Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Reserve Camp Or Picnic Sites With Plastic

Effective immediately, individuals to reserve a Corps of Engineers campsite or picnic shelter should now call the NRRS reservation hotline at 1-877-444-6777 any day of the week from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The facilities on the NRRS now include campsites, picnic shelters and group camp areas, including the group overnight facility at Oak Bower on DeGray Lake.

Park.Net, the contractor for the system, has added 24 operators at its New York call center in response to a flood of calls from customers wanting to reserve campsites managed by the USDA Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Park.Net began experiencing a significant increase in call volume following the release of additional campsite inventories on March 1.

With 49,500 campsites available in more than 1,700 federal campgrounds, the NRRS is North America's largest recreation reservation service.

Due to the remarkable response to the NRRS, customers are advised to call for reservations during non-peak hours, typically on weekends. Park.Net also plans to provide an Internet sales channel this spring at www.ReserveUSA.com.

The NRRS accepts reservations for individual campsites up to 240 days in advance. Group areas may be booked up to 360 days in advance. Visa, AMEX, Discover and MasterCard are accepted.

If a customer does not have a credit card, he can make payment with a bank check or certified check, which must be received 20 days or more in advance of his arrival to use the reservation. The reservation will be held 10 days while awaiting the arrival of the payment.

While the campgrounds are open for use on a first-come, first-served basis at this time, the reservations may be made through the NRRS for arrival dates after May 19 and continuing through October 31 for this recreation season.

Group areas, such as picnics shelters, may be reserved through the NRRS for dates beginning May 20 and continuing year round.

Arkansas lakes under the Corps' Vicksburg District, which now have recreation areas on the system, include Lake Ouachita, DeGray Lake and Lake Greeson.

If a customer contacts Park.Net and cannot reserve a Vicksburg District facility, or receives a reply they believe to be in error from the operator, they are advised to contact the applicable Corps field office or Vicksburg District office for further explanation of the current situation.

DeGray Lake Field Office number is 870-246-5501, ext. 7001; Lake Greeson, 870-285-2151, ext. 3018; Lake Ouachita, 501-767-2108, ext. 3050; and Vicksburg District Office, 601-631- 5287.