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Published on May 16, 2024. Last Updated on March 14, 2026.
Planning a family camping trip? Look no further! We have compiled the ultimate family camping packing list for families to ensure your trip is stress-free and enjoyable. From essentials to optional items, we’ve got you covered for your next outdoor adventure. So pack up your car, hit the road, and get ready to enjoy the great outdoors and your camping adventure with this ultimate camping packing list for families!
Our family loves camping trips. During the spring and summer months, we can be found camping among the mountains and deserts of the US Southwest. Sometimes, we tent camp as we road trip. We once camped with our tent all the way from Arizona to South Dakota with stops in New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado along the way. It was a lot of fun!
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Packing for a family camping trip can be hectic. This is especially true if you are headed out somewhere far from your local store. If you forget something, you may be doing without for the duration of the trip, which could be a bummer. No worries! We’ve got you covered with our ultimate camping packing checklist for families.
A quick note, we are sharing our exact packing list that we used to road trip and tent camp from Arizona to South Dakota. This is our literal family camping packing list and we were good for a 10 day family camping trip, although we did make a pit stop for laundry and groceries along the way.
Packing and storing camping supplies
The camping checklist is quite comprehensive. One thing that comes up is how to pack and store all of the camping gear when not in use. We use two large heavy duty storage bins to store our camping gear – one for the camp kitchen and one for general use. And we chose the storage bins with wheels as they are easier to move in and around a campsite.
Before we head out camping, we dust off the storage bins and put them in the car before heading out. Easy peasy. If we run out of an item after a family camping trip, I leave a note to myself at the top of the boxes to replace whatever we need before heading out on the next trip.
This system works for us but I do want to share that we have an SUV with a lot of space in the back to place our two camping boxes plus a cooler and some chairs. For this to work for smaller vehicles, smaller storage boxes might be needed.
The Ultimate Camping Packing List for Families
Okay without further ado, here is our family camping checklist for your family. Please note that these are a few recommended items. Feel free to personalize this family camping packing list as needed, adding to it as you see fit and taking with you what makes the most sense for you and your family when camping.
The Essentials
Let’s start with the family camping essentials.
- Tent
- Heavy-duty steel tent stakes
- A tarp (or tarps)
- Rope
- A camping mallet
- Mat for entrance to the tent (a small square of turf also works – that’s what we use!)
- Sleeping bag
- Self-inflating sleeping pads
- A shovel
- Utility knife and/or a pocketknife
- A first aid kit
- A lighter either a traditional lighter or a wind and water proof lighter
- Or matches
- A fire starter
- Flash Lights
- Lanterns
- Black Diamond SpotLite 200 headlamps (these are our absolute favorite!)
- Batteries for flashlights and headlamps (check your flash lights as sizes vary)
- A portable power station like a Jackery or a Bluetti
- A power strip
- Portable power bank for your phone
- Water
- Water bottle
- Toilet paper and/or Tissues
- Camping soap – a all in one environmentally friendly soap that can be used for hair, skin, clothes, dishes, and gear
- Hand sanitizer
- Bug spray for the mosquitoes and ticks
- Sunscreen
- A hat for sun protection
- Sunglasses
- Cash
- A roll of quarters for camp showers and laundry
- A mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes
- Chairs
- Clorox wipes and Wet Ones
- Rain ponchos or an umbrella
- Hiking backpack
- Clothing items
- A sharpie and a pen, because you never know when you might need them!
Camp Kitchen: Camping Packing List for Families
Next up is the all important camp kitchen to cook food on your next camping adventure.
- A cooler
- Ice
- A cutting board set with knives, a colander, and cutting board
- Kitchen knife
- Cast iron pans
- Cooking Utensils
- matches
- Fire starter
- Lighter Fluid
- Charcoal
- Grill cleaner or grill cleaning oil
- Heavy duty foil
- Grill toppers
- Grill baskets
- Oven mitts for grilling
- Long metal thongs and turners for grilling
- A can opener and bottle opener, unless you already have these on your utility knife
- Plates and utensils
- Mugs or collapsible mugs
- Bowls or bowls with lids
- Table cloth There are also fitted picnic table cloths available, but as sizes vary from campsite to campsite, we just opted for a regular table cloth.
- Tablecloth clips
- Collapsible buckets for your family camp kitchen sink
- Camp soap for your hand washing AND dish washing station
- A dish rag
- Something to scrub those cast iron pans
- Trash bags
- Paper towels or compressed towels to save on space
- A coffee percolator and coffee liners
- Coffee
- Avocado oil
- Extra Virgin olive oil
- Ice or Ice packs
- Salt, pepper, and spices
- Chomps
- snacks
- Trail Mix
- Cereal
- Coconut Milk
- a S’mores kit complete with roasting sticks!
Camping Hack! Save some lint from the dryer at home and bring it camping with you to use as an easy (and free!) fire starter.
Optional items for your family camping kitchen
- Mini coolers
- Ziploc bags
- A bear bag if you are camping in an area with bears
- Camp stove
- reusable sandwich bags
- collapsible meal kits
- Baby food, if traveling with a baby
Toiletries
Some essentials to pack to keep as clean as you and the kiddos as clean as you can while camping.
- Soap sheets or liquid soap with insect deterrent. The liquid soap will wash your hair too!
- Toilet paper because you never know if the port-a-potty will be out!
