A new report by Outdoorsy looked at the U.S. states where camping has grown in popularity the most over the past five years.
To find the 15 top states where camping has recently spiked the most, researchers at Outdoorsy analyzed data from Recreation.gov – a trip planning and reservation portal for U.S. public lands. The researchers ranked states according to each location’s percentage change in camping reservations from 2015 to 2020. Researchers also calculated the total increase in camping reservations from 2015 to 2020, total camping reservations in 2020, and the public land (national park, national forest, lake, etc.) with the most camping reservations in 2020.
Coming in first was Indiana, with a 481.3 percent spike in camping reservations throughout the last five years – representing 7,566 more reservations made in the state. The most popular area was Indiana’s Dunes National Park.
Close behind was Nevada, showing a 366.3 percent increase in camping reservations with a total of 19,962 reservations made as of 2020.
In third was South Dakota, with Michigan and Wyoming coming in behind.
While steadily growing in popularity prior to 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated camping growth as Americans sought safe, outdoor vacations away from crowds, the survey said. According to a research report by Kampgrounds of America (KOA), over 10 million households camped for the first time in 2020, accounting for one-fifth of all camping households. Data from Recreation.gov——showed camping reservations numbered nearly 3.3 million in 2020, up by about one-third from 2019 and by more than two-thirds from five years prior.
To see the full list of top camping states, read the story from Outdoorsy here.