Big Meadows has 16 open nights left in October 2026.
Shenandoah National Park's largest and most central campground, on Skyline Drive near the park's biggest meadow and its Big Meadows Lodge and visitor center.
Which nights do you want at Big Meadows?
We check live and answer straight away. If they're taken, the same dates carry into the alert form below.
16 open nights in October 2026.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 727 open | 846 open | 9full | 10full | |||
| 11full | 1224 open | 1327 open | 1429 open | 1525 open | 16full | 17full |
| 1823 open | 1912 open | 2023 open | 2134 open | 2234 open | 23full | 24full |
| 2575 open | 2678 open | 2778 open | 2884 open | 2981 open | 30full | 31full |
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 Big Meadows
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, gone by our next check (≤45 min later). 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 Big Meadows
| Detected (local) | Date affected | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤45 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤92 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 23 | gone by next check (≤327 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤67 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤1009 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤181 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤196 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤90 min later) | |
| Sat, Oct 10 | gone by next check (≤60 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤217 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤37 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤91 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤35 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤72 min later) | |
| Fri, Oct 9 | gone by next check (≤98 min later) | |
| Sun, Oct 11 | gone by next check (≤98 min later) | |
| Sat, Oct 3 | still open at our last check | |
| Sat, Oct 17 | gone by next check (≤100 min later) | |
| Sat, Oct 3 | gone by next check (≤356 min later) | |
| Sat, Oct 31 | gone by next check (≤1217 min later) |
Watching since Sep 8, 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/shenandoah/big-meadows.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 Big Meadows opens up:
POST https://campsitecancellations.com/scouts/subscribe
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json
{"targetSlug":"shenandoah/big-meadows","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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