Hipcamp is a campground booking platform that boasts one of the largest libraries of outdoor accommodations in the United States. Whether it’s an RV park, glampsite, or standard campground, Hipcamp is one of the most convenient ways to secure a reservation. Head over to Hipcamp today to book your next getaway!

CampScanner is a helpful tool for scanning popular camping destinations for last-minute cancellations. Their service allows for real-time availability checking and instant booking options at over 9,600 campgrounds. Start a search with CampScanner to see if you can get a spot at that hard-to-get bucket list campground you’ve always had your eye on. (NOT AN APP)

Campnab provides campsite availability alerts. People book campsites at popular parks months in advance. Sometimes their plans change and they cancel their reservations—leaving a campsite unused. Campnab monitors campgrounds for canceled reservations, and notifies you with a camp alert when a campsite opens up. Pay-per-use scans range from $10 – $20 each. Memberships start at $10/month. (NOT AN APP)

Recreation.gov is the app you’ll want to use if you’re looking to book sites on federal land. Think National Parks and National Forests. You’ll also want to look early for your sites here as they book up often 3-6 months in advance for popular areas BUT AVAILABILITY ALERTS CAN BE SET NOW FOR MANY POPULAR SITES!!!

Reserve America is a great app for finding campsites in State Parks, RV Parks, as well as Private Campgrounds. When you use their search feature, you’ll be able to sort by campgrounds and day use as well as filters such as Federal, State, County, and Private sites.

Best Boondocking + Dispersed Camping Apps

Avenza Maps

Avenza Maps is an app that allows you to download maps from official sites. Some are free, like most of the road use maps from the forest service and the BLM. Others are premium paid maps. But, the beauty of Avenza maps is that it works with your phone’s built-in GPS tracking to help you navigate your location and can help you pinpoint available dispersed camping.

ProTip: Download your maps, such as a BLM or USFS road use map. They should have a legend, table, or section that details where dispersed camping is allowed. Once you have narrowed down a couple of options, you can head to a satellite view of Google maps to get an idea of what the spot is like – shaded, full sun, by the river, etc. It’s not perfect, and you still might have to do a little hunting to find the ideal site, but it helps to narrow it down a lot! We used this, Gaia, and Google Maps to find this campsite. (And, it was free!)

iOverlander

Another great app that allows you to search for campsites is iOverlander. You can search the map and filter for the type of site you’re looking for. Once you click on the icon, a brief description will pop up, and you can click for additional info. I love that in this app, you can get real advice from people who have actually used these sites, and often even images, which is a huge help when you’re trying to choose the best spot!

Gaia GPS

Gaia GPS has quickly become one of my absolute favorites. Although you won’t find the same reviews from individuals that you’ll find on other sites, you can get the most accurate GPS and topographical information from this app. You may have to do a tiny bit more digging to find your spot here since you don’t have the reviews, but it’s the most accurate I’ve seen and one of the easiest to work with in terms of layers and land-use maps. 

Endless Summer included MISC items