Where group campsites are booked
- Page updated
- Facts checked
Every listing in this directory has a "Booked on" field. It names the official reservation site for that group campsite. This page explains what you will find in that field.
Federal land: Recreation.gov
Recreation.gov is the federal reservation site. Twelve federal agencies take part in it, and a group site run by one of them is booked there. Its list includes:
- National Park Service
- US Forest Service
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- Bureau of Land Management
- Bureau of Reclamation
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- Tennessee Valley Authority
A group site on Recreation.gov is listed inside its campground's page. Each site there has its own type and its own minimum and maximum number of people. Zion's Watchman Campground is an example: its group sites share one campground page with the standard sites.
State and provincial parks
State parks and Canadian provincial parks take reservations through their own systems, not Recreation.gov. The "Booked on" field names the system for each listing, and the listing links onward so you do not have to guess which site a park uses.
What to confirm on the official listing
The directory gives you the name, park, capacity and booking site. These details live only on the official listing:
- Open dates for the nights you want.
- The nightly price and any fees.
- The season. Some group sites are open only part of the year. At Yosemite, Wawona's group camp is open all year, while the group camps at Hodgdon Meadow, Bridalveil Creek and Tuolumne Meadows are summer only.
- The reservation window for the group site, which can differ from the standard sites in the same campground.
- Equipment and pet rules. See site types.
- The exact people range and parking count. See capacity.
If the site is full
A booked group site can come back when another party cancels. OpenCampsite watches campgrounds for that and sends a text, an email or both when a matching site opens.
| Booking site | What an alert can filter on |
|---|---|
| Recreation.gov | Party size and group sites only, checked against each site's published people limits |
| Other booking sites OpenCampsite covers | The campground and dates, with no party-size filter. Check the group type and people limit yourself when the alert arrives |
An alert is a notice, not a hold. The site stays open to anyone until someone completes the reservation on the official booking site.
Watch a full group site on OpenCampsite
Common questions
- Can I reserve a group campsite through this directory?
- No. The directory points to the booking site. The reservation, payment and confirmation all happen on the park's official reservation system.
- Are national forest group sites on the same site as national park ones?
- Yes. The US Forest Service and the National Park Service are both among the agencies on Recreation.gov.
- Do I need a reservation for a Yosemite group camp?
- Yes. Yosemite states that reservations are required for its group camps.
Where these facts come from
- Recreation.gov: about, participating agencies recreation.gov
- Recreation.gov: Watchman Campground, Zion National Park recreation.gov
- Yosemite National Park: campgrounds, group camps and seasons nps.gov
- OpenCampsite: alerts and notification options opencampsite.com