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 how to find the best campsites

July 7, 2020

For the camping newbies out there, we want to share this tip right out of the gate — do not feel limited to established, reservation-based campgrounds. Established, reservation-based campgrounds such as those you find through KOA are a great place to get your feet wet in the camping world. But as you might come to discover, these campgrounds come with a bit of a trade-off. They tend to be more crowded with more people, and there’s often limited space between you and the campers next to you.

So if you like the experience of having camping “neighbors”, who you can socialize with, and you like to line up your tent or RV with others in little, predesignated rows almost like a camping street community, then great. We have nothing against this community-driven experience. But if you’re looking for a more remote wilderness experience where you can get some escape from your urban lifestyle, social media commitments, and office colleagues, and you want some actual peace, quiet, and solitude, we have some suggestions to help you achieve just that.

established campgrounds

Established campgrounds aren’t all bad. There are some really great benefits to staying at one. Staying at an established campground is indeed a great option if you prefer the confidence of reserving in advance and knowing you have a spot ready for you when you arrive. This can provide great peace of mind, especially if you’re traveling and are not familiar with the area, don’t have cell service, and you don’t know where else to camp.

And established campgrounds almost always have at least some amenities too such as restrooms (often pit or vault toilets), running water, shower facilities, electricity, and hookups for RVs. Some KOA campgrounds even have laundry services, pet parks, and swimming pools, which is great if you have kids. These amenities are definitely something to factor in, especially if you’re wanting to camp for multiple days.

dispersed camping

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, dispersed camping or backcountry camping is simply choosing to camp in a non-campground location. This can be ideal if you want to be away from others and have a little piece of nature all to yourself. The downsides? There are rarely amenities in areas where dispersed camping is allowed. Perhaps there will be a public restroom facility nearby if its a multi-use facility such as a state park or a wildlife refuge, but odds are they won’t be within walking distance to your actual campsite. This means you’ll have to be extra prepared with sanitary items like toilet paper, and you’ll want to make sure to practice Leave No Trace principles.

A great resource for finding dispersed camping options is Freecampsites.net. This site features a searchable database of locations (including GPS coordinates), photos, and reviews of free campsites across the world. Discovering Freecampsites.net has been a game-changer for us. It has helped us discover places to camp at the last minute when road tripping across the US, and it came to the rescue yet again when one of the campgrounds we had planned to stay at was full.

If you choose to go dispersed camping, it can be helpful to pick a second location as a backup location in case the area is crowded. Even though camping is technically allowed anywhere within some of these locations, there might only be so many pre-cleared spots for you to choose from. This becomes especially important if you’re looking for a bare spot to lay down a tent. If you’re in an RV, you might have more options from that perspective. But then RVs often have limitations with where they can park based on their usually larger size.

US and North America Resources for Established Campgrounds:

• Recreation.gov is an amazing place to begin for discovering recreation options from camping to tours to permits and passes for over 3,600 facilities and 103,000 individual sites across the country. Booking for many national and state park campsites is funneled through this website, and they have a really great map feature you can use to zoom in and search all sorts of options in your area.

• Reserve America boasts 17.5 million users per year and 290,000 campsite listings across their catalog of camping and outdoor recreation options across North America. You can also book RV rentals directly through their site.

• USCAmpgrounds offers users access to information and GPS coordinates for 13,000 vehicle-accessible public campgrounds in the US and Canada. All sites are verified, family campgrounds with 4 or more campsites. They do not list privately owned campgrounds.

• National Park Service camping locations from over 130 parks are listed right on the NPS website by way of a searchable map. Each location links the user directly to that park’s website for easy booking.

• US Forest Service cabins, camp sites, picnic sites, and fire tower listings are featured here. Ultimately, you’ll book through Recreation.gov, but this is a great place to begin to discover some new areas near you.

• US National Forest Campground Guide provides information for campers about campgrounds in National Forests. On this directory, they only include established campgrounds and not dispersed camping options.

US and North America Resources for Dispersed Camping:

• Bureau of Land Management-managed lands are great places to look for dispersed camping options as well as developed campgrounds. Campers can discover which public lands are open to dispersed camping and what to look for when out in the territory and any rules or advisories in place.

• Free Campsites offers great resources for finding free campsites all across the world. They also break down the definitions and rules of each type of public land use area, which is extremely useful to read and understand before heading out into the wilderness.

• Campendium is a website dedicated to finding free camping, RV parks, and other sites across North America. They also have some great tips for novice campers on what to bring along on your free camping experience.

• The Dyrt is a website and resource for camping of all sorts including established campgrounds, dispersed camping, RVs, cabins, you name it. We love their filtering options which really helps to focus your search options depending on what you’re looking for.

Finding Established Campgrounds in Canada:

• Parks Canada is a great place to begin to both discover Canada’s parks but also to book reservations. There are also a lot of really fun glamping options for rent such as cabins, microcubes, oTENTiks, to name a few.

• Discover Camping offers reservations and backcountry permits for BC territories up to two months in advance.

• Camp Reservations Canada connects campers with campgrounds and communities, offering real-time campsite availability.

• BookYourSite allows users to browse popular parks by regions among their great listings and search options.

Finding campsites in Europe:

• Camping Europe offers resources for “open air holidays” across several European countries, including options for glamping, camping, and luxury caravans to name a few.

• Link To Nature is an outdoor adventure website with all sorts of hiking and camping resources, including how to find wild camping spots and mini sites across Europe. Check out their Ultimate Backpacking and Camping Guide for everything you need to get started.

• ACSI EuroCampings features campsite information from thousands of campsites across Europe on their site. As a user, you can choose between more than 200 amenity options to narrow down your search.

• Camping.Info features more than 23,071 campsites in Europe on their platform, featuring popular destinations right on their homepage.

Discovering campsites worldwide:

Freecampsites.net is a great place to begin when searching for campsites across the world. Most tourism websites representing a geographical area or locale will have some great resources for where to begin, along with the rules within the country. To discover some truly unique places to camp around the world, check out 15 Amazing Destinations for your Camping Bucket List and get inspired for some future camping adventures.