Recreation.gov Campsite & Recreation Area Scraper

Extract structured campground, facility, and recreation area data from Recreation.gov using the free RIDB (Recreation Information Database) API — the official US federal government database covering national parks, forests, BLM land, and more.

No API key is required for basic use. An optional free API key from recreation.gov/use-our-data increases rate limits.

What Does This Actor Do?

This actor provides three modes for accessing Recreation.gov campground data:

• Search Campsites — search campground facilities by state, activity type, and keyword. Returns full details including addresses, amenities, activities, and reservation links.
• Search Recreation Areas — search parks, forests, and recreation areas by state or keyword. Returns coordinates, activity lists, and links.
• Get Facility Details — fetch complete details for specific facility IDs (e.g., 232447 for Upper Pines in Yosemite).

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
mode	Select	Scraping mode (searchCampsites, searchRecreationAreas, getFacilityDetails)	searchCampsites
state	Select	US state filter (all 50 states + DC). Leave blank for all states.	CA
query	String	Keyword search (e.g. Yosemite, Pine Lake, camping)	—
activity	Select	Filter by activity: Camping, Hiking, Fishing, Mountain Biking, Horse Riding, Rock Climbing	Camping
facilityIds	List	RIDB facility IDs for getFacilityDetails mode (e.g. 232447)	—
apiKey	String	Optional free RIDB API key for higher rate limits	—
maxItems	Integer	Max records to return (1–500)	50

Output Format

searchCampsites

{
  "facilityId": "232447",
  "facilityName": "UPPER PINES",
  "facilityType": "Camping",
  "description": "Upper Pines is the largest campground in Yosemite Valley.",
  "latitude": 37.7361111,
  "longitude": -119.5625,
  "address": {
    "street": "9036 Village Dr",
    "city": "Yosemite Valley",
    "state": "CA",
    "zip": "95389"
  },
  "phone": "209-372-8502",
  "email": "yosemite_information@nps.gov",
  "website": "https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campingres.htm",
  "reservationUrl": "https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232447",
  "parentRecAreaName": "Yosemite National Park",
  "activities": ["CAMPING", "HIKING", "FISHING"],
  "amenities": ["Drinking Water", "Flush Toilets", "Accessible Campsites"],
  "state": "CA",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-03T10:00:00+00:00"
}

searchRecreationAreas

{
  "recAreaId": "2991",
  "recAreaName": "Yosemite National Park",
  "description": "World-famous national park in the Sierra Nevada.",
  "latitude": 37.8651,
  "longitude": -119.5383,
  "state": "CA",
  "activities": ["CAMPING", "HIKING"],
  "recAreaUrl": "https://www.nps.gov/yose/",
  "imageUrl": "https://cdn.recreation.gov/img/yosemite.jpg",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-03T10:00:00+00:00"
}

Common Facility IDs

Campground	State	RIDB Facility ID
Upper Pines (Yosemite)	CA	232447
North Pines (Yosemite)	CA	232449
Mather Campground (Grand Canyon)	AZ	234663
Fishing Bridge RV Park (Yellowstone)	WY	232493
Jenny Lake (Grand Teton)	WY	272076

Use Cases

• Travel planning — find campgrounds by state and activity type before a trip
• Research — analyze campground distribution, amenities, and availability across federal lands
• Apps & tools — build campground finders, trip planners, or outdoor activity apps
• Data journalism — study public land access, campground capacity, and outdoor recreation trends

FAQ

Q: Is an API key required? A: No. The RIDB API allows anonymous access. An optional free key from recreation.gov/use-our-data can be provided via the apiKey input to increase rate limits.

Q: What data source does this actor use? A: This actor uses the RIDB (Recreation Information Database) API — the official US federal government recreation data API. Base URL: https://ridb.recreation.gov/api/v1/.

Q: Which activities are supported for filtering? A: Camping (ID 9), Hiking (ID 1), Fishing (ID 2), Mountain Biking (ID 4), Horse Riding (ID 5), Rock Climbing (ID 14).

Q: How many campgrounds can I scrape? A: Up to 500 per run (set via maxItems). The RIDB database covers thousands of facilities — use state and activity filters to narrow results.

Q: Can I get campsite-level availability? A: Availability data requires authentication and is not part of the RIDB API. Use the reservationUrl field to check availability directly on Recreation.gov.

Q: What states are supported? A: All 50 US states plus the District of Columbia are available in the state dropdown.

Q: Why are some fields missing from certain records? A: Not all facilities in the RIDB database have complete data. Fields are only included when the API returns non-empty values — this prevents null values in the output.