Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in Delaware here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
USGS, footnoted to the National Geodetic Survey. The state survey measures the monument itself at 447.85 ft and the ground just west of the road at around 450
Delaware Climate Office. Mean annual temperature runs from 54.0°F in northern New Castle County to 58.1°F on the Atlantic coast
Where Delaware lets you sleep
Two systems and no third. Delaware State Parks runs five campgrounds, two of them on the barrier strip either side of the Indian River Inlet, with a maximum stay of 14 days in any 21 day period per park and one vehicle to a site. The Delaware Forest Service runs primitive tent sites at Blackbird and Redden, open all year, three nights maximum, with no hookups.
There is no federal fallback. Our build of the federal recreation database finds no federal campground in Delaware that a vehicle can reach, so a plan that assumes one will fail. Book, or drive out of the state.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is Delaware?
From Rehoboth Beach at 1 feet to Ebright Road, at the Pennsylvania line at 448.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
0
Feet above sea level
Towns
WilmingtonThe Brandywine Valley byway, and thirteen Underground Railroad sites on the Tubman route91 ft
HarringtonTaber State Forest country, and the inland pond parks59 ft
GeorgetownThe county seat below Redden State Forest53 ft
SmyrnaThe turn for Bombay Hook and for Blackbird State Forest32 ft
DoverThe capital, and the John Dickinson Plantation out on the bayshore road28 ft
LaurelNanticoke byway country and the southern end of the Woodland Ferry run27 ft
MillsboroInland services on the Indian River, west of the inlet24 ft
SeafordThe Nanticoke River crossing and the northern ferry approach23 ft
MilfordMid-state services between the bayshore refuges and the coast13 ft
LewesThe ferry landing, Cape Henlopen and the Beach Plum Island crossing13 ft
MiltonThe approach to Prime Hook and the bayshore marshes11 ft
New CastleThe northern end of the Delaware Bayshore Byway10 ft
Bethany BeachThe break in the state park between Delaware Seashore and Fenwick Island6 ft
Fenwick IslandThe southernmost drive-on beaches and the Maryland line5 ft
Dewey BeachThe northern end of the Delaware Seashore barrier strip5 ft
Rehoboth BeachFull services between Gordons Pond and the Delaware Seashore beaches1 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Ebright Road, at the Pennsylvania lineThe state high point, in New Castle County. USGS publishes 448 feet, footnoted to the National Geodetic Survey; the Delaware Geological Survey measures the benchmark at 447.85 and the ground just west of the road at around 450448 ft
Iron HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in New Castle County335 ft
Chestnut HillOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in the piedmont of New Castle County297 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
