How it works
Basecamp Planner answers two questions for Pacific Northwest trips: when can I book it, and can I get in.
A guide, not a guarantee: confirm on the official reservation site before you plan around it.
Booking dates
Each reservation system has its own rule. We copy the rule from the system's official page and work out your date from it. We show where the rule came from and the date we last checked it, every time.
- Washington State Parks: campsites open 9 months before your first night, at 7 a.m. Pacific. Most parks take reservations May 15 – Sept. 15; some take them all year.
- Oregon State Parks: sites open 6 months before arrival, at 6 a.m. (the official page doesn't name the time zone; every Oregon park on this site is in Pacific time).
- Recreation.gov (national parks and forests): each campground sets its own window. We copy the exact release date and time from the campground's Seasons & Fees tab. When a date falls after the posted release, we work it out from the campground's posted rolling window and say so. Some campgrounds (Olympic's coastal and rain forest campgrounds, for example) release loops in blocks; until they post the next season, we say "not posted yet".
Labels you'll see:
- Posted date: the exact date and time printed on the official page.
- From the official rule: worked out from the official "N months ahead at a set time" rule.
- Month-end dates (for example, an arrival on the 31st when the opening month has 30 days): no official page says which day these open, so we show the last day of that month and flag it for you to confirm.
"Open for booking now" means reservations have opened for that date. It doesn't mean a site is still free: check availability on the reservation site.
Can I get in?
For each national park we show whether a timed-entry or vehicle reservation is needed this year, what's known about next year, and seasonal road openings and closures from the park's road page. Live park alerts come from the National Park Service API every hour, and Washington mountain pass status (North Cascades Highway, Chinook, Cayuse, White Pass) from WSDOT every hour.
How fresh is it?
Booking rules, release dates and road notes are checked against the official pages at least weekly, and more often around season changes (new seasons posted on Recreation.gov, timed-entry announcements, spring road openings, fall closures). Each entry shows its "checked" date. If we can't confirm something, we leave it out rather than guess.
Calendar reminders
"Add to calendar" makes a small calendar file in your browser with reminders the day before and 15 minutes before the opening. Nothing is sent to us.
Missing a place, or spot something wrong?
Tap Feedback on any page, or request a campground or park. Corrections with a link to the official page are the most helpful.
All sources
Who runs this
Basecamp Planner is part of Check First, a small family of free tools. No ads, no accounts, no tracking. Tips keep it going. It isn't affiliated with Recreation.gov, the National Park Service, Washington State Parks, Oregon State Parks or WSDOT.