Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Outdoors

When to Book Your National Park Campsite for 2022

By
When to Book Your National Park Campsite for Summer 2021
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Warm weather is just around the corner in the U.S., and most of us are daydreaming of the return to outdoor “normal.” If you’re planning to hike, camp, kayak, or escape into nature at some point this year, you can expect company. Americans are heading outdoors in record numbers, and campgrounds and hiking trails around the country will be very busy. That’s why now is the time to start booking your National Park campsite for this season. Here are the key dates to know for the most popular U.S. National Parks.

Related Guides

Recommended Videos

Acadia National Park

Maine’s only National Park is among the top ten most visited parks in the country. Acadia’s campgrounds open each year between May and October, with reservations possible up to three months in advance. For 2021, Blackwoods will open May 7 through October 17, while Schoodic Woods and Seawall will open May 26 through October 10. Bookings for all campgrounds are open now. Due to its wild popularity, Cadillac Mountain will require a day-use reservation for visitors from the middle of June through the end of October.

Glacier National Park

Many Glacier and Fish Creek are the only two campgrounds within Glacier National Park that will be bookable online this year. Visitors can reserve campsites up to six months prior to the date of arrival. New spots will be released online every morning at 10 a.m. ET. Sites at every other campground within the National Park will be available on a first-come, first-served basis this year. However, Rising Sun Campgrounds and St. Mary will remain closed for 2021.

Grand Canyon National Park

Reservations for North Rim and Mather Campgrounds can be made online six months in advance. Mather Campground will open all year, while North Rim will likely be open from May 15 through October 2021. Desert View operates on a first-come, first-served basis. The popular Phantom Ranch cottages at the bottom of the Grand Canyon use a lottery system with spots opening 15 months in advance. That means visitors should start thinking now about their vacation.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

As the most popular park in the country, Great Smoky Mountains National Park sees more visitors each year than Yellowstone, Zion, and Rocky Mountain National Park combined. Campgrounds here can be booked online up to six months before arrival. Most of the park’s campgrounds open in April and close by Halloween. Smokemont and Cades Cove remain open all year and are worth a look for last-minute bookings if everywhere else is full.

Camping in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Rocky Mountain National Park

After overcoming a few hurdles with its new online booking system, Rocky Mountain National Park’s wilderness camping permits are now available for the 2021 camping season (May through October). Car campers can book spots at Moraine Park and Glacier Basin — both of which open May 27. Timber Creek and Longs Peak are only available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is wildly popular, and, due to a shorter tourist season than many other National Parks, the campgrounds here fill up fast. Starting March 24 this year, Slough Creek, Mammoth, and Pebble Creek will be bookable online up to six months in advance. Approximately 40% of all sites will be reservable on Recreation.gov, with the remainder available first-come, first-served. The other campgrounds are private and accept reservations 12 months in advance. They’ll be open to reservations starting May 1.

Yosemite National Park

Booking a campsite at Yosemite is notoriously difficult. On the 15th of each month, the Park Service opens up blocks of sites a month at a time, five months in advance. Sound complicated? You’re not alone. The good news is that a few of the park’s campgrounds — including half the sites at beautiful Tuolumne Meadows Campground — are all first-come, first-served. So, even if you can’t snag a reservation, showing up early could be all you need to secure a site. Just note that most of these spots fill by midday.

It’s also worth noting that regular cancellations, even during peak season, mean new spots become available all the time. So, if you have your heart set on a park within a specific time frame, be sure to check that park’s reservation system often. You never know when you might get lucky.

If heading to the National Parks isn’t in the cards for you this year, check out the best ways to visit national parks virtually from the comfort of your own home.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Mike Richard
Mike Richard
Contributor
Mike Richard has traveled the world since 2008. He's kayaked in Antarctica, tracked endangered African wild dogs in South…
Yosemite National Park is getting a new glamping site with the luxuries you want
Yosemite is getting a new luxury glamping site
A picture of the Yosemite Valley during Spring Time

Yosemite National Park is about to become one of the most coveted glamping destinations in spring 2025, and new lodgings are underway. Under Canvas unveiled plans for an outdoor luxury resort that will offer visitors complete immersion in nature alongside the comforts and amenities of a hotel.
Over the past decade, the upscale camping brand Under Canvas has established similar bucket-list-worthy glamping spots in popular locations like Acadia, The Smokey Mountains, and Zion National Park.
This is the company's first-ever development in California, a plan that CEO Matt Gaghen has long awaited:

“Under Canvas’ expansion into California has been our goal since the brand’s inception in 2012,”

Read more
Camper van vs Class B RV: How to choose which to buy for your outdoor adventures
Class B RV vs Camper Van - who ya got?
Man building a campfire in front of a Winnebago Ekko Springer camper van.

If you would love to go on road trips and experience the best national parks, there is no better way to do it and still feel comfortable like you’re at home than camping in an RV. Let’s be honest: You will enjoy sleeping on a cozy bed in an RV with an air conditioner more than in a moist and chilly tent. It’s also easier to prepare your meals in an RV because of the refrigerator, and you don’t have to worry about packing and unpacking your camping bags every night or morning. 

However, the big RVs can be a headache if you're driving through low-hanging bridges or tight spaces. They’re also more expensive to fuel and maintain compared to smaller-size vehicles. Alternatively, you could choose a Class B RV or a camper van if prefer an RV that strikes a balance between rural camping and big-city adventure. But the question is — what’s the difference between a Class B RV and a camper van? And which one should you buy?
A Class B motorhome is built with all the camping amenities

Read more
You’ll soon be able to fish year-round at Yellowstone National Park
It's great news for anglers at a time when the National Park Service is restricting recreational access.
Two men fly-fishing in a river.

Thanks to a boom in U.S. National Park visitation numbers, the National Park Service has been clamping down on park access for the last few years. Reservations and restricted entry times are fast becoming the norm at many of our best National Parks. So, it's great news when the NPS announces any type of expanded access, like Yellowstone's relaxed fishing guidelines beginning later this year.
Get the full details on Yellowstone National Park's expanded fishing guidelines

In an official news release published last week, the National Park Service announced that "beginning Nov. 1, 2024, Yellowstone National Park will expand fishing access by allowing for year-round fishing opportunities at two locations in the park." The catch, if you can call it that, is that this will only include two specific locations. The first is along the Madison River, specifically from the state border of Wyoming and Montana, downstream to the park boundary abutting the West Entrance near the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. The second is the Gardner River, beginning at Osprey Falls down to its confluence with the Yellowstone River near the park's North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana.

Read more