Sleeping Under the Stars in Style

Make no mistake, Under Canvas is not your dad’s backyard camping. It’s glamping: spacious safari tents, en-suite bathrooms, plush linens, and air conditioning. Launched in 2009, Under Canvas has elevated the idea of camping to near-luxury status, providing experiences at 10 majestic National Park settings throughout the United States from the desert to the mountains, including the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Acadia.

Under Canvas has garnered such close access to the nation’s iconic parks because of the company’s eco-friendly commitment and its minimal footprint/disturbance approach.

Under Canvas was founded to inspire and connect families to explore the outdoors and to foster appreciation and environmental consciousness for the astonishing surrounding natural landscape. However, the company asserts that experiencing the outdoors doesn’t mean roughing it: you need not pack portable cook-tops, flashlights, or sleeping bags, and there are private bathrooms with showers. Equipped with pull-chain showerheads, these spare showers give the romantic picture of a vintage utilitarian apparatus. Yet these, along with low-flow toilets, enable the resorts to cut down on water usage.

The expansive main lobby tents are furnished with West Elm furniture, and the onsite dining rivals restaurant fare in chic urban locales. In the oversized guest tents, king-size beds sit atop wooden platforms while leather sofas and cowhide rugs nod to the safari style of a bygone era with modern flair.

Daily National Park adventures are organized shortly after booking and the fun doesn’t stop after the day’s exploration is complete. Each location offers evening programming ranging from yoga classes and crafts to acoustic live music and outdoor games. And there’s no Wi-Fi onsite. Rather, Under Canvas prefers guests focus on disconnecting from technology in order to connect with others and the landscape. Bedside lanterns are operated by rechargeable battery packs, eliminating the need for electrical outlets in tents and you can charge your phone while reading in bed after dark; just don’t get caught with it in the morning.