Other stories in "Make reservations"

• Lake Superior's greatest hits
  A nine-day Circle Tour itinerary takes in the highlights.
• Camping in state parks
  For summer, reserve far ahead.
• How to find a bed-and-breakfast
  To travelers, B&B usually means 'best bet.'
• Planning the perfect Circle Tour
  For a great vacation, follow the shores of Lake Superior.

Serious reservations

Here's a guide to the hard-to-get campsites, lodgings and permits you should nail down now.

In the Upper Midwest, travel can be competitive.

Many events are so big and so fun that everyone wants to go. If you do, too, you have to plan ahead.

Start thinking about summer lodgings by January, at least. At Custer State Park in the Black Hills, campsite reservations for the entire season open Jan. 2. Reservations for blinds to view the sandhill-crane migration at Nebraska's Rowe Sanctuary also go up for grabs Jan. 2. And anyone who wants a certain entry point in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness during peak season should have an on-line lottery application in by Jan. 15.

January also is a good time to reserve for such huge events as Apple Festival in Bayfield, when 60,000 people cram themselves into the tiny northern Wisconsin village. Most people rebook their lodgings as they're leaving after a big festival. But often deposits are due in January, and there’s always someone who doesn’t send one and forfeits the room, so you can snap it up.

In July, 75,000 people pour into Decorah, Iowa, for Nordic Fest, and rooms are so hard to get they're practically a family heirloom. But Luther College has townhouses and dorms it rents out, and reservations for those open Jan. 7.

One of the hardest reservations to get is a room in Duluth for Grandma’s Marathon in June, when 14,700 runners and 30,000 to 40,000 spectators fill the town. Hotels fill up the day after the previous year’s race, and, with hundreds of people calling every month, few hotels bother to keep waiting lists. But in February, many people who reserved last June will find out they didn’t get into the race, and they’ll start to cancel. That’s the time to call hotels, as well as during the third week of May, when 30-day cancellation policies go into effect.

There are many ploys that increase the odds of getting a reservation. It’s best to call the day after a big event, but if you have to call later and the inn is full, ask to put your name on the waiting list.

And look for new properties that haven’t been advertised much. Peruse city Web sites  or ask the staff at visitors bureaus if there are new places to stay.

The prize rooms go to people who pay attention, ask questions — and make a lot of calls.

To reserve the choicest cabins and lodges in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan state parks, be at the phone a year in advance. For Iowa campsites, call three months in advance; for Michigan campsites, six months in advance; for Wisconsin campsites, 11 months in advance; and Minnesota campsites, a year in advance. For summer weekends, you’ll increase your odds if you also reserve for Thursday night; then, you can make your call a day earlier. You must use the site Thursday, however, or forfeit the entire stay.

Winter is a good time to look for summer weeks at lake resorts, where the best cabins on the best weeks rarely come up for grabs, and for rooms in Duluth, Chicago, Milwaukee, Door County, the Black Hills and anywhere on the Fourth of July.

Book fall weekends at North Shore cabins in Minnesota and inns along the Mississippi River as early as possible. If you know you want to take Amtrak at a certain time — say, to take the kids to Chicago during spring break — book as soon as you see a rate you like; the cheapest seats on Amtrak sell first.

Below is the 2008 guide to the hardest-to-get reservations throughout the year.

JANUARY

Reservations for the entire camping season at South Dakota's Custer State Park in the Black Hills open Jan. 2, so if you're planning a trip, call 800-710-2267, www.campSD.com. Many rooms at the park lodges — the State Game Lodge, Blue Bell, Sylvan Lake, Legion Lake —  already are taken for summer, so call as soon as possible to reserve those, too, 888-875-0001, www.custerresorts.com.

Reservations for backcountry camping permits in Michigan's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are accepted Jan. 1, and a drawing is held the third Thursday in January. The group campsites and individual sites at Mosquito and Chapel campgrounds go fastest. Forms are at www.nps.gov/piro; for details, call 906-387-3700.

At Rowe Sanctuary near Kearney, Neb., perhaps the nation's best place to view sandhill cranes during their spring migration, March 8-April 6, reservations for blinds are taken starting Jan. 2. Call 308-468-5282, www.rowesanctuary.org.

In Minnesota state parks, reserve a cabin now for next New Year’s Eve. In Tettegouche State Park, the four cabins on Mic Mac Lake and the Illgen Falls Cabin are in particular demand for the holidays. Reservations for cabins, suites and guesthouses in state parks can be made a year in advance at 1-866-857-2757, toll-free in the United States and Canada, or www.stayatmnparks.com; reservation fee is $8.50, and reservations can be made daily between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. (after the first day of availability, on-line reservations can be made 24 hours a day). For details, check the Department of Natural Resources Web site, www.mnstateparks.info.

