www.USCampgrounds.info
USCampgrounds FAQ
Q:What are some of the features of USCampgrounds.info?
A: USCampgrounds puts all the information you need for that camping road trip in one place! All the public campgrounds in the US (and for most Canadian Provinces) - 9,000 Federal, State, Provincial and Local - all accurately mapped with links to all the information you need. Includes all public campgrounds: National Park, National Forest, Corps of Engineers, TVA, BLM, State Park, State Forest, State Recreation Areas, many County, City and Regional campgrounds, Canadian Provincial Parks, National Parks and others.
We believe that this is the most accurate and complete US public campground data available anywhere. The majority came directly from Federal and State government sources. We further verify the coordinate location of each campground for maximum accuracy. Data for each campground consist of coordinates, number of sites and some have other facility and hook-up information. Phone numbers and web links are provided for further information and reservations.
Q: What kinds of campgrounds do you include?
A: We include all Federal, State and local campgrounds in all 50 states - and most Canadian Provinces. Only car-accessible campgrounds with 5 or more campsites (not hike-in, boat-in, horse camps or group camps) are included. Those that require a car ferry are noted. We include all campgrounds whether reservable or not.
Q: Why don’t you have privately-owned campgrounds?
A: There are other directory services that focus on privately-owned campgrounds and that are equipped to deal with the advertising and other commercial and competitive concerns of private operations.
Q: I use an RV, can I use your data?
A: We do not have information about what size of RV is accommodated and we don’t generally have hook up information. Our links will give you this information for many places and, for most National Forest campgrounds, we provide a link to forestcamping.com which will tell you about RV facilities. On-the-road, you might wish to use our GPS files to locate public campgrounds, but you should phone ahead or use our data together with another directory that has RV information. Of course, we do not include private campgrounds as some other directories do.
Q: What do the colors/symbols on the map mean?
A: They indicate the type of campground:
BLUE DIAMOND: Most Federal campgrounds: National Park (NP), National Forest (NF), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Seashore (NS), National Recreation Area (NRA), US Fish and Wildlife (USFW), Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Canadian National Parks (CNP)
SILVER TRIANGLE: Other Federal campgrounds: Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Army Corps of Engineers (COE)
RED SQUARE: State: State Parks (SP), State Forest (SF), State Recreation Area (SRA),
State Preserve (New York) (SPR), State Beach (California)(SB), State Conservation Area (SCA), Canadian Provincial Parks (PP)
GREEN CIRCLE; Local & Other: City and County (CP), Utility-owned (UTIL), Reservation (RES),
Authority – owned (AUTH). Green also indicates UNKNOWN type of campground.
Q: Your data indicates that some campgrounds have certain features (eg., flush toilets or electric hookups) and others are blank. Does this mean they don’t have these features?
A: No, it just means we don’t have data on that feature - they may or may not have it.
NEW USERS PLEASE READ:
Q: Why, sometimes when I click on the info links in the balloon, do I get links to a web site that doesn’t have much info or is even about the wrong campground?
A: These links run Google searches for the campground info using the name, state and some other parameters. In spite of our best efforts in designing this search, some of the links returned by Google are not very informative or are even for a different campground. Check to be sure it is the campground you want and if not try another link.
Q: Why sometimes there are no results for "reservations" links?
A: We provide a reservation phone and web site, BUT, many public campgrounds DO NOT take reservations. We estimate that about 1/3 - 1/2 of all public campgrounds do not take reservations. We unfortunately don’t have this information for specific campgrounds (nor do many other camping directories). Call the reservations number (or click the reservation web site) and inquire. (For National Forest campgrounds, we often provide a link to www.forestcamping.com in many cases, and it WILL tell you if reservations are available.)
Q: When I click on any link it keeps opening new tabs/windows - can I change this?
