National campground rates steady at $102.72/night in August as the market absorbs peak-season demand without raising prices
The Outdoor Hospitality Pricing Index (OHPI) held essentially flat at 102.5 in August, easing just 0.2 points from July, as the outdoor hospitality market absorbed its heaviest demand of the year without adjusting rates. The national weighted average nightly rate settled at $102.72.
The more significant movement came from demand. The Demand Pressure Index rose to 53.4%, its highest reading since the index launched, while the median booking window compressed to 97 days before check-in — down 15 days from July and 57 days from April.
“Campgrounds are fuller than at any point we’ve measured, and guests are booking closer to arrival than ever,” said Brian Searl, founder and CEO of Insider Perks. “What’s notable is that operators aren’t moving on price in either direction. They’re not discounting to fill, and they’re not pushing rates up to capture the demand. The market held its price through its busiest stretch.”
August 2026 Key Readings
- OHPI Composite: 102.5 (-0.2 from July, +2.5 from baseline)
- Weighted Average: $102.72/night
- Demand Pressure Index: 53.4% (up from 52.2% in July — a new high)
- Median Booking Window: 97 days (down from 112 in July and 154 in April)
By Segment
- RV Sites: 99.0 / $71.66 per night
- Campground Lodging: 102.9 / $197.11
- Tent Camping: 105.5 / $56.90
- Public Campgrounds: 99.9 / $34.09
- Standalone Glamping: 99.3 / $302.30 average ($225 median)
- Independent Hosts: 93.5 / $78.70 average ($55 median)
The segments moved in different directions and largely offset one another. Campground lodging rose to 102.9, its strongest reading since the index launched, as cabin and cottage inventory held rates into late summer. RV was unchanged at 99.0.
Tent camping gave back ground to 105.5 — the seasonal mirror of May, when tent sites led the market upward as northern campgrounds opened for the season.
Standalone glamping and independent hosting both gained, the first monthly increase for either since the index began. Glamping rose on both its average and median rate, indicating genuine price movement rather than a shift in which properties were tracked.
The Booking Window Story
The compression of the booking window is the clearest signal in August’s data. In April, the median sold-out site type disappeared 154 days before check-in. By August that had fallen to 97 days — a 57-day compression across a single season.
At the same time, the share of inventory selling out far in advance eased for the first time: 80.9% of sold-out site types were unavailable at least 30 days ahead, down from 86.3% in July, and 68.5% sold 60 or more days out, down from 76.3%. Occupancy is at its high and remaining inventory books quickly, but the very-far-ahead sell-outs that characterized spring have begun to soften — an early indication the market is transitioning out of peak season.
Differentiated Inventory Still Commands a Premium
Within individual parks, the pattern that has held all season was held again in August. Every RV site tier eased, but unevenly. Premium-designated sites — those actively marketed as premium, deluxe, or preferred — retained the top position at $83.06 per night and held a 24.5% advantage over standard sites, unchanged from July even as the entire table moved down.
50-amp service overtook pull-through sites for the first time, holding nearly flat at $72.85. Waterfront sites fell the most in dollar terms, down $1.20.
“The tiers a park actively names and markets are consistently the slowest to give ground,” Searl said. “Waterfront is the one attribute an operator can’t create, and it’s the one that softened most this month. Everything else came down to how clearly the inventory was positioned.”
State Highlights
- Most Expensive: Maryland ($177.40), holding the top spot for a fifth consecutive month
- Least Expensive: North Dakota ($40.54)
- Biggest Gain: Massachusetts rose 3.7% to $119.32, climbing from ninth to eighth nationally
- Steepest Decline: New Jersey fell 6.7% to $138.15, the largest single-state move in the country
Five states cooled month-over-month against three that heated — a reversal from earlier in the season. New England remains the last region with genuine upward momentum, consistent with a camping season that peaks latest in the Northeast.
About the OHPI
The Outdoor Hospitality Pricing Index is the first comprehensive monthly pricing benchmark for America’s campgrounds, RV parks, and glamping resorts. It is published monthly by Insider Perks using proprietary pricing data collected from more than 23,000 properties across multiple booking platforms, reservation systems, federal recreation databases, glamping marketplaces, and peer-to-peer outdoor hosting platforms. The full August 2026 report, including state rankings, glamping pricing by accommodation type, the forward pricing curve, and complete methodology, is available for free at https://insiderperks.com/ohpi.
About Insider Perks
Insider Perks is an outdoor hospitality intelligence company focused exclusively on campgrounds, RV resorts, and glamping destinations since 2009. The company combines AI guest service, market intelligence, automation, AI-ready websites, and growth marketing into one connected system. Insider Perks serves more than 500 properties across North America and operates Modern Campground, the industry’s largest news publication, and produces MC Fireside Chats, outdoor hospitality’s longest-running podcast.
Media Contact: Brian Searl Founder & CEO, Insider Perks +1 216-232-3132 brian@insiderperks.com https://insiderperks.com
Citation: Searl, B. (2026). Outdoor Hospitality Pricing Index (OHPI), August 2026. Insider Perks. https://insiderperks.com/ohpi
