Getting Started
Figuring out what you need before you go.
Gear to Buy
Picking your first family tent feels high-stakes — it's the most expensive thing you'll buy and the one thing standing…
Buying a sleeping bag means wading through temperature ratings, fill types, and shapes that all sound vaguely the same.…
A down sleeping bag is the one everybody goes looking for — it has a reputation as the premium, do-it-right choice, so…
Here's the only sock lesson that ever really sticks: go fishing, step in the lake by accident, and spend the rest of…
There are three ways to roast a marshmallow at camp — a stick you find, a cheap bundle of wood or bamboo skewers, or a…
Plan & Pack
Camping with kids isn't camping with the volume turned down — it's a different trip, and a better one if you go in with…
Here's the whole list — but read this first: you don't need all of it. We've sorted it by activity on purpose, so you…
The single thing that makes camp cooking easy isn't a fancy stove — it's doing the annoying prep at home, where you…
Our family motto is "if it ain't raining, we ain't camping" — it started as a joke and turned into a point of pride.…
Here's a small thing most people get wrong, and it matters more than it sounds: don't bring firewood from home. Buy it…
Field Guides
Hands-on skills for once you're out there.
In the Camp Kitchen
Nobody needs to be told that pancakes and bacon exist. So this isn't that list. These are the camp breakfasts actually…
Here's the secret to camp lunch: don't cook it. Midday is when you're out doing the things you came for — hiking,…
Dinner is the one camp meal worth actually cooking. Breakfast you prep ahead and lunch you don't cook at all — but…
Snacks are what keep the kids going on the hike in, what fill the gap before dinner's ready, and what everyone reaches…
Dessert is where camping earns its magic — it's the part the kids remember years later, and almost none of it takes any…
The foil packet is the first meal we teach anyone, kids included, because it needs no skillet, no pot, and barely any…
The beauty of a pie iron is that "recipe" is a strong word for it: butter two slices of bread, put something tasty…
We write a lot here about foil packets and Dutch ovens and make-ahead this and that. All of it's good. But here's the…
A camp Dutch oven is an outdoor oven, and charcoal briquettes are the temperature dial. Once you know the math — and…
Things to Do
The campfire gets all the glory, but it's a night thing. The day is where a camping trip actually happens — and "what…
After dinner, when the fire's burned down to a glow — no screens, no gear, just your people around the fire and games…
Nature, campsite, after-dark, and junior lists — plus a printable pack for no-signal trips.
No bars isn't a bug — it's half the reason you came. But kids (and honestly, adults) still need something to do between…
Fire & Safety
If you're at camp all day, the fire becomes part of the furniture — low, glowing, always there for coffee or the next…
Building a campfire isn't hard, but almost everyone learns it the slow, frustrating way — crouched over a smoking pile…
Here's a thing that surprises people: most of the time someone gets sick on a camping trip, it wasn't the food — it was…
Gear & Setup
A hammock looks like the easiest shelter there is — two trees, clip in, done. Then you spend your first night folded in…
Cast iron has a reputation for being fussy, and it's backwards. It's the least fragile cookware you own — the fussiness…
A sleeping bag works by trapping warm air in its fill. Sweat, body oils, campfire smoke, and the inevitable s'more…