We’ve just returned home from our first car camping weekend of the summer. Our home was our Kelty Trail Ridge tent perched high above the Ohanapecosh River, swollen with snowmelt off the southeastern flank of Mount Rainier. My ears are still delightfully roaring from the sound of the river, and I may have cedar twigs dangling from my hair as I type this.

I could not have gotten our family out the door on Friday without my trusty car camping checklist, honed to near-perfection after years of trial and error.

Much of the backcountry experience under my boots is from backpacking, which necessitates swift decisiveness when it comes to packing. After all, each additional item that goes in means a heavier backpack, schlepped over miles of hiking trail. Not so with car camping. Theoretically, you could pack every comfort from home and bring it along with you. Some campgrounds have electricity in the bathrooms. Imagine, you could even pack your hair dryer!

I promise you, there is no hair dryer on my car camping pack list. The key to a great car camping checklist (and car camping experience) is to trim down to the basics with just a handful of comforts tossed in. This will help you find a near-perfect balance of enjoying the great outdoors while still being quite comfortable.

Below, I share with you my car camping checklist. I use a checklist, always, so that I won’t ever find myself in the middle of the Wenatchee National Forest without tent poles again. Keep this checklist with your camping gear so it’s always handy when you need it.

Click for a print-friendly PDF of the car camping checklist without my commentary or recommended product links. (BTW, if you buy any of these products, know that a few pennies of your purchase will get tossed into this blog’s web-hosting piggybank fund. And thank you.)

Shelter

Need a tent? REI has a handy tent finder that will help you zero in on some good options for your needs (family size, the season(s) you’ll be camping, your budget, etc.) Most tents come with a rain fly and ground cloth (also called footprint) but some don’t – so check. A regular old blue tarp will work as a ground cloth (or rain fly) in a pinch. (In fact, for car camping I rather prefer a sturdy tarp as a groundcloth). Always try out a new tent in your backyard or city park before heading out into the wilderness so that you are familiar with how to assemble it and know you have all the parts you need. I sometimes skip the extra tarp and rope on this list, but if it’s raining, it’s so nice to have a tarp hung over your head while you’re cooking up dinner.

• Tent
• Tent poles
• Rain fly
• Ground cloth or tarp
• Extra tarp and rope
• Camp chairs to sit on around camp

Sleeping

• Sleeping pads, cots or air mattress
• Sleeping bags (optional: extra blankets)
• Pillows (or pillow cases to stuff clothes in and create a pillow)

Cooking  Meals

We have two stoves – a basic Coleman two-burner dual-fuel stove for car camping, and an MSR Pocket Rocket backpacking stove (which is one of my favorite things, like in the world.) In my experience, dual-fuel stoves can be a little tricky, and so we always bring the MSR along on car camps just in case. I’ve no doubt that our issues with the Coleman have been user-error. It illustrates, though, that you should know how to use your stove really well before you get to camp. Learn how to use it before you leave the store. If you buy your stove online, practice assembling and lighting the stove in your driveway before you go. In fact, you should test your stove each and every time before you go camping. For cookware, I use Seattle-based MSR products and think they’re the best – this stainless cookset is all you need.

• Camp stove
• Fuel (white gas, propane – different stoves require different fuels)
• Firestarter (matches and lighter)
• Cookset (pots/pans) and utensils
• Eating utensils (plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons for each person)
• Garbage bags
• Ziplock bags in various sizes
• Biodegradable soap and a sponge
• Bucket for washing dishes
• Handkerchiefs (we use these as napkins) and dish towels
• Paper towel roll
• Can opener, bottle opener, knife, cutting board, etc.
• Cooler and ice
• Tablecloth for picnic table
• Jugs of drinking water (if not available)
• Empty pitcher or jug for transporting water (if the campground provides potable water)
• Aluminum foil and/or saran wrap

Food

Car camping gear is usually a bit easier to prescribe in a list than car camping food. I have some basic items below, but the key here is to plan out each and every meal in advance and have the complete list of ingredients you will need for the dishes you plan to make. I pre-measure and pack all of my ingredients beforehand, keeping all of the ingredients together that I’ll need for each meal in separate gallon-sized ziplocks. Repack bulky items like boxed pasta to leave excess packaging at home. This makes cooking a cinch and helps cut down on camp clutter and trash. Don’t forget any utensils you will need, such as a can opener, cutting board or bottle opener. (Many multitools have several useful utensils built into one device. I use this medium-priced Swiss Army Knife).

One of my favorite sources of camp recipes is the Seattle area-based trailcooking.com. There’s also a plethora of great hiker-submitted trail recipes on Washington Trails Association’s old Backcountry Kitchen.