A: When you click any link, it opens in a new tab so that your position on the map is not lost. If your browser keeps opening a whole new window (not just a new tab) you need to change a setting in your browser. Go to tools>options>tabs> and tell it to open new windows and/or pop-ups in a new tab.
Q: How accurate are your campground coordinates and info?
A: These data come from many sources and there are errors as well as changes over time that we do not reflect. There are a number of campground coordinate files out there - often in the form of GPS-POI files. We have found that there are many errors in the even the best available coordinate data (even directly from governmental sources). Therefore, we verify the location of every campground by electronically projecting each campground onto a topo map and looking for indications of a campground at that location. We do not list ones we cannot verify. Our coordinates will always put you on the right road and take you to within 1/5 mile of the campground. From there you may need to rely on signs or other information to find the campground entrance.
Here are the ways we verify and we suggest you use these also where possible to increase your certainty:
- On our map, center and zoom in on the campground then switch the map type to U.S./CAN:mytopo or USGS Topo. Often, you will see the campground roads and often the topo map will clearly label the campground (with the campground name in many cases) so you can see how close our coordinates are. If ours are not close enough, double click on the actual campground location as shown on the topo map (to recenter the map) then write down the "center" coordinates shown in the lower left hand corner of the map.
- In the google search results (or from a printed or on-line directory), get road directions to the campground and don't use the lat/lon alone for directions.
Be sure to use our google search to get all the info you need about individual campgrounds before you go.
For up-to-the-minute info, phone the number(s) we list or, if you don't have a phone number but know the park name and a town nearby, try dialing 800-goog-411 (an excellent free directory service of GOOGLE , no advertising either). This would only work with very developed campgrounds that have a phone on site, e.g., a State Park but usually not a National Forest or BLM campground. If you do call a NF or BLM number, it is probably a general office and, while they will be usually very helpful, you had better call before 4:30 PM.
Q: What should I be careful of in using your data?
A: You need to make sure that the campground is open at the time you want to go there – some are closed seasonally or for budget reasons or for construction and a few are closed permanently and our data may not reflect these situations. You need also to make sure that the campground and its approach roads will accommodate your camping vehicle. Also, if you don’t have reservations, you need to make sure that there are sites. Always call ahead if possible.
The most common error we have is that we have the name is wrong or that there is more than one campground, for instance in a State Park or State Forest there may be several and we may not list them all.
Every one of our coordinates is on a road, but some are very minor roads. Depending on what software you use to find your route (Google, Iphone, GPS, etc) it can (rarely) happen that the road the campground is on is not in the routing database. In this case, your routing software may take you down a road nearby the campground but which does not actually lead into the camground - be sure to follow signs when you can and dont rely totally on computerized directions.
Q: What should I do to avoid problems?
A: You should plan ahead where possible. Get reservations if you can - we have phone numbers and links to reservations systems. At least CALL AHEAD to the campground, we provide phone numbers for most campgrounds in many cases. If you call a National Forest or BLM number, it is probably a general office and, while they will usually be very helpful, you had better call before 4:30 PM and on a weekday.
Q: What are the features of the different types of campgrounds?
A: If you are an experienced camper, you pretty much know what to expect of the different types of campgrounds. If not, maybe the below will help. (If you think we have characterized some wrong, please tell us)
NF, NP, CNP: Scenic settings with well developed facilities, few hook ups for RVs. Some NF do not have drinking water.
BLM, WMA, SF: Tend to be more rustic, less developed, rough roads and few hook ups for RVs. Some BLM do not have drinking water.
COE, TVA: Very nicely developed on scenic lakes, excellent facilities, often RV oriented but tents are not out of place.
SP, PP: Very nicely developed, excellent facilities, a variety of activities, often with RV hook ups but tents are well accomodated also.
CP: Very variable, often very RV oriented, tenters may feel out of place.
SB: State beaches (mostly in CA) are right on the ocean and tend to accomodate RVs best, tenters may feel exposed and out of place.
OTHERS: Don't know.