Campendium's search bar is your starting point for finding anywhere you want to camp, dump, fuel up, park for the night and more. Here's how to use it.
Start Your Search
If you're starting from the homepage (www.campendium.com), use the search bar in the middle of the homepage to start typing the location where you're interested in camping. You can search for a city, state, province, specific campground, or point of interest. Select it from the dropdown list to open up the map. You'll find yourself centered on that location on the map.
If you're already on the map (http://maps.campendium.com/), click the search bar at the top of the screen. It reads "Find places to camp, gas, and things to do" when empty. You can search for a city, state, province, specific campground, or point of interest. Select it from the dropdown list to pull it up on the map.
If you are looking for a specific city and want to see it pinned on the map, start or continue your search on maps.campendium.com. If you search for a city in the search bar, you'll see it pinned on the map. You should also see the four core Campendium categories in the Explore panel so you can easily apply one!
Once you're on the map, you can zoom in or out and pan around as needed to bring the area you're interested in into view.
When you're ready to start narrowing your search results you'll use either the Explore panel or that search bar at the top of the map again.
If you searched for a city or state, you should see 4 camping categories at the top of the Explore panel to get you started. If you click one of those categories, you can filter further by selecting 'filters'.
If camping categories aren't showing in the Explore tab, clear your previous search by clicking the X next to the search bar.
Your map view will stay the same, but you'll now be able to click in the search bar to see Categories! Click any category from the search bar and it will be applied to the map. You can further filter that category from the Explore panel as detailed below!
The Four Core Campendium Categories
These are the categories Campendium users rely on most. Each one filters the map to show only that type of place, and comes with its own set of detailed filters.
When you're first looking at the map, you'll see pins for all 4 of these categories on the map. Selecting a specific category lets you just view the types of places you're interested in.
🌲 Public Land
Free and low-cost camping on public land — national parks, national forests, BLM land, state parks, Army Corps of Engineers parks, county parks, and city parks. This is the heart of free camping on Campendium.
Filters available:
- Has Photos
- Nightly Rate (Free → $200+)
- Policies: 55+ Only, Adults Only, All Ages OK, Pets Allowed
- Electric Hookups: 50+ amp, 30+ amp, Any hookups
- Hookups: Sewer, Water
- Max RV Length
- Discounts: AAA, AARP, Coast to Coast, and more
- Property Type: Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
- Facilities: Cabins, Dog Run, Dump Station, and more
- Dump Station Price
- Elevation
- Cell Coverage: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
🚐 RV Parks
Private campgrounds and RV parks with full amenities. Use this when you want hookups, reservations, and on-site services.
Filters available:
- Has Photos
- Nightly Rate (Free → $200+)
- Policies: 55+ Only, Adults Only, All Ages OK, Pets Allowed
- Electric Hookups: 50+ amp, 30+ amp, Any hookups
- Hookups: Sewer, Water
- Max RV Length
- Discounts: AAA, AARP, Coast to Coast, and more
- Property Type: Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
- Facilities: Cabins, Dog Run, Dump Station, and more
- Dump Station Price
- Elevation
- Cell Coverage: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
🅿️ Overnight RV Parking
Free or low-cost overnight parking spots — Walmart parking lots, casino lots, Cracker Barrels, truck stops, and rest areas. Great for quick overnight stops on a long drive.
Filters available:
- Has Photos
- Nightly Rate (Free → $200+)
- Discounts: AAA, AARP, Coast to Coast, and more
- Property Type: Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
- Facilities: Cabins, Dog Run, Dump Station, and more
- Dump Station Price
- Elevation
- Cell Coverage: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
💩 Dump Stations
Standalone dump stations for emptying holding tanks. Filters let you narrow by price and discount club memberships.
Filters available:
- Has Photos
- Nightly Rate (Free → $200+)
- Discounts: AAA, AARP, Coast to Coast, and more
- Property Type: Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
- Facilities
- Dump Station Price
- Elevation
- Cell Coverage: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Want a bigger map view?
Click the arrow at the top left of the map to collapse the panel on the left so you can focus on the map.
Other Categories
Beyond the four core categories, Campendium also shows:
- My Saved Places (also known as Favorites)— your bookmarked locations (requires being logged in)
- Fuel & Charging — gas stations and EV charging
- Rest Stops — highway rest areas
- Bars & Restaurants
- Sights & Attractions
- The Great Outdoors
- Hotels & Unique Stays
- Activities & Experiences
- Shopping
- Sports & Wellness
These are especially useful when building a trip and planning stops along the way! To find these, click or tap in the search bar!
Filtering and Sorting Results
After selecting a category or searching a location, use the tools at the top of the results panel to narrow things down:
- Filter — opens the full filter panel for the current category
-
Sort by — change the order of results. Options are:
- Popularity (default)
- Distance from you
- Rating
- Number of reviews
On the Mobile App
The search experience on mobile works the same way, with a few layout differences.
Tap the search bar at the top of the screen to open the full categories grid — all the same categories are available, including My Saved Places, Public Land, RV Parks, and all others.
Instead of a sidebar results panel, results will first appear as pins on the map and you can tap the List view button to view a scrollable grid of cards. Tap Map view in the toolbar to switch back to the map. The toolbar also includes Filters, Sort by, and a Has Photos quick filter.
The Filters panel opens as a full-screen modal. Tap View [X] places at the bottom to apply your filters, or Reset to clear them.
When you tap a pin on the map, a bottom sheet appears with the campground name, location, and Save and Navigate buttons.
The layers button (stacked squares icon) in the top right of the map opens map options for switching base maps and toggling overlays — the same options available on web.
For more details, see: Getting Started with the Campendium Mobile App