Booking Systems We Cover, by State
Permits and campsites are not sold in one place. Federal land books through Recreation.gov. Everything else is a state-park platform: Aspira IPAWS (Colorado and Kansas), GoingToCamp, Itinio, Maine's own state booking site, New Jersey's own state booking site, Reserve America and UseDirect, which we watch for openings, and Brandt's Go Outdoors, which we link straight to booking rather than watch. Havasupai never joined a platform at all. Here is every system, what we watch on it, and which states it reaches.
As of September 2026, PermitSnag tracks 682 US wilderness permits across 7 booking systems. Permits: Recreation.gov nationwide, plus the state-park systems in California, Minnesota, Utah and Wisconsin. Campgrounds: we watch campgrounds in all 50 states, made up of the federal campground network plus the state-park booking systems we can check. The permit list and the campground list are not the same states, which is why every system below says which of the two it carries.
The systems, one by one
Recreation.gov
FederalPermits and campgroundsrecreation.govThe single federal booking system. Almost every wilderness permit, river launch and lottery on federal land is sold here, along with the federal campground network. It is where most of the openings we catch come from.
Full booking guide for Recreation.gov- Who runs it
- National Park Service, Forest Service, BLM, Army Corps, Bureau of Reclamation
- Where it reaches
- Federal land nationwide. The state list further down is built from the permits and campgrounds we are actually tracking right now, not from a list typed by hand.
Permits we watch on Recreation.gov
- Half Dome cables permit availability
- Enchantments Core Zone permit availability
- Middle Fork Salmon launch dates
- Wonderland Trail camp availability
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
ReserveCalifornia
UseDirectPermits and campgroundsreservecalifornia.comCalifornia State Parks moved to the UseDirect platform, so bookings run through ReserveCalifornia rather than Recreation.gov. Environmental camps, trail camps and the coastal cabins that book out in minutes all live here, and so do the drive-up campgrounds we track alongside them.
Full booking guide for ReserveCalifornia- Who runs it
- California State Parks
- Where it reaches
- California
Permits we watch on ReserveCalifornia
- Steep Ravine Cabins availability
- Lower Moro Campground availability
- Castle Rock Trail Camp availability
Campgrounds we watch on ReserveCalifornia
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
ReserveMN (Minnesota State Parks)
UseDirectPermits and campgroundsreservemn.usedirect.comMinnesota's state parks run on the same UseDirect platform as ReserveCalifornia, under their own booking site. The sites worth watching are the hike-in, cart-in, canoe-in and boat-in areas: most hold between one and six sites, so a single reservation can take the whole area off the calendar until somebody cancels. Minnesota's drive-up campgrounds are in the campground tracker too.
Full booking guide for ReserveMN (Minnesota State Parks)- Who runs it
- Minnesota DNR, Division of Parks and Trails
- Where it reaches
- Minnesota
Permits we watch on ReserveMN (Minnesota State Parks)
- Afton hike-in campsite availability
- Glendalough canoe-in campsite availability
- Whitewater Gooseberry Glen cart-in availability
Campgrounds we watch on ReserveMN (Minnesota State Parks)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Wisconsin State Parks (GoingToCamp)
GoingToCampPermits and campgroundswisconsin.goingtocamp.comWisconsin books its parks through GoingToCamp, which files backpack sites and boat-in sites under different booking categories from the drive-up campgrounds. We watch the backpack and boat-in categories, which is where the Ice Age Trail shelters and the island sites live, and the ordinary campgrounds as well.
Full booking guide for Wisconsin State Parks (GoingToCamp)- Who runs it
- Wisconsin DNR
- Where it reaches
- Wisconsin
Permits we watch on Wisconsin State Parks (GoingToCamp)
- Newport wilderness site availability
- Rock Island backpack campsite availability
- Kettle Moraine North Unit backpack site availability
Campgrounds we watch on Wisconsin State Parks (GoingToCamp)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Utah State Parks (Reserve America)
Reserve AmericaPermits and campgroundsutahstateparks.reserveamerica.comUtah's state parks book through Reserve America, a separate system from the federal one that covers Zion, Bryce and the rest of Utah's national parks. Utah is the one Reserve America state where we watch permit-style sites as well as campgrounds. Availability is tracked at the park level, which is the level Reserve America publishes it at.