- Tooth paste
- Tooth brush
- Mouthwash
- lip balm
- Deodorant
- Quick dry towels
- Washcloth
- Shower shoes
- Glasses and/or contacts
- Nail clippers because you never know when you will chip a nail
- Hair ties for anyone with long hair
For Hiking: Camping Packing List for Families
If your family loves hiking, then that means that you will be hitting the trails at some point during your camping adventures. If you plan on exploring the great outdoors during your camping trip, here are some hiking essentials to pack.
- Water
- Water bottle
- Bug spray for the mosquitos and ticks
- Sunscreen
- A hat
- Sunglasses
- Hiking backpack
- Electrolytes
- Bear spray if you are hiking in bear country. Make sure to read the directions and know how to use it!
- A loud bell to alert the bears if you are hiking in bear country
- Whistle with a compass just in case
- A first aid kit for hiking
- Comfortable hiking shoes. I wear either these Merrell hiking shoes or these waterproof Columbia Hiking Shoes, depending on the terrain. And Buddy wears these Merrell Hiking Boots
- Layers of clothing (most of my stuff is from Stitch Fix)
- Moisture wicking clothing
- Comfortable socks
- And jackets depending on the weather. In chilly weather, I wear this North Face woman’s jacket that I layer with a Columbia rain jacket in case of rain. During hot weather, I wear a light jacket with UPF to protect my skin from sun exposure.
Optional items for hiking
- Offline maps
- Waterproof shoe spray for your hiking boots
Pro Tip: Review the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace withe the kiddos so that they are well prepared before heading out on your family camping adventures!
For Your Car
As you will be road tripping to your camp site, it is important to remember to bring some essentials for your car too. Just in case you find yourself with car troubles far from a service station. Some items to consider include:
- Jumper cables
- Fix-a-flat
- A tool box
- Offline road maps
- Water
Optional Items
And because no two camping trips are alike, we are including some optional items below for your camping packing list. Depending on where you are traveling, some items, like swimsuits, might be essential. Make sure that you customize this list for your specific adventures!
- Swimsuits
- Water shoes
- Quick dry towel
- Air mattress
- Extra blankets if you are camping in the winter
- Umbrella
- Passport to Your National Parks book if you are visiting national parks and are eager to collect stamps.
- Books
- Playing Cards
- Uno, really fun if camping with kids
- Glow sticks for the kiddos
- A notebook
- Laundry detergent, if you plan on doing laundry while you camp
- Your pet and their pet supplies if you plan on bringing you pet. We road trip with our cat and have lots of tips about that! We have not camped with her yet. But if we do, we will let you know!
- Postcard stamps to mail postcards to loved ones
- A survival kit
- Power strip
- Extension cord
- Binoculars for watching wildlife
- Fishing gear, if you are heading out fishing
- And, if you like to do yoga while camping like I do, a yoga mat, yoga strap, and a yoga block.
Camping Packing List for Families: A teen’s perspective
Well my mom pretty much said it all. Almost everything I recommended to pack for camping was already on the list. But this is what I have to add:
- Hand held battery operated weather radio. Yes, I camp with one of these.
- Music for the road trip, not the camp site because you don’t want to disturb other campers
- A charger for your phone or electronic device
So that’s it, our personal comprehensive camping packing list for families from our family to yours! With this comprehensive camping packing list for families in hand, you’ll be well-prepared for your next outdoor adventure. Remember to double-check your gear before hitting the road and enjoy making memories with your loved ones in nature.
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Do you have questions about family travel or traveling with teens? Feel free to reach out! We are happy to chat and share our experiences and look forward to connecting with you.
Does your family enjoy camping? Is there a camp site we should visit? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed reading this, check out these blog posts!
- 10 Important Tips for Camping at Twin Peaks Campground in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
- 10 Small But Important Tips for Camping at Cedar Pass Campground in Badlands National Park
- 6 Things You Should Know about Cherry Creek Campground
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Honestly I’ve never gone camping but I am excited to give it a try! This camping packing list for families seems super detailed so saving it for the future!
Love it.
I always find it really interesting to see the camping set up of different families (or groups!) We are pretty similar to you guys for car camping. The only things I would add to this are thermocell (the magical device that keep mosquitos away!) and a camping stove. We prefer to cook on the campfire, but in recent years we needed a stove as a back up as we get so many wildfires that we often camp when there is a campfire ban.
Oh that is a great tip! We live and camp in the desert Southwest and Mountain West region of the States where there aren’t too many mosquitos, and if they do show up, it is during the monsoon season. So we don’t need that much protection from the bugs. But for areas where mosquitos are a thing, that is a great tip! And yes, so many campgrounds are moving to camp stoves only to reduce fires.
Oooh that sounds heavenly! We get eaten alive by them.
Love that you list out a bunch of fun/things that make life easier things you can pack. Camping should be fun and anything I can pack to make life easier while in the wild, I want to!
This list is super helpful when it comes to packing for a camping trip. I never would have thought to bring a mat to keep outside of the tent, but I bet it helps out with not tracking dirt, sticks, or leaves into the tent. Great thinking!
Yes, it is very helpful keeping the dirt out. Especially when camping with the kiddos!
I love camping! And I always feel like I’m forgetting something when I’m packing. Looking at your list, seems like I’m usually forgetting bug spray and a mesh bag for my dirty clothes! Definitely saving this for future me 🙂
I am not an outdoorsy type person for camping. I might in an RV, but thankfully the hotels can depend on my business. This is a great list – and I’m a list maker.
I haven’t done camping in ages, such an awesome and detailed list, it makes me want to go camping…
I am NOT a camper, yet I sacrificed for my girls when they were younger and went. I will second the idea that packing lists are a life saver. And learn some dutch oven cooking skills!