First family camping trip

Have at least one, preferably more back-up site or sites.

If you show up at your primary location and there are a bunch of people try your alternate locations. Same thing if your places fill up. Nice to be able to send off someone in the car to recon the alternates to see of you can move to those locations. This is very helpful on when a carload of drunks shows up and you know it's going to wreck your peaceful weekend. Usually people like the RV type places they can pull a trailer to. The more primitive places with no facilities are less crowded usually. The shame is that fewer of those places are around. The powers that be seem hell bent on making all of the wild area better by building RV parks, playgrounds (playgrounds in the woods? the hell?) paved roads, cabins, power hookups and all other manner of civilization.

Good call on bringing your own firewood too. Heavily used areas are usually picked clean of firewood.

BTW you can usually get excellent maps of your state and county recreation areas on either their websites or through local bookstores libraries and vendors. These should be very detailed as far as camping areas. You may find some very out of the way areas that get light use. There was one smaller area where I use to live that rarely saw use because it was so far off the beaten path and there were no improvements. Just a gravel parking lot and road and a tiny clearing supposedly designated as a camping area. I think I was the only person who camped there. I never encountered another soul out there except for the state DNR guy and he was just curious who was the person who he saw using the place sometimes. He told me as far as he knew I was the only person who ever camped there and other than a hunter now and then, a couple of the same guys who fished the pond and a mushroom hunter or two in the spring nobody used the place. Maybe a dozen guys all year used the land if that many and I used it more than any of them.

So who knows, do your research and you might find a hidden treasure.

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Respect The Cactus!

Heres some pics i took on a camping trip last year.Careful how close ya get to nature. Wolves / Said to be Hybrids!


Click my album up top, theres more.These where said to be released hybrids by the rangers.Funny how they changed there tune from just shooting them to going to great lengths to capture them though.As far as i no there still running free.
The bucket in the one pic was stolen by the wolves during the night,from another group of campers down the road.It had dog food in it.

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful tips and recommendations. Some things I didn't even think about, like keeping the food in your car or properly secured so that creatures won't be attracted to your site.

Suehi

Well, after all of the suggestions given here, the only thing I can add is to make sure you go out and purchase a brand new Suburban or full-size pickup with topper to carry all of the suggested gear!

When I've done canoe trips, whichhave lasted up to 2 weeks, everyone shares a Duluth pack to stow their gear in...two people to a pack. In addtion to the personal packs, there are two "community packs"....one for food and cookware and the other for tents.

My suggestion is to keep is simple....

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....