Full booking guide for Utah State Parks (Reserve America)- Who runs it
- Utah Division of State Parks
- Where it reaches
- Utah
Permits we watch on Utah State Parks (Reserve America)
Campgrounds we watch on Utah State Parks (Reserve America)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Colorado and Kansas state parks (Aspira IPAWS)
Aspira IPAWSCampgroundscpwshop.com and campitks.govColorado and Kansas both book through the same Aspira application, on a separate address per state — cpwshop.com and campitks.gov — which is why the two sites look identical once you are past the front page. We watch the campgrounds on both. These sites sell a stay rather than a calendar: you give them an arrival date and a number of nights and they tell you which sites take it, so that is the question we ask them, one night at a time. They publish no site roster to us, so site numbers appear only once we have seen one come open.
Full booking guide for Colorado and Kansas state parks (Aspira IPAWS)- Who runs it
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife; Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
- Where it reaches
- Colorado, Kansas
Campgrounds we watch on Colorado and Kansas state parks (Aspira IPAWS)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Reserve America state parks
Reserve AmericaCampgroundsreserveamerica.comReserve America is one operator running a separate booking site per state, which is why the address changes but the booking screens do not. We watch the campgrounds on twenty-one of those sites, on top of Utah above. Two of them are not on a reserveamerica.com address at all — Maryland books at parkreservations.maryland.gov and Vermont at vtstateparks-visit.com — which is worth knowing if you are looking for the site you booked on last year. Reserve America publishes no site roster, so availability is watched at the park level and site numbers appear only once we have seen them come open.
Full booking guide for Reserve America state parks- Who runs it
- State park agencies in nineteen states, on one Aspira platform
- Where it reaches
- Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
Campgrounds we watch on Reserve America state parks
- Alaska campground availability
- Connecticut campground availability
- Delaware campground availability
- Georgia campground availability
- Indiana campground availability
- Iowa campground availability
- Kentucky campground availability
- Maryland campground availability
- Massachusetts campground availability
- Montana campground availability
- Nebraska campground availability
- New Hampshire campground availability
- New Mexico campground availability
- New York campground availability
- North Carolina campground availability
- Oklahoma campground availability
- Oregon campground availability
- Pennsylvania campground availability
- Rhode Island campground availability
- Texas campground availability
- Vermont campground availability
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Florida State Parks
UseDirectCampgroundsreserve.floridastateparks.orgFlorida's state parks run their own booking site on the UseDirect platform, separate from Recreation.gov. We watch the campgrounds: the coastal and spring-fed parks book out months ahead in winter, so a cancellation is often the only way in. Florida's hike-in and primitive sites are not sold online at all — the reservation system carries them but marks every night blocked — so there is nothing there for us to alert on.
Full booking guide for Florida State Parks- Who runs it
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks
- Where it reaches
- Florida
Campgrounds we watch on Florida State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Virginia State Parks
UseDirectCampgroundsreservevaparks.comVirginia books its state parks on UseDirect rather than through Recreation.gov, which covers Shenandoah and the national forests. We watch the campgrounds, including the Fairfax County parks that book on the same platform. Virginia does sell paddle-in and hike-in sites online, but they sit open most of the peak season, so we do not offer permit watches on them.
Full booking guide for Virginia State Parks- Who runs it
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Where it reaches
- Virginia
Campgrounds we watch on Virginia State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Arizona State Parks & Trails
UseDirectCampgroundsazstateparks.comArizona's state parks are a separate system from the federal one that sells Grand Canyon and the Coconino and Tonto forests. We watch the campgrounds — the lakeside parks fill hard in spring. Its two boat-in and hike-in areas stay open through the peak window, so they get no permit watch.
Full booking guide for Arizona State Parks & Trails- Who runs it
- Arizona State Parks & Trails
- Where it reaches
- Arizona
Campgrounds we watch on Arizona State Parks & Trails
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Missouri State Parks
UseDirectCampgroundsicampmo1.usedirect.comMissouri's state parks book on UseDirect rather than Recreation.gov, which covers the Ozark and Mark Twain national forest sites. We watch the campgrounds. Its three backcountry and walk-in areas are sold online but sit open through the peak season, so they get no permit watch.
