Every campground and cabin on the map is run by a real public agency or government — federal, provincial, state, local, or tribal/First Nations — not a booking platform. Camping is usually a secondary benefit of each agency's actual mission, not the reason the land exists in the first place. Knowing who runs a place tells you a lot about what to expect there.
A branch of the US Army that builds and operates dams, reservoirs, and waterways nationwide for flood control, navigation, hydropower, and water supply. Recreation, including camping, grew up around these lakes once the new shorelines became places people wanted to fish, boat, and camp.
Manages the national parks, monuments, and historic sites, balancing preservation of natural and cultural resources with public access and enjoyment.
Manages more public land than any other federal agency, concentrated in the western US, under a "multiple use" mandate covering grazing, energy development, conservation, and dispersed recreation — including a lot of free or low-cost primitive camping.
Manages the national forests and grasslands, also under a multiple-use mandate: timber, watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and recreation, including developed campgrounds and a real, well-known rustic cabin and fire-lookout rental program.
A federally owned utility created in the 1930s to manage flooding, generate power, and improve navigation across the Tennessee River watershed. TVA reservoirs support public campgrounds, most of which are run day-to-day by private concessionaires rather than TVA itself.
Manages the National Wildlife Refuge System, focused primarily on wildlife conservation rather than recreation. General campsites are rare on refuge land — this guide currently lists FWS cabin rentals only, not campsites.
Every US state runs its own independent state park system, each with its own agency, rules, and reservation system — some through ReserveAmerica or Camis, others through a platform of their own. Each state's campgrounds are listed under its own agency on the map.
The rustic campgrounds a state's forestry side runs outside its park system — a cleared site, a fire ring, a vault toilet and a hand-pump well, often first come first served. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin so far; each state's own forestry data.
Canada's national park service, protecting and presenting the country's national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas.
Each province and territory runs its own park system with its own reservation service — BC Parks, Alberta Parks, Ontario Parks, Sépaq in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon and the Northwest Territories are all on the map under their own agency.
Recreation Sites and Trails BC, a branch of the province's forests ministry, looks after more than a thousand small campgrounds on Crown land outside the park system — typically a lakeside clearing at the end of a gravel forest road with a pit toilet, fire rings, and picnic tables. Nearly all are first come, first served, with a modest cash fee collected on site by a contractor or no fee at all. Roads are shared with logging traffic and services are minimal, so bring water and pack out what you bring in.
Alberta's provincial parks agency, running the campgrounds in its provincial parks and provincial recreation areas — from the big reservable Kananaskis and Cypress Hills campgrounds to first-come-first-served lakeside sites and walk-in backcountry camps. Many are operated day-to-day by a contractor under a facility operator agreement, and those book through the operator rather than the province.
Alberta Forestry and Parks' public land recreation areas on Crown land outside the parks system — the rustic, first-come-first-served camping areas of the Bighorn Backcountry west of Rocky Mountain House, with toilets and fire rings at most, no garbage pickup and no water. There is no site fee, but every camper 18 and older needs the province's Public Lands Camping Pass.
US cities, counties, and other local governments that run a public campground as one small piece of their parks and recreation department, not as a dedicated camping agency. Coverage here is a growing, hand-verified list rather than a single nationwide dataset — there's no federal or state-level directory of every local government's campground the way there is for USACE or a state park system.
Camping on sovereign tribal land in the US, operated by federally recognized tribal governments and tribal enterprises — ranging from rustic, permit-based camping to full casino-resort RV parks. Same hand-verified, growing coverage model as City & Municipal Parks above.
The Canadian counterpart to City & Municipal Parks: municipalities, counties, and regional public bodies — including Saskatchewan's regional park authorities and Ontario's conservation authorities — running a local public campground. Kept as its own category rather than merged with the US list, since a Canadian municipality operates under different laws and structures than a US one.
Camping operated by First Nations governments and their enterprises across Canada, kept distinct from Tribal Lands above since a First Nation is a different kind of sovereign government than a US federally recognized tribe.
Every listing on the camping map carries its agency, and the Map layers panel there shows or hides each one. The parks map has every national, state and provincial park whether or not it has camping.