The Dyrt, an app for camping information and booking, in its 2023 Camping Report, identified that 18.1 percent of campers changed or canceled plans due to flooding and natural disasters in 2022 and forecasted that many campers would face a similar situation this year, especially in California, where the Sierra Nevada snowpack is the second highest on record since 1950, and 80 percent of the snow has yet to melt.
Flooding was a significant issue for campers and outdoor enthusiasts in the United States, with massive flooding in Yellowstone National Park in 2022 and campgrounds in New Mexico and Iowa forced to close in April.
The Dyrt found that nearly one in five campers altered plans in 2022 due to flooding and natural disasters, roughly triple the 6.1 percent of respondents who indicated their plans in 2019 had been disrupted. During that same three-year period, campers reported that finding an available campsite was five times harder.
“With the increase in popularity of camping, people have to plan further and further ahead to make sure they can reserve a campsite,” said The Dyrt CEO Kevin Long. “So when a family has a trip planned and a national park, state park or campground is forced to close due to a flood, it’s not as easy as pushing it off a week or just finding another campground.”
The report noted that “avid campers, survey respondents who camped 11 or more times in 2022, were more likely to have their plans disrupted by floods and natural disasters, with 26.6 percent saying that they encountered an issue last year.”
Photo courtesy The Dyrt