Minnesota’s guesthouses also are in demand for the long Martin Luther King weekend, especially the big ones at St. Croix State Park, where guests can ski from the door; plan ahead.

Reserve early for the best choice of entry permits into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Applications by mail and fax will be taken through 5 p.m. Jan. 10 and on-line through 5 p.m. Jan. 15 and accepted by lottery. Starting Jan. 20, first-come, first-served reservations can be made on-line; reservations by mail or fax will be processed starting Jan. 21. Starting Feb. 1, phone reservations will be taken on weekdays. Contact the BWCAW Reservation Center, P.O. Box 462, Ballston Spa, New York 12020; phone 1-877-550-6777; fax 518-884-9951; www.bwcaw.org.

In Michigan state parks, campsites can be reserved six months in advance. At some campgrounds, particularly those on the beach-lined west coast of Lake Michigan, 100 percent of sites can be reserved, so it's crucial to reserve early.
At Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on the Upper Peninsula, 80 percent of sites can be reserved. Call 800-447-2757, or go to www.midnrreservations.com. For details, call 517-373-9900 or go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

FEBRUARY

When Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday or Saturday, rooms at inns and B&Bs book up several months in advance. This year, it's on the Thursday before the long President’s Day weekend; the day itself should be easy to book, but the weekend will be tight.

Now is the time to reserve for the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death in an Iowa cornfield on Feb. 3, 1959. The annual Fifties in February musical tribute weekend at the vintage Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake draws fans from around the nation and  world on average years; expect crowds for the Feb. 6-8 event in 2009. Call 800-285-5338, www.clearlakeiowa.com, www.surfballroom.com.

The American Birkebeiner between Cable and Hayward, North America’s largest cross-country ski marathon, fills northwest Wisconsin on the fourth weekend of February, Feb. 21-23 this year. Call 715-634-5025, www.birkie.com.

In Iowa, the deadline for mail entries in the cross-state bicycle tour RAGBRAI is Feb. 15, and the deadline for on-line entries is April 1. The ride, July 20-26 this year, limits  weeklong riders to 8,500. Entries, $125, are accepted by lottery. Details are at www.ragbrai.org.

In Minnesota state parks, Memorial Day is the busiest weekend of the year. If you want a site starting Friday, May 23, reserve at 7 a.m. Feb. 22; call 1-866-857-2757 or reserve on-line at www.stayatmnparks.com. There's a 90-day window graph to help with reservations. Split Rock, which has a very scenic location on the North Shore but not many sites, is the hardest-to-get reservation, followed by Temperance River, Tettegouche, Itasca, Gooseberry Falls, McCarthy Beach (on the Iron Range, near Hibbing), Bear Head Lake (near Ely), Judge C.R. Magney, Jay Cooke and Cascade River. In Minnesota’s state parks, 70 percent to 80 percent of campsites can be reserved.

In Iowa, campsites can be reserved three months in advance at 877-427-2757, www.reserveiaparks.com. The reservation fee is $4 if made online and $6 if made by phone, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Only 50 percent of campsites can be reserved. For details, call 515-281-5918, www.exploreiowaparks.com.

South Dakota's log camper cabins are very popular, and they can be reserved 90 days in advance. There are 125 of them in 34 state parks, each with heating, air conditioning, electricity and a deck, $35-$45. Reserve at 800-710-2267 or www.CampSD.com. For details, call 605-773-3391 or go to www.sdgfp.info/parks/General/Cabins.htm.

MARCH

Reserve as early as possible for spring-break trips to the indoor water parks of the Wisconsin Dells. The three best and biggest are the Kalahari, 1-877-253-5466, www.kalahariresort.com; Great Wolf Lodge, 1-800-559-9653, www.greatwolflodge.com; and Wilderness, 1-800-867-9453, www.wildernessresort.com. But many other hotels have nice indoor water parks; call 1-800- 223-3557, www.wisdells.com.

APRIL

Reserve campsites in Minnesota’s state parks for the Fourth of July weekend; for arrival on Friday, July 4, call at 7 a.m. April 5. However, many people will reserve the entire week, making weekend reservations hard to get.

MAY

If you want to go to the annual Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, the second-longest running craft beer festival in North America, you'll need to send in a mail order for tickets postmarked May 1 or show up in person at noon May 4 at one of various vendors in Madison. Only 5,000 tickets are sold for the event, Aug. 9 this year. It's held from 1-6 p.m. in Olin-Turville Park, and brewmasters from more than 100 Midwest breweries serve samples of 500 beers. For details, visit www.mhtg.org.

