Mission
Recreation.gov is the federal government’s centralized travel planning and reservation platform. This public program has grown and evolved since it was first conceived as an information sharing service in 1995. Recreation.gov is now the outdoor recreation travel-planning system for 14 Federal agencies to support land management and enable visitors to discover and experience public lands and waters.
Designated Services
Designated Services
Reserving a campsite on Recreation.gov
Campsite reservations represent more than 60% of all reservations made on the Recreation.gov platform. In FY22 there were more than 10.3 million reservations made on Recreation.gov, and 4.2 million of those were campsite reservations. Camping provides an authentic and immersive experience within public land and water destinations across the country. These experiences influence how visitors value these public spaces and can lead to a lifetime of connection and stewardship.
Entering a lottery for a high-demand activity
Lotteries on Recreation.gov are established for activities and destinations where demand far exceeds capacity. Local managers seek a fair distribution of opportunities, and lotteries provide the tool to allow visitors to apply for the chance to participate who are then chosen randomly using a secure and unbiased algorithm process. The Recreation.gov team is working to provide more transparency into the lottery application process by offering data that indicates the odds of securing a permit/reservation to address pain points expressed by lottery applicants. Often, tens of thousands of people apply for just a few hundred permits or reservations.
Action Plans
2022 Action Plan commitments are detailed in Executive Order 14058