Camping Trips with More Than One Family

With camping season just around the corner, we’re deep into trip-planning mode! Where are you headed this year for outdoor adventures? Are you planning any camping trips with your friends and extended family?

Camping trips are budget-friendly and easy to plan – even with other families involved. The perfect summer getaway for all your friends, especially with kids in tow! The little ones (and the kids at heart!) will appreciate all the free time spent playing outdoors.

If this is your first go at planning a group camping trip, the task might feel a bit intimidating at first. We’ve got you covered. Save yourself the stress with our top tips for planning camping trips with more than one family.

Make Organization Easy

First things first, get the group together to organize. Facebook and Whatsapp are both great options for group messaging to coordinate who’s bringing the smores and who bought the burgers. Some people also use Google Sheets to assign tasks and check items off group lists.

Whichever method you choose, document and store all your organization tools so you can and reuse them again for future road trips.

Book Adjacent Campsites

For the perfect balance of privacy, downtime and group fun, book adjacent campsites at your destination. When everyone has their own space, friends can join the party or rest as they need.

As for who pays for booking the campsites: Some families prefer to claim their own sites at the same time, while others think it’s easier for one person to foot the bill, tally up and be reimbursed afterwards. It really comes down to your preference.

Plan Group Meals

If the meals are simple, it’s easy to designate core ingredients to each family. Another option is to assign a family to each meal. For example, Family A covers the first dinner, while Family B cooks the second, then everyone contributes to the group breakfast and fends for themselves at lunch. However, if picky eaters are involved, potluck style meals might be easier for everyone to bring something they like. Whichever method you choose, remember to check with the other families for allergies.

Fresh out of ideas? We have plenty of camping recipes to make meal prep a little easier:

• Healthy Eating on the Road

• Crowd-Pleasing Summer Camping Recipes

• 6 Fuss-Free RV Camping Meals

• 7 Cozy One-Pot Camping Recipes

Campfire snacks and desserts can be divvied up as well, so you don’t end up with five bags of marshmallows and no graham crackers in the kitty. We have a few ideas if you want to branch out with dessert from the usual s’mores:

• Pumpkin Ice Cream Tacos
• Ooey-Gooey Camping Recipes
• Dutch Spice Skillet Cookie

Split Shared Supplies

Avoid overpacking by assigning shared supplies to different families. Be sure that everyone involved acknowledges this list! Also consider helping the less seasoned campers in your group remember which essentials to pack. This is where that potential Google Sheet comes in handy for everyone to keep track.

Confirm Campground Rules

Every campground enforces a slightly different set of rules. For example, most campgrounds might allow two cars on one site, while another says no more than one. Confirm these details before you arrive to avoid any unnecessary challenges.

Regardless of the campground rules, ensure all members of your party know the basics of good camping etiquette!

Agree on Activities

Can you imagine trying coordinate group activities with kids running in every direction? Or perhaps diving into an impromptu debate on the day-of with your friends about what activities you want to do?

Skip the stress and get everyone on the same track by choosing major group activities and outings before you head out for the weekend. Of course, you don’t need to plan the trip by the minute, but it’s wise to have a general idea of where everyone wants to head next.

Outside of those plans, sometimes it’s nice to enjoy a few quiet hours around the campsite simply playing family games, curled up sharing (spooky!) stories.

It’s time to start planning your camping trip! Not sure where to go? Find a campground, check out our handy trip planning tools, or browse our destination roundups for some outdoor inspiration…

• 19 Unique Road Trip Destinations
• 13 Canadian Travel Gems to Add to Your Bucket List

We’d love to hear your tips or lessons learned for planning camping trips with more than one family! Join our community on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to chime in on the conversation.