Car Camping For Beginners: Essentials and Tips

With warm, sunny days and cool, crisp nights, all set against a vivid backdrop of beautifully changing foliage, autumn offers the perfect time to get outside and explore.

If you’re new to the world of sleeping under the stars, car camping is a great introduction, requiring minimal gear and less exposure to the elements than you’d find in a tent. To help you get started, we talked to content creator Kristen May, an advocate for approachable access to the outdoors who’s been car camping since 2014. Here are our top tips for beginners.

Experts Featured in This Article

Kristen May is an outdoor enthusiast and travel content creator based in Salt Lake City.

Stella Zaimi is the CEO of Illinois Back Institute, a back-pain treatment facility.

A Guide to Car Camping For Beginners

1. Push Through Those First-Time Jitters

If you’ve never been camping before, let alone slept in your car, you’re probably feeling nervous about . . . well, everything. But with a little luck, you’ll discover there’s nothing to worry about. “I had never camped a day in my life prior to my first trip,” May says. “I didn’t grow up super outdoorsy, so the thought of sleeping in the middle of nowhere with no service and wild animals terrified me. I actually found it to be more scary in my head than it actually was once I got out there, though.”

2. Make Safety Your Top Priority

Whether it’s the threat of bears or strangers lurking outside, safety can be a concern when it comes to car camping, particularly for women. To put your mind at ease — and remain prepared if you need to make a quick escape — always keep your driver’s side empty and clean, and stash your keys in the same easy-to-access spot, just in case. It’s also not a bad idea to carry bear spray, even in areas where grizzlies and the like may not be present. “It’s your friend for more than just bears,” May says.

3. Rely on the Buddy System

If you’re traveling solo — and even if you’re not — you should always tell someone where you’re going and when you plan to be back. It’s also smart to pack a communication device that’ll work when your cell phone won’t. May uses a Garmin InReach to send messages and her exact coordinates to friends and family when she’s out of service, plus it can call search-and-rescue with the touch of a button, May adds.

4. Minimize the Chances of Wildlife Encounters

To keep your odds of meeting any critters to a minimum, store your provisions in a well-sealed, hard-sided cooler and your food waste in a sturdy garbage bag in your car, or hang it up high and out of reach. Bears aside, rodents and raccoons are wily and determined, so remove any temptation to avoid unexpected visitors.

5. Do Your Research

When you’re planning a trip, deciding where to stop and camp can be overwhelming. Campsites or national parks? A remote corner of the wilderness, or a parking lot near the trailhead you’re hoping to tackle at first light? Paying for a place to sleep, or boondocking — i.e., camping for free on public lands?

There’s a dizzying array of options, so doing your research can go a long way toward making the process more manageable. Check Recreation.gov for paid sites and national parks, and iOverlander for boondocking and US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management areas, as well as reviews from other campers and road conditions to keep an eye out for. Sites like Outbound, Hipcamp, AllStays, and Boondockers Welcome can also come in handy.

6. Don’t Break the Law

As tempting as it may be to park your car at the first scenic spot you find, it’s essential to make sure you’re camping somewhere legal and that you have the appropriate permits if any are required.

If you’re staying at a designated campground, this won’t be a concern, but for boondocking or dispersed camping, contact the nearest Forest Service or BLM office to figure out which areas are fair game and which ones will land you in hot water.

7. Listen to Your Instincts

Even if you’ve done your due diligence, you may wind up somewhere that gives you the creeps — and if that happens, don’t be afraid to move on. “Trust your gut,” May says. “If something feels off at all, I don’t stay there. Even if it’s nothing, I’d always rather be safe than sorry.”

8. Leave No Trace

The primary mantra of outdoor adventure is “leave no trace,” the commitment to making a minimum impact on your temporary environment. The concept has seven key principles, including properly disposing of your waste, leaving what you find in place, respecting the wildlife, and being considerate of others.

Designated campsites have fire pits, dumpsters, and other ways to make it easy to adhere to those principles, but boondocking and dispersed camping require a more conscientious approach. “If you are boondocking,” May says, “it’s important to remember there won’t be any amenities, so you’ll have to pack out your own trash — and there won’t be bathroom facilities.”

9. Pack the Right Gear

When it comes to equipment, it’s easy for a car-camping newbie to get lost in the weeds. Our best advice? Keep it simple! At a bare minimum, here’s what should be on your packing list:

It’s not a bad idea to carry cash for firewood and other small purchases, particularly if you’re staying at a campground. And something for entertainment purposes, whether it’s a boardgame, a paperback, or a game system, like a Nintendo Switch, can make the evenings more enjoyable, “especially for winter camping, when it gets dark at 4pm,” May says.

To cover your bases, cross-check your packing list against REI’s rundown of essential gear before you head off into the wilderness.

10. Don’t Think You Have to Spend Big

Scrolling through #carcamping, it may seem like you need an elaborate setup to get started, but nothing could be further from the truth. Isabel and Sentry Kelly, the duo behind Operation.Adventure, built out their Subaru for less than $200, and May spent next to nothing to get her old Toyota 4Runner up to speed.

“I love nicely built-out camping cars, but the reality is we all can’t do that,” she says. “I just went with what I already had as a setup, and it’s worked just fine for the hundreds of nights I’ve slept in it! When I pull up to a site, I lay my seats completely flat and move anything I had in the back to the passenger side of my car, then I lay my Therm-a-Rest Z pad down and sleeping bag on top.”

11. Consider Your Comfort Levels

While you can car camp successfully without much specialized gear, there are a few wallet-friendly items that’ll make things more comfortable: Blackout shades, a clip-on fan, car-seat organizers, and screens for your windows and sunroof can help you rest easier.

12. Take Ergonomics Into Account

When setting up your sleep space, properly positioning your equipment can help keep neck and back pain at bay. According to Stella Zaimi, CEO of Illinois Back Institute, your goal should be to create a stable and comfortable position for your spine, focusing on an even distribution of pressure and making sure it’s as level as possible.

“Use cushions or soft surfaces to fill gaps and ensure a consistent support level, [and] consider the placement and firmness when arranging blankets or inflatable mats,” Zaimi says, adding, “Supportive items, like a roll-up towel or a travel pillow, will keep your spine aligned.”

13. Don’t Be Afraid of the Cold

Sleeping outside may seem more appealing in the other three seasons, but car camping in winter has its upsides too: smaller crowds, more campsite availability, and less opportunity for run-ins with the local wildlife, to name a few. Of course, preparation is key.

“In the winter, I plan a lot more since the weather can change fast,” May says. Have a backup plan if you arrive and the roads aren’t passable due to snow, she advises, and “always, always over-layer at night, even if you feel too warm when you first fall asleep. It’ll be worth having those extra layers on when you wake up to freezing temperatures in the middle of the night. A sleeping-bag liner [will also] add extra warmth to your sleep setup — I personally use a 0° sleeping bag for winter camping, and double that up with a liner for extra warmth.”