# Recreation.gov Campsite Availability Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper`) Actor Scrape live campsite availability from Recreation.gov's public API for any federal campground. Supply campground IDs and date ranges to get per-day open/reserved/closed status for every campsite — ideal for cancellation sniping, trip-planning feeds, and monitoring workflows. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** Travel - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Recreation.gov Campsite Availability Scraper Scrape **live campsite availability** from Recreation.gov's public month-availability API for any federal campground. Supply campground IDs and date ranges to get a per-day open/reserved/closed status for every campsite — ideal for cancellation sniping, trip-planning feeds, and recurring monitoring workflows. ### What This Actor Does Recreation.gov powers reservations for nearly 4,000 federal campgrounds managed by the USFS, NPS, BLM, and Army Corps of Engineers. The site exposes a public, no-authentication endpoint that returns every campsite's daily availability for a given campground and calendar month. This actor queries that endpoint, flattens the response into flat per-(campsite x date) records, and enriches them with the campground's display name. Each output record answers: **"Is site X available on date Y?"** — the exact question cancellation-snipers, trip planners, and monitoring tools need. ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | `campgroundIds` | string[] | Yes | Recreation.gov campground IDs to check. Find the ID in the URL: `recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232450` → `232450`. | | `startDate` | string | No | First month to check (ISO 8601, e.g. `"2026-06-01"`). Defaults to the current month. | | `endDate` | string | No | Last month to check (ISO 8601, e.g. `"2026-08-01"`). Leave blank for a single month. | | `filterStatus` | string[] | No | Only return records with these availability statuses. Leave empty for all. Valid values: `Available`, `Reserved`, `Closed`, `Not Reservable`, `Not Available By Day`, `Open`, `Walkup`. | | `fetchCampsiteDetails` | boolean | No | When `true`, fetch ADA accessibility flags from the campsite-details endpoint (one extra API call per campground, cached). Default `false`. | | `maxItems` | integer | Yes | Maximum number of records to return (0 = unlimited). | #### Finding Campground IDs Navigate to any campground on [recreation.gov](https://www.recreation.gov) and copy the number at the end of the URL: ```` https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232450 ^^^^^^ campground ID ```` Popular examples: - `232450` — Lower Pines, Yosemite - `232447` — Upper Pines, Yosemite - `251869` — Wawona, Yosemite - `271019` — Kalalau, Napali Coast, Kauai #### Example Input ```json { "campgroundIds": ["232450", "232447"], "startDate": "2026-07-01", "endDate": "2026-08-01", "filterStatus": ["Available"], "maxItems": 1000 } ```` ### Output Each record represents one campsite on one date: | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `campground_id` | string | Recreation.gov campground (facility) ID | | `campground_name` | string | Campground display name (e.g. "Lower Pines Campground") | | `campsite_id` | string | Unique campsite ID | | `site_label` | string | Human-readable site number (e.g. "003", "A12") | | `loop` | string | Loop name within the campground (e.g. "Lower Pines") | | `campsite_type` | string | Site type (e.g. `STANDARD NONELECTRIC`, `GROUP STANDARD ELECTRIC`) | | `reserve_type` | string | Reservation type (`Site-Specific`, `First Come First Serve`) | | `date` | string | Date being reported (ISO 8601, e.g. `"2026-07-04"`) | | `availability_status` | string | Status on this date: `Available`, `Reserved`, `Closed`, etc. | | `max_num_people` | integer | Maximum party size | | `min_num_people` | integer | Minimum party size | | `type_of_use` | string | Use type (`Overnight`, `Day`) | | `capacity_rating` | string | Capacity tier (`Single`, `Double`, `Triple`, `Group`) | | `is_ada` | boolean or null | ADA-accessible flag (set when `fetchCampsiteDetails: true`; null otherwise) | | `checked_at` | string | ISO 8601 timestamp when this record was scraped | #### Example Output Record ```json { "campground_id": "232450", "campground_name": "Lower Pines Campground", "campsite_id": "906", "site_label": "003", "loop": "Lower Pines", "campsite_type": "STANDARD NONELECTRIC", "reserve_type": "Site-Specific", "date": "2026-07-04", "availability_status": "Available", "max_num_people": 6, "min_num_people": 0, "type_of_use": "Overnight", "capacity_rating": "Single", "is_ada": null, "checked_at": "2026-05-23T03:01:30.000Z" } ``` ### Use Cases **Cancellation sniping** — Schedule the actor to run every hour on peak campgrounds. Filter to `filterStatus: ["Available"]` and alert when a site opens. **Trip planning feeds** — Pull a multi-month availability matrix for a set of campgrounds and visualize open windows. **Monitoring dashboards** — Track availability patterns over time; detect mass cancellations before others do. ### Performance and Cost - **No authentication required.