Best Camping Spots to Experience the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Start planning now for April 8, 2024.

by Shawn Jackson

Mark your calendar and start planning because on Monday, April 8, 2024 we will have the opportunity to experience the next total solar eclipse! The moon will block out the entire view of the sun. What makes this total eclipse so special? It will last about 2 minutes longer than the total eclipse of 2017. What better way to experience the eclipse than while camping with your family? Campgrounds are filling up quickly, so start planning now.

Path of Totality

The Path of Totality refers to the moon's shadow as it passes between the earth and sun. Not everyone in the United States will see a total eclipse on April 8th. A total eclipse happens when you are completely inside the moon's shadow. And this shadow will only be 125 miles wide. It will be moving up from Mexico as it hits Texas at 12:10pm CDT. It will then travel northeast through 15 states before ultimately leaving Maine at 4:41pm EDT. If you were in a jet following the shadow you would have to be moving at more than 1,900 mph to keep up.

How Long Will it Last?

Although the shadow is moving at a high speed you have to remember that the moon's shadow is enormous. As long as you are close to the centerline of the path you should be able to experience about 4 minutes of totality before the shadow passes your location. Viewers that are further away from the centerline may experience only a fraction of this time.

How Dark Will it Get?

Have you ever taken a night-hike during a full moon? That is how dark you can expect it to get during the eclipse. In fact, standing in the moon's shadow is 400,000 times less bright than a normal sunny day. Make sure you plan to view the eclipse far away from any automatic lights that may come on and spoil all the fun. Also, temperatures can drop up to 20 degrees-so bring a jacket!

How Do I Plan My Trip?

PerfectCamp has a real-time interactive eclipse map with campgrounds along the path of the eclipse! Just view the map with the 2024 path of totality map layer (shaded area) and click the full screen icon on the right to expand the map for better viewing. The centerline appears as a black line indicating areas that will have the longest duration of totality. Campgrounds (including national parks, state parks and local properties) are shown as green icons. You can see the April availability calendar by clicking on each campground, or you can filter by available dates (like April 8th) in the map settings.

What Campgrounds are Closest to the Centerline?

Waxahachie Creek Campground in Ennis, TX is the closest campground to the center of totality. The distance column indicates the distance to the centerline. Clicking on the Campground Name will load the location into the interactive map above.

Campsites Still Available to Reserve Inside the Path of Totality

If you are a supporter of PerfectCamp you have access to the complete list of available campsites that are in the path of totality on April 8th. Availability is refreshed every 60 seconds. You can sort the list by clicking on each column header. Click on each campsite to load the campground map and see additional information.

Set Up Cancellation Alerts

If you have already checked availability at your selected campgrounds, you may be disappointed at how many are already booked for the big event. One of the best advantages of being a supporting member of PerfectCamp is the campsite cancellation notification feature. Setting up these alerts are easy. Just tell PerfectCamp the campgrounds you want to track and the date(s), then wait for the alerts.

Conclusion

I hope you are just as excited as we are to witness this year's total eclipse. The next one in the contiguous US won't happen for another 20 years so mark your calendar and start planning today. Happy Camping everyone! And safe travels.

Links:
2024 Total Eclipse - NASA Science