How Long Should Your First Family Camping Trip Be?

When you are getting ready for your first camping trip, you will probably wonder how many days you should spend camping.

The best length for a first camping trip is 3-4 days. This is enough time to settle into your campsite and get a feel for the hobby but isn’t so long that you will get bored. Keeping your trip short also allows you to bring a smaller amount of clothes and food and makes planning easier.

Read on to find out why I recommend keeping your first camping trip short.

The Ideal Length for a First Camping Trip

The best length for a family camping trip can depend on a lot of things, such as how many times you have been camping before, how accustomed you are to the outdoors, and how old your children are. However, if you are planning your FIRST camping trip, it makes sense to keep things short and sweet.

Here are some of the benefits of limiting the length of your first camping trip:

• Easier packing: It’s a lot easier to bring enough clothes, food, and supplies for a short trip. There is less to plan and prepare for if you are only leaving for a long weekend.
• Less time for boredom: If this is your family’s first camping trip, you don’t know how your kids will respond. A short trip will give them less time to get bored and grumpy.
• Less frustration: The adults will be less frustrated on a short camping trip. The frustrations of camping, such as dirty kids, boredom, lack of entertainment, and learning new skills are more tolerable in small doses.
• Personal hygiene concerns: Brushing teeth, toileting, bathing, and keeping hands clean aren’t as simple in the woods as they are at home. However, most parents are tolerant of their kids getting grimy and skipping normal routines for a few days.
• Food safety: Most coolers will keep food cool for 2-4 days. If you are camping for longer than that amount of time you will have to start buying more ice to keep your food safe. You will also have to bring a lot more food if you are on a long trip which can require extra planning skills.
• It’s easier to get good campsites: Many of the best campgrounds are reserved early in the season. It can be hard to find good campsites if you are planning to be out for a longer stretch or if you don’t plan ahead. Camping for only a few days allows you more flexibility in reserving campsites.

How to Make the BEST of a Short Camping Trip

There are many good reasons to keep your first family camping trip short. But this doesn’t mean you won’t have a lot to do! Even though I have gone on longer camping trips, most of the camping adventures we have gone on have been less than 5 days long. Even for experienced campers, this is often the best length. It’s just much easier and more fun.

How to Plan Activities for Your Camping Trip

I have found that structured flexibility is the best way to plan enjoyable family trips of all kinds. By this, I mean that I look for and plan activities, but most of the time we don’t have a strict itinerary. We usually have a list of possible things to do, both in and outside of the campground, but rarely are things actually scheduled. (Only when an activity requires tickets or reservations-such as cliff dwelling tours at Mesa Verde National Park.)

How to Keep Your Kids Busy

When we are camping, I expect my kids to entertain themselves most of the time. However, their ability to do this depends on how creative they are, how much time they have spent exploring nature in the past, and what kind of campground we are in. Many commercial, established campgrounds don’t allow kids to play unattended or explore natural areas on their own (one reason I love camping in National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas).

Here are some ideas for keeping kids entertained (and out of your face) while camping:

• Bring sports or outdoor equipment such as badminton sets, a bat and ball, or a kickball.
• Pack your kids’ active toys such as Nerf guns and water guns.
• Have favorite board or card games along (plan on doing these WITH your kids.)
• Organize excursions such as hiking trips or tours to nearby places.
• Encourage exploration-fort building, playing in the woods, survival games, etc. (where allowed)
• Prepare for rainy days or bedtimes with downloaded movies, audiobooks, and read-aloud books.
• Buy outdoor fun items like bubbles, glow sticks, sidewalk chalk, and other cheap activities.
• Learn to identify plants and animals
• Start keeping a nature journal
• Practice photography or another art form

When to Call It Quits

There are some times that you will want to end your camping trip early. While no one wants to give up to early, there are some good reasons to head back home before you had planned to. One of the most common reasons people give up camping early is because the weather gets very poor and it’s not predicted to let up. Constant rain, cold or hot weather, or dangerous storms are all valid reasons to head home early.

Another common reason for ending a camping trip is if someone gets hurt or sick. We once drove 2 hours to the nearest hospital after my son fell on a fishing knife and cut his wrist. The next day my husband got sick. That wasn’t our most enjoyable camping trip and we ended up coming home early.

When you are trying to decide if you should end your trip early, ask yourself if quitting will influence your decision to go camping again. If you stop now, will this trip leave a bad taste in your mouth toward the hobby? Is it likely to get better if you stick it out? There is no shame in giving up on your trip, camping is supposed to be fun! But I always try to give each adventure a fair shot before calling it quits.