• Ingredients for each meal (and recipes, if needed)
• Snacks for energy and high on variety, like bars, trail mix, raisins, jerky, mixed nuts, cheese crackers, m&ms, yogurt pretzels and sesame sticks. Parmesan and cheddar cheese keeps well.
• Dried fruit and sturdy fresh fruit like apples
• Bread and the makings for PB&J (great to have on hand for extra food if your stove doesn’t work!)
• Salt, pepper, and other condiments (like cooking oil).
• Coffee and cream/sugar or tea
• Hot cocoa mix (and insulated mugs!)
• Other beverages (milk, pop, juice, koolaid mix)
• Popcorn and campfire popper
• Makings for s’mores (graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate. We add cinnamon or peanut butter, too)

Safety

A lot of this stuff is in our car earthquake survival kit already, and may be in yours, too. It’s easy to create your own first aid kit from items you already have at home, but here’s an affordable kit that is great to grab and go for a day hike or a car camping trip. Many campgrounds provide potable water, but some don’t. Pack in your own water or bring a filter. I’ve relied on this Katadyn water filter for eight years of healthy drinking out of streams in the Cascades and Olympics – it’s awesome. Yes, as you will see below, we pack two-way radios for car camping trips. We might be alone in this oddity, but cell phones aren’t reliable in the woods and these are. If Brian takes a walk with our kid while I’m cooking dinner, I can radio him when it’s ready. See? I’m going to start a trend here – just wait.

There are a few other products I have found to be indispensable in the backcountry. One is this product called Sting Eze. I get bitten like crazy by mosquitoes, even when the person I’m hiking with is blissfully left alone. If I apply this stuff right after a bite, it is far less bothersome to me. To prevent getting eaten alive, I admit to using deet. I use this Jungle Juice stuff. It works fairly well in all but the buggiest of alpine lakes in late July.

• First-aid kit with different bandages, ointments, etc.
• Insect repellent (non-toxic for kids) and Sting Eze
• Citronella candle to keep bugs away from the picnic table
• Sunblock for sensitive skin
• Duct tape (good for all kinds of quick repairs)
• Moleskin (for those pesky blisters)
• 100% aloe vera gel for accidental sunburn
• Calamine lotion for poison oak
• Hydrocortisone for skin reactions
• Water filter or purification tablets (just in case)
• Whistle (for calling out for help)
• Walkie Talkies
• Headlamps (one for each person)
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• OTC medications like advil and aspirin
• Allergy medication like benedryl
• Directions to the nearest emergency medical facility
• Cell phone

Toiletries and Personal Items

I use those wet wipes for everything when car camping. Whenever possible, get your toiletries unscented. I remember spending a paranoid night in a tent in Alaska grizzly country because my deodorant smelled like lavender. 

• Washcloths and towels (for swimming or bathing)
• Biodegradable soap / shampoo
• Toothbrushes/paste
• Toilet paper (and a trowel if there is no flush or pit toilet)
• Wet wipes (handy for cleaning hands and face)
• Hand sanitizer
• Deodorant

Clothing

Wear whatever is comfortable when you’re camping. I live in yoga pants or leggings. My “camp shoes” of choice are Chaco sandals, which double as hiking sandals. Again, I like to keep things simple. However, I don’t skimp on quality, because I hike a lot and wear things hard. (Lucky for me, I work for a hiking organization and I’ve gotten most of my outdoor clothes on prodeal over the years, which carries a steep discount.) Day hiking is almost always on the agenda, so pack accordingly.

• Rain gear
• Fleece jacket
• Down vest or coat
• Hiking shoes or boots
• Camp shoes (sandals or clogs)
• Socks (avoid cotton, try wool or polypro)
• Long underwear top/bottom (wool or polypro, my current fave is ibex)
• Shorts (Patagonia baggies are the best, ever.)
• Pants
• Shirts (think layers – tank, tshirt, long-sleeved tshirt)
• Underwear
• PJ’s
• Swimming suits
• Warm hat and gloves
• Sunglasses and baseball hat

Miscellaneous

• Small broom (good for sweeping off the picnik table or sweeping out the tent)
• Cash and quarters (some campgrounds have coin-operated showers)
• Hiking guidebook for nearby trails
• DeLorme Gazetteer for the state we’re camping in
• Water bottles for each person
• Campground reservations info
• Directions to the Campground
• Emergency contact numbers for our car and on our person
• Digital camera
• Daypacks for day hiking
• The Ten Essentials for the daypack
• Books and games

If you’re packing for a family, your car camping checklist will naturally be a little longer. Babies require everything from diapers to a pack n play (we’re past that stage.) For older kids, remember to bring along some activities like a frisbee, bikes, scooters and fishing poles to keep the kids occupied and happy (and to help keep their minds off the iPad.)

Happy camping!

Tagged as: camping

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