How we compile the federal campground directory
We build one honest, fact-only directory of federal campgrounds from a single authoritative public-domain source — and we tell you exactly what is in scope and what is not. This page explains how, and what we deliberately leave out.
Who’s behind this site
Campground by State is an independent publisher operated by VentureCorp, Inc. We are not a campground operator, a booking agent, or a government agency, and we do not accept payment to add, rank, or remove a campground. The site answers one question accurately: which federal campgrounds exist in a given state, who manages them, and how to reach the official Recreation.gov page to book.
Where our data comes from
| Data | Source | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Federal campground directory (name, state, agency, site count, reservable, coords) | Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export — a U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. §105, public domain); Recreation.gov RIDB terms permit reuse | Every state, agency, finder and comparison page |
| Per-campground deep link | Recreation.gov facility page (https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/<id>) | The source link on every campground |
Coverage is FEDERAL ONLY. RIDB is the system of record for federal recreation — Forest Service, Park Service, BLM, Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Fish & Wildlife. State-park, county and private/KOA campgrounds are outside RIDB and are NOT in this directory. We emit facts only (name, location, agency, site count, reservable flag); we republish no third-party prose, photos or amenity lists.
How we calculate
We pull the published RIDB full export (no API key required), normalize each facility's state to a USPS code, map its parent organization to one of seven agencies (Forest Service, Park Service, Corps of Engineers, BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish & Wildlife, or Other), and count its overnight campsites. State and agency pages roll those facts up; the comparison hub lines the agencies up side by side. Where a campground has no published site count we show “n/a” rather than “0,” because that usually marks a first-come or dispersed area, not an empty one.
What we deliberately leave out. The federal directory carries no nightly fees and no RV-hookup details, so we quote none and invent none — those live on each Recreation.gov facility page. We also publish no “best” rankings beyond ordering by published site count, and we add no state-park or private campgrounds.
Independence & how we make money
Some links on this site may become affiliate links to camping-gear or booking partners; if you act on one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. No partner sees or influences which campgrounds we list or how we order them, and no placement is for sale. Today no such programs are live.
Keeping it current
The RIDB export refreshes roughly daily and site counts and reservation flags drift seasonally, so we re-pull on a quarterly cadence and re-verify on publish. Current verification: June 2026.
Corrections
Spot an error? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Contact us →