One of the most memorable moments you can ever make in life is through camping with your friends and family members.
Group camping is extremely fun when you know how to plan and manage the whole trip.
However, large group camping requires a bit more planning and coordination than compared to a solo camping trip.
While having a more extensive group does provide a lot more fun, if you are not adequately prepared, you can quickly run into some tough challenges.
This is why there are many things that you need to consider before heading out on a group camping trip.
We have sorted together 9 amazing group camping tips that will help you make your group camping a big success, so buckle up and keep on reading!
9 Amazing Group Camping Tips That You Should Know
Here are 9 of our listed tips that will surely help you make your camping trip a lot easier
#1. Choose Your Campsite
The first thing you would want to decide with the whole group is the type of camping you guys will be doing.
Generally, you can go with three main options: public campgrounds, private campgrounds, and dispersed campgrounds.
Public Campgrounds
Public campgrounds can generally be found at state and national parks. You might find public campgrounds at certain metropolitan parks as well.
While these places are easily available for low prices, they will likely have fewer frills.
Private Campgrounds
You will easily find private campgrounds spread across the entire country. Campgrounds such as these can be full of simple RV sites and tent pads to straight-up luxurious and fancy resorts.
While private campgrounds are a pricey option to go with, if you look out hard enough, you will likely be able to come across some sweet deals.
Dispersed Campgrounds
Dispersed camping is often referred to as “boondocking.” This type of camping is something generally done on publicly owned land.
To be more precise, lands are owned by the Bureau of Land Management or the states.
The best thing about choosing this option is that it is entirely free of charge. Of course, given that you will have to bring along everything you need because there are no amenities in places like these.
Yes, that also does include bringing in your water as well.
If you and your group cannot decide which type of campground you want to go with, you can consider a few things to help you choose the right campground for you.
- It may be best for you to only go with public and private campsites if there is not even a single experienced camper in your group.
- You should also think about on-site electricity, bathrooms, and water and if they are essential for your camping trip.
- Are you in need of any fire grills or pits? How about the group shelters that you sometimes find at different campgrounds?
- Do you think you and your group will stay up late and be loud? If so, you would want to find a camping area that is more secluded so you can be a bit respectful to the people around the area.
When you are out camping, make sure you check out the rules for camping. The fire warnings are critical to note, and some campgrounds have restrictions on the capacity.
#2. Find A Location That Allows For A Range Of Activities
Given the season is right and the weather is good out, you and your group could enjoy kayaking or even canoeing, or your group could even be a bunch of hardcore fishers.
You could also enjoy some rock climbing and cycling if the weather allows. Pick a spot that is quite a bit far from the city’s light pollution if you and your group are interested in nighttime photography of the sky.
The gist of it is that, to enjoy and properly manage your time, you should pick out a spot that allows you to do all the activities you guys plan on doing.
#3. Try Your Best To Make Early Reservations
This one is a bit more obvious, but it is also something that people still tend to forget.
Whether or not it is a public or private campground, if you are trying to get a campsite to accommodate a larger group, then you will be better off making your reservation at least six months before your trip.
Give yourselves a set end date and make sure everyone can decide where to go and make your reservations ahead of time.
You should also remember that most campsites require you to pay in advance or at least put-down half or some of the payment as a deposit.
This is why you should be ready with cash in your pocket when making your reservations.
However, if you want, you can always book your reservation online since some camping grounds allow for online reservations nowadays.
#4. Set Various Duties For Everyone
Of course when you are out camping, whether or not it is with a big group of people, there are several little things that you need to do.
These little things become a lot when a bigger group of people are involved. When you assign the work to everyone equally, it is properly divided between the whole group.
This allows everyone to take the responsibility of going out to camp, and everything is not dumped on just one person.
A few ideas for such responsibilities could be:
- A Fire Crew
- An Activity Crew
- A Tent Set-Up Crew
- Cooks for Breakfast
- Cooks for Dinner
- Crew for Transporting Food
- A Crew for cleanup
Assigning tasks is not necessarily needed if you are going with a smaller group.
However, everything will surely go a lot smoother and run better if you have a group of over 20 people and everyone knows what they have to do.
If you are going with a larger group of over 20 people, you would surely benefit a lot more by making a list for everyone.