This month, the big festivals begin. One of the best is Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa, which brings 150,000 people to the town of 10,000. This year, it’s May 1-3, timed to coincide with the blooming of 250,000 tulips. Call 515-628-4311, www.pellatuliptime.com, or the Pella chamber, 1-888-746-3882, www.pella.org.

Wisconsin has seven cabins in state parks reserved for people with disabilities. They’re very popular and can be reserved a year in advance; reserve now for next year’s Memorial Day weekend. Modern cabins are in Buckhorn, High Cliff, Mirror Lake and Potawatomi state parks and at Ottawa Lake in the Southern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest, and rustic cabins are at Copper Falls and Blue Mounds state parks. Reservations are taken by individual parks; for information, call 608-266-2181, www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks/access/cabin.html.

Reserve campsites in Minnesota’s state parks for the Labor Day weekend; for arrival on Friday, Aug. 29, call at 7 a.m. May 31.

JUNE

On June 2, the Minnesota state parks start allowing reservations of campsites as well as lodgings a year in advance.

In Wisconsin, campsites can be reserved 11 months in advance. For arrival on Friday, May 22, 2009, reserve at 9 a.m. on June 22 of this year, 1-888-947-2757, www.reserveamerica.com. In 2009, Memorial Day is May 25, the Fourth of July is on a Saturday, and Labor Day is Sept. 7. The most in-demand campsites are in Peninsula and Devil’s Lake state parks and the Crystal Lake and Clear Lake campgrounds of Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest near Minocqua. For details, call Wisconsin state parks at 608-266-2181, www.wiparks.net.

In Wisconsin, some park and forest campgrounds have a high percentage of first-come, first-served sites; check the Web site if you’re not able to reserve far in advance. Arrive on Wednesdays or Thursdays to increase the odds of finding a campsite without a reservation.

Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth is June 21. Many hotels have three-night minimums, and most raise rates for the weekend. Check in February and May for cancellations. In March, dorm rooms become available at the College of St. Scholastica, the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Wisconsin-Superior; shuttles serve guests who stay there. Call 218-727-0947, www.grandmasmarathon.com, or 1-800-438-5884, www.visitduluth.com.

In Chicago, the Blues Festival, June 5-8 this year, draws more than half a million people, and Taste of Chicago, June 27-July 6 this year, draws 3.6 million. Call 1-877-244-2246, www.877chicago.com; for rooms, check www.hotrooms.com.

Before booking air fare at any time of year,  first check to see if a huge convention is in town; if so, rooms will be very expensive. Go to www.choosechicago.com, and under “Events,’’ click on the Convention Calendar. You'll see that 60,000 members of the National Sports Collectors Association will be in town July 16-20, and 40,000 will be in town Oct. 12 for the Chicago Marathon.

And Christmas shoppers might think the week after Thanksgiving would be a good time to visit, but 60,000 members of the Radiological Society of North America always are in town then, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 this year.

JULY

Milwaukee is a very busy place in summer. The prime date to reserve for 2009 is the weekend of July 10-12, when the Great Circus Parade once again will arrive in town with at least 50 horse-drawn, hand-painted antique wagons from Circus World Museum in Baraboo. The parade last was held in 2003 and was discontinued due to cost, estimated at $1.5 million. In 2009, Circus World Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Summerfest, which the city calls “the world’s largest music festival,’’ brings nearly a million people to the lakefront festival grounds. It’s June 26-July 6 in 2008, 1-800-273-3378, www.summerfest.com. Then there are the ethnic festivals, starting with PrideFest and Scottish Fest the first weekend of June and ending with Indian Summer Festival Sept. 5-7; in between, there’s Juneteenth, Polish Fest, Bastille Days, Greek Fest, Festa Italiana, German Fest, African World Festival, Arab World Fest, Irish Fest and Mexican Fiesta. Call 1-800-554-1448, www.milwaukee.org.

In Madison, the Art Fair on the Square turns 50 this year; it draws more than 200,000 people to the Capitol/State Street area. It’s July 12-13, 1-800-373-6376, www.visitmadison.com.

In the northeast Iowa town of Decorah, Nordic Fest draws 75,000 people to the town of 8,500. A reservation in one of the town’s motels or B&Bs is nearly impossible to get, so most people camp or stay in private homes or rooms at Luther College. The college’s best accommodations are new townhouses with kitchens, then air-conditioned rooms; call 563-387-1538, www.luther.edu. Eventually, people book rooms as far away as Rochester or La Crosse. It’s July 24-26 this year; call 1-800-382-3378, www.nordicfest.com.

The tourism behemoth in eastern Wisconsin is the annual EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, which draws 700,000 to 750,000 people and fills up every hotel room within a 50- to 60-mile radius. The Experimental Aircraft Association festival is July 28-Aug. 3 this year. The housing hotline is 920-235-3007, www.oshkoshcvb.org; for festival details, call 920-426-4800, www.airventure.org.

