ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plans to resume taking some camping and lodging reservations for state parks and recreation areas on Thursday.

The state's new park reservation system crashed soon after its launch March 1. The DNR says the system couldn't handle the unexpected flood of traffic when it went live and was overwhelmed with 4,500 hits in its first hour.

The DNR says the system has been upgraded since it crashed, but because of anticipated high demand, reservations will only be accepted for specific dates during the initial 8-day rollout.

On Thursday, reservations will be accepted for arrival dates through April 21 and on Friday for arrival dates through May 12.

Next week's reservation schedule, as well as other information, can be found on the DNR's website.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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