The 10 most in-demand federal campgrounds near Grand Teton National Park
Signal Mountain took about 107.7 reservations per site each year, the most of the 10 campgrounds we ranked. Half its campers booked ~4 months or more ahead, and its sites were an estimated 100% full in summer.
Ranked by reservations per reservable site per year (FY2023–2025), so a small campground that fills up counts as much as a big one. "Typical booking" is when half of campers had already reserved; summer occupancy is our estimate (see how we measured).
01 · Jackson Lake
Signal Mountain Campground
A central base just above Jackson Lake
View of the Tetons from the Signal Mountain Campground beach area.Photo: Signal Mountain Lodge / Recreation.gov
An 80-site campground in lodgepole pine slightly above Jackson Lake, next to Signal Mountain Lodge and central to the rest of the park.
Half of August Friday and Saturday arrivals were reserved at least 159 days ahead, and a quarter at least 181 days ahead.
The earliest-booking campground in this study: half of August weekend arrivals were reserved at least 159 days ahead, more than five months.
~4 months out typical booking~100% full in summer (est.)107.7 reservations per site / yrRanked 1st of 10 · 78 reservable sites · 21,397 reservations FY2023–2025
Surrounded by cottonwoods, with views of Blacktail Butte and the Teton Range; the Gros Ventre River is within walking distance. Tent sites and dry camping for RVs.
~5 weeks out typical booking~97% full in summer (est.)87.1 reservations per site / yrRanked 2nd of 10 · 313 reservable sites · 75,598 reservations FY2023–2025
Jenny Lake Tent Site.Photo: Grand Teton Lodge Company / Recreation.gov
Inside the park · near Moose
Half of August Friday and Saturday arrivals were reserved at least 112 days ahead, and a quarter at least 181 days ahead.
~2 months out typical booking~91% full in summer (est.)84.9 reservations per site / yrRanked 3rd of 10 · 49 reservable sites · 10,462 reservations FY2023–2025
Colter Bay RV Park Sites.Photo: Grand Teton Lodge Company / Recreation.gov
112 full-hookup pull-through and back-in sites in lodgepole pine forest, walking distance from Jackson Lake, with laundry, showers, restaurants and a grocery store in the village.
Half of August Friday and Saturday arrivals were reserved at least 139 days ahead, and a quarter at least 181 days ahead.
~4 months out typical booking~99% full in summer (est.)81.3 reservations per site / yrRanked 4th of 10 · 112 reservable sites · 23,568 reservations FY2023–2025
RV travelers: see the listing for each site's length limit, hookups and site type.
Colter Bay Campground Tent Site.Photo: Grand Teton Lodge Company / Recreation.gov
Set amid lodgepole pines at Colter Bay Village, within walking distance of Jackson Lake and its views to Mount Moran. Tents and dry RV camping; full hookups are at the RV park next door.
Half of August Friday and Saturday arrivals were reserved at least 66 days ahead, and a quarter at least 160 days ahead.
~7 weeks out typical booking~98% full in summer (est.)78 reservations per site / yrRanked 5th of 10 · 339 reservable sites · 72,246 reservations FY2023–2025
All 10 campgrounds, ranked by reservations per site
Typical booking: median days between booking and arrival, FY2023–2025. Peak season, est. full: reserved site-nights ÷ (reservable sites × nights) in summer (June–August), 2023–2025; blank where we couldn't estimate it reliably. Ranking is reservations per reservable site per year, averaged over the FY2023–2025 years each campground took reservations (campgrounds that joined Recreation.gov recently are marked "Partial history"). Details in About this data.
Not ranked, because Recreation.gov doesn't list a reliable count of individual reservable sites (group, cabin or shared sites, fewer than 10 sites, or site records that don't match the bookings): Colter Bay Tent Village (9,747 reservations), Reunion Flat (860 reservations), Colter Bay Marina End Ties (592 reservations).
How Grand Teton bookings have changed
Reservations have held between about 76,000 and 106,000 a year since most of these campgrounds joined Recreation.gov in FY2021.
Earlier years are small because most campgrounds weren't bookable on Recreation.gov yet. FY2025: 99,566 reservations across all 13 campgrounds we studied.
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
1,972FY20COVID
75,587FY21COVID
FY22
FY23
FY24
99,566FY25
The set of campgrounds on Recreation.gov changed over these years (some, like Signal Mountain and Gros Ventre, joined recently), so part of the change reflects which campgrounds were bookable there, not only how many people camped.
All values
FY2015: 820
FY2016: 1,072
FY2017: 1,351
FY2018: 1,307
FY2019: 1,408
FY2020: 1,972 (COVID year)
FY2021: 75,587 (COVID year)
FY2022: 106,249
FY2023: 98,103
FY2024: 98,971
FY2025: 99,566
Find a Grand Teton campsite for your dates
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Data: Recreation.gov reservations FY2015–2025. These are Recreation.gov's public reservation records (the RIDB historical reservation files), covering every federal campground in the area that took at least 300 reservations in FY2023–2025. Federal fiscal years run October to September, so FY2025 is October 2024 through September 2025.
Which campgrounds are included. Every federal campground inside Grand Teton National Park or within 30 miles of its center point (straight-line distance) that takes reservations on Recreation.gov. Area / setting comes from each campground's Recreation.gov coordinates and managing agency; nearby towns are straight-line.
How we ranked. By reservations per reservable site per year: a campground's FY2023–2025 reservations divided by its number of reservable sites, averaged over the years in that span when it took reservations (at least one full fiscal year), so a campground that joined Recreation.gov recently isn't undercounted. This lets a small campground that books up compare fairly with a big one. Reservable sites are the individual overnight sites Recreation.gov lists for the campground; group sites, cabins, lookouts, yurts, shelters, boat-in and day-use sites are left out, and so are their reservations. Campgrounds with fewer than 10 such sites, or whose site records don't match the bookings (for example shared walk-in sites), aren't ranked and are listed under the table.
Typical booking time. The median number of days between the day a reservation was made and the arrival date, across all FY2023–2025 reservations at that campground: half of campers booked at least that far ahead. Profiles turn the busiest month's weekend figure into calendar dates for the next season, worked out from today's date.
Estimated summer occupancy. The share of possible site-nights in summer (June–August) of 2023, 2024 and 2025 that had a reservation: reserved site-nights ÷ (reservable sites × nights in the season). It's an estimate. Cancellations aren't in the data, so it can run high; sites closed for repairs or late openings make it run low. Each site-night counts once. We leave it blank where the site count is unreliable or the result came out over 100%.
No "% available". These records show what was booked, not what was open on a given day, so we don't estimate availability from them. The "Sites open" tags come from our live availability check and only appear when it confirms open sites.
Bookings, not occupancy. Each count is a reservation made. Cancellations aren't in the data, so a booked site may later have opened up, and nights a campground was closed simply show no bookings.
COVID years are flagged. FY2020 and FY2021 were shaped by closures, capacity limits and a camping surge, so we mark them and don't use them for "then vs now" comparisons.
Lead time is the days between the booking date and the arrival date. Weekend means a Friday or Saturday arrival. First-come, pay-on-arrival sites are left out of lead times.
Only campgrounds that take reservations on Recreation.gov are included. State parks, private campgrounds and first-come campgrounds aren't in these numbers.
