Planning a Camping Trip during Covid-19?

What you should know

With individual states starting to phase out travel restrictions. I know there are a lot of people out there, like myself, who are itching to get outside and go camping. I also know that there is a lot of conflicting information out there about what to do and not do. Do I wear a mask, do I dare not to? Am I at risk? The best course of action is to know how to proceed and to navigate during this weird transition we are in. 

As always, abide by your state laws and travel restrictions when traveling. 

Pre-Planning

This is a crucial part of the trip. Choosing a location. Now more than ever we want to take our destination into consideration. 

Where am I going?

This should be your first question. Once you have a destination picked. You can then start to do some research for that region. Are there travel restrictions there? Is Covid-19 spreading in that area? Are parks closed? Use the tools below to find out

 Am I showing signs of Covid-19?

This seems obvious, but don’t travel if you or your family is showing any signs of sickness or have been in contact with the virus. You pose a chance of spreading the virus.

Are you or those you are traveling with more likely to get ill from Covid-19?

Know who you are traveling with and their conditions. If they are 65 years or older, have chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, heart conditions, or the immunocompromised it’s probably best to stay home for now. You can find a full list of conditions HERE

Planning your Trip

Now we can start planning our trip, but where to start? There are so many different laws in each state and who knows if the parks are even open? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. These tools will help you figure it all out. 

State Laws and Orders

Each state has their own travel restrictions and varying degrees of stay at home orders. But, how do we know each and every states? The Kaiser Family Foundation has a handy tool that you can use to see if each state has stay at home orders or social distancing requirements in effect. You can find it HERE

National Parks

The National Park Service has a real handy tool that lets you choose a park by state and you can get more info for that particular park. Each park in the state is different and may not be all open at once. So, it’s best to check this website to make sure your destination is open. 

Find A Park By State

This website will also let you know of Alerts and Conditions of the individual parks

Campsites

Reserve America has a great tool to reserve campsites across the US. 

Packing For Your Trip

If you’re like me, you know what to pack. You’re only going camping and you’ve done this a trillion times. You know to bring the toilet paper, the water and food. You know, the essentials. Before you pack up and take off you might want to consider packing a few extra items that you may have not thought about before. 

1. Hand sanitizer: It’s top of the list. Some of you already take this while camping, but post Covid-19 this is an essential when heading out into the wilderness. 
2. Gloves: you might want to bring along a pack of latex or vinyl gloves with you. You will be in nature most of the time, but there are still the grocery store runs, gas station fill ups, and other miscellaneous stops to your destinations. Gloves can be a useful tool in fighting the infection if used properly. 
3. Face Mask: As stated above, you never know where your trip may take you. It’s possible you find yourself in a crowded grocery store picking up supplies for the week. 
4. Anti-bacterial Wipes with Alcohol: These wipes are handy for wiping down gas pumps, grocery carts, or anything else that others have come into contact with. 

During Travel

Follow these guidelines to stay safe during your travel

1. Clean your hands often. If you can wash with soap and water do so, but alcohol based hand sanitizer will do if that is unavailable.
2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. The membranes on these particular parts of your bodies can transfer germs into your body and make you sick.
3. Avoid close contact with others. The CDC recommends keeping a distance of 6 feet from others
4. The CDC also recommends wearing a cloth face-covering in public
5. If you cough or sneeze, make sure to cover it
6. If you end up going out to eat. Choose to go through a drive-thru, or opt for the curbside service if they offer it. 
7. Avoid public transportation

Other Important Things to Consider 

It’s camping. Most of us think of seclusion when camping, but that’s not always the case. If you’ve ever been to a campground that has a shared public restroom you know what I’m talking about. You, like myself, have been traumatized by that smell. The place is, at best, the minimum for restroom needs and, at worst, a cesspool. Those Alcohol wipes from earlier may come in handy during these situations. This might be another important thing to consider when planning your trip. Are you okay with using facilities like this? If not, where can you go that offers a better solution?

The most important thing is keeping yourself and others around you safe. If you think that you cannot effectively do this on your trip, then we recommend holding off until you can. 

Other than that we wish you safe travels and happy camping!