The Dyrt, the app for camping availability, photos and reviews, released its 2024 Camping Report presented by Toyota Tacoma, identifying the trends and patterns shaping the future of camping.
The Dyrt compiled the report from a survey conducted with three groups—7,000 The Dyrt camper community members, a representative sample of 1,000 U.S. residents and camping property managers across all 50 states. It found that an estimated 84.8 million Americans went camping in 2023, with 5.5 million of that number being first-time campers, bringing the total number of new campers since 2021 to over 20 million.
The growth of camping has also increased demand. In 2023, 45.5 percent of campers reported difficulty booking a site because a campground was sold out. It was four times harder to find an available campsite to book than in 2019, when just 10.6 percent of campers reported difficulty. Yet, this number is down from a peak of 58.4 percent in 2022, likely because campgrounds are responding to demand, with one-half of camping properties surveyed reporting adding sites last year.
“We are in the new golden age of camping,” said The Dyrt CEO Kevin Long. “The demand for camping has never been greater, but technology is making it easier to find camping and property owners are rapidly expanding. As a result, campers have more options than ever before.”
Interest in RV camping continued to grow, with 46.8 percent of respondents indicating that RV or trailer was their primary form of camping, an increase of 10.9 percent over 2022. Overland and truck camping also saw a surge in interest, with 7.3 percent of respondents saying they preferred to “four-wheel” their way into the outdoors.
Free camping is another trend that continues to grow. The report found that nearly two-thirds of campers camped for free in 2023, up from one-third in 2019.
“It’s so fascinating to see dramatic increases in free camping, RVing and Overlanding all in the same year,” commented The Dyrt founder Sarah Smith. “It goes to show that there are so many ways to camp and that campers continue to explore new ways to enjoy the great outdoors.”
The Dyrt’s 2024 Camping Report includes new findings on camping vehicles. Campers listed trucks as “The Most Ideal” vehicle type for camping, though trucks ranked second behind SUVs for the car most campers own; however, that could change because most campers said they plan to purchase a vehicle in the next five years.
To read the full report, go here.
Image courtesy The Dyrt
