If you’ve been reading RVtravel.com’s Crowded Campgrounds feature, you know many have complained that getting “a room at the inn” can be downright frustrating. Now camping coordinator The Dyrt points out what its members say are the ten hardest campgrounds to camp into.
Nearly 50% complain they have a hard time getting a site
With an estimated 84.8 million Americans who ditched city lights to sleep under the stars in 2023, it’s clear that camping has never been more popular. The Dyrt’s 2024 Camping Report says 45.5% of campers reported having a difficult time getting a reservation at a campground in 2023. So what are The Dyrt’s Dirty Ten? Largely ones operated by Uncle Sam.
The ten hardest campgrounds to get into
Here they are by name, location, and ranking of difficulty to get into (i.e., the percentage of year they are fully booked).
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USFS photo Nevada Beach Campground — Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada — 99.4%
- Twelvemile Beach Campground — Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan — 99.4%
- Devils Garden Campground — Arches National Park, Utah — 99.2%
- Seven Points Campground — J. Percy Priest Lake, Tennessee — 97.6%
- Kirk Creek Campground — Los Padres National Forest, California — 97.5%
- Hurricane River Campground — Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan — 96.8%
- Aspenglen Campground — Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado — 96.1%
- Fruita Campground — Capitol Reef National Park, Utah — 95.9%
- Colter Bay RV Park at Colter Bay Village — Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming — 94.9%
- Twin Lakes Campground — Inyo National Forest, California — 93.7%
And of course, there’s a plug to go with it
Along with this information comes a plug for The Dyrt’s services. “Looking to set up camp this summer at a National Parks Services site like this but haven’t scored a reservation? Campers can use The Dyrt Alerts to track cancellations at sold-out campgrounds,” says a company media release.
“It’s great that more people are getting outdoors and embracing the joy of camping,” says The Dyrt founder Sarah Smith. “But now more than ever, it’s important to really plan ahead and secure your campsite well in advance. The Dyrt makes it easy to monitor availability and track cancellations in real time so you can find a place to rest at some of the country’s most beautiful locations.”
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What’s the 99.4 mean? Reservations saturation? Percent of folks getting turned down?
Good question, Traveler. Thanks for asking.👍 It means the percentage of year the campground is fully booked. Sorry I didn’t notice the explanation was missing when I proofed the post. Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 How surprising! We have stayed at #4 on the list, Seven Points Campground at Percy Priest Lake on the east side of Nashville. We will be staying at one of the other COE campgrounds there in about 6 weeks. Very nice location to visit Nashville while keeping ones RV clear of the mess known as Nashville. 🙂 Thanks again, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
Bahai Honda state park in the Florida Keys is almost impossible even for Florida residents to get reservations.
100% bot reservations still I bet …. will be interesting when Nov (?) rolls around & they start matching the people to the reservation to verify the early FL resident matches. I know the park people are not looking forward to that but maybe might eventually get into Bahia Honda that way!
I booked Lost Dutchman State Park in Arizona 1 year less 3 hours out! Super hard to get a reservation otherwise, but boy was it ever worth it!
Interesting. We’ve stayed at Twin Lakes many times and never had a problem getting a reservation as long as we make our reservation 6 months in advance. Also been able to get into Fruita a couple of times with early reservations.
Sounds like a good list of campgrounds to avoid. Take the roads less traveled, avoid the crowds, and you don’t have to worry about campground vacancies, and overcrowding.
Maybe I’ve become a social isolationist who abhors queues but why would anyone want to stay or visit something that’s frequently at 99% capacity?
Whether it be the theater, a hotel, park, casino, campground, gas station, hospital, freeway, hiking trail or cruise ship, what’s the draw to be at a venue with no standing room?
Tahoe is nice but geez, the Truckee campgrounds have the same trees AND a river and don’t require reservations for a mediocre site a year in advance so what’s the draw?
We couldn’t get a reservation at Colter Bay, but they do have their own alert system. Snagged 2 nights with a Tetons/lake view a week before our arrival.
Kirk Creek isn’t so hot.
Got a reservation for Devils Garden then Covid happen and lost reservation to it, now I can’t get back in, real bummer.
We just had a great experience with Montana’s new State Park Reservation protocol for ‘no shows’. The park was fully booked but they had 2 ‘no call, no show’. Montana’s rules are that if that NC,NS is you then your complete reservation is forfeit. Lucky Us! We got 1 of them in a great spot by a stream so we took over the entire 3 night booking. Man, do I wish reservations.gov and any other public reservation service would follow Montana’s simple yet bold leadership.