Highway Handbook: How To Car Camp Legally In National Parks

You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers. That’s the gist of our new educational series, The Highway Handbook. One of our main goals at Luno is to make the outdoors more accessible, and we mainly do that by designing comfortable air mattresses and nifty accessories that help you turn your everyday vehicle into an extraordinary adventure mobile. But gear alone doesn’t remove barriers to the great outdoors, and sometimes, the simple act of sharing knowledge makes all the difference. In The Highway Handbook, our team of car camping experts will answer questions that regularly bombard our DMs. Whether you’re a car camping veteran or new to the game, we hope this series helps you get outside, explore, and enjoy time in nature with friends and family.

In this month’s edition of The Highway Handbook, we’re tackling a simple question with a complex answer: How can you car camp legally in national parks?

First off, let us start by saying that we love car camping in national parks, especially in parks that are home to noteworthy bear populations like Yosemite National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park, so on and so forth. When you have a Luno mattress for your car, truck, van, or trailer, you can camp comfortably in your rig and lock your doors at night for invaluable peace of mind in bear country. Plus, there’s no better feeling than waking up in your comfy cabin on wheels just steps away from epic vistas and breathtaking trails.

That said, you’ll find sign after sign that prohibits overnight parking and camping in national parks. So what gives? Is it possible to car camp legally in national parks? Is it worth it to risk a citation by camping illegally?

In this helpful guide, we’ll answer all of these questions and more. Below, we share info on how we car camp in national parks without breaking the law–or getting the dreaded nocturnal knock from a peeved park ranger. We’ll also share info on how to make reservations at popular national parks campgrounds, why we often camp just outside of national parks, and other tricks of the trade.

Paid Campgrounds: Your Best Bet For Car Camping In National Parks

Fortunately, car camping is allowed in most national parks.

Unfortunately, you have to pay for it.

It makes sense. National parks are extremely popular adventure destinations. Unlike BLM land or national forests, where car campers have virtually free reign to camp where they please, car camping in national parks is typically limited to paid campgrounds.

Take Grand Teton National Park, for instance. If you check out the National Park Service’s Teton Camping web page, the first notice explicitly states: “Car camping or sleeping overnight in vehicles is NOT allowed in park pullouts, parking areas, picnic grounds, or any place other than a designated campground. Overnight parking at trailheads is only permitted with a backcountry permit.”

We wish this weren’t the case. Ideally, we could park overnight and camp where we please. However, just imagine how overrun national parks would be if camping weren’t limited to campgrounds… It wouldn’t be pretty. Unsurprisingly, the regulations are fairly strict and reinforced by rangers.

That said, there are benefits to car camping in paid national park campgrounds. You often have access to amenities like potable water, trash receptacles, restrooms, and hot showers. If you’re getting your digital nomad on, you might even find Wi-Fi (although for many campers, this is actually a negative). Additionally, you don’t have to stress about finding a place to camp, since these sites are typically available through an online reservation system.

Reservations: A Smart Move At National Park Campgrounds

Free camping is one of the many benefits of car camping. Unlike tent campers, car campers can crash for free at highway rest stops or Walmart parking lots, as well as national forests and BLM land. As such, we typically recommend car campers avoid paying for campground reservations, instead using car camping apps and other tools to find free car camping.

This advice goes out the window when you’re targeting popular national park campgrounds. We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again: these campsites can sell out quicker than Taylor Swift tickets. If you’re hoping to camp in a national park, paying for a reservation far in advance is a smart move. In fact, it’s often the only move. This holds especially true during busy summer months, and even more so on hectic holiday weekends.

Our advice? Plan your trip months in advance if possible. The National Park Service will release reservations on Recreation.gov, often six months ahead of time. However, reservation schedules and releases vary from park to park, and they can even vary from campground to campground within a national park. It subsequently pays to research your destination of choice and plan your trip ahead of time. Once you find out when a park releases reservations for your preferred campground, set an alarm on your calendar so you’re online and ready to snap up a site as soon as they’re available.

