About & how we check
Great Lakes state park campgrounds book on five different systems with five different rules: Wisconsin opens 11 months ahead, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana 6 months, Minnesota 120 days, and release times run from 8 a.m. Central to noon Eastern. The Boundary Waters opens a whole season of permits on one January morning. This site puts the rules in one place and does the date math for you.
How we check
- Every rule comes from the agency's own page (state DNRs, the National Park Service, the Forest Service), and each page names the source and the date we last read it.
- We re-read every source on a schedule and update the date only after reading it again.
- Where an agency doesn't publish something, like Ohio's release time, we say so rather than guess.
- We never scrape or automatically check reservation systems, and we never book for anyone.
Who runs it
An independent site run from Reading, Massachusetts. Not affiliated with any state park agency or the National Park Service.
Sources we use
- USDA Forest Service (Superior NF): Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Permits (checked 2026-11-02)
- WTIP North Shore Community Radio: BWCAW permit reservations open end of January (2026) (checked 2026-11-02)
- Michigan DNR FAQ: Reservations, modifications and cancelations (checked 2026-11-02)
- Michigan DNR: Ludington State Park (checked 2026-11-02)
- NPS Sleeping Bear Dunes: D.H. Day Campground (checked 2026-11-02)
- Wisconsin DNR: Camping Reservation Frequently Asked Questions (checked 2026-11-02)
- Wisconsin DNR: Camping at Peninsula State Park (checked 2026-11-02)
- Minnesota DNR: Reservations — Common questions (checked 2026-11-02)
- Minnesota DNR: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park (checked 2026-11-02)
- Ohio DNR: Ohio State Parks Reservation Policy (checked 2026-11-02)
- Ohio DNR: Hocking Hills State Park Campground (checked 2026-11-02)
- Indiana DNR: Camping Business Rules (PDF on Indiana State Parks Reservations) (checked 2026-11-02)
- Indiana DNR: Indiana Dunes State Park (checked 2026-11-02)