26 Simple Car Camping Tips

26 Simple Car Camping Tips:

• You don’t have to have an SUV to camp in your car, it just gives you a little more room to move around. Pretty much any car will do as long as you fit in it! 
• Car camping is meant for 1 or 2 people max  (unless you have a van or huge car)
• Fold your back seats down flat.
• Push your front seats as far forward as possible.
• Store your clothes, gear, food, etc. in the front seats and in the leg room of both front and back seats. Also consider getting a roof box. This allows you to bring all the gear you need with room to store it when you sleep in your car. 
• Use soft bags to store your goods that way they can squeeze into tight areas if needed. 
• Use camping sleeping pads or a car specific air mattress to sleep on. Double check whatever you plan on using fits when blown up before your trip. 
• If your sleeping pads don’t pump up manually be sure to get a mini pump that can plug into your cigarette lighter or can be used with batteries. We’re looking into getting a new car air mattress, we plan on getting this car camping bed.
• Use inflatable camping pillows (these you can usually blow up with your mouth). 
• Use sleeping bags, depending on what time of year it is, make sure they are warm enough. 
• Make sure to shut your car completely OFF. 
• Crack a front window about an inch for air circulation (even if it’s cold out). 
• Make sure all of your car lights are OFF! You don’t want to wake up to a dead battery. 
• If it’s very cold out- bring a Jet Boil + Nalgene water bottle. Boil some water and add it to your Nalgene, then put the Nalgene in your sleeping bag. It’ll warm you right up! 
• If it’s cold be sure to have one other person or a dog join you. The body heat generated from someone else is huge.

• If it’s cold, wear warm sweatpants, a long sleeve shirt, warm socks and a beanie to bed. If it’s really cold wear a comfy down jacket as well. 
• Bring headlamps! Especially if you need to do a quick setup in the dark. 
• Use something to cover all of your gear, clothes, etc. so people cannot tell you are camping in your car with all of your belongings while traveling. We like to put all of our stuff into my Thule Mountaineer roof box and in the trunk that has a pull-over cover. This keeps the interior of the car clean so strangers cannot see all of your stuff. This is just a smart safety precaution. 
• Keep everything in the car overnight so it all stays dry! If you leave your shoes outside on the ground you will most likely wake up to them covered in dew, rain or snow. 
• Be careful not to set your car’s alarm off (Not sure why but we do this on accident pretty often). 
• To find campsites/places to park your car try out:
  • KOAs 
  • BLM Land 
  • If you book a site at a campground tell them you are car camping and if you don’t need any hookups you will most likely get a pretty inexpensive site. 
  • Walmart
  • Free campsite finder
• If it’s your first time car camping, be sure to try your full setup at home first! You don’t have to actually sleep in it at home, just set it up 100% so you can figure out what works and what doesn’t before you go! If there are 2 of you car camping, be sure you both test out the sleeping arrangement together. 
• Bring a towel. If it’s a dewy night the inside of your car’s surfaces near the cracked window might need to be wiped off by morning. 
• If you car camp in the summer bring a mini battery powered fan to hang for hot summer nights
• You don’t have to be tiny in size to do this comfortably. I’m 5’9 and my boyfriend is 5’11. We fit comfortably in my Forester together. 
• Have fun!! I think car camping is a lot of fun and so easy to do!