Does this MCP allow me to actually book the campsite?

No, this MCP provides the availability and descriptive data. You will still use the official Recreation.gov site to finalize your reservation.

How far in advance can I see availability?

Reservations are released on a rolling basis roughly five months ahead. If a month is empty, it might be because it is too far in the future or the park is closed for the season.

What happens if my trip crosses into a new month?

The MCP handles this automatically. It fetches the data for both months to ensure the site is available for every night of your stay.

Can I search for things other than campgrounds?

The search capability is designed to filter out tours and permits, focusing specifically on campground inventory.

Why does a campground show no availability if I know it's open?

The campground might be first-come-first-served, or it might be closed for the season. You can use the monthly availability capability to see if the park has published any inventory at all.

Do I need an API key or a Recreation.gov account?

No. The server reads the same public availability data the Recreation.gov website loads, without authentication. Booking still happens on Recreation.gov itself. this server answers what is open, it does not hold or modify a reservation.

Why does a month come back empty even though the campground exists?

Two common reasons. Recreation.gov releases reservations on a rolling schedule. roughly five months ahead, often on the 15th of the month. so a month beyond that window has no published inventory yet. Or the campground is first-come-first-served, or closed for the season, in which case there is simply nothing to reserve. The response says which of these it is rather than reporting zero sites as if the campground were gone.

A site is open on most nights of my stay. why is it not listed?

Because a booking needs one site free on every night of the stay, not several sites free across it. A site blocked on a single night cannot host the booking, so it is excluded. Use find_available_dates instead to see which arrival dates do work for the length of stay you want.

Why do I get fewer campgrounds than the amount I asked for?

Recreation.gov returns campgrounds, tours, permits and timed-entry listings in one mixed list, and its server-side filters are not reliable. This server keeps only campgrounds, so rows of other kinds are dropped and a page can hold fewer than requested. Advance the offset by the page size, not by the rows you received, to page through correctly.

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Connect Campsite Availability to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini

Set it up once and it works in ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and any other client you love. It all runs safely in the background, so you can relax and focus on what really matters. Find the perfect campsite for your next trip without clicking through endless grids.

Ask AI about this Connector

Developed, maintained, and hosted by Vinkius.

MCP VERIFIED · PRODUCTION READY · VINKIUS GUARANTEED

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Works with modern AI clients that support MCP, including ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and more.

Your AI does the work. We keep it safe and sound.

No other AI tool gives you this. Your workflow runs in the client you already love, your account stays protected, and you decide what the agent can and cannot do. It is the whole reason to make the switch.

Each Connector lives inside our infrastructure, the same place where your workflow runs. The three things below are already part of it, working quietly in the background so you never have to think about them. Nothing to add, nothing to set up, nothing to worry about.

How Vinkius works: one connection, every tool, in any AI

V8 Isolate01

Each Connector runs inside its own sealed environment.

Each Connector runs inside its own sealed V8 runtime — no access to your files, your system, or other servers. A Connector never sees past its own request.

Kill Switch02

One switch stops every agent. Instantly.

One action deactivates every Connector, revokes every token, and ends every session at once. AI Governance keeps the record.

FinOps per User03

Spending limits that pause instead of surprise.

Every user keeps their own connections and credentials, isolated from everyone else. Anything that would cross your spending limit is held for your approval, not billed.

Three controls, built into the layer your AI connects through.

Complete set · 6 capabilities

The complete Recreation.gov capability set.

These are the exact actions your AI can choose when you ask it to work with Recreation.gov.

Capability set01 / 02

01-03

3 capabilities in this set.

Part of 6 available through Recreation.gov.

01
Compare campgrounds
Compares up to eight campgrounds side by side for a specific month. It reports site counts, the best dates for availability, and the first available arrival for each location.
02
Find available dates
Identifies arrival dates within a month that have at least one site free for your entire stay duration. It handles the logic of finding consecutive open nights so you don't have to.
03
Get campground
Retrieves the full descriptive record for a single campground. This includes facilities, fees, accessibility notes, contact info, and stay limits.

Capability set02 / 02

04-06

3 capabilities in this set.

Part of 6 available through Recreation.gov.

04
Get monthly availability
Provides a full monthly view of a campground's inventory. It breaks down open, reserved, and closed sites by arrival date and site type.
05
Search campgrounds
Searches the Recreation.gov inventory for specific parks or campground names. It returns the unique facility IDs required to use the other capabilities in this MCP.
06
Find available sites
Lists the specific sites that are available for every night of a requested stay. It works even if your trip starts in one month and ends in the next.

