Hipcamp began with a camping trip—and a problem familiar to anyone who has tried to plan an adventure across unfamiliar terrain.
Ahead of a New Year’s trip in 2013, founder and CEO Alyssa Ravasio spent hours with dozens of tabs open looking for somewhere to camp. She eventually found a campsite at a state park in Big Sur and set off for the coast. When she arrived, she discovered something none of her research had surfaced: the park sat beside an incredible point break, and without knowing that, she had left her surfboard at home.
The experience revealed a bigger problem. Information about camping was scattered across countless systems, making it unnecessarily difficult to understand where to stay—and what to expect when you got there. Ravasio learned to code and built the first version of Hipcamp to bring that information together.
Today, Hipcamp is the #1 app for finding and booking campsites, from national parks to off-grid spots found nowhere else. More than 8 million campers use the free Hipcamp app to discover, compare, and book peaceful private sites, iconic public lands, and well-equipped campgrounds in one place. Think 500,000 campsites, all in one free app with no subscriptions or membership fees.
That mission has a natural connection to overlanding. For anyone with a rig, a campsite is rarely the entire destination. It might be a dependable place to land after a long day behind the wheel, a basecamp near the trail ahead, or a quiet, uncrowded spot that turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the trip rather than just a stopover.
Hipcamp helps travelers find the right site for both the route and the rig. Campers can search for vehicle-friendly sites, hookups, dump stations, pet-friendly stays, cell coverage, and other essentials. Detailed photos, property information, and reviews from fellow campers help them understand road access, terrain, amenities, and arrival logistics before committing, which is especially valuable when traveling in a larger or more specialized vehicle.
What truly sets Hipcamp apart is the access it unlocks beyond both traditional campgrounds and unpredictable first-come, first-served public land. Through Hipcamp, landowners open working farms, ranches, forests, desert acreage, and other remarkable private places to campers, creating over 120,000 new camping spots unavailable anywhere else. For overlanders, that means more options near favorite destinations and along less-traveled routes: places with room to settle in, often with clutch amenities, dark skies overhead, and experiences unavailable in a crowded campground or parking lot.
Those trips also support the people who care for the land. Hosting gives rural landowners a way to earn income from camping while funding the stewardship, restoration, and preservation of the land overlanders come to enjoy. It is a model built around Hipcamp’s mission of getting more people outside—and the belief that recreation can help sustain the landscapes that make it possible.
In 2026, Hipcamp brought that idea directly to the overlanding community through the Hipcamp × Overland Expo Adventure Route. The cross-country trip planner connects all five Overland Expo events with iconic destinations, worthwhile detours, and campsites along the way. Event-specific collections also help attendees find rig-friendly basecamps near each show on their way in and out of town.
Whether you’re mapping a cross-country adventure or searching for tonight’s stop, Hipcamp is all about helping more people find their perfect camping spot.
