Now may be a great time to overnight in many national parks

daveynin on flickr.com

Want to take your RV into one of the U.S. national parks and overnight? Afraid you'll never find a spot? Unless you're planning on visiting one of the country's more popular parks, you may find your fears aren't warranted.

According to a story published by the Associated Press, overnighting in national parks is actually on a decline. It seems that "gateway communities," towns just outside the parks, are getting smart and fishing for tourist dollars. Fewer and fewer people are staying in the parks; rather, they're taking advantage of motel rooms with high-speed Internet and swimming pools, only driving into the park by day to make a visit.

Here are some statistics to show the trend. Back in 1998, national parks had more than nine million overnight camping stays. By 2003 that number had dropped to a little more than 8.5 million. Last year, 7.91 million overnight visits were had. Mind you, the stats for overnighting include all "inside the park stays," which include not only campgrounds suitable for RVs, but also back country areas where you won't be taking "Winnie" along.

Park rangers say there was a big inrush of overnighters back in 2009 and 2010 – up to 8.5 million. The thought is that the poor economy caused folks to turn to staying in the parks to save money. But with the economy getting back up on its feet, staying outside park boundaries is "the thing."

For RVers, in practical terms, if you want to secure a spot in one of the lesser-known parks, your chances of getting a spot are pretty good – numbers of overnight guests are down almost a third. But those big name parks? Well, expect you'll need to hit the reservation system. Don't be like us: We just casually "dropped in" at Zion midweek in 2012. We got sent packing in a hurry. But here's a suggestion: Want to see Grand Canyon's South Rim? There are plenty of great free places just outside the park on nearby Forest Service lands.