Camping In/Near US National Parks

[DonnaR57]

No doubt about it, camping in some of the US national parks is some of the best camping anywhere. But yet, it can be very frustrating! Some campgrounds within the parks are only first-come, first-served. Others are available through reservations, but many folks are locked into certain vacation days and may find nothing available at the time they can go. At RTA, we recommend that you keep calling back for reservations, as you never know when someone else's plans have to change and leave that spot open.

If you can't get a reservation, try staying outside of the park in a private campground, or one of the national forest or state park campgrounds that may be fairly close to the park. Then go into the National Park around 9 in the morning and queue up for a first-come, first serve, available spot. Or, just stay outside the park and go on day trips to the park. (This is useful for smaller parks, but it means a lot of driving for parks that are huge, like Yellowstone!)

Here are listings for the US National Parks, their websites, and other public campgrounds that are located close by.

Northeast National Parks (Acadia),
Mid-Atlantic National Parks (Congaree, Shenandoah),
Southeast National Parks (Biscayne, Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains)

Great Lakes National Parks (Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Voyageurs)
Midwest National Parks (Cuyahoga Valley, Mammoth Cave, Hot Springs, Gateway Arch)
Great Plains National Parks (Badlands, Wind Cave, Theodore Roosevelt )

Rocky Mountain National Parks (Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier)

Utah's Mighty Five National Parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion)

Southwest National Parks (Great Basin, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend)

Pacific Northwest National Parks (Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic)

California's National Parks (Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Pinnacles, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic, Redwood)

Alaska's and Hawaii's National Parks (AK-Denali, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Wrangell-St Elias, HI-Haleakala, Hawaii Volcanoes)

US Territories' US National Parks (American Samoa, Virgin Islands)

[DonnaR57]

NORTHEAST: Acadia

Acadia National Park (Maine)
Lamoine State Park

Donna's trip log through Maine and Acadia.
A personal journal of a portion of a longer road trip that included Maine. Alas, no photos.

Mid-Atlantic National Parks: Congaree, Shenandoah

Congaree National Park (SC)
Note: Both the national park website, as well as another RV focused site, make the statement that these campgrounds are meant for tents.
Poinsett State Park, Wedgefield
Note: Near Congaree National Park.

Shenandoah National Park (VA)
Sherando Lake Recreation Area Family Campground, George Washington NF, Lyndhurst
Note: Located south of Shenandoah along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Donna's trip log through Shenandoah.
A part of a longer trip in 2011 that got aborted later in the journey.

Southeast National Parks: Biscayne, Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains

Biscayne National Park (FL)
Note: Two campgrounds: Boca Chita Key and Elliott Key. But these are only available by boat!
Otherwise, nearest public campgrounds are within Everglades NP.

Everglades National Park (FL)
Big Cypress National Preserve Midway Campground
Note: The closest public campground to the Everglades.

Donna's log from Big Cypress NP, April 2024.
Donna's log from Everglades, April 2024.
These are personal journals from a longer trip. In the second one, we combined leaving Key West and driving the Overseas Highway, with a trip to Everglades' Flamingo Bay.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (TN/NC)
See also the Blue Ridge Parkway since the southern end is in GSMNP.

[DonnaR57]

Great Lakes National Parks: Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Voyageurs

Indiana Dunes National Park, IN
Note: The National Park has a small campground, but it is not anywhere near the beach. You are best off staying at the nearby state park with the similar name:
Indiana Dunes State Park

Isle Royale National Park, MN
Note: All the campgrounds are walk-in or boat-in, as you must take a boat to the park from the mainland. Your vehicle must stay behind.
Click here for a list of nearby campgrounds on the mainland.

Voyageurs National Park (MN)
Note: All camping within VNP is accessible only by boat. For those in an RV, please read on.
Kabetogama State Forest
Note: Has 2 shoreline campgrounds to choose from.
City Beach Campground, City of International Falls
Note: Tents only.
Echo Lake Campground, Superior NF, Orr


Midwest National Parks: Cuyahoga Valley, Mammoth Cave, Hot Springs, Gateway Arch

Cuyahoga Valley National Park (OH)

Mammoth Cave National Park (KY)
Nolin Lake State Park, Mammoth Cave

Hot Springs National Park (AR)
Lake Catherine State Park, Melvern/Hot Springs

Gateway Arch, St Louis (MO)
Note: Located near the Mississippi River in St Louis, there is no camping at this new (2018) national park.
Lewis & Clark State Memorial Park, Hartford IL
Note: On the other side of the river, and about 17 miles from the Arch.