Full booking guide for Missouri State Parks- Who runs it
- Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks
- Where it reaches
- Missouri
Campgrounds we watch on Missouri State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
ReserveOhio (Ohio State Parks)
UseDirectCampgroundsreserveohio.comOhio has almost no federal camping, so its state parks are effectively the whole inventory in the state and they book through ReserveOhio. We watch the campgrounds. The hike-in and primitive areas at Hocking Hills, Salt Fork and Caesar Creek are sold online but rarely go fully booked, so they are not offered as permit watches.
Full booking guide for ReserveOhio (Ohio State Parks)- Who runs it
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Watercraft
- Where it reaches
- Ohio
Campgrounds we watch on ReserveOhio (Ohio State Parks)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Illinois State Parks (Explore More Illinois)
UseDirectCampgroundscamp.exploremoreil.comIllinois runs its own UseDirect booking site, which is where Starved Rock and Giant City are sold. Recreation.gov covers the Shawnee National Forest and nothing else in the state, so the state parks are most of the camping here. We watch the campgrounds.
Full booking guide for Illinois State Parks (Explore More Illinois)- Who runs it
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources
- Where it reaches
- Illinois
Campgrounds we watch on Illinois State Parks (Explore More Illinois)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Reserve Nevada (Nevada State Parks)
UseDirectCampgroundsreservenevada.comNevada's state parks book on their own UseDirect site rather than Recreation.gov. Valley of Fire and the Lake Mead-adjacent parks fill through the cooler months, which is when a cancellation is worth catching. We watch the campgrounds.
Full booking guide for Reserve Nevada (Nevada State Parks)- Who runs it
- Nevada Division of State Parks
- Where it reaches
- Nevada
Campgrounds we watch on Reserve Nevada (Nevada State Parks)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
North Dakota State Parks
UseDirectCampgroundsreservendparks.comNorth Dakota books its state parks on UseDirect. The federal side of the state is mostly Army Corps water and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, so the state parks carry a large share of the campgrounds here. We watch the campgrounds.
Full booking guide for North Dakota State Parks- Who runs it
- North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department
- Where it reaches
- North Dakota
Campgrounds we watch on North Dakota State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Wyoming State Parks
UseDirectCampgroundsreserve.wyoming.govWyoming's state parks book on UseDirect, separately from the Recreation.gov system that sells Yellowstone, Grand Teton and the Bridger-Teton campgrounds. We watch the campgrounds, which include the reservoir parks that fill up on summer weekends.
Full booking guide for Wyoming State Parks- Who runs it
- Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails
- Where it reaches
- Wyoming
Campgrounds we watch on Wyoming State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Michigan State Parks (GoingToCamp)
GoingToCampCampgroundsmidnrreservations.comMichigan books its state parks through GoingToCamp, the same platform Wisconsin uses. The Upper Peninsula and Lake Michigan shoreline parks book out for the whole summer within days of opening, so cancellations are usually the only way in. We watch the campgrounds and do not offer permit watches here.
Full booking guide for Michigan State Parks (GoingToCamp)- Who runs it
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources
- Where it reaches
- Michigan
Campgrounds we watch on Michigan State Parks (GoingToCamp)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Washington state parks and Tacoma Power (GoingToCamp)
GoingToCampCampgroundswashington.goingtocamp.comWashington books its state parks through GoingToCamp, and Tacoma Power sells its reservoir campgrounds on the same platform. We watch the campgrounds on both. Its primitive, hike-in and Cascadia Marine Trail sites need no watch at all: they are self-register rather than sold online, so there is no reservation to miss and no cancellation to wait for.
Full booking guide for Washington state parks and Tacoma Power (GoingToCamp)- Who runs it
- Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Tacoma Power
- Where it reaches
- Washington
Campgrounds we watch on Washington state parks and Tacoma Power (GoingToCamp)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Hawaii State Parks
UseDirectCampgroundsexplore.ehawaii.govHawaii moved its state park camping onto UseDirect at explore.ehawaii.gov. The older camping.ehawaii.gov site is still up and now sells only DLNR Forest Reserve sites, which is a different catalogue and one we do not watch — so if a booking page you have used before is not turning up here, that is why. We watch the state park campgrounds.
Full booking guide for Hawaii State Parks- Who runs it
- Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks
- Where it reaches
- Hawaii
Campgrounds we watch on Hawaii State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Mississippi State Parks (GoingToCamp)
GoingToCampCampgroundsreserve.mdwfp.comMississippi books its state parks through GoingToCamp, the platform Michigan, Wisconsin and Washington also use, on an address that names neither. More than half of what MDWFP sells online is a cabin, a lodge room, a marina slip or a golf villa rather than a campsite, so the campgrounds we watch here are a smaller set than the park list looks.
