How to Reserve a Campsite on Recreation.gov

Recreation.gov is the federal government’s reservation site for 14 agencies, and it is where many national park, national forest and other federal campground sites are booked. The first visit can feel like a lot: search boxes, filters, a grid full of letters and a release time you must not miss.

This guide walks through the process in order. You will see how to search, how to read the availability grid, what happens at checkout, and what to do when the site you want is gone. It follows the site’s own help pages. Where a rule varies by campground, the article says so, because Recreation.gov also says that policies listed for a specific location come first.

Fees and policies change, so this article does not quote any amounts. Read the campground page for current fees.

Before you search

Set up an account first. The Recreation.gov FAQ says accounts are required for most reservations and help enforce agency limits on stay length and active reservations. The help pages also recommend logging in before you search, which makes checkout smoother at popular locations.

Then answer four questions:

Which dates, and could you move by a day or two?
How many people will sleep at the site?
What will you bring: a tent, a trailer, an RV? If a vehicle, how long is it?
Do you need an accessible site, a pet-friendly site or an electric hookup?

Last, find out when your dates open. Most campsites can be booked six months before arrival, but the campground page has the real answer on its Seasons & Booking tab. Some places also have shorter windows or a cut-off for booking close to arrival.

Find a campground

Choose Camping & Lodging on the home page. You can search by place name, park, forest, lake or a campground name. The Ways to Stay menu covers tent camping, RV camping and cabin or yurt stays. For dates, pick exact days or use the flexible-dates tool to search by month and number of nights.

On the results page, More Filters narrows the list. The help pages describe these:

Filter	What it does
Availability Type	Hides campgrounds that are fully unavailable, first-come only or partly available
Group Size	Separates standard sites from group sites
Vehicle Length	Shows sites that fit your RV or trailer
Allowable Equipment	Keeps sites that allow your tent, trailer or RV
Amenities	Includes electric or water hookups and pet-friendly sites

The site’s own tip is to set only the filters you truly need. Too many filters can hide a campground that would have worked.

Pick a site and book

On a campground page you can choose a site in three ways: the availability grid, the campsite list or the map. The grid shows dates and sites together. A blue “A” means a site is available that night. “Check out only” means you cannot stay that night but can leave that morning. “FF” means first-come, first-served, which you cannot book online. Show the legend if a symbol is unclear.

Once you find a site:

Select your check-in date, then your check-out date. The check-out date is the day you physically leave.
Choose Add to Cart. You will be asked to log in if you have not.
Fill in the order details: the primary occupant, group size, equipment and number of vehicles. The page shows the minimum and maximum for each.
Add a pass discount if you hold an eligible interagency pass.
Read the “Need to Know” section and tick the box that you agree.
Review your cart and complete checkout.

Site details, like how many vehicles fit, come from the campground. How to read a campground map explains the map view and its icons.

Busy campgrounds

Popular campgrounds can sell out in minutes. Recreation.gov’s tips page offers a plan:

Most campgrounds release sites at 7 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Mountain or 10 a.m. Eastern, but not always. Confirm the time and date on the campground page.
Log in well before the release and refresh at the exact time.
Do not log in from several tabs or browsers at once. That can trigger a bot check and slow you down.
After you add a site to the cart, it is held for 15 minutes. If you do not finish, it goes back to other people.
Be ready to combine two sites if one is not open for your whole stay.

If your first choice is gone, try another day. The tips page suggests Sunday through Thursday dates and shoulder seasons, and mentions nearby campgrounds. Off-season camping covers planning for those months.

There is no waitlist. When someone cancels, the site is released right away. You can set an Availability Alert to get an email or notification when a matching site opens. The help page warns that an alert does not guarantee a reservation, because everyone with the same alert is told at the same time, and that you can have only a limited number of alerts at once.

Lotteries, changes and cancellations

A few popular places use lotteries instead of first-come booking. The Recreation.gov lottery page describes them as a way to enter for a permit or ticket. You need an account, most lotteries charge an application fee that varies, and results arrive by email. Standard campground sites usually use the booking process above.

If plans change, change or cancel as soon as possible. The tips page asks campers to cancel when they cannot go, so others can use the site. The rules page notes that changes to dates outside your original stay, late cancellations and no-shows can carry fees. After a stay begins, you cannot change it online or through the call center, so talk to the campground staff.

Chat and email cannot make or change a reservation. Use the website, the app or the reservation phone line.

Common mistakes

Searching without an account. Log in first.
Using too many filters. Start broad, then narrow.
Mixing up dates. Check-out is the day you leave, not a night you stay.
Counting on an “FF” site. First-come sites cannot be booked online.
Missing the release time. Read the Seasons & Booking tab.
Forgetting to cancel. Release the site so someone else can camp.

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead can you book?

Most campsites can be booked six months before arrival, but it varies by campground. Check its Seasons & Booking tab.

What does FF mean?

It means first-come, first-served. You claim the site in person when you arrive. The reservation line cannot book it. Learn the details in first-come, first-served vs. reserved campsites.

How do you find an accessible site?

Use the Accessible Camping choice on the search page, or choose Only Show Accessible Campsites under More Filters on the campground page. Accessible camping has more.

Can you book a national park campground here?

Many are listed. The National Park Service says reservations are often made through Recreation.gov. See national park camping.

Next step: run a practice search

Open Recreation.gov and search for a campground near you with flexible dates. Do not book yet. Just read the campground page and the availability grid, then note the booking window and release time in the Pitch & Pack planner.