What is Car Camping? 

Great question. Car camping is a fun way to get outdoors and travel light. You have all the perks of a vehicle smaller than an RV (parking, gas mileage, ect.) while also having more protection from the elements than a tent. Car camping implies that you will be sleeping in – you guessed it – your car.

The cool thing about car camping is that you can do it in almost any size of vehicle. We have a Rav 4 that works perfectly for the amount of space we need, but there are plenty of people that camp with less room than us and still have a great time. 

But what do you need for car camping? The answer depends on what you plan to do while camping, where you’re camping, in what weather, and how far along in the car camping game you are. For beginners, we recommend reading through this entire article. For our more advanced folk, feel free to skim this and then take a dive over here for things you might not know about yet.

1. Sleeping

 Sleep is a huge question for beginners. How on earth does one sleep comfortably in a regular car?

First things first, where can you lay out in your car? How many seats do you need to put down? Do you need to move the front seat up as far as it can go? Having a flat spot to put your bed is the most important part. We suggest that one of the first big car camping purchases for a beginner to consider buying is a foldable mattress to put in the back of your car. 

Once you’ve spent a few nights sleeping in the back of your car and get a good feel for it, you can move on to building a bed platform. Building a platform gives you more storage, more flexibility, and a better night’s sleep. If you are thinking about doing a build and want some help, give us an email and we’ll help give you some ideas!

The next most important part is having a good sleeping bag that will keep you warm enough in cold weather, and a comfortable pillow. We like bringing the same pillows we use at home. Once you get all the basics down, you’ll begin to realize that sleeping in the back of your car can be some of the coziest camping you’ll ever do. For more tips on how to get your car camper setup comfortable enough for a good night’s rest, check out this post!

2. Cookware & Food

We won’t dig into the exact specifics of what you should pack to cook (Stove, knife, plates, you got this), but we will offer some key pieces of advice that has made a huge difference in making cooking while car camping much more easy and fun.

If you are cooking recipes at the campsite, one big necessity is a nonstick pan. We all love whipping out the cast iron to impress our friends and Instagram followers, but the cleanup involved if a recipe doesn’t go exactly according to plan can be a nightmare.

We do a lot of our cooking on a nonstick crepe pan because it weighs nothing, packs completely flat, and wipes clean with a wet sponge in 4-5 seconds. Yes, we still break out our cast iron pan on occasion, but if exploring is taking priority over sitting around camp cooking and cleaning, we highly recommend having a non-stick as an option.

While cooking at the campsite is super fun, one of the biggest tips we have for car camping cooking is to pre-cook some of your ingredients at the house. We usually cook our meat at home and freeze it in tupperware before we leave for a trip. That way we don’t have to deal with raw meat cross contamination and can guarantee that it stays cold until we need to use it. Unless you have a 12v fridge, it isn’t worth it to risk getting food poisoning in the middle of the woods.

Proper water planning is essential as well. In our set up we have two spots designated as water storage that each fit two one gallon water bottles. If you are dry camping or camping in a place that does not have a store around it, do not underestimate your water usage! Bring enough water to stay hydrated and clean your cookware.

3. Clothing

When car camping you want to pack light in order to fit everything you need into one usable space. This is wear (wink wink) layers come in! 

Don’t bring a different jacket and pair of shoes for every day of the trip. You’ll soon find that the space in your car that should be filled with food and water is stuffed with clothing you won’t even touch. Moderation is key. Invest in decent lightweight clothing that you can remove as the day gets warmer. You might have the same sweater on in a lot of pictures, but the space savings will be worth it.

4. Staying clean 

To certain people, how to stay clean is a very important part of car camping. If you embrace the stink when in the great outdoors, feel free to skip this section!

Baby wipes are our saving grace when car camping. It can’t be overstated how much you do NOT want to get into your car with all of the windows rolled up and no shoes on after a long day of hiking. They’re also the easiest way to clean up sticky hands after eating smores. No need to waste your water, use those baby wipes!

We also LOVE dry shampoo. Dry shampoo can keep your hair from getting out of hand when showers aren’t an option, and it really helps prevent your scalp from drying out and causing dandruff or other unpleasant issues.

