill Barry, chief of the department’s park services division, said that as soon as the restraining order is lifted, the state can begin installing a new reservation system.

“Then we will try to get a system into effect as soon as possible,” he said.