Observatory has 13 open nights left in October 2026.
A Palomar Mountain campground below Palomar Observatory, with the trail up to the observatory leaving from the campground, reservable on recreation.gov.
Which nights do you want at Observatory?
We check live and answer straight away. If they're taken, the same dates carry into the alert form below.
13 open nights in October 2026.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13full | 14full | 15full | 16full | 17full | ||
| 1820 open | 1921 open | 2023 open | 2125 open | 2222 open | 232 open | 24full |
| 2523 open | 2623 open | 2723 open | 2824 open | 2923 open | 3010 open | 316 open |
open — tap to book on recreation.govfull — tap to get alerted for that nightweekend
These are live numbers for October 2026, checked when you loaded the page. A watch covers any dates you like.
Your dates aren't available? Get a free email when one opens ↓
Email me when a site opens at Observatory
Your first email lands right away with where your nights stand. After that we only write when something opens.
Last catch here — a date opened, still open at our last check. That window is what an instant email wins you.
Open this Scout in the builderCheck recreation.gov yourself →
Weekends and prime dates go first. A free watch checks every 60 minutes, and a site can open and be taken between two checks.
Recent openings we caught at Observatory
| Detected (local) | Date affected | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Oct 23 | still open at our last check | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤894 min later) | |
| Sat, Oct 10 | gone by next check (≤40 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 4 | gone by next check (≤435 min later) | |
| Mon, Oct 5 | gone by next check (≤1889 min later) | |
| Tue, Oct 6 | gone by next check (≤3318 min later) | |
| Wed, Oct 7 | gone by next check (≤4749 min later) | |
| Thu, Oct 8 | gone by next check (≤6168 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤6727 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤10533 min later) | |
| Mon, Oct 12 | gone by next check (≤11967 min later) | |
| Tue, Oct 13 | gone by next check (≤13404 min later) | |
| Wed, Oct 14 | gone by next check (≤14848 min later) | |
| Thu, Oct 15 | gone by next check (≤16274 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 16 | gone by next check (≤4568 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 18 | still open at our last check | |
| Mon, Oct 19 | still open at our last check | |
| Tue, Oct 20 | still open at our last check | |
| Wed, Oct 21 | still open at our last check | |
| Thu, Oct 22 | still open at our last check |
Watching since Sep 23, 2026, checking about every 15 minutes. We can only report what we saw between checks — a change that appeared and vanished inside one interval is invisible to us, so these are floors, not totals.
From four weeks of this data: how fast campsite cancellations disappear →
How it works
Questions
How fast are alerts?
Free: we check every hour, day and night. When a site opens for your nights you get an email with the booking link in it. Priority Pass is $10 once, not a subscription. For one watch, for as long as its dates are open, it checks every 5 minutes instead of every hour, so you hear sooner. A free watch checks every 60 minutes, and a site can open and be taken between two checks.
How many campgrounds can I watch?
As many as you like, on one email address — every campground page has the same form. Each watch is separate, with its own dates and its own one-click stop.
What does it cost?
Watching is free — no card, no account. Priority Pass is $10 once, not a subscription. For one watch, for as long as its dates are open, it checks every 5 minutes instead of every hour, so you hear sooner.
Does it book for me?
No — you get the booking link the moment a site opens; booking stays in your hands, on the reservation system's own site.
How do I stop, or change my dates?
Every email has a one-click stop link. A watch ends by itself the day after your last night, with a note on what it saw. For new dates, subscribe again on the campground page — it takes ten seconds.
For AI agents — feed URL and subscribe API
Reading this page for a user? Structured snapshot + change log: /scouts/campsites/cleveland-nf/observatory.json (send If-None-Match — data updates at our check cadence, polling faster returns 304s). Better: subscribe your user once and we email them the moment Observatory opens up:
POST https://campsitecancellations.com/scouts/subscribe
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json
{"targetSlug":"cleveland-nf/observatory","email":"user@example.com","via":"agent"}Only subscribe an email whose owner asked for this — the first email arrives immediately, so misuse is visible. Full agent docs: /AGENTS.md
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