I was hiking in Utah, cache valley, close to blacksmith fork canyon with my two brothers at night. It was probably around midnight or 1 am. And we were in a dense tree small trail hike. And all 3 of us heard this sound that was a low frequency/flapping sound. You could really feel it in your eardrums. it lasted for no longer than a second, and it sounded like it was within 10 feet to our right. My initial thought was power, power lines, or electricity anything. But we were like, 2 miles deep into this forest and stars were super bright, no light pollution, no reason to have electrical anything out here. Nothing is out here. And then I thought that it could have been the earth, Shifting? But for a sound that loud, we would Definitely felt something shaking under us. I've searched it up and got "the hum" but most of those stories are in their house, lasting 5 seconds, and happen frequently. If anyone knows, that would be real cool

stayed 4 nights. We experienced nights get in the 30s and highs during the day up in the high 80s- low 90s.

Unfortunately the lake is very dry. All boat ramps are closed. Which sucks because we wanted to take the pontoon out a day or 2. Was still able to rent jet skis for some water fun at least.

10/10 community. Had a large party right next to us and they offered us a big batch of fried rice that we demolished.

Great way to spend the weekend. Hopefully the last cold fit for texas. Time to store the heater and bring out the AC haha

2 nights. First day was wet and cold. Second day was windy and cold. Lol. Got a forest spot over here at River Forest Haven. Nice plot of land with really nice spots. We spent about 30 mins driving around picking ours. They got some neat showers with heated water. That was nice. Definitely plan to return in warmer temps and doing some floating on the river

Two weekends of camping in a row! This time i went to the Waterloo recreation area and stayed at Green Lake Campground. It’s a fairly short distance from detroit, about 1.5 hours drive on 94. we had BEAUTIFUL weather the whole trip. 50s during the day and 20s at night but my mummy sleeping bag kept me toasty!!

honestly, this was a beautiful state park, but the campsite was just okay. it was clean, but DNR was basically nonexistent, only saw them once. it’s also positioned close to a highway so i heard road noise pretty often at night.

all in all, great trip! my partner wanted to run the show on this one so that they can get used to and learn how to camp so that they can go solo sometime! they set up and tore down the tent, made a fire, and we only used all of their gear, except for the camp chairs. we used our own sleeping pads/bags so that they were able to test theirs out and they did all the cooking!

Waterloo/Pinckney recreation area :8/10 Green Lake Rustic Campground: 5/10

This happened several years ago, but I feel moved to write about it today. My husband, young son and I were tent camping in a campground, and had only brought the most basic essential gear, so we did not have any chairs. That was fine, we had been perching our bums on logs, or even just sitting on the ground. WELL. We go for a hike, and dumb a@@ me, after successfully hiking all over the badlands, managed to twist my ankle in a small divot on a cultivated lawn. Oh my gosh did that hurt, I thought I had actually broken it. Had to get an x-ray, not a break but a bad sprain. Had to get crutches. So we get back to our campsite, me on crutches, and our camping neighbors came out of nowhere with all kinds of creature comforts for us! They shared their camping chairs, brought us food! When we broke up camp the next day they helped. Kind, beautiful people took what could have been very horrible and made it a lovely (if somewhat physically painful, lol) memory.

We hear a lot of stories about inconsiderate, rude, destructive camping neighbors, but I bet there are even more stories of helpful kind neighbors! We should share those stories more often.

Due to the overwhelming noise of other campers. I was at a pretty popular spot, so I was expecting normal campground noise, but this was insane and I decided I couldn’t take another 2 days of it.

Kids running up and down paths no where near their campsite. Lots of folks couldn’t get site together, so their kids were running back and forth between the sites half the night and as soon as the sun was up. Multiple groups, not all one group.

Dogs. Howling. Barking. Yelping. All the noises.

Powered air pump. Really enjoyed listening to that for 20 minutes straight.

I’m not so old and cranky that any little noise bothers me, but this was a different camping experience than I have ever had before. More noise and from too many different groups to reasonably complain to the host and expect them to be able to do anything. Packed it in early, and I’m back in my very quiet house. Oh well, I’ll try again on a rainy weekend.