Great Plains National Parks: Badlands, Wind Cave, Theodore Roosevelt
Note: Wind Cave is near Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Jewel Cave National Monument, so one camp site can serve as a central point for a Black Hills visit. Badlands is about 50 miles from the Black Hills area.

Badlands National Park (SD)
Note: You can camp here while visiting Badlands. However, it's a wee bit far to drive back and forth to see Custer State Park, Wind or Jewel Cave, or Mount Rushmore. You're better off at Custer State Park or Wind Cave campgrounds.
Custer State Park

Donna's log of Badlands.

Wind Cave National Park (SD)
Custer State Park

Donna's Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.
Donna's Wind Cave log.
Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave were all part of the same longer trip. Read on in the thread for Devil's Tower NM.


Theodore Roosevelt National Park (ND)

[DonnaR57]

Rocky Mountain National Parks (Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier)

Black Canyon of the Gunnison (CO)
Note: Three reasonably nearby parks:
Curecanti National Recreation Area
Snowblind Campground, Sargents
Soap Creek Campground, Gunnison

Great Sand Dunes National Park (CO)
Note: Two campgrounds reasonably nearby:
Zapata Falls Campground, BLM
Note: BYO Water!
San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area (former state park)
Note: BYO Water.

Mesa Verde National Park (CO)
Note: Two campgrounds reasonably nearby:
Mancos State Park
Note: Reservations absolutely necessary!
Target Tree Campground, San Juan NF, Hesperus

Rocky Mountain National Park (CO)
Note: Somewhat nearby:
Pawnee Campground, Roosevelt NF, Ward
Note: Personal experience with this campground: Pretty! But only a little nearby to RMNP. Good for a place to stay the night before trying to get a first-come first-served spot in RMNP. Otherwise, there's good hiking nearby.

Grand Teton National Park (WY)
Note: Four reasonably nearby campgrounds:
Turpin Meadow Campground, Bridger-Teton NF, Moran
Hatchet Campground, Bridger-Teton NF, Moran
Crystal Creek Campground, Bridger-Teton NF, Jackson
Curtis Canyon Campground, Bridger-Teton NF, Jackson

Donna's day in Grand Teton NP.

Yellowstone National Park (WY/MT/ID)
Note: See also two other forum posts regarding camping around Yellowstone:
See US-20, MT and WY
See US-89, WY and MT

Donna's log of a 3-day Yellowstone visit.

Glacier National Park (MT)
Note: There are two reasonably close-by campgrounds, plus another forum post regarding camping near Glacier.
Murray Bay Campground, Flathead NF, near Essex, MT
Devil Creek Campground, Flathead NF, near Essex, MT
See US-2, MT

Donna's Glacier journal starts here.

[DonnaR57]

Utah's Mighty Five National Parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion)
Note: No doubt about it, these 5 deserve their own post in this thread!

Arches National Park (UT)
Canyonlands National Park (UT)

The Moab/Monticello Area, near Arches and Canyonlands

Dead Horse Point State Park, Moab
Moab Area BLM Campgrounds UT-128
Note: Goose Island, Grand Staff, Drinks Canyon, Hal Canyon, Oak Grove, Big Bend, and Upper Big Bend Campgrounds.
Moab Area BLM Campgrounds UT-313
Note: Horsethief Campground, Cowboy Campground
Moab Area BLM Campgrounds UT-279
Jaycee Park Campground, William's Bottom Campground, Gold Bar Campground
Moab Area BLM Campgrounds, Kane Creek Road
Note: Kingsbottom Campground, Moonflower Campground

Capitol Reef National Park (UT)
Note: One campground near the Visitor Center.

Other campgrounds near Capitol Reef

Lower Bowns Campground, Fishlake NF, Torrey
Singletree Campground, Fishlake NF, Torrey
Sunglow Campground, Fishlake NF, Bicknell


Bryce Canyon National Park (UT)

Other campgrounds near Bryce Canyon NP

Red Canyon Campground, Dixie National Forest, Bryce
Kodachrome Basin State Park, Cannonville
Note: Three campgrounds: Basin, Bryce View, and Arch! Arch is limited to small units. None are open year-round.
Tom's Best Spring Road
Note: This is one man's blog about boondocking on this site near Bryce Canyon, but it is mentioned on a number of other sites.


Zion National Park (UT)

Other Campgrounds near Zion

Campgrounds run by BLM.
Note: This is a downloadable brochure about BLM camping near Zion, near I-15 and northwest of town. Red Cliffs Campground is the closest to Zion.


