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8 Best Camping Apps for Families You Need to Download

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While most people head to camping trips to unplug, the truth is that if you take the time to get a great camping app, it’s even easier to get off the beaten path.  Ironic, right?!? 

Even with hundreds of prospective campsites, vast areas of public property, and a desire to explore, finding a decent camping place requires more than luck. This is why knowing the best camping apps can be so helpful. 

Fortunately, the greatest camping apps (both free and paid) can help you to find the perfect campground for you, whatever you’re looking for.

Camping is frequently thought of as a terrific way to disconnect from the outside world, and for many individuals, it is. But it doesn’t imply technology has no role while you’re beneath the canvas. Making a few deliberate decisions might even enhance your camping experience.

There is no denying that an increasing number of applications enhance the camping experience, regardless of where you fall on the scale between roughing it and glamping. We all need a road map, don’t we?

Fortunately, we’ve already looked through – and discarded – a large number of them and created this list for you. This list of the best camping apps is going to make your camping experience much easier and less stressful from the beginning. 

What is a Camping App and Why Does it Matter?

Camping is becoming more popular; yet, it is difficult to handle all aspects of planning a camping trip, so these apps are here to simplify the process.  

A camping app allows both novice and expert campers to gain all the knowledge they have to prepare for their vacations.  Whether it’s camping skills, campsite areas, or wilderness knowledge, there’s an app for you! Campers may also access the stored articles offline while out in the wilderness. 

Nowadays, camping apps can assist you to handle any difficulty you may have had when camping. Where is the nearest campground? How can I go to a certain location? What do I need to pack on my camping trip?

Some of the strategies used by campers to discover cheap campsites have evolved through time. Previously, free camping could only be found by word of mouth.

Campers now have a plethora of resources at their disposal. Some of the greatest tools are available in the palm of your hand and may be obtained in a matter of seconds.

The finest camping apps are constantly updated with traffic/navigation information as well as the status of neighboring campsites. This is crucial because you don’t want to go camping only to discover that your campground – or the road going there – no longer stands, or that the rates have skyrocketed.

Filter options, local searches, and reviews all help you get the information you need from the massive amounts of data included in these applications. Also, bear in mind that opinions from other vacationers in a camping app may be really helpful when selecting a campground.

The Best Camping Apps 2022

Many times, even a free camping app may provide you with a lot of comfort and knowledge. Continue reading to learn about the top camping apps for 2022!

1. Campendium

This is in my opinion, the all-around best camping app, and the one that we use more than any other.  Campendium will help you find just about anything you need for camping.  Need RV Parks?  A public campground? A place to fill up your water tanks?  How about an RV dump station?  We are constantly using Campendium to discover new camping areas, and it’s saved so much frustration on all our family camping trips.  

Hands down the best feature of Campendium (that’s only available with the paid version), is the Cell signal report.  We usually need some sort of internet connection on our longer camping trips so my husband can check in with work, and knowing how good our cellular service will be at different campgrounds has been PRICELESS!!

2. onX Off-Road GPS Map

If you think of your camping place as a stop along the way rather than a goal, this is the tool that is going to help you arrive at the place. The $29.99 yearly charge for this application isn’t a heavy amount, as It is quite useful since it has so many exceptionally helpful features, like 500,000 pursuit scores and beautiful cottages. 

OnX also identifies parking places, trailheads, and boat launches, and then guides you around the app’s 975 million acres of public property, which includes over 400,000 miles of trails and roads.

The free subscription to this campsite app includes all types of maps, waypoints, and a single downloadable map. If you want to go off the grid, pay for a paid subscription, which includes offline-accessible downloadable maps. 

Use it to monitor your trip and save waypoints so that you may retrace your travels the following time when you want to visit that great campground with the enormous rock. 

The program will offer acceptable routes, no matter what vehicle you use. In an easy-to-read overview card, featured trails include descriptions, length, difficulty, and images.

3. The Dyrt

The first stage in any camping vacation is to choose a suitable location for your temporary residence, ideally among some breathtaking scenery and outdoor activities. The Dyrt is a one-stop-shop for finding the best campsite for you. It’s one of the best campsite apps out there! 

