New camping system debuts

INDIANAPOLIS -- Campers will find it easier to reserve campsites at state parks starting this week, and they won't have to pay a $6 reservation fee.\nBut they will find higher fees for campsites, cabins and shelters.\nA mail-in registration system has been scrapped. Registrations now are accepted online or through a toll-free telephone number.\n"The newer system, I think, is going to be more user-friendly," said Mark Young, property manager of Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, about 45 miles south of Bloomington. "And with the Internet option, it's going to make it even easier to use."\nReservations can be made up to six months in advance for campsites and up to one year in advance for cabins, shelters and recreation buildings.\nNew fee increases mean it will cost campers more to rent a site. Fees will increase $2 to $9, depending on the type.\nThis is the second consecutive year that campers will pay more in campsite fees after about a decade of steady rates, said Becky Weber, marketing director for the Division of State Parks and Reservoirs.\nThe increase is needed to pay for increased maintenance and operating costs, Weber said.\nThe new system is available for all 20 state parks that have campsites; all state reservoirs except J.E. Roush Lake; and Starve Hallow, Deam Lake and Wyandotte Woods state recreation areas.\nIn all, the reservation system will be available for 7,500 sites throughout the state.\n"We're eager for people to use the system," Weber said. "We think it's going to be a big improvement."\nReservations previously had been accepted at only 15 parks and at the reservoirs on the three major holiday weekends. Even then, reservations were allowed only for half of the available camp sites.\nCampers also had to mail in reservation requests in the beginning of March and often wait four to six weeks to find out if their reservation had been accepted.