How to Receive Availability Notifications for a Sold-Out Campground

Setting up campsite availability notifications for sold out campgrounds is easy. In this article, we’ll assist you in creating your first campsite monitoring scan.

So, you were ready right when reservations opened up—but you still couldn’t book a campsite at your favorite campground. Bummer! We feel you, and we’ve been in the same spot. That’s why we built Campnab: to help locked-out campers find campsite reservations (that would otherwise go unused). Over the past few years, we’ve helped thousands of campers get notifications for sold-out campgrounds.

Before I get into how you create a scan for monitoring a sold-out park for new availabilities, I should probably explain how this works.

What is a campsite availability notification?

Anyone who camps has experienced the frustration of seeing every campsite reserved before they can book one. This is an incredibly common problem. Within moments of opening up for reservations, popular campgrounds sell out—sometimes within minutes or seconds (seriously).

Some people will go so far as to book a site for every weekend throughout the entire camping season. Then, as their plans solidify (or weather doesn’t look good) they’ll cancel the ones they don’t intend to use, and get a partial refund on their payment. When this happens, the site will once again become available for booking via the reservations system. Campnab is scanning for available sites and will alert you the moment it spots one that matches your search parameters.

A campsite availability scan checks the park for newly canceled spots. It then notifies the interested camper that a campsite is available for them to attempt to reserve.

What is Campnab, and how can it assist me in booking a campsite?

Campnab is an online tool that scans parks for new openings. To use it, you provide some basic information about the campground you want to camp at. Once you have, the service checks the park for a canceled reservation that matches your criteria.

If someone cancels a reservation at a sold-out campground, Campnab alerts you (via text message, because those are faster than email) when a campsite is available. Each message also includes a link (if possible) to the park’s reservation page. This allows you to click the link, check if the campsite is still available, and reserve the campsite.

Do you scan all parks for cancelations?

Nope. There are a lot of parks and campsites in the world. Our service only scans select parks in Canada and the United States for canceled reservations. And although Campnab doesn’t yet scan every park for cancelations, it does cover a great many parks. (At this time, we monitor approximately 3,200 parks and 7,000 campgrounds).

These include B.C. Provincial Parks, Canada National Parks, California State Parks, Tacoma Public Utilities, Texas State Parks, Maryland State Parks, Michigan State Parks, Minnesota State Parks, Nova Scotia Parks, Ohio State Parks, Ontario Parks, Saskatchewan Provincial Parks, Washington State Parks, Wisconsin State Parks… and all parks that can be booked via Recreation.gov and Reserve America. So, it’s a pretty good start!

Producing camping alerts for openings at sold-out campgrounds is more complex than you might think. Many of these jurisdictions run different booking systems. As such, each area that we monitor typically needs to be configured individually—and updated as their systems change. That said, we’re doing our best to cover as many parks as we possibly can.

How do I create a scan that’ll alert me of campsite availability?

Want to receive campsite availability notifications for sold-out parks and campgrounds? It’s easy to set one up. I bet you can create your first campsite availability scan in less than a minute. Here’s what’s involved…

- Find the park
- Select the campgrounds
- Set your filters
- Pick your arrival date
- Set the number of nights
- Provide your mobile number
- Buy a single scan or plan

This is the short version and all you need to get started. (It’s easy to use.) That said, I recognize that you might have added questions. So, I’ll provide a bit more detail on each of these steps.

First, visit the Campnab home page and look for the Create a Scan heading. Beneath it, you’ll find an area that says: Find a Park. In the provided field, type the name of the park you’re interested in. As you type, the system will show parks and campgrounds we can scan for you.

Next, you’ll select any campgrounds you’re interested in. Some parks have many campgrounds, others have few. You can select up to 6 with any Campnab scan you create. Once you have, you can scan for all openings that match your criteria. Or, you can filter your scans.

Filters allow you to narrow your scan type to best suit your needs. For example, you might filter out certain site types, exclude accessible (ADA) sites, or search by vehicle length. Filtering varies based on each specific park, so, the options you see won’t always be the same. Also, note that filtering is only available to those subscribed to Campnab plans.

Now note the day you wish to arrive. If you’re open to arriving a little early or late, toggle “flexible arrival date” on. Doing so will open up your scan to alert you of campsite openings two days before and after your preferred arrival date. This can be helpful in your search for a campsite, as it significantly increases your chances of finding a canceled booking.

Next, it’s time to set the number of nights you wish to stay. At this point, it’s beneficial to be practical instead of optimistic. Some select “8 or more days” at a super-popular park, and then get no results. A better approach is to select the lowest number of nights you’re willing to camp. Doing so will notify you of those sorts of openings *as well as* anything longer. Some folks find two shorter openings and then stitch those together so they can stay in a park for longer.

OK—we’re almost complete! Now you provide the mobile number you want your notifications sent to. This area might already be pre-filled if you’ve already used our service. Whenever you return to Campnab, you can use this same phone number to sign in to your dashboard. (To sign in, you’ll provide your number and the system will send you an access code via text message.)

Finally, you select how you’d like to pay for Campnab. If you only plan to use Campnab once, the pay-per-use (PPU) option is fine. That said, plans offer better value and lower per-scan costs. Not sure which plan to choose? This post: Which Campnab plan is right for you? can help you make your decision.

A special note here: Campnab is a side-project started by two friends. Since then, it’s become a (nearly) full-time job for us. So, your support means the world to us. In paying for Campnab you help us improve the product, develop new features, and provide one-on-one support to members. So, thanks for sponsoring our ongoing efforts!

Other things you should know

Your scan will start to run once you’ve created a scan and made your payment. It will then run right up to your chosen arrival date.

If your scan isn’t quite right, you can edit it. Pay-per-use scans can be edited until you receive your first alert. Those with memberships can edit scans at any time.

Our service doesn’t reserve the campsite for you. It also doesn’t offer any benefit on the day that campsites open for booking. All we do is notify you when spots open up. That way vacant campsites don’t go unused.

Sometimes spots will already be rebooked by the time you receive an availability notification. This is unavoidable, as scans take time to complete, and others might be on a slightly different schedule than yours. Also, openings at popular parks are in great demand. That said, we’ve compiled some tips on how to increase your chances.

If you do miss out on an opening, don’t sweat it. Others are bound to come up, and your scan will continue to run—and send notifications when spots open up—right up to your arrival date.

Do you have any other tips on how to increase my chances of getting a camp alert?

We do! Check out this article: 10 Tips for Setting up a Camp Alert that Gets You a Campsite Reservation. It contains some useful suggestions for getting more alerts for available campsites, and upping your odds of getting one for your summer camping adventures!

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That beautiful photo of Zion National Park comes courtesy of Zach Betten.

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