5 Popular Camping Reservation Websites & Apps
Ready for a road trip and a fresh-air adventure but wondering where to go and how to secure a 5-star campsite? We recently surveyed SylvanSport’s trailer owners about which sites or apps they use most often to book their campsite reservations. The 5 most popular options are: Recreation.gov, Stare Park websites, Reserve America, Hipcamp, and the Dyrt.
Below is an overview of these campsite reservation apps that should give you the lay of the camping land.
And, if you’re currently a tent camper in search of something more comfortable and convenient be sure to check out our family of high-quality, lightweight campers and trailers.
Operated by the United States government, Recreation.gov has a website and app that allows users to book campsites and recreational activities on federal lands and waters. National Forests are also featured on Recreation.gov.
- # of campsites: 113,000
- 4,200+ locations and activities
- Find it: Recreation.gov website or download mobile app (Apple & Android)
- Booking Window: for most parks, Recreation.gov releases sites for reservations at 10 am Eastern time, 6 months out. But, for some popular parks, like Yosemite the booking window is different so always check the website for the park you want to visit (Yosemite opens their sites on the 15th of each month and has some sites that can be booked 5 months out)
- Frequent Camper? If you plan to spend more than $80 in entrance fees per year camping at federally managed sites, consider the America the Beautiful Pass ($20/ year for seniors over age 62 and no charge for veterans or active military). Each pass covers entrance fees at national parks and national wildlife refuges. The pass admits the pass owner and their passengers in per-vehicle fee parks and pass owner + up to 3 adults in parks that charge per-person admission.
- Popular destinations on this platform: Acadia, Arches, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.
- What Else Can You Book on Recreation.gov? boat rentals, guided hikes, photography workshops, interpretive events, and more.
- Fun Fact: In April, you can enter a lottery for the Great Smokey Mountains Firefly Viewing event that takes place each June in the Elkmont section of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
- Helpful Links for National Parks & National Forests:
State Parks typically partner with a reservation software provider to book their campsites. In many cases Reserve America/Aspira is this partner, but some states like West Virginia and Louisiana work with other software partners. Just Google the name of the park you are interested in plus “campsites” or “camping reservations” to find the booking details. If you don’t have a particular state park in mind you can do a broader search like “North Carolina State Park Camping Reservations” to see all the camping options in a particular state.
- # of State Park sites in United States: 6,600+
- Book via the State Park sites (some will redirect you to Reserve America for booking)
- Note that some parks require campers to pay park admission fees in addition to the cost of the campsite
- Get some State Park inspiration with these links:
ReserveAmerica.com processed America’s first online camping reservation in 1997. ReserveAmerica.com is owned and operated by Aspira, a provider of outdoor recreation software that powers many of the reservations at state park sites.
- # of campsites: 300,000+
- Types of sites: state parks and private campsites
- Find it: Book on their website or download the Reserve America App (Apple & Android)
- Frequent camper? Apex Club membership with Reserve America for $60/year
- 10% off camping reservations (up to 5x per year)
- Free RV Parky membership
- Member deals on camping and outdoor brands
- # of campsites: 405,500
- Types of sites: private land, national parks, state parks, and Army Corps parks
- Find it: Book on Hipcamp.com or download the HipCamp App (Apple & Android)
- Hipcamp does not offer any loyalty program or frequent camper discount but REI members can currently get a $10 credit to use at a Hipcamp site
- Fun Feature: Hipcamp offers some really interesting map layers like dark sky maps for those who want to stargaze while they camp or cell phone coverage where you can select your provider to see coverage before you book a spot.
The Dyrt is home to an active community of over 1 million campers and is known for having a robust database of campsite reviews (12+ million reviews). One media outlet referred to The Dyrt as “camping’s version of Yelp.” You can book some sites directly from The Dyrt but for others, they will refer you to another site (such as the state park’s site) to do that actual booking.
- # of campsites: 50,000
- Types of sites: private land, national parks, state parks, and Army Corps parks
- Find it: Book on thedyrt.com or download the Dyrt App (Apple & Android)
- Frequent Camper? The Dyrt Pro membership ($36/year) offers campsite discounts (up to 40% per night), access to 5,000 free camping locations, free Dyrt Alerts for sold-out campsite alerts, map layers that show your water stations, dump stations, and overnight parking options,
- Fun Feature: The Dyrt Alerts allow users to sign up for text alerts for openings at sold-out campgrounds. There is a small fee for the service or Pro members can get it as part of their annual membership.
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