Full booking guide for Mississippi State Parks (GoingToCamp)- Who runs it
- Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
- Where it reaches
- Mississippi
Campgrounds we watch on Mississippi State Parks (GoingToCamp)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
South Carolina and Tennessee State Parks (Itinio)
ItinioCampgroundsreserve.southcarolinaparks.com and reserve.tnstateparks.comSouth Carolina and Tennessee both book through Itinio, a platform whose name appears on neither state's booking address. We watch the campgrounds. Itinio publishes no site type our scanner can read, so we watch every site in a park and alert you on whichever one opens rather than filtering by equipment.
Full booking guide for South Carolina and Tennessee State Parks (Itinio)- Who runs it
- South Carolina State Park Service, Tennessee State Parks
- Where it reaches
- South Carolina, Tennessee
Campgrounds we watch on South Carolina and Tennessee State Parks (Itinio)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Maine State Parks
Direct (state)Campgroundscg-public-prod.web.maine.govMaine runs its own booking application rather than joining a platform, so nothing else on this page looks like it. We watch the campgrounds. One thing worth knowing before you set a watch: Maine sells camping online for roughly four months a year and publishes only the current season's dates, so outside that window a Maine watch has no dates to fire on. It starts working the day the agency rolls its calendar forward.
Full booking guide for Maine State Parks- Who runs it
- Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
- Where it reaches
- Maine
Campgrounds we watch on Maine State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
New Jersey State Parks
Direct (state)Campgroundsnjportal.comNew Jersey runs its own booking application rather than joining a platform, the way Maine does. We watch the campgrounds — eighteen state parks and forests, right down to the individual site, because New Jersey publishes its grid night by night and site by site. It does not publish a site type our scanner can read, so we watch every site in a park and alert you on whichever one opens rather than filtering by equipment.
Full booking guide for New Jersey State Parks- Who runs it
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, State Park Service
- Where it reaches
- New Jersey
Campgrounds we watch on New Jersey State Parks
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
HavasupaiReservations.com
Direct (tribal)Permitshavasupaireservations.comHavasupai is not on Recreation.gov and never has been. The Tribe runs its own booking site, and since 2026 there is no lottery and no transfer board — cancellations go straight back onto the public calendar, which is exactly the kind of opening worth watching for.
Full booking guide for HavasupaiReservations.com- Who runs it
- Havasupai Tribe
- Where it reaches
- Arizona
Permits we watch on HavasupaiReservations.com
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Agency and concessionaire portals
DirectPermitsvisitcatalinaisland.com and lecontelodge.comA handful of places run their own booking desk instead of joining a platform. We link straight to the real one so you are not sent to Recreation.gov for a permit Recreation.gov does not sell.
Full booking guide for Agency and concessionaire portals- Who runs it
- Catalina Island Conservancy, Great Smoky Mountains concessionaires
- Where it reaches
- California, North Carolina, Tennessee
Permits we watch on Agency and concessionaire portals
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Full campground pages and booking links, no watch
These systems get the same campground pages as everywhere else here: real details, and a booking link that lands you on the right page rather than a search box. Alerts are the one piece they do not carry, because a booking system publishes its campground list long before it publishes its nights. Each card says where its system stands.
South Dakota and Louisiana State Parks (Go Outdoors)
Brandt Go OutdoorsListed, not watchedreservations.gooutdoorssouthdakota.com and reservations.gooutdoorslouisiana.comSouth Dakota and Louisiana both book through Brandt's Go Outdoors, one application running on a separate address per state. We hold their campgrounds and link straight to the booking page for each one.
- Who runs it
- South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks; Louisiana Office of State Parks
- Where it reaches
- Louisiana, South Dakota
Watch status
A Go Outdoors page answers one date range at a time and never says which individual nights inside it are free, so a two-night opening and a gap look identical to anything reading it. These campgrounds carry full pages and a booking link; alerts are not switched on for this system.
Campgrounds we list on South Dakota and Louisiana State Parks (Go Outdoors)
Wiring last verified 2026-09-17.
Do you cover my state?
