Guest feature: Gregg Bortz is with theMaryland Department of Natural Resources. Follow along with DNR on Facebook and Twitter.

It's officially spring and tourism's peak season will soon be underway. What better way is there to kick off the warm weather than planning a stay at one of Maryland's State Parks?

To encourage visitation, the Maryland Park Service's reservation system recently transitioned to a new, more user-friendly website —parkreservations.maryland.gov.

"This new intuitive online system will provide a great user experience and easy-to-use options for customers planning their visit," Maryland Park Service Superintendent Nita Settina said.

The system can help prepare trips to Maryland's vast network of 72 state parks. Customers are able to make reservations for more than 2,500 campsites, 38 cabins, picnic shelters and other lodging and recreational options through the website. Users can also call 888-432-2267 or 866-804-7846 (TTY/TDD) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to schedule reservations.

For park reservations, transaction fees will be reduced to $6.25 per reservation and $4.75 per transaction to cancel or change appointments. Separate charges apply for Assateague State Park.

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