Questions people actually ask
Is this official?
No. CampFromTheCouch is an independent hobby project, not affiliated with or endorsed by BC Parks, Parks Canada, or any park operator or reservation provider. Availability shown on the official booking site is always authoritative.
Does it book the site for me?
Never. We alert; you book on the official site with your own account. We never see your park credentials or payment details.
How fast are the alerts?
Free watches check as often as every 12 minutes; supporters every 4, plus one "priority watch" of their own choosing that we check every 2. When a matching site opens you get one ping for that site and date, and another if that same spot gets snapped up and later reopens. You can also slow a watch down yourself if you'd rather check less often. Very wide date windows check a little less often whatever your plan, because each one costs the booking site more work.
How do I get notified, and do I need Discord?
No, you don't need a Discord account. Pick any mix of four channels per watch: Discord (your own webhook), web push (straight to your phone or desktop), ntfy (a free push app, no account needed), or email, each with a "send test" button so you know it works. Check more than one and we hit all of them. If a watch has nowhere to send its alert, we'll warn you rather than quietly default it anywhere.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes, install it from your browser as an app (Add to Home Screen) and it runs full-screen like any other app. On iPhone/iPad, open the site in Safari (Chrome and Firefox on iOS can't install it), tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Installing is also required for web-push alerts on iOS: Apple only allows push for installed web apps (iOS 16.4+). Android and desktop get push right in the browser.
Why invite-only?
We poll the reservation systems politely: shared checks, rate caps, automatic backoff. Growing slowly keeps it that way. Everyone can pass along up to 5 invites a week, and each code expires after 10 days. Ask Rob for a code.
Is scraping the parks' sites okay?
We read the same public availability data your browser does, far less often than a person mashing refresh, with shared caching so popularity doesn't add load. We think being first to know about a cancellation should not require staying up until 2am. If a park operator ever asks us to stop for their system, we will.
What happens to my data?
Your email (from Discord/Google login), your watches, and where to ping you (any email address, Discord webhook, web-push subscription, or ntfy topic you add). We also keep a small anti-abuse log (a hashed IP in our database, never the raw address, plus a few rate-limit counters) so the free service can't be scripted or hammered. If you use a Planning Group and choose to enter attendee names for a booking, those are stored too, seen only by you and whoever books your pad, and auto-deleted after the trip. That's the shape of it; anything else in there is something you added on purpose, like friends, blackout dates, or a saved weather spot, and the full inventory lives on the Privacy page. No trackers, no ads, no selling anything.
Who's behind this?
It's a one-person hobby project built and run by Rob, a camper who got tired of refreshing park booking sites late at night. No company, no team, no investors; just someone who wanted their friends to stop missing trips.
What do free and supporter accounts each get?
A free account is the real tool: watches, blackout dates, calendar sync, Discord, web-push, ntfy and email alerts, and the next 30 nights of any park's booking level. Supporting adds go-live alerts, Planning Groups, and a park's whole booking season. Full breakdown on the access levels page.