This list will entail everything you guys need to share and what each person will bring with them—for example, grills, a cooler, maybe a 10 person tent, or even sports equipment.
#5. Putting Together A Menu For Everyone
This is very important. You need to make a good enough menu that allows everyone to enjoy the food being made.
Once you have made sure of the number of people going along on your camping trip, it is time for you all to sit down and discuss the food.
Talking out about it properly will help you make a menu that suits the taste of everyone going.
Of course, there will have to be a few compromises here and there, but making a final menu for the group meals that everyone will be provided during the camp will help out a lot during the event.
If you are unsure, there are many websites online that suggest a ton of delicious recipes to try out outdoors during camping.
Something to consider here is that you would be better off choosing meals that you can prepare in bulk. Being able to easily prep your food is also something that you can consider.
For instance, you can easily use two big pots to make spaghetti for around 25 people if you want.
Food such as burgers and bratwursts can be prepared on a grill with a lot of ease, and you can even have grilled vegetables cooked on an open fire for a larger group of people.
You can also assemble a buffet with bacon, burritos, tacos, and eggs. Another idea for a leisurely breakfast could also be pancakes since they can easily be made to order.
While breakfast and lunch are something that everyone involved in the event can prepare themselves for when they feel like eating, dinner is generally when everyone will get together to eat.
You can also have lunch nibblers and late risers set out, such as cereal, bagels, sandwich meats, and bigger salads.
You would do better by not including food that tends to spoil very easily, such as food with mayonnaise. It will allow you to have longer-lasting food.
Making a menu early on is vital because this allows you to take into account any diets that the people in your group might have or any allergies that you can avoid.
When you are making the plan for your food budget, you should make sure that you add drinks into it too.
There is nothing more refreshing than a fresh drink such as beer and soft drinks when sitting around the campfire with your friends.
#6. Buy Everything In Bulk
When you are out buying food items and drinks for a big group of people on a camping trip, one of the best places that you can shop is most likely Costco.
Just bring around a few of your friends or family with you, and you can load up a few carts with everything you need.
However, something important that you need to keep in mind before going on your shopping spree is that someone needs to make space in their fridge.
It’s obviously because all the things you end up buying will have to be stored, and given that you will be buying in bulk, you need a lot of storage.
If you have already divided responsibilities amongst the people going, it would be great to let the Food Crew handle this food business.
The crew responsible for transporting food should also know how much space they would need to carry along the food.
It is important to make sure that you have enough cooler space so that everything properly fits in for the camping trip.
#7. Set A Budget For Each Head
Once you have decided on the food cost and figured out the menu and the cost for the campsite, you need to come up with a price for everyone to split equally.
If you are thinking of the food, you would most likely get away with around $50 for each person for a weekend trip.
Of course, that amount will go way up if the people in your group expect you to pull out aged wine and fancy champagne.
If you establish a substantial cost per person ahead of time, it also helps all of the people going in your group know what they are getting into and how much they would need to spend.
Otherwise, putting up a significant sum of money on top of someone at the very end will catch them off guard.
#8. Have Proper Safety Plans
Before your camping trip goes through, you should make sure that you put together an emergency first aid kit.
If you are unsure of what to include in your camping first aid kit, here is a list of general items and medicine that you can consist of that might come in handy.
- Band-Aids
- Cold packs
- Tweezers
- Sterile Bandages
- Antibiotic ointments
- Aspirin
- Benadryl
You can never be too careful, so you should also add the emergency number to the closest hospital around your camping site in that first aid kit.
Pair that with another first aid app that you can get on your phone, and you are set. It will allow you to get through any emergencies that you might come across.
#9. Take Confirmation From Everyone
Before starting your weekend trip, you need to confirm all the plans that you made. Make sure that everyone has their duties in order. Reconfirm all of your plans, and then head out.
The best part of an adventure as a camper is exploring the amazing outdoors.
What’s even more rewarding and satisfying is when you can share this experience with a group of your closest people, whether it be friends or family.
One of the best things that you get from campgrounds is that they let you spend some quality time with your family and friends in an environment just as fun and comfortable.
Bottom Line
These are some of the most amazing group camping tips that we gathered here for you today.
We hope this helped you understand everything you should do before planning out a group camping trip.
Follow all these tips, and make sure to let your inner adventurer out in the wild during your camp. Good luck!
