National parks reservations are hard to score. Now you can get alerts.
The mountainous setting at the Gore Range overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. Credit: Denver Post via Getty Images/Helen H. Richardson
Recreation.gov has launched a booking alert system for campgrounds, tours and ticketed entry on public lands run by 14 federal agencies, including the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
The timesaving tool allows parkgoers to sign up for push notifications flagging availability for online reservations. Previously, travelers had to repeatedly visit the site or refresh the reservation button, hoping for an opening.
The reservation platform has been testing the enhancement since last summer. It started with campgrounds and expanded to tours and timed-entry tickets this June. After a successful run, the tool has become a permanent feature.
How to set alerts for Recreation.gov
Vacationers can set up an alert for campgrounds and activities that are in Recreation.gov’s current inventory, but not on experiences that have not been released yet. The system scans for changes in the reservation system, such as a cancellation. You can sign up for three alerts per category: “camping,” “tickets and tours” and “timed reservations.”
The tool is easy to use. First, sign up for a free Recreation.gov account on its website or through its app. Search for your desired campground, tour or park admission. Click on the “Set Availability Alert” bar and choose your start date. You can pick specific dates or a period within a three-day range. For campgrounds, you can use the filter to winnow your options, such as “tent” and “pet-friendly.” Then, press “Save Alert,” and go enjoy your free time.
When a match is made, you will receive an email or message on the app informing you of the “Good News!” The text will include the number of other people who may have received a similar alert, a subtle hint to immediately book or risk missing your chance. If the campground or activity is available, the system will send you directly to the booking page, so you can quickly bookmark it.
To try out the new feature, I signed up for a timed-entry reservation at Yosemite for Aug. 10. A few hours later, an email landed in my inbox: one ticket matched my criteria. The message informed me that as many as 2,780 people had also set up an alert for 5 a.m. on Saturday. Soon after, I received an email about an opening at noon on Aug. 10 (one ticket available, 1,040 other people with alerts). And then I received a third message for the same time on Aug. 11 (28 available and 1,009 people).
Recreation.gov said the company created the alert system in response to customer feedback. Over the past few years, the number of visitors to public lands has been exploding. More than 325 million people visited national parks last year, according to the National Park Service. To handle the surge, several parks, such as Arches and Rocky Mountain, have required timed-entry tickets during peak periods. In addition, at many popular campgrounds, booking a tent or RV site has become a competitive sport.
“The most popular campgrounds, like in Yosemite, are booked months in advance and often within moments of availability going live,” said Ankur Lal, product manager at Hipcamp, a booking site that specializes in outdoor lodgings.
Other places to book campsites
A handful of other camping reservation sites - private and public - also provide this service. ReserveCalifornia, which is run by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, has a “Notify Me” option for hundreds of campgrounds.
Campnab scans 3,133 parks, 14,877 campgrounds and hundreds of backcountry permits in Canada and the United States. The company charges $10 to $20 per search or $10 to $30 a month for a membership.
Eric Karjaluoto, a co-founder of Campnab, said campers who have flexible dates or accommodation needs will have better odds at scoring a site.
“People who are insistent on staying at Yosemite for eight nights during the July Fourth weekend are going to have a much harder time than people who are looking for a midweek day, even at a popular park,” Karjaluoto said.
Last August, Hipcamp teamed up with Campflare to launch a free alert system that covers all campgrounds available through Recreation.gov, plus some state parks. According to the company, it has sent 245,000 notifications to more than 18,000 users.
“We believe that access to public land should be public. It’s one of the founding principles of Hipcamp,” Lal said. “We wanted to move the market to be free in the same way that Robinhood moved stock trading to be free. We think it’s good for everyone.”
