Car Camping Essentials for the Best Camping Trip!

Car camping is a great budget friendly way to travel. But it can take a lot of preparation and essential items to get started. So let this post be your complete guide with everything you’ll need to know to start car camping.

A photo taken in Utah at a campsite we stayed at for a night. To the left side of the photo you can see our black Toyota Forerunner with the driver door open. My boyfriend is walking right next to the door. The headlights are on and you can see our car storage unit attached to the top. The car is parked in what looks like a cave. An orange rock cave and it looks like it's hovering over the car sheltering us from the wind. To the right of the photo, you can see the red rocks of Utah high in the sky. There are green trees growing out of the rocks. There is a small fire ring composed of rocks for camping in the foreground of the photo. There are also dead looking trees all over the ground and red sand is composed of the ground.

My partner and I have car camped all across the US together in the back of our Toyota 4Runner. After camping for days and weeks at a time, we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t with our camp setup.

On our first couple camping trips together, we always forgot several essential things at home. Imagine taking a shower in the middle of the woods and realizing you forgot your towel. Or getting ready to make food and realizing you have no utensils. We’ve been there.

Overtime we’ve learned everything that we need to have a successful trip. I’ve compiled a list of all the things that we bring every time we set out to spend a few nights in the wilderness.

I will reference this list when we’re packing to make sure we don’t forget anything.

I’ve even made this free image with our entire checklist of everything we take with us for our car camping adventures. Feel free to download this image or pin it to Pinterest to use it when you’re packing for your next camping trip.

Cooking Essentials for Car Camping

Propane stove w/ extra propane tanks (don’t forget the lighter!)
Pot and pan
Utensils and other cooking tools (spatula, tongs, oven mitt, etc)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil/ your favorite cooking oil
Small bottle of dish soap and sponge
Plastic bag for trash (pack it in, pack it out)
Towel for drying dishes
Cooler for cold food items

A photo of our car camping set up in our black Toyota Forerunner. The back trunk is open to reveal our camping equipment we have set up in the back. You can see our Coleman propane camping stove is set up in the back and there is a pan of food sitting on the burner. You can see our Thule car cargo unit on the top which is open showing a few bags of supplies we use. Behind the car you can see that the car is parked on top of a sandy road. Behind the sandy ground there is a railing with dead looking plants behind it. Behind the plants you can see the blue ocean which stretches out to the horizon where it meets the blue sky with a few clouds scattered.

I’ve written an entire article listing all the meals we enjoy making for ourselves when we’re camping or living on the road. If you’re looking for more camping meal inspiration then you can check it out here.

A picture of my boyfriend cooking a meal in the back of our car. Our Coleman propane stove is set up in the back with a pan with a grilled cheese cooked on it on one burner. On the other burner there is a pot full of tomato soup and my boyfriend is stirring it. You can see in the background that we are parked in a parking lot.

Outdoor Essentials for Car Camping

Camping chairs
Shovel
Fire starter

A photo taken at one of our campsites in the middle of the woods. We have a fire burning in the middle of the photo with a pile of logs we found. There are two camp chairs set up a few feet away from the fire. There are some tall pine trees in the background of this photo with grass taking up the foreground and everywhere else on the ground.

Hygiene Essentials

Shower bag
Small bottles of soap, shampoo, whatever else you’ll need
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Towels
Toilet paper
Deodorant
Hand sanitizer

Sleeping Essentials for Car Camping

Pillows
Blankets
A foam bed mattress or pad that will fit in the back of the car
Windshield sun shade for more privacy

A picture of our foam mattress pads that we have inside the back of our Toyota Forerunner. You can see the front seat in front and the two pads stacked on top of each other in the backseat with the back seats folded down to make a big space for us to sleep.

A photo taken at our campsite in New York. The photo was taken by me laying inside our Toyota Forerunner. There are blankets laying down in the backseat and my legs are stretched out and I have one foot crossed in front of the other. We have the back trunk open so you can see outside where we are. There is a large green mountain in the background and a lake in front of it. To the right there is a wooden picnic table and small trees scattered around the grass.

Misc. Items

First aid kit
Water jug for drinking water (we fill up this jug with our own filtered water before we leave to ensure we have clean water wherever we go)
Binoculars
Bug spray
Sunscreen
Flashlights/ headlamps

Storage for Car Camping Essentials

I also want to mention that we do have a rooftop cargo unit which is attached to the top of our car. That is where we store most of these items.

Here you can find the exact one we use. We bought it second hand for $60 and it has worked amazing for us!

Rooftop storage unit on top of our Toyota 4Runner to store all of our large camping supplies. This makes car camping so much easier.

That concludes my complete list of items that I consider our camping essentials. This is everything we bring with us on our camping trips. If you don’t have some of the items on this list, you can also consider renting camping gear at a location close to your trip destination!

Some of the things on this list might not seem necessary for you, but for us all of these items help us have the most fun and successful camping trips. Everything on this list are truly things that we use on almost every trip depending on how long of a trip we’re taking.

I hope this checklist was helpful to you, thank you so much for reading!

Soul Summit Travel

Hi! I'm Anna, the human behind Soul Summit Travel. My mission is to make travel more accessible so everyone can experience the joys of connecting deeper with our Earth.

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