There are countless websites that help travelers book flights and hotel rooms at the click of a button, making it easy to go pretty much anywhere you want.
Anywhere, that is, except on a camping trip. And when finding the right camping site can take hours of painstaking research and planning, sifting through seemingly endless websites for information on amenities and activities, it’s often more work than it’s worth to book a camping trip. Despite the fact that Americans spent a combined 516.6 million days camping in 2013, it’s still surprisingly tough to search for the right campground.
A new website called Hipcamp aims to change all that, making it easier than ever for you to book a family camping trip at campgrounds all across the country.
According to a March 30 Mother Nature Network article, Hipcamp fundraisers Eric Bach and Alyssa Ravasio came up with the idea for a website that gathers all the information one would need to know about a campsite in one place after experiencing the aforementioned frustrations.
Hipcamp’s greatest strength is that it contains information about public campgrounds — national parks, state parks, national forests and the like — in one convenient place. When 70% of campers do so at a public campground, this is an indispensable tool. Users can filter their search based on the amenities, services and activities they desire from a campground.
“We make it easy for users to filter through campgrounds based on what matters most,” Bach said. “We’re bringing the world’s public campgrounds online, unlocking private lands for camping and working overall to increase access to the outdoors.”
Currently, Hipcamp only offers its service for campgrounds in California, Oregon, Texas and Florida, but plans to eventually expand to all 50 states, Mother Nature Network reports. The site has searchable information on 351 parks, 1,985 campgrounds and 52,597 campsites.
Ultimately, Hipcamp encourages people to get in touch with the wonders of nature by making it significantly easier to do so. The average camper goes on five trips throughout the year — and now you can do so at the click of a mouse.
Would you use Hipcamp to book a camping trip? Have any other tips or hints for people looking to schedule their next family camping excursion? Let us know in the comments below.
