Seven Exciting Glamping Lodges That Are Opening in the US This Year
From a theme park resort to riverside Airstreams and upscaled ranches, glamping accommodations keep raising the bar.
Wildhaven Yosemite’s luxurious cabins are located an hour’s drive from Yosemite National Park.
Source: Wildhaven Yosemite Glamping
Glamping—the seemingly silly-sounding practice of sleeping in five-star “tents” in pristine environments—continues to be in high demand in the US, piggybacking on the success of glamorous tented camps in destinations like Costa Rica and Botswana. In 2023, more than half of all campers chose to go glamping at least once, a 52% increase from 2022. Among first-time campers, a third opted for the upscale version, up from 18% in 2021. That’s according to new data from Kampgrounds of America, the largest campgrounds operator in the US, which on May 8 is publishing its 2024 Camping and Hospitality Report.
“We are really surprised at the level of bookings we’ve had this early in 2024,” says Neil Dipaola, founder of the outdoorsy resort brand Autocamp, best known for fancy conversions of Airstream travel trailers. His six glamping resorts—located in places such as New York’s Catskills and Zion, Utah—generally run at 95% to 100% occupancy, he says. This year, he adds, Autocamp is seeing amped-up demand from a younger generation of travelers and corporate groups arranging offsite team meetings.