Dispersed Camping Doubles as Campgrounds Fill Up

PORTLAND, Ore., May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dyrt, the No. 1 app for camping with the most active online camping community, has found that dispersed camping (camping on public land outside of a designated campground) doubled from 2020 to 2021. These findings are part of the 2022 Camping Report, the most comprehensive look at the camping industry to date.

Amid an overall surge in camping, dispersed camping increased so dramatically due to overbooked campgrounds and a shortage in reservable campsites. Nearly half of campers reported difficulty finding bookable campgrounds in 2021, a threefold increase from before the pandemic. Dispersed camping was more competitive as well with 35 percent of dispersed campers encountering crowding last year, up from just 15 percent in 2019.

"Dispersed camping provides a pure nature experience — and we need to keep it that way," says The Dyrt CEO Kevin Long. "As campgrounds fill up and dispersed camping expands in popularity, understanding Leave No Trace is more important than ever."

Leave No Trace principles include disposing of waste properly, leaving what you find, respecting wildlife, minimizing campfire impacts, and avoiding crowding through strategies like off-season camping. The nonprofit also provides advice for sharing the philosophy with others in the camping community.

"I've always loved dispersed camping, mostly because the campgrounds here in Colorado have become so crowded the last 10 years or so," says The Dyrt user Andrea Schmutt of Denver. "I lived on the road for a few months this past year, so I accessed dispersed camping and alternate overnight spots along the way. The Dyrt was one of the few apps I used to help with that."

The Dyrt PRO's popular PRO Maps features are designed with dispersed camping in mind. For $36 a year, campers can access maps showing different types of public land with legal camping. The maps are downloadable for offline use when out of cell range.

"Let's be honest, camping on public land, while often free, was not typically very accessible," says The Dyrt founder Sarah Smith. "Finding information about where exactly to go and what you'll find when you get there was hard. We're proud to be closing that knowledge gap and helping a wider variety of campers enjoy Bureau of Land Management land, national forests, and other public wilderness that belongs to everyone."

About The Dyrt
The Dyrt's mission is to expand the camping community and help more people enjoy the outdoors. With over 30 million annual camper visits and 4 million user-generated reviews, photos, and tips for US campgrounds, The Dyrt is the No. 1 app for camping and the largest source of camping information. The Dyrt PRO enables campers to find free camping areas on public lands, search for campgrounds with cell service coverage, use the app offline, get discounts on camping and more. www.thedyrt.com

Media Contact:
Maggie Fisher
860-526-1555
[email protected] 

SOURCE The Dyrt