An Intro to How to Car Camp
We’ve now been traveling and camping full time for the last six years. In that time we’ve paid witness to the huge influx of campers year over year. Wanting to put some real numbers to my observations I came across a fascinating study done by KOA, called the North American Camping Report. Here are some highlights:
In 2021, more than 93.8 million North American households considered themselves campers.
Camping accounted for 40% of all leisure trips taken in 2021 with more than half of travelers (53%) including camping in some or all of their travel.
A new trend, urban residents are one of the most avid camping segments – 44% of this group plan to replace a leisure trip with a camping trip in 2022.
Moral of the story, a lot of people are camping these days and I’m sure that is only fuel to the fire of those who’re wanting to get into it. Perhaps that is you? Well, I’m here to help! If you have a car, you already have the biggest piece of equipment needed to go camping. So today, we’re going to get into the details of how to go car camping!
Phone 1: Downloading Offline maps. Phone 2: Different icons that we placed on the map as potential camp spots before we got into the area. Phone 3: Public land and private land borders with land owner’s names.
Before we go too much farther, we wanted to let you know that this blog post was made possible by our dear friends over at OnX Offroad! OnX Offroad is our favorite tool for navigating out on the open road. As a navigation and trail finding app, OnX is a form of insurance for traveling because it gives you access to offline maps, reviews of trails so you know if a trail is right for you and your rig, public land boundaries to help you find camping, land owner names if you cross through their property, and so much more (which we’ll get into later)!
Click the button below for 20% off of your OnX Offroad subscription! The link is also an affiliate link, just so you are aware. We truly use and love OnX and wouldn’t recommend it unless it was genuinely apart of our everyday life.
what exactly is car camping?!
The most widely accepted definition of car camping is to camp where you can drive your car. Car camping isn’t limited to sleeping in your car but can mean setting up a tent near your car or even an elaborate camper such as our own! Car camping is the most accessible way to get out there and start camping to test the waters before getting into backpacking and more remote alternatives!
Now that we’re on the same page about what car camping is let’s get into how you actually do it, navigation, and the gear we recommend for it!
How to Car Camp
Car camping is as simple as gathering your necessary gear and getting out there! We recommend starting small and close to home as you are learning your processes. The things that is so lovely about car camping is that it allows you to pack in more and heavier gear than you would if you were having to carry it on your back. So for your first few trips bring more than you need, but over time leave the things that don’t get used behind. Before long you will have a dialed in system that can be packed and ready to hit the road in no time!
When you settle in for the night, be sure to sleep with your head up hill (you will thank me for that one later). If you are sleeping in your vehicle, always leave a little crack in your windows for air flow and never sleep with the car running!
Navigation, Trip planning, & finding camping
One of our camp spots that we found via OnX Offroad on the satellite despite being offline.
For navigation, trip planning, and camping we turn to the app OnX Offroad! The reason is that it can serve many purposes all in one app on your phone, which means you’ll always have it on you! Before venturing out for your trip, I recommend plotting your path of travel and determining where you plan to camp ahead of time. By doing this you can mark the locations on your map (like we did in the image one the left) for easy navigation once you’re on the road. It’ll also save you the stress of having to find a spot to camp as night approaches.
Be sure to familiarize yourself with camping regulations for the different types of public land to be sure you know where you can stay and for how long. OnX Offroad allows you to see public land boundaries so you can quickly identify places you can camp, as well as private land boundaries (including the name of the land owners). This is handy if the road you’re using cuts across private property so you can address the land owner by name and quickly show them your plan to access public land.
Another reason we recommend OnX Offroad is for it’s offline maps! It can often be hard to tell if you’re going to have service or not where you plan to explore. I recommend getting into the practice of saving satellite maps offline to be sure you have a way of navigating and looking around the area where you’ll be traveling! It can come in handy if the spot you picked out is already taken too! It is also a form of insurance to be able to identify where you are at all times no matter if you have service or not. Recently, we had people arrive at our camp who had flipped their trailer and had no idea where they were because they didn’t have service. Because we had our maps saved offline we were able to help reunite them with the people who they were trying to find out in the forest. For this reason we do not go anywhere without OnX Offroad!
