One Tip To Reserve That Campsite You Have Your Heart Set On

Another long weekend has arrived and you might be shaking your fist at the heavens in rage because you weren’t able to secure that campsite you had your heart set on. Sadly there’s no magical answer now that camping is as popular than ever. There was a tremendous upward tick in people seeking the outdoors since the pandemic (which is a good thing!) but in turn campsites are harder than ever to reserve.

Here in Ontario we play the five month game where we grab every family member, computer, laptop, tablet and phone that you own, sign in to the reservation system five months ahead of the date you want to go camping and click ‘refresh’ like mad (while crossing your fingers and toes) in hopes of beating the other phantom campers out there trying to do the exact same thing. Well if you’re still fuming at the website glitching out, or someone cheating the system with overbooking… you might still be in luck.

The website The Dyrt helps Americans find camping opportunities and every year releases a ‘camping report’ highlighting some of the statistics behind the data they collect. It’s always inspiring to see how many new campers are trying out the outdoors, but the statistic that caught my eye was that 32.2% cancelled with less than 48 hours notice at least once. While that data was collected from the U.S. system, I’m sure it’s not drastically different than here in Canada.

So whether you attack your next booking with a Choice:A/Backup choice method, or simply lie in wait for the last 48 hours before your trip, there’s a fair chance that your intended campsite might become available. My fingers are crossed for you, good luck!