Founder, |聽27,聽San Francisco, California
鈥淏efore I started Hipcamp, I鈥檇 spent so many hours online trying to find and book a campground that I nearly gave up. I couldn鈥檛 believe how difficult it was. Once, after I鈥檇 finally got a campsite, I showed up and realized that I hadn鈥檛 been told the most important thing about the spot鈥攖hat it had an incredible surf break. And, of course, I hadn鈥檛 brought my board!聽
鈥淭he idea for Hipcamp hit me like a ton of bricks. Our site allows you to easily find and reserve great campsites nationwide, regardless of who owns or manages the land. When we started, we had to push the Park Service to open its data system to people who are more digitally minded鈥攑eople who have grown up with these tools. It was an idea whose time had come. Now we鈥檙e working with private landowners to share places right outside, say, Yosemite, where you can鈥檛 book a site for the summer unless you鈥檙e up on January 2 at 8 A.M. for the lottery.聽
鈥淧lus, a lot of our private sites have unique elements, like a horse sanctuary or an organic farm, giving people new ways to connect with nature. Our mission is to get more people outside. But we鈥檙e also aware that, as we succeed, we need to create more places for them to go.鈥澛