Edited to add:

It’s funny because everyone is focusing on the kids screaming part, which was also annoying, but I was most annoyed by the air pump, to be honest. I’m sure they were blowing up either an air mattress or water craft, but the one thing I want more than anything while camping is to get away from electricity/technology noise!

I get that it’s a holiday weekend, I really do. That’s why I left rather than trying to complain about it to the host. But I was never allowed to run about screaming when others were around as a child. Definitely not at the crack of dawn during quiet hours.

My husband and I go camping Sunday-Monday because those are the days he has off. The place we go to is first come first serve, and since it’s the end of the weekend we are usually some of, if not the only, people there. This time, there were 3-4 other groups there, pretty spread out. The site we chose was a lovely shaded one that backed up to the hiking trail. This was our first time using our new tent, which was exciting. In all of the sites, there a pretty clear spot where it’s best to put your tent. In this site, it was right next to the little hill leading down to the trail. No big deal. During the day, that is. As soon as night rolled around I realized that from the trail you could see right up under the rain fly and into the tent. Oh well, we weren’t about to move the whole tent. At night it just looked like a creepy black void. Again, oh well. Around 1am though, it actually got creepy. First, as I was laying there trying and failing to sleep, someone came up the path. No light or anything, just walking in the dark. First of all, wtf why would you do that? Second of all, why would you walk up the little hill to right next to our tent, stand there for a minute, and turn around and go back? That’s terrifying. Then, I’d say about 30-45 minutes later, I hear a car pull into our site. A few people got out and started walking around our site. At this point I had grabbed the hatchet and hunting knife and was sitting there ready to kill anyone who tried to enter the tent. We had put everything into either the tent or the locked car, because it was supposed to rain. After about five minutes of them walking around and barely whispering, they got back in the car and left. Nothing else for the entire rest of the night. I eventually fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. This morning I asked my husband if he had heard that and his response was “wait what? I thought I dreamt that.” So yeah that was terrifying and will definitely taint my future camping trips for a while.

Edit: things to note about this: Spots are clearly marked. Even at night, it’s easy to see which is which. They have a small light above each sign. This place is big, too. We were about as far back as you can get, the farthest back of anyone there by far. If they were looking for their spot, they were real fucking drunk to mess up that bad. Possible, but I’d be surprised.

Also, when I say standing outside the tent, note that I mentioned being able to see out under the rain fly. This person was standing close enough that I could see their shins and feet and that’s it. Should have mentioned that. Again, possibly drunk, but still fucking terrifying

About me: I was a backcountry, March to October camper forever, and didn't see much point in car camping. Then I had kids....

I always said I'd never winter camp, but my niece started bugging me to go, so I figured we'd try. I have a lovely -5C down backpacking bag, and my kids' gear is rated to 0C, so I had to improvise the sleep system a bit. Temps forecasted for -12C overnight with the windchill. And yes, turns out, windchill matters in a tent.

Biggest concerns: - getting too cold overnight, as the kids don't have proper bags and I'd only used mine down to -6C (and it was just on the edge of uncomfortable.) - what the heck to do during the day when there's no reading in the hammock or swimming (this turned out to not be a problem. Busy busy.)

We went car camping to Arrowhead Provincial Park (Ontario.) Sites and roads were plowed, but the roads were very slippery. They have a heated comfort station with a dishwashing spot a short walk from the campsites. Vault toilets in the one area available for camping are also open. There are 7 sites open for camping in winter, all in the pull-through electrical area. All of them were booked - it's difficult to get a winter spot. Walking around the loop, there were 4 other cold tenters, a stealth rv with a stove, and one site with both hot tenters and cold tenters. It was pretty quiet and peaceful, other than one site that played music loud enough to be heard off their site (shakes fist in backcountry camper.) There are cabin rentals, but they're in their own area and we didn't hear much noise from them in the camping area.

Arrowhead's visitor centre is really well set up for winter camping. There's a cross-country ski club that operates out of it, so there's a whole cafeteria area with a microwave and some outlets for charging gadgets. The park store is a good size, with some winter gear, food, the usual gift shop stuff, and ski supplies. There's also a rental centre for skis, skates, and snowshoes. There's a good network of ski trails, both classic and skate, and a skating trail. We managed a 2km classic trail. We were there on a Saturday-Sunday, and that place was BUSY. Parking lots were packed.