Both columns are counted from what we are actually watching right now, whichever system issues it. They are separate answers on purpose: a state can have permits and no campgrounds, or campgrounds and no permits, and a dash means we watch none of that kind there today.
Coverage notes
State-park permits are California, Minnesota, Utah and Wisconsin and nowhere else. State-park campgrounds run much wider than that and keep moving as new booking systems import, so this page does not print a list of them. The table above is read live and is the current answer. Neither surface is a shorthand for "we cover that state".
Read the detailHide the detail
A state-park system being here for campgrounds does not make it a permit system. Most of the ones below sell some hike-in, paddle-in or primitive sites and we still do not offer permit watches on them. We checked the Missouri, Virginia, Ohio and Arizona sites over the 2026-08-14 to 2026-09-12 peak window in August 2026: the best of them was fully booked on 4 nights out of 29, against 7 to 16 nights out of 28 for the Minnesota sites we do watch, and two of them took no reservation at all in the whole month. Florida's hike-in sites are not sold online at all. The system lists them and marks every night blocked. Washington is the same story for a different reason: its primitive, hike-in and Cascadia Marine Trail sites are self-register. A watch on inventory like that never fires, which is worse than not offering it.
Nothing in Canada is covered either way. The Canadian parks on GoingToCamp are reachable and are not switched on, and a system we can reach is not the same as one we watch.
Colorado and Kansas are worth naming separately, because we can read both. They run the same booking application, and it answers at park level, "11 overnight sites match", without ever saying which site. There is nothing there for an alert to name, so we hold no campground pages in either state and offer no watch. That is a limit of what the system publishes, not of what we are willing to check.
Every line above is here so you can tell, before you spend a season on it, exactly which ground a watch covers and which it does not.
Questions about permit coverage
Which booking systems does PermitSnag cover?
Recreation.gov, the federal system used by the Park Service, Forest Service, BLM, Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation. Beside it are the state-park platforms: Aspira IPAWS (Colorado and Kansas), GoingToCamp, Itinio, Maine's own state booking site, New Jersey's own state booking site, Reserve America and UseDirect, which we watch for openings, and Brandt's Go Outdoors, which we link straight to booking rather than watch. Outside the platforms we watch HavasupaiReservations.com for the Havasupai Tribe and a handful of agency-run desks such as the Catalina Island Conservancy. Each system below says whether we watch permits on it, campgrounds, or both, and the ones we list and link rather than watch have their own section.
Do you cover my state's state-park reservation system?
It depends which of the two you mean, and the answer is genuinely different. For state-park permits: California, Minnesota, Utah and Wisconsin, and nowhere else. For state-park campgrounds the answer is much wider, and it moves: we watch campgrounds in all 50 states today, counting the federal network and every state-park booking system we can check. The table above is read live, so it is the authority, and the systems we list without watching are in their own section below it. We add a system once we can actually check its inventory, not once we can reach it, and where a state's backcountry sites never sell out we say so rather than selling a watch that would never fire.
Why are some booking systems listed but not watched?
Those campgrounds still get a full page here, with real details and a booking link that lands you on the right page. What they do not get is a watch: a booking system publishes its campground list long before it publishes its nights. Brandt's Go Outdoors, which South Dakota and Louisiana use, answers one date range at a time and never says which individual nights inside it are free, so a two-night opening and a gap look identical. Each system's card above says exactly where it stands.
Why do you watch Florida campgrounds but no Florida permits?
Because Florida State Parks does not sell its hike-in and primitive sites online. Its reservation system lists them, but every night on every one of them is marked blocked rather than reserved, which means nobody can book them and no cancellation can ever appear. The campgrounds are a different story: they are sold online, they fill, and cancellations are often the only way into a coastal park in winter. The same split, for a related reason, is why most state-park systems here are campgrounds-only: their backcountry sites are sold online but hardly ever go fully booked.
Do you cover permits in Canada?
No. PermitSnag is US-only. Canadian national and provincial park systems are outside what we watch, and we would rather say that plainly than list them and let you find out after you have set up a watch that will never fire.
What happens if a park moves to a different booking system?
It happens more than you would think. California State Parks moved onto the UseDirect platform, which is why its trail camps book through ReserveCalifornia and not Recreation.gov, and Hawaii moved its state park camping onto the same platform while leaving its forest reserve sites on the old site. Every system on this page carries the date we last verified it end to end, so what you see listed as covered is what we can actually check.