** The Recreation.gov availability endpoint is fully public. - **Rate limit:** ~1 request per second (built-in). For large sweeps (many campgrounds x many months), budget ~1 second per (campground, month) pair. - **Scale:** ~4,000 federal campgrounds are searchable on Recreation.gov. Each campground has 10-200 campsites; each month yields ~30 dates per site. A 10-campground x 3-month sweep produces ~10,000-60,000 records. - **Pricing:** Pay-per-event — $0.10/start + $0.001/record. ### Notes - **Availability is volatile.** Recreation.gov sites open and close within seconds. The `checked_at` field is included on every record so you know exactly when each status was observed. - **`is_ada` requires `fetchCampsiteDetails: true`.** ADA flags are not included in the availability API response; enabling this option adds one extra API call per campground (cached for the run). - **Date range expansion:** The API returns one full calendar month per request. If you specify `startDate: "2026-06-15"`, the actor fetches the entire June 2026 month. # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `campgroundIds` (type: `array`): List of Recreation.gov campground IDs to check availability for. Example: \["232450", "232447"]. Find IDs on recreation.gov — the number in the URL: recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232450. ## `startDate` (type: `string`): First month to check (ISO 8601 date, e.g. "2026-06-01"). The API returns the full calendar month containing this date. Defaults to the current month if not set. ## `endDate` (type: `string`): Last month to check (ISO 8601 date, e.g. "2026-08-01"). Leave blank to check only the month containing startDate. ## `filterStatus` (type: `array`): Only return records matching these status values. Leave empty to return all statuses. Valid values: Available, Reserved, Closed, Not Reservable, Not Available By Day, Open, Walkup. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of availability records to return (0 = unlimited). ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "campgroundIds": [ "232450" ], "filterStatus": [], "maxItems": 10 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "campgroundIds": [ "232450" ], "startDate": "", "endDate": "", "filterStatus": [], "maxItems": 10 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "campgroundIds": ["232450"], "startDate": "", "endDate": "", "filterStatus": [], "maxItems": 10, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "campgroundIds": [ "232450" ], "startDate": "", "endDate": "", "filterStatus": [], "maxItems": 10 }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Recreation.gov Campsite Availability Scraper", "description": "Scrape live campsite availability from Recreation.gov's public API for any federal campground. Supply campground IDs and date ranges to get per-day open/reserved/closed status for every campsite — ideal for cancellation sniping, trip-planning feeds, and monitoring workflows.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "aPHtK6xlQdHltpxyh" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-recreation-gov-campsite-availability-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "campgroundIds", "maxItems" ], "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "campgroundIds": { "title": "Campground IDs", "type": "array", "description": "List of Recreation.gov campground IDs to check availability for. Example: [\"232450\", \"232447\"]. Find IDs on recreation.gov — the number in the URL: recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232450.\n", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "startDate": { "title": "Start Date", "type": "string", "description": "First month to check (ISO 8601 date, e.g. \"2026-06-01\"). The API returns the full calendar month containing this date. Defaults to the current month if not set.\n" }, "endDate": { "title": "End Date", "type": "string", "description": "Last month to check (ISO 8601 date, e.g. \"2026-08-01\"). Leave blank to check only the month containing startDate.\n" }, "filterStatus": { "title": "Filter by Availability Status", "type": "array", "description": "Only return records matching these status values. Leave empty to return all statuses. Valid values: Available, Reserved, Closed, Not Reservable, Not Available By Day, Open, Walkup.\n", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of availability records to return (0 = unlimited)." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```