This is the time to start looking for a lake resort for next year, though some resorts have last-minute cancellations. If possible, drop by resorts in person while traveling in the area this summer; for ideas on resorts to visit, call the Minnesota Office of Tourism at 651-296-5029, 1-800-657-3700, www.exploreminnesota.com, and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 1-800-432-8747, www.travelwisconsin.com.

AUGUST

The 20th annual Bayfront Blues Festival is the other big weekend in Duluth, Aug. 7-10 this year. Call 1-800-438-5884, www.visitduluth.com.

In Sturgis, S.D., a quarter million people on Harleys will attend the 65th annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally Aug. 4-10. For details, call 605-720-0800, www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com.

In Chicago, the 30th annual Jazz Festival will draw 300,000 people over Labor Day weekend, Aug. 28-31, www.chicagojazzfestival.org.

SEPTEMBER

The 51st annual Labor Day walk over the Mackinac Bridge, the third-longest suspension bridge in the world, will be Sept. 1. It  fills lodgings within a 50- to 100-mile radius of St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, Mich. Call 1-800-454-5227, www.mackinacisland.org.

In La Crosse, Oktoberfest draws 150,000 people to the shores of the Mississippi. It’s Sept. 26-Oct. 4 this year; call 608-784-3378, www.oktoberfestusa.com, or 1-877-568-3522, www.explorelacrosse.com.

In the Black Hills, the 43th annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup will be Sept. 29, preceded by the Arts Festival Sept. 27-29. Call 1-800-658-3530 for cabins and lodge rooms and 1-800-710-2267 for campsites; www.sdgfp.info; for a South Dakota vacation guide, 1-800-732-5682, www.travelsd.com.

OCTOBER

The Bayfield Apple Festival fills the Wisconsin village on Lake Superior to bursting; people stay as far away as Duluth. It’s Oct. 3-5 this year; call 1-800-447-4094, www.bayfield.org.

The Fall Art Tour in southwest Wisconsin has become extremely popular, with many devoted customers returning year after year. Artists open their studios in and around Mineral Point, Spring Green and Baraboo, with shoppers taking in the fall scenery between stops. It’s Oct. 17-19 this year, www.fallarttour.com. Picturesque Mineral Point is the most popular place to stay, 1-888-764-6894, www.mineralpoint.com. For other lodgings, call 1-800-588-2042, www. springgreen.com or 1-800-227-2266, www.baraboo.com/chamber.

Accommodations for fall weekends in Door County are in high demand. Leaf color stays beautiful through the third week of October; call 1-800-527-3529, www.doorcounty.com.

Reserve as soon as possible for fall-color weekends on the North Shore. For peak inland color, aim for the last weekend of September; for peak color along the shore, the first weekend in October. On the third weekend of October, Minnesota schoolchildren have a four-day weekend, and the shore is packed. Call Two Harbors, 1-800-777-7384, www.twoharbors.com; Lutsen-Tofte, 1-888-616-6784, www.61north.com; Grand Marais, 1-888- 922-5000, www.grandmarais.com.

NOVEMBER

This is a quiet month. But more and more people are reserving a big cabin on the North Shore to watch the gales of November or fix Thanksgiving dinner; call Cascade Vacation Rentals,  1-800-950-4361, www.cascadevacationrentals.com.

DECEMBER

This is the month to shop. Chicago is full of holiday shoppers, many of whom come for the open-air Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, which starts on Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas Eve, www.christkindlmarket.com; 1-877-244-2246, www.choosechicago.com. Hard-core shoppers should go Dec. 4-7 so they also can hit the annual One of a Kind fine-arts sale at the Merchandise Mart, www.mmart.com.

In Elkhart Lake, Wis., the annual Christkindlmarkt at the big Osthoff Resort, Dec. 5-14 this year, is popular; for the least expensive rooms on weekends, reserve early, 1-800-876-3399, www.osthoff.com.

North of Milwaukee, the quaint town of Cedarburg fills up on the first weekend of the month, when it holds a big arts and crafts fair, 1-800-237-2874, www.cedarburg.org.

For information on popular events, call Minnesota Office of Tourism at 651-296-5029, 1-800-657-3700, www.exploreminnesota.com, and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism at 1-800-432-8747, www.travelwisconsin.com. For Iowa, call 1-800-345-4692, www.traveliowa.com. For South Dakota, call 1-800-732-5682, www.travelsd.com. For Michigan, call 1-800-543-2937, www.michigan.org. For Illinois, call 1-800-226-6632, www.enjoyillinois.com. For Missouri, call 1-800-877-1234, www.missouritourism.org.

Last updated on August 4, 2008