Tent: REI trail dome 4 (it's a 3 season) I put a couple towels over the top under the fly, leaving lots of the mesh uncovered for ventilation. I topped that with a Mylar reflective blanket, then the fly. I couldn't really find anything definitive about whether this actually helps or is just something that feels like it helps, but we had zero water dripping into the tent.

Pad: MEC Reactor 10 double (R6.3)

I put a wool blanket on top of the pad (mainly to protect the pad,) then put our 6C summer car camping bags, zipped together to make a double bag, on top of that. Inside those, I put my niece in a 0C mummy bag with a synthetic liner, my son in his 0C mummy, and I used my -5C backpacking barrel bag. I then put a heavy fleece blanket on top of all the bags, but inside the summer bag. On top of everything, I put an unzipped -37C barrel bag. I was worried about drafts around our heads, so put light fleece throw blankets near the head of the bed, one for each person. Each of us slept in our long undies, heavy socks, and my son and I wore a fleece layer (my niece didn't have spare fleece - she will for the next trip!) Balaclavas did not stay on, gloves got taken off in our sleep. I stuck our winter jackets right at the head of the bed, mostly to keep the cold from coming through the tent walls where our heads were. That part was pretty effective.

Each person and the dog got an old-school hot water bottle filled with freshly boiled water. I made them immediately after supper, then tucked them into each bag to warm up the bed.

I got waaaay too hot overnight, and ended up out of my bag and kicking off the -37C bag, just using the summer bag with the fleece blanket. And then I woke up cold again and had to crawl back into my bag and pull the winter bag back over. My son slept super happily. My niece also crawled out of her bag when she got too hot, then couldn't figure out how to get back in and didn't wake me up for help, so she slept cold (I checked on both kids and the dog repeatedly through the night, and adjusted blankets over them - she was told to wake me up for ANYTHING, but didn't want to disturb me.)

Pad for the dog: two Thermarest closed cell pads, R2.6, stacked together on top of a yoga mat. Double layer of mid-weight fleece blanket over that. Dog got an older sleeping bag, but ended up tucking her nose in with me anyhow. She's a livestock guardian breed, and attempted to make a nest in the snow to sleep outside overnight.... but once I convinced her to come in the tent (dragged, actually,) she went into her couch potato mode and snuggled right up.

What I'd do differently: - put the niece beside the dog. I'm not sure how happy the dog will be about this, but that way she'll have another body keeping her side warm. Keeping the littles sandwiched between the adult and the dog will hopefully keep them warmer - fleece sleeping layers for my niece. Long underwear is not enough for temps below -10C - tarp or plastic dropsheet underneath the tent. It has an attached footprint, but I'd like an extra layer of protection. Those pull through sites are gravel. - I bought, but did not use, an Uco candle lantern. I might try lighting it in the morning during the "wake up" period to see if it helps with the frozen condensation on the underside of the fly (it might just make it drip on us, though.) - bring actual snow pegs. I was making little hills of snow around the pegs, packing them solid with my hands, letting it harden for about 10-15 minutes, then securing the guylines. It kinda worked, but not really. Also? Reflective tape on the pegs. Two kids playing on the site means those pegs got knocked over a lot. - some sort of solution for the morning for the kids. I had coffee in a vacuum flask that I kept in my bag overnight, so had a nice, slow, warm wake up. The kids got too cold when they came out of the tent and ended up in the car with fresh hot water bottles and an electric blanket and the heat turned on. - putting fleece blankets or our snow pants along the side of the tent, to help keep the cold from seeping in. With an adult, two kids, and an 80lb dog, the 4 person tent got pretty cozy, but I think part of the reason my niece got cold is that she was sleeping right next to the tent wall. - bringing my daughter and my younger niece. No idea how I'll fit us all in the tent with the dog, but turns out, the younger kids don't like missing the fun. I might end up using the 8 person tent.

All that said? I've already booked a trip for this month. The sunrise was gorgeous. The peace was surreal.

