How Bots Are Starting to Take Over Our Campsites and Permits

primitive camping

We’ve all been there. We plan on doing something, have rearranged our summer around doing it, and all we have to do is get tickets, reserve a room or space, and we will be set. There is only one problem. Tickets went on sale fifteen minutes ago and somehow every single one of them has been sold. What?! How was that possible. There were thousands available!

Welcome to the world of the bot. It is a software application that runs automated tasks over the Internet. Usually, bots perform jobs that are both straightforward and structurally repetitive. Think of refreshing a website over and over. But it is done at a more rapid speed than a human being can manage.

After the break, go over to the next page and learn more about bots and how they are taking over campsites and permits!

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48 Comments

  1. Tony Barone said:

    Space at Yosemite being at a premium is essentially why going there sucks. I would just hike out and camp illegally. A good survivalist leaves no trace anyhow.

  2. Rene Munguia said:

    It’s basically a program that helps a scalper buy the permit so then they can turn around and sell at higher price.

  3. James Pallasch said:

    Another trick I find bothersome is where you call and increase the days you really want to reserve. When there is a strict amount of days prior that you can reserve, one calls ,say, 2 days in advance of the days they wish to reserve and merely sacrifice the 2 days never intending to use them. Team this trick up with the bots and I guarantee a long, hot summer! Shooting, Mr. Hart would be my first choice, then I would hurt them! We have to laugh, lest we cry!

  4. Steve Fairweather said:

    Another trick is they solved this for the most part with the introduction of the capchaca that’s literally it’s entire function to prove you’re not a bot

  5. Jeff George said:

    Not here, unless you want to go to the Hot Spot where everyone is, campsites here in Oregon are 10-30, always open.

  6. Conan Carroll said:

    Whomever came up with this BS permit to enjoy the outdoors should be put in the publicly stoned! !!!…ridiculous!

  7. Marie Kelly said:

    Any place that allows Bots to purchase ALL THE DAMN TICKETS I have no desire to patronize them.

  8. Bev Honda said:

    Part of the fun is setting up camp. We would NOT go to a campground with this type of campsite.

  9. Chuck Garcia said:

    Grizz is the answer. Reintroduce Grizzly Bears back into the Sierras and this won’t be a problem.

  10. Steven F. Scharff said:

    Bots are the reason why major rock acts sell out in mere moments, and the scalpers take obscene profits.

  11. Michael White said:

    Just make sure that all permits /tickets are non transferable with a good return policy then only the people who will use them will buy them simple

  12. Otis Tooley said:

    AM I the only one that thinks that poaying out money to have a special spot to set up camp isnt camping

  13. Art Wiechmann said:

    I haven’t been camping in years. And if it looks like a FEMA camp, I’ll pass, thanks.

  14. Marion Seyfarth said:

    Another thing is that camping sites in our National Forest are managed by private contractors who charge 30 plus dollars a day to camp in them.

  15. David Sotelo said:

    That’s akin to worrying about whether or not you will need a Ham Radio license when the SHTF! Its a big non factor!

  16. Geoffrey Burnett said:

    Ya using an automated program to buy uo tickets. Then they sell em doe a profit. It seems campsites have limited places and so ppl are buying and raising the prices

  17. Dustin Webb said:

    I never use actual “camp spots” anyway. I venture out and find my own away from everyone and everything.

  18. Christopher Sweitzer said:

    I’ve sent an email to ticket master once asking why they don’t put the names of the customer on the event ticket? They put your name on airline tickets. This way if you don’t go you don’t have someone else get in.

  19. Nicholas Sanders said:

    Sooooooo… don’t camp at a campsite. Walk your$#%&!@*in and camp it where you’re not surrounded by German and Japanese tourists. Is camping in a designated spot even considered camping? It never was when I was growing up.

  20. Tom Wagner said:

    I don’t think it’s bots, it’s my belief that more people are heading outdoors these days for a variety of reasons. Couple that with a limited set of campsites and permits being controlled to reduce impact on trails…..equals sites and permits being booked up. We go camping at minimum once a month (sometimes 2-3 times a month) in Southern Cali and the Sierras and it’s hard to get your first choice in sites/permits…..especially if some outdoor blog or magazine wrote an article on the area in the last decade.

  21. Danne Dzatko said:

    I’ve been complaining about this for awhile. I’m tired of being punished by not being allowed to camp and grill, BBQ or have a campfire by the USFS unless I’m in a domestic site when they decide on fire restrictions and they offer no alternative so in essence they punish the masses (those of us who are responsible) for the actions of a few. I can’t always afford my site a yr in advance and when I have been able to, the interactions that I’ve had with persons who staff those sites seem to treat me as less, pick on me more and just overall treat me badly as I don’t have a huge expensive RV or 5th wheel and actually camp, in my tent, with my gear so I can be outside and unplugged. Evidently they now prefer those who are seen by not seen because they run inside of there home on wheels as soon as it gets dark! I use to be able to go a few days ahead of the WE crowds and have no issue with walk up sites but those are almost non-existent. Down from a half dozen to maybe one and it’s because they prefer to not have any financial transactions (they actually told me this) on site but have no problem driving around to charge double or triple because in my case my 16 yr old had to arrive the next day so instead of $30 it was now $60 a night but saw plenty of RV’s with 2 cars and a tent in their site and asked them only to be told they only paid $30 a night. Bots aren’t the only danger with loosing our campsites and permits!

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