It's Not Too Late to Plan an Eclipse Camping Trip

I’ve never seen a solar eclipse before, but from everything I’ve heard about them, they’re not to be missed. During a total eclipse, the sun, moon, and earth perfectly align, casting the moon’s shadow upon the earth and darkening the daytime sky. You’ll see stars during daytime, and other eerie/weird/cool things happening in nature that are apparently hard to describe.

The "Great American Solar Eclipse" is happening Monday, August 21.

It can only be fully viewed within the “path of totality”—a 70-mile-wide path stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. You’ll be able to see a partial eclipse from anywhere in the U.S., but the experience won’t be nearly as rewarding as making a trek to somewhere within the path of totality.

An eclipse has never been viewed coast to coast like this, so naturally it’s been getting a lot of buzz. In fact, people are saying this is going to be the most viewed solar eclipse in all of history. Thousands of pop-up campsites within the path of totality have been created and booked within the past few months, but if you haven’t started planning your eclipse trip yet, I cordially invite you to check out the company I work for, Hipcamp, where new campsites within the path are being added every day.

Hipcamp partners with landowners across the country to create new places to camp. We’ve partnered with hundreds of landowners within the path of totality – as well as pulled together all the public campgrounds – to create the most comprehensive map for eclipse camping. (Know a landowner within the path who wants to host campers? Send ‘em here.) 

You can see a preview of some of the campsites still available on Hipcamp within the path of totality — or darn close to it! — in the gallery above. Can't find what you're looking for? Keep checking back — we're adding new sites every day!

I highly recommend reserving a campsite as soon as you can—scoring first-come, first-served sites for this weekend will be as hard as it gets (though you can read my guide to last minute camping here if want to give it a try). I’ve heard that the population is going to double over the eclipse weekend in my new home state of Wyoming (granted, our population is only 500,000), so having a solid plan locked down before you make the pilgrimage to totality is going to be more important than during your average camping trip.

So, where are you going to camp during the eclipse?

Looking for an affordable option? We rounded up all available campsites under $100 – some as low as $25 – by state right here.

Discover and book Eclipse campsites on Hipcamp! The next solar eclipse in the U.S. won’t be until 2024, and it won’t cover nearly as much ground, so you won’t want to miss this one!

My team at Hipcamp also pulled together some other helpful tips for planning your eclipse camping trip, like how to view the eclipse safely and what to bring on our blog the Hipcamp Journal.