One connector, every AI

Recreation.gov works with the most popular AI clients.

These are the most popular clients, each with a step-by-step guide: one link, set up once, with governance and visibility built in. And because everything runs on the MCP standard, the same connection also works in any other compatible client — nothing to rebuild.

Building your own app? The connector is yours to use.

You don't need a client to put Recreation.gov to work: the same hosted connection plugs into your own applications and agent code, with the same governance on every request. Build with it, chat with it — one connection for both.

Observed, not estimated

974ms average. Fast in production.

Recreation.gov is checked daily against the live service.

Daily averagePeak 1460ms

Sep 21Today

Fastest day: 901ms
Slowest day: 1460ms
14-day trend: Improving-28%

Connect your client

One URL. Every client.

Activate the Connector, copy your link, and paste it into the client you already use. 6 capabilities arrive ready to run.

Preview access · not provider authentication

The vk_preview_* token belongs to Vinkius preview infrastructure. It lets Claude discover and display the capabilities of Recreation.gov, so you can see the experience inside your AI.

It does not authenticate your account with Recreation.gov. Actions requiring credentials or live account data may not run until you activate the Connector and authorize the service.

Recreation.gov Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_u4e0HUE34SwYwOpsrv1kyf0hMFiomY6q1p8EC3Wd/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
3Click Add and start a new chat — Recreation.gov capabilities are ready to use.

Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "campsite-availability-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_u4e0HUE34SwYwOpsrv1kyf0hMFiomY6q1p8EC3Wd/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude
ChatGPT
Cursor
VS Code
Windsurf
Claude Code
JetBrains
Cline

Step-by-step instructions for each client are in the guide. How to connect

Guided setup for Claude? How to give Claude access to Recreation.gov

See all the AI clients this connector works with ↑

Who it's for

Built for the work Recreation.gov owners hand off.

This is for anyone planning outdoor trips who wants to use an AI agent to do the heavy lifting of searching through complex reservation grids.

01
Travel Planners
They hand off the tedious task of checking specific dates and site types to the agent.
02
Outdoor Enthusiasts
They use the agent to quickly find windows of availability in popular national parks.
03
Family Trip Coordinators
They ask the agent to find sites that fit specific capacity or facility needs for a group.

FAQ

Questions Recreation.gov owners ask.

01
Does this MCP allow me to actually book the campsite?
No, this MCP provides the availability and descriptive data. You will still use the official Recreation.gov site to finalize your reservation.
02
How far in advance can I see availability?
Reservations are released on a rolling basis roughly five months ahead. If a month is empty, it might be because it is too far in the future or the park is closed for the season.
03
What happens if my trip crosses into a new month?
The MCP handles this automatically. It fetches the data for both months to ensure the site is available for every night of your stay.
04
Can I search for things other than campgrounds?
The search capability is designed to filter out tours and permits, focusing specifically on campground inventory.
05
Why does a campground show no availability if I know it's open?
The campground might be first-come-first-served, or it might be closed for the season. You can use the monthly availability capability to see if the park has published any inventory at all.
06
Do I need an API key or a Recreation.gov account?
No. The server reads the same public availability data the Recreation.gov website loads, without authentication. Booking still happens on Recreation.gov itself. this server answers what is open, it does not hold or modify a reservation.
07
Why does a month come back empty even though the campground exists?
Two common reasons. Recreation.gov releases reservations on a rolling schedule. roughly five months ahead, often on the 15th of the month. so a month beyond that window has no published inventory yet. Or the campground is first-come-first-served, or closed for the season, in which case there is simply nothing to reserve. The response says which of these it is rather than reporting zero sites as if the campground were gone.
08
A site is open on most nights of my stay. why is it not listed?
Because a booking needs one site free on every night of the stay, not several sites free across it. A site blocked on a single night cannot host the booking, so it is excluded. Use find_available_dates instead to see which arrival dates do work for the length of stay you want.
09
Why do I get fewer campgrounds than the amount I asked for?
Recreation.gov returns campgrounds, tours, permits and timed-entry listings in one mixed list, and its server-side filters are not reliable. This server keeps only campgrounds, so rows of other kinds are dropped and a page can hold fewer than requested. Advance the offset by the page size, not by the rows you received, to page through correctly.