The Dyrt: RV & Free Camping

I like that this app gives lots of information regarding the camping that’s available. The descriptions of camping are pretty err and complete with descriptions of the spacing of campsites (privacy) and proximity to major roads (tranquility and road noise). However, there are a few things that could make this app better. 1. It would be great to have an area map which shows which campgrounds are commercial (like KOA) and which are government run ( like BLM and national Forest) as I prefer the latter. 2. The pictures submitted in reviews are no longer visible in full screen therefore, you cannot ZOOM in. This would be very handy as many of the pictures are of the campground and regulations. Without this feature, you cannot read the information that is provided. 3. With man-made climate change, many of these campgrounds are now in extremely high FIRE DANGER ZONE of the country. It would be great to know which areas are likely to not allow campfires or where wild fires are an extreme danger and during which months. This would remind all users that wildfire is a possibility that they may want to avoid and to be more responsible while recreating in the forests. 4. It would be great to be able to pick your CAMPING EXPERIENCE TYPE based on RV or TENT preference. I realize that individual apps for each of these would be redundant and difficult to collect enough reviews, however, being able to input your preferred camping would allow you to gain the information that is pertinent to you. For instance, RV campers may want to know whether there are pull through sites and large enough sites for their vehicle tent campers may want to know if there are secluded areas away from running generators/TVs/radios.

I booked a campsite for my group near a 3-day concert that we would be attending. Due to the popularity of the band and scarcity of nearby camping I booked many months ahead of time to ensure we were covered for the weekend. Then the day before my reservation was to begin, the Dyrt sent me an email letting me know my reservation was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. I didn’t have good phone service when they sent the email and it wasn’t until I arrived at the site that afternoon and went to look up check in information on my phone that I saw the cancellation email. I reached out to Dyrt and they didn’t get back to me until the next day, after what was supposed to be our first night stay. When they did respond they had NO resolution other than “ensuring” I got my refund and “hoping” I found a suitable place to sleep. Well we didn’t, we had to sleep in a casino parking lot 30 minutes from the concert. Now thanks the Rockin Z ranch in Redmond, WA (and the Dyrt) my group and I got to experience temporary homelessness this weekend! Very very cool to cancel reservations people are counting on with no attempt to secure alternate accommodations. Do not trust this app to keep your reservation, they have no guarantee for their guests and seem to have no problem allowing hosts to do whatever they please. Also besides this the app is horrible, you need pro features to do basic things and they only manage reservations by email even though you book directly through the site. Joke of a company, thanks for nothing ya jerks.

Update: The Dyrt’s customer service team has been phenomenal! They reached out to me right away and seem eager to work on the issues I brought up in my review. This new update makes me so sad. The Dyrt used to be my favorite camping app by far but this redesign has really taken away a lot of it’s user friendliness. The initial view when you open the app seems very zoomed in and the top and bottom button panels seem far larger than they need to be reducing the amount of the map you can see. The pictures seem to take longer to load and the fact that I can’t view the pictures in full screen is extremely annoying. I don’t need a caption bar that takes up half the screen. The search function does seem faster even though you have to refresh the search by hitting a button each time you move the map. Please fix these design flaws, especially for the pictures, and hopefully this can return to my top camping app!