CAMP OUT ON THE PHONE FOR NATIONAL PARK RESERVATIONS.

Byline: Betsy Wade The New York Times

Families planning to camp in the most popular national parks this summer will find a major change in reservation methods.

In January 1996, the phone reservation system used for 4,500 camp sites in the most popular National Park Service areas was given a wider window: It is now possible to reserve a site five months in advance instead of only eight weeks, or in the case of Yellowstone, a year in advance.

The Park Service has also revised 93 fees in popular parks, most particularly entrance fees and interpretive-tour fees. Some of these changes came last November; others were announced March 12. Most will be in effect by May 23. Probably the biggest shock for frequent park visitors is the new $50 yearly fee for the Golden Eagle pass to all federal lands.

The five-month camping reservation system, which opens up an entire month for reservations on the 15th of each month, means that reservations in 15 popular parks will be come available on April 15 for Aug. 15 to Sept. 14. Yosemite is on the same cycle, but because of flooding, there was a delay in starting dates.

The long-term trend shows increasing pressure on the national park system, although estimates of visits for last year showed a drop, probably because of government shutdowns caused by lack of a budget as well as fires and floods. The estimated total visits for 1996 to all areas administered by the National Park Service was 265.7 million; the 1995 number was 270 million.

The majority of the national park campgrounds still work on a first-come, first-served basis. It is the areas most heavily in demand that are on phone reservations. The areas available through the system operated by Destinet, a San Diego company, have expanded: Last year, 12 parks were on it; this year, 16.

The additions are Everglades in Florida, Gulf Islands in Florida and Mississippi, Greenbelt in Greenbelt, Md., and Katmai in Alaska. Greenbelt accommodates campers in recreational vehicles or tents, and in addition to its own 1,100 woodland acres is intended to provide inexpensive living space for families while they explore Washington, D.C. The fee is $13 a night, and the limit is 14 days in a calendar year, seven days in summer.

March 1 to Sept. 30, the Destinet phones are open between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. After Oct. 1, the hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week.

The main reservation number, [phone], handles these camping areas:

Blackwoods, Acadia, Maine; oceanside drive-ins and tent walk-ins, Bayside, Assateague Island National Seashore, Md.; Ocracoke, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, N.C.; Furnace Creek, Death Valley; Flamingo and Long Pine Key, Everglades, Fla.; Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Miss.; Mather on the South Rim and North Rim sites, Grand Canyon, Ariz.; Smokemont, Elkmont and Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains, Tenn. and N.C.; all 174 sites at Greenbelt Park, Md.; Indian Cove and Black Rock, Joshua Tree; Moraine Park and Glacier Basin, Rocky Mountains, Colo.; Lodgepole, Sequoia and Kings Canyon; Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Va.; Oak Bottom tent sites, sites on water and recreational vehicle sites, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Calif.

For Yosemite, the reservation number is [phone]. Because of the floods in January, reservations in Yosemite, which has historically accounted for 40 percent of the reservations handled by phone, opened only in February.

Campsites at Upper Pines for July 15 to Aug. 14 opened Feb. 15. Gary Styve, head of quality assurance for Destinet, said a handful of sites at Upper Pines might be open for reservations before July 14. At North Pines, reservations for May 15 to Aug. 14 opened March 15. Because of the floods, Upper River and Lower River will not be opened; they are being moved to less environmentally sensitive places in the Yosemite Valley, according to the National Park Service.

At a 17th park, Yellowstone, in Wyoming, reservations are handled separately under a contract with Amfac Resorts, which operates lodges in this and other parks. The number for the Yellowstone service is [phone]; there is no toll-free number. The hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain time.

Camping in Yellowstone opened May 1 and ends Nov. 3. Reservations for the entire summer are open now for these sites: Bridge Bay, Canyon, Fishing Bridge recreational vehicle area (hard-sided vehicles only), Grant Village and Madison. The fees are $14 a night, except for Fishing Bridge, where the fee is $25 a night. Reservations for all of next summer are now open, according to Jim McCaleb, Amfac's general manager at Yellowstone.

All of these phone reservation systems work with credit cards. The camping fees, higher than last year, start at $12 a night, at Assateague, for example, and rise to $20 for prime North Rim sites at the Grand Canyon and $25 at Yellowstone.

The national parks, under the three-year experimental permission granted by Congress, are able to use the yield from fee rises - $3, for example, if an entrance fee went to $5 from $2 - for park repair or improvements. The old fees - the $2 - will continue to go to the Treasury.

Most of the new money will go straight to the facility where the fees are collected. So, according to David Barna, chief spokesman for the service, $8 of an entirely new $10 fee for boat launching at Lake Meredith in Texas will be used to improve the boat facility.

For dedicated national park visitors, the big news involves the Golden Eagle Passport issued jointly by the park service and the Department of Agriculture, which has doubled in price from $25 to $50 a year. The pass admits the holder and all passengers in a private vehicle to all federal lands where an entrance fee is charged. The rise was so steep, Barna said, because of a big rise in vehicle entrance fees at Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Grand Teton. The Golden Access Passport for thAe blind and permanently disabled remains free.

And the lifetime Golden Age Passport, available to citizens or permanent residents at least 62 years old, will remain at $10. This pass admits a vehicle and all its passengers. With the new fee structure, Barna has a fantasy of grannies in backpacks lined up outside park entrance gates, eager to share the benefit of their passes in return for a lift.

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Photo: The National Park Service now accepts reservations for Yellowstone a year in advance.