If you’re wanting to really get out there and have a 4x4 capable vehicle you can use OnX to find different tracks to explore. With endless trails to choose from you can find the ideal one for you, your vehicle, and skill level. Users leave ratings to help you better identify that perfect trail! Down rougher roads is where we often find our best and quietest spots to camp. If you are just getting into car camping and overlanding, be sure to start easy and work your way into it.
Recommended Gear
Aside from the obvious need of a vehicle there are a few more pieces of gear that I’d recommend you bring to make car camping fun and comfortable! After all, the goal is for this to be an enjoyable experience!
Sleeping accommodations - Duh. If you’re sleeping in your car, you’ll want to bring whatever it takes to make your particular vehicle comfortable. The specifics will depend on your vehicle. If not, you may want a tent or a roof top tent if you’re getting serious about car camping. No matter what, be sure to pack bedding or a sleeping bag!
Camp Chair - Chairs make life at camp comfortable! We have a blog post on how to pick the right one here!
Cooler/trucker fridge - This will keep your food and drinks cold! Trucker fridges are great if you think car camping is something you’ll do a lot since it will save you on ice and allow you to stay out longer! Here is what we recommend if you’re looking for a fridge.
Cook system - We love this Jetboil Genesis because it’s compact and gives you two burners! Don’t forget to bring a pot and a pan.
Coffee Brewer - We love the Aeropress because it’s small, light weight, and makes a killer cup of coffee.
Kettle - For heating water for your morning beverage
Water - A jug like this is perfect to keep on hand.
Small Shovel - This is for if there is no bathroom around! You’ll need to dig a hole to poop in… If you’re not familiar with bathroom protocol for camping with no bathroom we have a post on that too!
Basic tool kit - Things break, best to be prepared!
First aid kit - Fo injuries, scrapes, and bug bites.
Offline Navigation - Obviously I recommend OnX for offline navigation among many other things! If you’ve read this far then you likely already know that by now.
Safety
When people ask me about getting started with camping, one of the first concerns that is raised is safety. For this, I always default to the way that Owen and I operate. When looking for camping we look for other people’s reviews of the area if they’re available. If we find a spot that doesn’t have any comments, we’ll often check it out in person before we make the decision to stay. From there, we do a gut check. I often say, listening to our gut instinct is the greatest tool we have out here because we’re nearly always in the unknown.
We have a rule: If either one of us is uncomfortable in any way at a camp spot, we leave. No questions asked. It’s as simple as that. In all our time on the road, we’ve only ever had to put that rule into effect a few times. So always keep your lines of communication open when traveling with a partner. If you don’t have one, check in with yourself, let people know where you are, and always err on the side of caution. Your parents will thank you.
If you’re wanting to spend a lot of time out of service we HIGHLY recommend a satellite communicator such as a Garmin InReach Mini to be sure you have a way of communication no matter where you are!
Rules and Regulations
When camping outside of a campground you’ll want to understand the rules and regulations for the area that you’re camping in. These are the things you will want to look out for:
Burn bans
Stay limits
Bear safety and possible food storage requirements
All of these things can typically be found on the website of the land management organization that oversees the area you’re in. They’re usually fast to figure out because they’ll be listed clearly to be sure they aren’t overlooked. Often, they can also be found at the beginning or entrance to public land areas on large signs!
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace (LNT): If you’ve ever read any of our blog posts you’ve likely already heard me speak about the importance of LNT. Leave No Trace is a wonderful and important organization that has seven principles that provide easily understood guidelines of minimum impact practices for anyone visiting the outdoors. The seven Leave No Trace principles are:
Plan ahead and prepare
Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Dispose of waste properly
Leave what you find
Minimize campfire impact
Respect wildlife
Be considerate of other visitors
Though I won’t be getting into the details of each principle, please head to the LNT website to familiarize yourself. These are incredibly important to know and understand to ensure that we’re treating these wild spaces, which are often fragile, with the respect they deserve. This helps keep these wild spaces around for all of us to enjoy in the future!
In conclusion, car camping is more accessible then ever so there should be nothing stopping you from getting out there and spending some time in the outdoors. With the right gear, you can discover so much both close to home and far away. Just come prepared, start slow, and do your research. Then the world is your oyster! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask them below because I want to do what I can to help you get out there. Plus, your question could help someone else who has the same one. Most importantly, have fun out there my friends!
