Recreation.gov Reviews and details

Social recommendations and mentions

• National Park Camping Reservation Timing

  If you check recreation.gov, there's an "availability alert" at the bottom of the page for each campground? Source: over 1 year ago

• Guide Book Recs

  In the days before smart phones we used the wilderness press guide books and the PCT data book and also the pct water report, which is still out there at https://pctwater.com/. I've gotten local permits for section hikes in So Cal. It's not really very difficult to do. You can get the ones for San Jacinto by mail or in person or both (get the wilderness one in advance, get the state park one from the ranger... Source: over 1 year ago

• Need help with local campsite on Recreation.gov

  I have booked a lot of campgrounds through recreation.gov, and have never seen any canvas tents to rent. The only time I have seen something even similar is the teepee rentals at KOA in Flagstaff. Campgrounds in National Forest sites, which you generally book through recreation.gov, are not going to have anything like that. Source: over 1 year ago

• Question about how timed-entry permits work

  Hi there, heading to Rocky Mountain NP & Arches in a few weeks and both have only a few slots left that are later in the day. I want to book those as a last resort, but also want to try my hand to get a better time the night before. Is this possible to do on one recreation.gov account (I'm traveling alone)? Or, because of the 1 reservation max, do they not allow you to try a separate purchase process? I obviously... Source: over 1 year ago

• Planning to backpack Grand Canyon rim-to-rim mid June and looking for advice

  The friend I'm going with is a teacher and her school year ends early June, thus the plan for mid-June. Curious about temps and what to expect. Also, I know this is the first year they're doing permits through recreation.gov, so I'm not expecting solid answers on this, but any guesses as to how difficult it'll be to get permits? We're planning on entering the lottery (Jan 16 is the start date for the June lottery... Source: over 1 year ago

• Will the campgrounds in GSMNP be closed if the government shuts down?

  My question is about the campgrounds. I have reservations for early Oct that I booked through recreation.gov. I also purchased a weekly parking pass. If the government shuts down, will I be allowed to use the reserved campsite? Source: over 1 year ago

• Tent for car camping couple looking to upgrade from Ozark Trails?

  Maybe a bit more floor space, but not so much that it becomes tough to fit two tents in a recreation.gov campsite (we sometimes share a site with another couple). Our current Ozark Trails tent is 8' x 7'. Source: over 1 year ago

• St Helens climbing permit need 8/6 I have 8/12

  Do you have an 8/6 permit and can’t make it? No way to transfer on recreation.gov so thinking we can try to coordinate and cancel at same time in hopes of getting each other’s. Mine is for Sat 8/12. Let me know if up for trying this! Source: almost 2 years ago

• Hiker shuttle confusion

  What's still not clear about the "One person may make only ONE Hiker Shuttle reservation per day." is your scenario. It would appear you can still make another reservation for the same date for your the +1, which would mean your entitled to two tickets. The limit is that you can only reserve against the reservation once every 24 hours, this is probably to prevent people from just reserving many dates all at once... Source: almost 2 years ago

• Stupid permit question

  Hey all, I reserved a spot at Ipsut Creek campground. I looked further up the map and saw the Carbon River campground a little bit up. The Carbon River site is listed as "Walk up" on recreation.gov. Does this mean that the morning I go to pick up my permit at the station I instead request one at the walkup site, or does it mean that I don't need to reserve a spot and I just get what's open when I physically arrive... Source: almost 2 years ago

• Is it still possible to book camping for August.

  My understanding is the only way to get a cancellation nowadays is to subscribe to one of the services that scrapes recreation.gov every 1-3 minutes and sends a txt if a campsite is available. Source: almost 2 years ago

• Is it still possible to book camping for August.

  Yes, it is too late to book campgrounds in the park. Check recreation.gov maniacally for cancellations. Note that if you want to sleep in the campervan you'll need a campground that allows you to park at the site (eg nothing that says "hike in" like Camp 4). Source: almost 2 years ago

• Do any Japanese ethnicity folks ever take the Pearl Harbor tour? I ran into a tourist from North Carolina at a store line, and she ranted on how angry she became during the tour. It seems to be an emotionally charged experience and resentful feelings against asians.

  It is super easy to get tickets to pearl harbor, and its only $1 each. You need to go to recreation.gov at 3PM when they release tickets for the next few days. Or you can buy tickets for 1+ months out. Source: almost 2 years ago

• Camping around RMNP

  Download the recreation.gov app or open the website on your laptop and refresh obsessively, particularly first thing in the morning, lunch time, and evenings. People booked these spots months ago and will have family emergencies, changes of plans, or just plain old decide not to go. I get spots the week of all the time. Source: almost 2 years ago

• Are all tickets sold out?

  I went to recreation.gov and I see that all tickets are 'not available'. Is there any options to get tickets? Source: almost 2 years ago

• Planning on driving from Houston to Big bend next weekend during new moon for stargazing

  You need reservations for any camping in the park, be it lodging in the Chisos Basin or any of the campgrounds or primitive camping. Reservations can be made at recreation.gov. As far as stargazing is concerned, the whole vicinity, including Terlingua/Study Butte, is designated as a Dark Sky area, so there are options for camping and lodging outside the Park. There is lots of information on the Park's website... Source: almost 2 years ago

• Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley entry point confusion

  I want to hike Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. I am confused as to which entry point I must choose on recreation.gov. Source: almost 2 years ago

• Nightmare Officer in Yosemite

  There's not a 1:1 entry to exit acceptability. You plan your route, you submit it when you accept your permit on recreation.gov, and then you do the route. Source: almost 2 years ago

• Shenandoah to start charging hikers - Notice and Comment period ends tomorrow!

  If it works like other parks, the reservation fee will go to the vendor for recreation.gov, a massive for-profit government contractor called Booz Allen Hamilton. Only the recreation fee would go to the park itself. BAH banks on people using the mental justification of "well at least the fees going to a good cause" and not looking into it more deeply. Its led to a proliferation of junk fees to access public lands. Source: almost 2 years ago

• OpenCamp: A CLI wrapper around recreation.gov

  Built a small CLI in go (with cobra and viper, thanks u/spf13!) to help with booking campsites on recreation.gov: https://github.com/opencamp-hq/cli. I find the campgrounds I want are often booked up, but lots of people cancel in the week or two prior to the booking. Unfortunately recreation.gov doesn't have a notification / waitlist feature, so the CLI was intended to help with that. Source: almost 2 years ago

• Rivian R1T Soldiers Pass

  It's narrow enough where you can make it by with minimum/no branch scratches but have to take it really slow in some areas. Not a big deal going super slow as the trail itself is not very long. Only 12 vehicles are allowed a day with a recreation.gov permit which makes it nice since you don't have to battle the road with so many people. Make sure you see all the landmarks, especially the cave. I didn't air... Source: almost 2 years ago