DNR Asks For Patience After Online Reservation Crash

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The new online system for state park reservations could not handle the flood of traffic it got and crashed about an hour after going online.

Deb Pleasants and her family love the state parks, so they wasted no time trying to reserve their campsites online.

"We have a RV and we like to hit as many state parks whenever possible," Pleasants said.

But Pleasants didn't expect the system to work so poorly.

She said the system told her it had shut down indefinitely.

According to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the new system could not handle the demand. The DNR said it expected the system to take 4,500 reservations a day. Instead, the DNR got about that many phone calls during the overload hour.

The new system took 60 reservations before it crashed.

DNR spokesperson Courtland Nelson is asking the public to be patient.

He said the DNR will have a better sense of when the reservation system will reopen early next week.

If you want to make reservations, you will have to call the state park where you want to say.

Officials say when it's up and running, the new website is user friendly and you can take a virtual tour of any state park.