campsearch

about

campsearch helps you find the right place to camp in Canada — and learn how to camp here.

what this is

Canadian camping is fragmented across seven government reservation systems and thousands of private operators. Each has its own site, its own quirks, its own dates.

campsearch is one search across all of them. You tell us where you are, when you want to go, and what you need. We surface real campgrounds with real availability and link you out to whichever booking system actually holds the reservation. We don’t take a fee. We don’t mark up the price.

who this is for

Anyone who wants to go camping in Canada. We pay special attention to people who are new to it — new Canadians, first-time campers from a city, anyone who has never been shown how.

You don’t need to know what a "tier 1 park" is, where Kananaskis Country starts, or which province has the best lake. Type a city, pick dates, see real campgrounds. Read the what-to-bring list. Click through to book.

how it works

We pull park data from official sources weekly. Names, photos, amenities, locations — all combined into a single search.

When you find a park you like, we deep-link you to the official booking page. BC Parks holds the booking for BC Parks. Parks Canada holds the booking for Parks Canada. We don’t put ourselves in the middle.

first time camping?

A few things worth knowing before you go.

  • Fire rules change weekly. Provinces post fire-ban status daily. Always check before lighting anything — we surface bans on the park page, but the gate office is the source of truth.
  • Bear country is real. In Banff, Jasper, and parts of BC, store food in the lockers, not your car or tent. Carry bear spray on trails. The risk is small if you do the basics.
  • Bring more layers than you think. Even in summer, nights drop. A 5°C sleeping bag is the standard.
  • Quiet hours are 11pm to 7am at most parks. Headphones if you’re up late. Headlamps on red mode after dark.
  • Leave the site cleaner than you found it. Pack everything out. Don’t move rocks, don’t damage trees, don’t feed wildlife.

what we don’t do

  • We don’t take bookings. The official operator holds your reservation. We just point you there.
  • We don’t take a commission. The price you see is the price they charge.
  • We don’t track you. No analytics on this site yet. No ads. We use localStorage for your search preferences, that’s it.
  • We don’t sell email addresses. If you’re on the list, you’ll get one email from chris@calgaryanalytica.ca and that’s it. Unsubscribe link in every one.

what’s coming

A few features are in flight. The waitlist below catches you when they ship.

  • Cancellation alerts. Tell us you want a Banff site Aug 15-17. When the dates open, we email.
  • Saved parks. Cross-device watchlist for places you want to come back to.
  • Trip planning. Multi-day itineraries with parks chained along a route.
  • More data. First-Nations-operated parks, private operators (Hipcamp, KOA), trail-adjacent campgrounds. Currently growing weekly.

who built this

Chris Formoso, a solo developer in Calgary. campsearch is part of Calgary Analytica, the same operation behind Calgary Pulse — civic data for Calgary, weekly.

Built on Treaty 7 territory.

contact

Spot a bug? Wrong amenity? Missing a park? Email chris@calgaryanalytica.ca. Replies come back from the same address, usually within a day.