We’re Going Car Camping This Summer and Here’s How We’re Preparing

This year, for the first time in a long time, I am genuinely excited about getting back into camping. I wrote a post during the pandemic about getting back into it with my family but admittedly haven’t been since. This year though, future Mr. Trip Side has barely scratched the surface of Washington State. He’s visited two of the islands and hasn’t been camping at all. We are destined to fix that. Obviously.

So I thought I’d walk you through how to reserve campsites in Washington State, how to find private campground options, and where to find outdoor adventure in general.

Table of Contents

What is Car Camping?

People define car camping differently. It can literally mean camping in your car, which I’m not against on a very rainy PNW day. It can also mean driving to a campsite rather than backpacking in, and setting up with a few modern amenities including a tent, an inflatable mattress, a cooler, a grill, and kitchen supplies.

To be very clear, this is exactly the kind of camping we’ll be doing. I don’t need glamping but I am a woman who deeply appreciates indoor plumbing, warm showers, and clean water. Thus, we will be staying in a location with these amenities.

Washington State Camp Grounds

Washington State parks are almost completely digitized which is genuinely impressive. The website is fairly intuitive and I find the booking process straightforward enough once you get the hang of the map key.

The hardest part for most people is simply remembering to book early. Summer fills up fast and if you miss your window, you’re out of luck. I love that they offer a flexible date search so if you’re not tied to a specific weekend you can open up your options significantly. Searching “all parks” is also great if you just want to get outside as soon as possible.

If you have a hard time finding the reservation site, it’s here. I have it bookmarked on my browser.

Camping Inventory and Cost

What I love most about car camping is that done right, it really doesn’t have to be expensive. A lot of people assume they need to buy everything brand new and they absolutely do not. Though I won’t pretend I haven’t thought about that Yeti cooler everyone raves about. 😄

Our motto at home is use what you have, so the first thing we’re doing after booking our reservation is taking stock of what we already own. We have two tents which means we probably have a lot of duplicates. My plan is to sell mine on Facebook Marketplace and use whatever we get toward the one thing we’re actually missing: a camping grill.

Here’s our current camping checklist:

2-4 person tent
Subaru Forrester car mattress
Dishwashing kit (which I think will be a plastic bin)
Camping Stove/Grill
Matches or lighter
Cooking pots
Cooking utensils
Camping table
Lounge chairs (Ad’s fave chair, my chair)
Sleeping bag
Pillows
Plates
Cutlery
Ice Box
Cutting board
Extra blankets
Mugs & water bottles
Tupperware
First aid kit
Towels
Paper towels
Lantern
Trash bags
Games!

Stay tuned for Part 2 once we actually hit the road! I’ll share where we ended up, what worked, what we forgot, and everything we wish we had packed. 🏕️