U.S. National Park Campgrounds Tip: Public vs. Private

Above, The Watchman. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Huffington Post is supposedly a news organization. But I generally find it to be a left-wing propaganda machine.

However, on occasion, they do have something worthwhile to read. This is one of those rare times.

Travel contributor Dave Parfitt has an article on "U.S. National Park Campgrounds Tip: Public vs. Private" in which he gives travelers some options for camping in and near national parks.

He starts with:

Last year we enjoyed an RV National Park road trip to some of the most spectacular natural wonders in the United States (click here for details on our itinerary).  As with most trips, planning was a large part of the fun, and I wanted to share a tip I learned about National Park Campgrounds.  There are two types of campgrounds: 1.) government run (such as state and national parks) and 2.) privately owned and operated campgrounds (adjacent to the state and federal lands).  Continue reading for more details on National Park Campgrounds because searching both public vs. private can come in very handy. 

People are flocking to our national parks since 2016’s Centennial Year of the National Park Service. That’s a good thing, but perhaps not so good for last minute planning. Recreation.gov is the top booking website for all campgrounds in the state and national parks, and the place most people start when planning a national park trip.  That’s what I did, when planning our trip, but found all the campsites already reserved (not surprising since our trip was only 6 weeks away).  Uh oh, time to start figuring out other options.

In Parfitt's case, he found that the campgrounds inside Zion National Park all booked up for months. So he looked into some alternatives.

It is an interesting article, particularly since it involves one of my favorite national parks. The flocks of people going to Zion are causing problems, which Parfitt goes into.

To read more, go here.