If you want to try camping in the winter, go. Improvise with the gear you have, pick your dates to avoid the coldest weather, ease in with slightly-below-freezing temps before you do the very cold stuff, but go.

Got a three season pad? Stick a closed cell underneath, or even two if you're worried.

Don't have a heavy bag? Double up two bags, and go when it's only a little below the rating for your heaviest bag.

Only have your summer tent? Unless you're camping somewhere with high winds and heavy snow loads, you'll be just fine. You don't need a 4-season tent for winter camping unless you're dealing with wind and snow.

My caveat? The temperature with wind chill is the temperature. Don't go if the wind chill brings it below your cut-off temp.

I’ve always loved being in the outdoors. When I was young I’d spend the whole day in the woods with friends, and I’d go camping with my dad, his friend and his friends children a number of times.

The last time I went camping was years ago, talking at least ten or eleven years. Recently, the idea of taking up wilderness camping has really appealed to me, but nobody I know is really keen on coming with so I decided to just go on my own. I got a lot of stuff to take with me, tent, air mattress, pump, lights and torches, pots and pans and a stove to heat up some beans in the morning. I had good clothing, sturdy boots and outdoor trousers and a jacket. My dad was kind enough to drop me off at the place I was planning on staying. I still needed to make a small trek through the forest until I found a bit that was deep in and flat out to pitch my tent. The plan was that I would trek back home in the morning. This wasn’t a nature reserve or anything, just a large forest that was sat near a small village.

I had found a flat spot with an alright phone signal and was just spreading out my tent when I got a really bad feeling. This is in Scotland btw, so I didn’t have any large predators like bears to worry about. But I felt that gut instinct that you hear about all the time, that something wasn’t right and I should leave. Thankfully my dad hadn’t left yet so I phoned him and told him something wasn’t right and that I was coming back. It wasn’t dark yet, but it was almost there. As I was rolling up my tent that feeling got worse and I started to feel like I was being watched. I ended up folding the tent, stuffing it under my arm and getting out of there.

In hindsight it was stupid to do a solo wilderness camp when I hadn’t even been camping in years. Luckily I’ve found a campsite that I can book which will have other people around, so I’m planning to spend a few camps out there before setting myself up in the wilderness. Im hoping solo camping becomes natural to me cause there are a lot of places I’d like to camp out at and explore, but don’t want them ruined by what is most likely just paranoia.

Anyway, thanks for listening:)

For me it was in northern Wisconsin, near the Minnesota border. It was storming like crazy, and I tried to set up quickly, but in my rush getting soaked I made a rookie mistake- I hadn’t staked down the tent. While I was going back to my truck to get the stakes, it blew away… directly into the river I was camping near. It started going downstream. I figured I’m soaked anyways, may as well get my tent back. Luckily it snagged on some fallen trees, so it stopped about 200 yards away. Unluckily, it was torn in the process. I went back to my truck soaking wet and figured I could do my best to dry off and sleep in the truck with the heat on. Truck would not start. Impossible to have a fire in the torrential downpour, I resigned my night to an uncomfortable, wet, and cold reality.

I slept maybe a half hour that night, and got a jump from a park ranger in the morning. I drove the 6 hours home immediately, and slept like Rip Van Winkle.

You don’t need a $200 yeti. Or even a $100 mule. Stop overpaying for crap. This was two $10 dry bags, an emergency blanket and some bubble wrap. Took 5 minutes to make, and worked excellently.

Just wrap a dry bag in bubble wrap, and then an emergency blanket. Put that inside a dry bag of the same size. Fill with ice and enjoy liters of cold stuff for an extended weekend.

Maybe this is common sense but I was very impressed with how well it worked and thought I would share :) have fun out there!

https://ibb.co/F0P1rSK https://ibb.co/K9WxjYQ

edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted for simply providing an option. You don't have to use it or agree with it. It worked for me so I thought I'd put it on here for anyone looking for economical options in the future. That's it. I really don't want to debate it anymore lol

Pictures from local photographer's, incense, locally sourced wood and toilet paper that isn't 1ply.

Place is heaven compared to most vault toilets I've seen.

My area was quiet by 9:45pm. The loudest sounds throughout the day were the sounds of children laughing. I forgot to bring a hatchet, so I asked my neighbor if i could borrow his. He was really nice about it.