This free app gathers photographs, videos, and user reviews for over 42,000 campsites around the US, many of which are also included in other applications on our list. Users may also reserve campsites directly via the website. 

The breadth of the possibilities this campground app offers may seem overwhelming, but if you want one app to view every campground at your fingertips, you can’t go wrong.

4. Recreation.gov

Recation.gov is a free app that solely shows government campgrounds. The app gives a variety of activities accessible surrounding the campsites, going from National Parks to Forests and other federal leisure places. 

Recreation.gov provides a variety of outdoor activities at over 3,600 government facilities, ranging from whitewater drifting to the greatest fishing areas and backcountry permits.

Through the app, you can deliver your National Parks admission payment along with booking tokens and instructional excursions to different destinations.

The layout is attractive and simple to use, and you can register directly from the app. This campground app includes an index of available amenities, natural features, facility prices, and directions to the campsite on every page.

The sole drawback is that it’s exclusive to subscriber reviews or images. This App, on the other hand, is an excellent resource for van life itineraries that include visits to different forest locations. The best part is that it is completely available for free download and usage.

5. WikiCamps

WikiCamps offers a good suite of camping software for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, albeit it is not worldwide.

This clever campsite app provides camping statistics crowdsourced from the WikiCamps community after installing the program for a particular location, such as WikiCamps Australia or WikiCamps Canada. There are specifics on campsites, backpacker hostels, and waste sites.

This convenient campground app has maps that may be saved for offline use, and surrounding attractions are shown. You may also use search parameters like “has toilets” or “pet-friendly” to receive personalized suggestions.

6. FreeRoam

FreeRoam, the finest camping software for trip organizing, has three basic competencies: identifying camping that fulfills your requirements, assisting you in getting to that campground, and displaying your gas, rest stops, and other amenities along the road. 

You can go over the information and photographs to better decide your destination, then input your preferred days and the application will begin to design your vacation. There are other criteria available to help you choose nightly locations, camp places with specified weather, campsites with subscription-based savings, and more. 

A green doughnut on the map directs you in determining how far you want to travel between stops. Adjust it to your preferred travel times. Then include rest stops, petrol stations, food stores, and sites of interest. When you input your vehicle specification, the application will direct you to the most suited roads. 

And photos of rest spots along the trip allow you to see whether they’ll fit your car and whatever you’re pulling. Set your path, then use FreeRoam’s easy and familiar navigation to follow it.

7. Reserve America

While the National Park Service has a unique app that covers federal areas, it does not include alternatives from the extensive network of state parks. Reserve America takes over at this point. 

This app displays camping alternatives from parks in over 30 states, including in-app booking capabilities. It also gives you access to private camping firms like KOA. 

The main disadvantage is a lack of tools. Locating and booking are straightforward, however, the absence of a map and user feedback features makes it a little more difficult. However, this app can help you out in so many ways.

8. Hipcamp

Hipcamp dubbed the “Airbnb of camping,” focuses on private landowner-run campsites, similar to Tentrr, but without the uniform glamping tents. Their iOS and Android applications provide useful booking tools such as filters for last-minute camping reservations and weekend trips.

Hipcamp, a free app, provides a combination of remote wilderness places and hotel-level lodging that may cause you to rethink your concept of camping. You’ll usually be alone at these locations as well since many landowners only have one area for tent or RV campers. Bookings are accessible inside the app.

The best part about Hipcamp is that it is a great RV app too!

Final Word

Camping does not always have to be conventional or even dull, thanks to the existence of all these interesting and useful applications that may make your campaign trip much more enjoyable!

If you want to go camping and check out this list of best camping apps, know that nothing beats enjoying the finest of what the camps have to offer. Finding the proper camping spot for your vacation is crucial to camping, and having the correct camping software or tool makes it a thousand times simpler.

About Jessica Averett

Hi, I’m Jessica, a mom of 5 kids and married to my favorite adventure partner. I love to bike, ski, camp and hike. We've visited over 40 countries with our kids, but are equally happy on the road as we are exploring our home state of Utah.

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