More Reservation Tips:

Looking for a national park campground? Start your search on the NPS’s Find a Campground page.

Set alarms to ensure you’re online and on it when campsites are released.

Chronic procrastinator? Forgot to make reservations? Was your campsite of choice sold out? No worries. Check the National Park Service’s reservation website before you hit the road. It’s possible cancellations or newly opened campsites will be available, even if they weren’t when you checked before.

Illegal Car Camping In National Parks

We do not recommend illegal car camping in National Parks for several reasons. First and foremost, you risk unwelcome wake-ups from park rangers. Take it from us, no one wants to wake up to a flashlight tap-tap-tapping the window. Not to mention, those wake-up calls can be accompanied by a hefty ticket. It’s somewhat ironic that hunting for cheap camping can result in an exorbitant fine, isn’t it?

Interrupted sleep and financial woes aside, you’re also potentially putting unwanted, unnecessary pressure on delicate, dynamic ecosystems that are already over-traveled. For this reason alone, we discourage you from such stealthy endeavors.

Long story short? While you may be able to get away with stealth camping in less heavily visited corners of bigger parks, it’s not worth the risk or the impact. If you’re unable to afford or secure a campground reservation, your best bet is to camp outside of park boundaries.

No matter where you park, always keep the 7 Leave No Trace principles in mind.

Finding Car Camping Near National Parks

Because car camping is limited and relatively pricey in national parks, we usually don’t camp inside park boundaries, even when exploring a national park is our road trip objective. Instead, we often camp just outside of park boundaries and then take day trips into the park for hikes, climbs, fishing missions, etcetera. You’ll often find wilderness areas, BLM land, or national forests just outside of national parks, and these land designations are much more friendly to dispersed camping and budget car camping.

If you’re new to car camping and want to learn how to find a solid, free campsite for the night, check out our Comprehensive Guide to Finding Free Car Camping. In this detailed guide, we dive into the following:

• Our favorite apps to find free car camping
• The importance of land designations (E.g. free car camping in national parks is a no-go, but free car camping in national forests is definitely the move. See Drake meme above). 
• The art of “moochdocking”
• How to make the most of Walmart parking lots and rest stops 
• And so much more!

When you use the tips and tricks above, you can easily camp for free within a quick drive from a national park. If you’re late to the party and campgrounds are all booked up, or you simply would rather use that campground fee to put gas in your tank, camping outside of park boundaries is the way to go.

Four Accessories To Car Camp In National Parks Like A Pro

We mentioned earlier how a Luno mattress can make camping in national parks a breeze, but we’ve also designed a ton of nifty car camping accessories that’ll help turn your everyday vehicle into an even more comfortable camp rig. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Craving some breeze at night? Our new, mesh, magnetic Sunroof Window Screen snaps to the top of your vehicle so you can open the sunroof. It’s a pro move if you want to let in all of the breeze and none of the bugs. 
• Our classic Car Window Screens are a similar trip-saver for hot sleepers. The mesh screens stretch over your passenger doors, allowing you to crack the windows without inviting unwanted insects. 
• Here’s another pro tip for still, muggy nights: pair the window screens with our compact, powerful Car Camping Fan for soothing airflow, anytime, anywhere!
• If you’re camping in a busy campground, our Privacy Curtains are a must. The easy-to-install curtains don’t just hinder the gaze of unwelcome looky-loos, either–they also block sunrays in case you’re hoping to sleep in.
  

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Enjoy National Parks–No Matter Where You Park!

To sum up our thoughts on car camping in national parks, free car camping is rad. Sadly, it’s virtually non-existent in park boundaries. However, if you’re down to plan your trip well in advance and pay for a reservation, national park car camping is a breeze. Or, if you’d prefer to wing it on a last-minute trip, or simply don’t want to pay for camping, it’s easy enough to find free car camping close to most national parks

We wish you luck–and easy, breezy, fine-free car camping adventures–on your next national park mission.

Thanks for reading, and, as always, we’ll see you on the road!

-The Luno Crew