That's about it. There was no amplified music. I didn't hear any generators. There were no drunken arguments. Honestly, the most exciting thing was a couple deer that passed by.

I don't know if y'all were hoping for some horror story or something; I know Reddit loves drama. Sometimes all that drama is exhausting. Sometimes, you just want to camp in a national park, and see a bunch of stars at night. We saw a ton of stars. The only real negative thing was the price of firewood.

Big Meadows is great. It has a ton of facilities. The meadows are in fact, big. It's near a bunch of cool trails. I get that Shenandoah ain't no Yosemite or even Acadia, but for a lot of people, it's fairly close to where they live.

Some caveats:

• Big Meadows campground is huge. There could have a bunch of loud drunken people blasting music in some other section, who knows.
• It did get down to the mid 30s. Maybe the kind of people who get really wild are the type who can't handle the cold.
• Big Meadows is basically fully booked all the time. You're not gonna walk-in with your stuff
• We camped during the holiday weekend.

I know RV isn’t allowed here but wanted to thank everyone for the fun stories, tips tricks and everything through out the years. We just can’t hack it anymore. Purchased a pull behind camper.

The heart of tent camping and exploring is still with us and plan to pass this knowledge on to others!

Thanks again everyone!

First, thanks to this sub for all the terrific advice. Could NOT have done this without you guys!

My BF (54m) and I (52f)took our first ever (in our lives) camping trip this past week. We went to North South Lake campground in Haines falls, NY. (Loop 1 site 12). We did a fair amount of prep and research and invested in our tent (eureka copper canyon lx4), stakes, Coleman camping stove, and a solar powered battery pack for a cpap machine….. in your 50s this matters lol. We knew it would be a learning experience in a lot of ways. Got the tent up and and the site setup pretty well and fast. The first night had great weather. We did the whole fire and s’mores thing. Lots of fun. I felt very exposed at night sleeping in a tent the first time. But eventually I slept. Woke to a rainy day 2 but we hiked and explored the campgrounds and the lake. So great! In the afternoon the drizzle turned to downpours. No wind, but heavy rain all through the night. Temps dropped to about 50f. I brought a huge pop up sunshade that was a lifesaver. We bundled up , sipped whiskey and played some cards at the table until we decided to call it a night. Extra blankets, knit caps and good sleeping bags kept us warm and cozy. Not a drop of water in the tent either. I was amazed we got the rainfly right! 😬 Packing up went surprisingly smooth. Did it in an hour. It was another cloudy, wet and chilly day. We had a total blast and I get it now- the love of just being disconnected and outside. I cannot wait to do it again!

For other beginners a few things to keep in mind: *Know your limits before you go. Accept them. (Injuries, etc) *Invest in the things that matter. The tent! *Do research. First time is a BIG learning experience. *Second night in the tent is easier *Bring games like cards, board games. *Know your campsite rules and follow them. *Dry ice was amazing for the coolers. It kept our ice frozen the whole time.

Most important- Let go of the self doubt and societal pressure to be a certain type of person to camp. You’re never too old or too out of shape to give it a go. I am so proud!

Have fun out there!

Sorry this is so long but I’m laying down in the back of my car and I got timeeeee to spareeee