Note: There are some commercial parks nearby. The closest is Zion Canyon Campground and RV Park, which is right on the other side of the river from Zion NP's Watchman Campground. We stayed in ZCC years ago, as our final camping trip in a tent. We had a site right on the water and watched it rise when there was rainfall upstream on the Virgin River. The River went from a nice place to sit and soak, to a raging mess! So keep that in mind if you stay in Watchman or ZCC.

Donna's 2019 tour of many (but not all) of Utah's parks.
Missing were Arches and Zion, both done on different trips. Zion's was before RTA existed. Arches has photos but only on Flickr.

[DonnaR57]

Southwest National Parks (Great Basin, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend)

Great Basin National Park (NV)

Camping Outside of the Park, NPS link
Ward Mountain Campground, Humboldt-Toiyabe NF, Ely
Timber Creek Campground, Humboldt-Toiyabe NF, Ely
East Creek Campground, Humboldt-Toiyabe NF, Ely
Garnet Hill Dispersed Camping Area, BLM, Ely
Note: BLM recommends no trailers or RV's. Two websites state that this is a dangerous area for RV's to be entering. It is locally known as “Honey Hill” because of the lucrative business done towing people with RV's and trailers out of there.


Grand Canyon National Park – South Rim (AZ)
Note: South Rim campgrounds are Mather, Desert View, and Grand Canyon Trailer Village. Please note which ones are year-round, and realize that you will be camping at 7000' elevation. That can be very cold in winter!
Pine Grove Campground, Coconino NF, near Flagstaff
Dairy Springs Campground, Coconino NF, near Flagstaff
Bonito Campground, Coconino NF, near Waputki and Sunset Crater NM
Note: Probably the closest public campground to the Desert View (east) entrance of the South Rim of the GC.
Locket Meadow Campground, Coconino NF
Note: Locket is not recommended for trailers and motorhomes.
Kaibab Lake Campground, Kaibab NF, near Williams
Note on Kaibab Lake: This is the closest campground to the South Rim from I-40 in Williams.
Note: Do take note about which campgrounds are open when you plan to visit.

2017 journal of a trip to Grand Canyon South Rim.
Post 3 includes a trip through Sunset Crater and Waputki.


Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim (AZ)
Note: North Rim has one campground. The approach road shuts down between December and mid-May, because they get a LOT of snow. Services, including that one campground, are only open between mid-May and mid-October. The park is open during November, but one must be completely self-sufficient: fuel, food, lodging and camping are shut down.
Kaibab National Forest (North Rim) Dispersed Camping – BYO Everything
Note: This is a downloadable/printable document about KNF boondocking.
DeMotte Campground, Kaibab NF, between Jacob Lake and the CG North Rim
Jacob Lake Campground, Kaibab NF, Jacob Lake

Post 6 includes Donna's 2019 trip to the North Rim.


Petrified Forest National Park (AZ)
Note: There are no designated campgrounds within PFNP. There are no other public campgrounds within a 30 mile radius, either. This is one place where you'll have to rely on private campgrounds. Fortunately, it's only a 2-3 hour drive through the park (with stops). Holbrook has the nearest RV parks; going east, Gallup has the nearest ones.


Saguaro National Park (AZ)
Note: There is no car-campground in either section of SNP. Also, remember that this is the desert, and it gets HOT, even at night, in the summer months!
Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson
Note: This is the closest public campground to the western portion of SNP.
Rose Canyon Campground, Coronado NF, Tucson
Molino Basin Campground, Coronado NF, Tucson
Catalina State Park, Tucson
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Tucson
Note: Four campgrounds. Three are located on the Catalina Highway. The other is located 15 miles southeast of Oracle on Forest Service Road 38. Molino Basin CG (Mile 6 on the Catalina Hwy) has reservable spots, as does Peppersauce CG on FS Rd 38. None of the campgrounds on the Catalina Hwy have drinking water, so BYOW!


Carlsbad Caverns National Park (NM)
Note: This park has no campgrounds. The website states that the park is surrounded by BLM land where permit-free RV/tent camping is available, but you must bring your own everything! Guadalupe Mountains National Park, 40 minutes away, has camping available (See the next listing).


Guadalupe Mountains National Park (TX)


Big Bend National Park (TX)
Big Bend Ranch State Park
NPS site for camping options outside the park

[DonnaR57]

Pacific Northwest National Parks (Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic)

Crater Lake National Park (OR)
Note: Two campgrounds.
Stewart County Park
Natural Bridge Campground, Rogue-River Siskiyou NF, Prospect
Union Creek Campground, Rogue-River-Siskiyou NF, Prospect
Note: Years ago, my husband and I tent-camped in either Natural Bridge or Union Creek, because Crater Lake was full (no reservations at that time at all). These were pretty close to each other and had everything we needed except a shower!

Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Note: If tent-camping in Cougar Rock CG, watch out for the tree roots. They are still a problem for tenters, as they were years ago!
Big Creek Campground, Gifford-Pinchot NF, Ashford
Clear Lake South Campground, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF, Naches
Note: Packwood RV Park in Packwood, is now a commercial park, located across from a museum and next to the Library. At one time, it was owned by the City of Packwood. We stayed there on a short trip with our fifth wheel trailer.


North Cascades National Park (WA)
Stehekin
See Also US-2, WA


Olympic National Park (WA)
See also US-101 WA

A personal journal of a 2017 trip to the PNW that included Olympic National Park.

[DonnaR57]

California's US National Parks (Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Pinnacles, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic, Redwood)

Channel Islands National Park (CA)
Note: This is one of those boat-in then hike-in NPS sites. No vehicles!


Death Valley National Park (CA)
Note: There are nine NPS campgrounds within the park, but not all are open year-round (closed in the SUMMER due to the extreme heat). There are also three commercially-run parks within park boundaries. See the website for more information.


Joshua Tree National Park (CA)
Camping outside of the park on BLM Land
Note: Campfire permit is necessary.


Pinnacles National Park (CA)


Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks, CA
Note: A lot of campgrounds here, but they fill quickly!
Hume Ranger District Campgrounds, Sequoia National Forest


Yosemite National Park (CA)
McCabe Flat Campground, Sierra NF/BLM, Mariposa
Note: No potable water. Not recommended for trailers over 18'.
Millerton Lake State Recreation Area, Friant
McClure Recreation Area, Merced Irrigation District, Merced
Note: Use this website to access three other campgrounds on Lake McClure.


Lassen Volcanic National Park (CA)
Hat Creek Campground, Lassen NF, Hat Creek
Note: In this area for sight-seeing, there is the Spatter Cones area as well as Subway Cave. Interesting! Also note that Shingletown has a couple of RV parks, both privately owned.


Redwood National Park (CA)
Sue-Meg State Park, Trinidad
Note: Formerly known as Patrick's Point State Park.
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Crescent City
Note: Personal experience with this park. We loved it!

[DonnaR57]

Alaska's and Hawaii's National Parks (AK-Denali, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Wrangell-St Elias, HI-Haleakala, Hawaii Volcanoes)

Alaska

Denali National Park
Riley Creek, J-0.3 Savage River, J-12.8
Teklanika, J-29.1 (bus in only) Sanctuary River, J-22 (bus in only)
Igloo Creek – J-34.2 (bus in only) Wonder Lake – J-84.7 (bus in only)
Note: If you have a 3-night minimum stay, you can drive to Teklanika in your vehicle or RV. J-is from the junction with the Geo.Parks Hwy.

Denali State Park Campgrounds
Denali View South. A-134.8
Kesugi Ken, A-135.6
Lower Troublesome, A-137.2
Byers Lake, A-147
Denali View North, A-162.6
(A- indicates the mileage marker from Anchorage, along the George Parks Hwy.)


Glacier Bay National Park
Note: Has only one campground, and that's a hike-in.


Katmai National Park
Note: This national park is only accessible by boat or plane. Camping is all hike-in!


Kenai Fjords National Park
Note: Exit Glacier Campground is for tents only.
For camping in the Seward area, click here.


Kobuk Valley National Park
Note: For hikers/backpackers only.


Lake Clark National Park
Note: Only accessible by boat or plane. Camp anywhere, but bring everything with you and take it all out too.


Wrangell-St Elias National Park
Along the McCarthy Road
Along the Nabesna Road


HAWAII

Haleakala National Park and Surroundings
Note: The island is small enough to stay anywhere and be able to see the park.


Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Surroundings

[DonnaR57]

US Territories' US National Parks (American Samoa, Virgin Islands)


American Samoa National Park (Samoa)
Note: You have to really want to get to this park. Flying in is even a challenge! Camping is prohibited within the park. It is recommended that you either use island lodging, or take advantage of a “homestay” with a local family, to absorb the culture.


Virgin Islands National Park (VI)
Note: Sadly, Hurricane Irma damaged the accommodations and campground at Cinnamon Bay.The campground has been rebuilt and opened in January 2022.
US Virgin Islands Camping
Note: You may not just “camp anywhere” in the USVI. Stick to the known/open campgrounds. However, once again, Hurricane Irma caused much destruction. It might be awhile before things are back up and running!


And this is it.....