5. Campsite

There are few things you can bring while car camping that makes the actual camping part more enjoyable than just having your car. 

Folding chairs: depending on how long you are gone, your bottom is going to get very tired of sitting in the same car seat every single day, and the back of your car is not going to be as comfortable as it was when you were excited about leaving the trip three days ago. 

Table cloth: this goes hand in hand with the folding chairs. If you don’t bring one, you definitely should bring the other. It is really nice to have a clean place to sit and eat that isn’t the same place where you sleep or makes your neck cramp up after 10 minutes. Not to mention if there is a group of people camping, a tablecloth makes the picnic table a gravitating area that’s easy for everyone to hang out together.

6. Who to bring with you

Now that the basics of what to bring for car camping are covered, let’s talk about who you should bring. 

Who do you want to bring? Your partner? Best friend? Dog? Mom? No one? DO IT. One of the best things about car camping is you get to make all the decisions. Keep in mind that most cars can only fit two people, or two people and a cat (as we have found), so you may want to refrain from inviting your entire social circle to camp with you in the back of your 2010 Honda Civic. Cosy? Yes. Awkward? Definitely.

7. Where to Go

Now, where do you want to go? There are three different types of car camping that we will cover, but if you are more interested in places to go, check out the places we have visited here! 

Campgrounds: 

If you are new to camping and enjoy having running water and flushing toilets, I would recommend a typical campground. Be wary that you do not accidentally book yourself for dry camping (camping with pit toilets and no running water). If you are excited about the possibility of not having to take a shower for a few days, then by all means go book yourself a reservation at a dry campsite! 

Just remember that reservations may be needed months in advance depending on where you want to go, especially in this Covid world. If you are hoping to go camping at a National Park next month and still don’t have reservations, you might be out of luck. You can risk it with first come – first served campgrounds, but just remember that there will likely be hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing you are. 

Most National Parks allow you to book out your campsite 6 months early and reservations will go quickly, especially for parks on the west side of the United States like Yosemite National Park and Yellowstone National Park. On the other hand, local campgrounds and some State Parks may have the availability to allow you to book only a couple of weeks out. 

If you are taking a trip and want to stay at a specific site, we would recommend doing your homework and looking into how early you can book a campsite and plan on doing it as soon as possible. 

Dispersed Camping: 

Most commonly done on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, dispersed camping is when you camp on public land (not campsites). BLM land is free to camp on, and while some areas can be sketchier than others, there are many apps now like the Dyrt and Free Roam where people can leave reviews about each BLM spot.

 There are specific rules and regulations for camping on BLM land, but we haven’t found anything too restrictive in any state. Just remember: Wildlife is a lot closer on BLM land, and you need to be extra careful when storing and preparing food. This means no late-night snacks in your sleeping bag, and looking into how to hang your food isn’t a bad idea if you are deep in bear country. 

Stealth Camping: 

Otherwise known as spending the night in a parking lot or neighborhood and hoping that a cop doesn’t knock on your window and ask you to leave. While this isn’t truly a form of car camping it is worth mentioning if you ever have a long drive and end up needing to spend the night with no campground (or BLM land) available.

The biggest hint we can give you about Stealth Camping is stealth. Get blackout window covers for your car so no one can see you in your car. Cooking is also usually a no-go. We do not recommend stealth camping in places you do not know are safe, however, most rest stops and truck stops allow you to spend 8 hours in their lots.

If you are camping in a city or neighborhood, plan on getting there late and leaving early. Your goal is to remain as unobtrusive as possible, so parking after most people are inside or asleep and leaving before everyone wakes up in the morning reduces the chances of someone calling the cops. There is pretty much nothing worse than the dreaded window tap at 3 am and getting back on the road with a hefty citation.

8. Wrapup

We hope that the info we provided in this starter guide gives you a better idea of what car camping is! Remember, this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive guide to car camping, but rather a jumping-off point for those who have just started their car camping journey. If you have more specific questions, look at our other guides. We break down many other aspects of car camping with informative and in-depth writeups.

If you still can’t find the answers you’re looking for, feel free to reach out to us on our social media pages. We love car camping and we want you to love it too!