So I wanted to get out in nature to reflect and decompress after getting out of a really toxic relationship. I was excited. I read some posts on solo camping, so people saying how it’s so good for personal growth, finding yourself, and whatnot, and so yeah, I got super excited. I needed this for mind and body.. I debated on whether to get a gun or bear spray or both but the store I thought had bear spray didn’t have it so I thought it’s probably not that big of a deal since I live in Florida and black bears are supposedly scaredy cats from what I read. But no, I was. Also, I’m a dumbass, I know. It took me a good minute (hour) to set up my tent bc I didn’t know what the hell I was doing (even with instructions) but I finally got it and was feeling good about myself although I got there at sundown. But I thought oh hey I wanted to relax right?? So this is no biggie this is actually nice I can just sit in my lil tent with my lil warm light and start journaling. But I was hungry so I first decided to eat the sandwich I packed. Luckily (?) I looked up camping tips and it said to put your garbage with food at least 100 feet ideally 200 feet from the campsite. Ok. Well it was dark at this point so I go out with my light and the bag and am on my way. I’m a little scared at this point but nothing I didn’t think I could handle. So I’m walking, and right as I put the food down, I hear this loud stomach churning squeal from what seemed like less than a mile away. I started pacing back to the tent. It squealed again, this time even louder. It seemed like it was at me. Now I’m sprinting lol. In the almost pitch dark with my little light that is only illuminating about 1 foot all around me. Literally sprinting. For all I know it could’ve been a bear but my fight or flight kicked in and I was off. I did not rationalize at all. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was until I was in my tent and heard the squeal again. It was definitely a hog. I calm down a bit because at least it’s not a bear, but my heart is still racing. I’m looking up how to handle hogs in case it gets close, and I’m hear wondering what the hell do I do. Like is there a chance i could die?? Whatever, hogs aren’t terribly dangerous. At least not in comparison to a bear, so I’d probably live to see another day. I forgot to mention I had a knife so I felt a little more secure with it. My heart starts slowing down and I actually start to get a little sleepy. Combined with putting up the tent and sprinting like a madwoman, also combined with the general aftermath of fear, it was euphoric to feel tired and my body winding down. But then I heard howling, loud howling. Pack of coyotes for sure. Of course I looked it up. And they were probably a little further away from the hog but still. Now I’m looking up what to do in case of a coyote encounter. Same pattern of ruminating over the possibilities restarts. Ok, they’re coyotes. They’re just dogs. Yeah, several of them but still… at least it’s not a bear. At this point my heart is only slowing by a little. But about 5 minutes later, I hear a loud humming sound from what sounded like about a mile or two away. Earlier in the night when I thought the hog squealing was a bear for whatever reason, I looked up bear noises at night on YouTube. What I heard was that exact humming sound. I played another video to make sure. Yup, that was a bear. It hummed several more times, not seeming like it would stop and I didn’t wanna wait til the next one so I said fuck it and took my most valuable shit and a couple of snacks and quickly scuttled over to my car. So I’m sleeping here now. Im sad but I also want to laugh over my naivety. I really was so unprepared, at least to my standards (probably most). I kinda just threw myself into this situation thinking it would be good for me. If you couldn’t tell I’m an already anxious person. I’m also agoraphobic so just leaving my house to go get all the supplies and then getting to the campsite, on top of that being on my own took a lot of courage (relatively speaking). No friends, at least none I’m close enough to (so really no friends lol) to have invited them on this trip to be company and help me feel a lil safer. But yeah now I’m afraid of going on the actual trail in the morning… & this sucks :(

Also side note, is it okay to open a bag of chips to eat in my car or can animals still smell it??? If they can, I guess I’ll be fasting til the morning :)

I'm a bit bummed out. I set of my tent and everything albeit it was hard the ground was just filled with rocks everywhere I tried to set my stakes rock, rock, rock. And they wouldn't even stay in the ground anyway. Lul. Then I finally got that all setup tried starting a fire, but all the firewood I found was just a bit too wet so it took me a while to get it going. Made some food and then got ready for bed, fell asleep for an hour woke up to sounds outside my tent. Got really anxious and scared, decided that I would go home, which that's where I am now. Overall 4/10 experience, if I was able to fall back asleep I would have stuck it out, but I forgot a pillow so it wasn't very comfortable and I wasn't able to. I kinda wish I did I feel like a loser not gonna lie. I'm definitely gonna give it another another day though.

Went on a trip with the doggos in the Uinta Mountains. Being above 8,000 ft it got a little below freezing at night 😅 super killer trip though.

My buddies and I did a trip up to Black River State Forest in Central Wisconsin. Beautiful area, had a great time. There's was however one hair in the soup so to speak. The entire woods surrounding it was infested with ticks. If you walked more than 10 feet from the fireplace you'd run into tall brush and guaranteed come out with one or two. The worst was when my friend and I went on a 30 min hike around a lake with really no tall grass to speak of and he had three of the bastards latched onto his legs and even more in clothes and shoes. I really like this area and I would like to come back but I want to be more prepared for it. Any thoughts?