Facebook Pixel

Autumn Camping Tips: Gear Checklist and Guide on How To Stay Warm During This Season

By Two Monkeys Travel - Contributor November 4th, 2020 Posted in Roadtrip & Adventure, Travel Blog No comments

Most people consider autumn to be the perfect time for buying wine and staying at home under a warm blanket, with some calming music playing in the background while the cold is dominating outside most of the time. However, for many, it is also the perfect time to go camping – and there are several reasons for that.

First of all, most campers have already put their camping gear in the closet and won’t be taking it out until the next year. During autumn, the number of campers is significantly lower, which means that you can truly enjoy the outdoors in peace. What’s more, the scenery during this season is just beautiful. When taking advantage of outdoor activities, such as hiking or cycling, you sweat less, as the weather is not as warm as it is during the summer – it makes them more pleasurable.

7 Ultimate European Bucket List for Your Next Getaway
Lê Tân

While there are many more reasons why autumn is a great time for camping, that’s not the point of our article. Preparing for camping in colder months is slightly different, as you need to, for example, take warmer clothes than you would in July or August. We understand that, which is why we decided to gather some of the best tips for camping during autumn.

Want to find out more? Just keep reading then.

Autumn Camping Gear Checklist

Having the right gear is essential, not only during autumn but also during the rest of the year. It doesn’t matter if you are staying in a cabin or roughing it in a tent – the right gear will protect you from the cold and make your whole trip much more enjoyable.Coleman Product Review for Family camping

So what exactly should you take? Well, here are a few ideas:

  • Good sleeping bag – when choosing the sleeping bag for autumn camping, you need to pay special attention to proper insulation – always choose one that will protect you from temperatures lower than you expect to encounter. If you need to, bring and use two sleeping bags.
  • Folding chair – during autumn, not only the weather is colder, but so is the ground, which means that for your own comfort, you should bring a folding chair with you. There are many options available on the market, so if you don’t know which one to choose, you can always read more about the best folding chairs at outdoorwithj.com or a similar website.
  • Wool or down blanket – this is a great way of keeping you warm and dry throughout the entirety of your trip. A definite advantage is that both wool and down blankets are lightweight and easy to travel with, which means you won’t even notice them in your backpack.
  • Hot water bottle – another way of keeping you warm during the night. Warm up the water on the cookstove or campfire, and use it to fill in the bottle. Place the bottle at the foot of your sleeping bag – it will keep your toes warm.

How to Stay Warm In Your Tent

While a good sleeping bag and pad should be enough to keep you warm during the night, sometimes the temperature might be lower than you expected it to be. That’s why it’s important to be prepared for everything – here is how you can keep yourself warm during your autumn camping trip:

  • Share your body heat – it doesn’t matter if you have your dog, partner, friend, or family member in the tent with you – snuggle up to them, as their body temperature will keep you warm, just like yours will do to them.
  • Do some jumping jacks – there’s no denying that physical activity warms us up – that’s why whenever we felt cold during winter, our parents told us to move a little bit in place. If you want to create heat that will warm up not only you but also your tent, do some jumping jacks or another sort of physical exercise before you hit the sack.
  • Use an emergency blanket – you can either place it on top of your sleeping bag or tape it to the ceiling of your tent.

Stay Occupied

If you find the right place for camping, you will have more than enough to do during your trip – be it going for a hike, rock climbing, or just going on a walk around the campsite, for example, collect the autumn leaves (a very good option if you have smaller children that need to remain occupied).Our Scilly Adventure One Week Camping in England's Secret Tropical Paradise13

A lot of campsites are located in the vicinity of apple orchards, with some even being on the property) which means that you can go apple picking – a great daytime activity for people of all ages. It will also save you some money, as you will not have to bring or buy as much food – after all, apples are a great snack.

Since it’s autumn – the Halloween season – another activity that you can organize is pumpkin picking. Once you come back to your campsite, you and your friends, family, or whoever you are on a trip can carve them – not only is it fun, but you also get a cool Halloween decoration. It’s a win-win if you ask us.

Be Aware of the Wildlife

While wild animals such as bears are dangerous throughout the whole year, they become even more dangerous during autumn. Why? – you might ask. Well, that’s because their food supplies start to die off, which means that they are even more determined in finding food resources that will help them get through the next couple of months.

21 Less-traveled Destinations that will make you visit South America
Photo from
Ralf Kayser
CC BY 2.0

If you have any food in airtight containers, remember to seal them up so that they won’t attract animals. Also, look out for bees and wasps – while it might seem like they are not that much of a threat, they become more active and more aggressive during autumn. It’s better to be safe than sorry – especially since some people don’t even know whether they are allergic to them.

The Bottom Line

Regardless of what many people think, autumn is the perfect season for camping – the temperature is not that high, which means it will not tire you out, there are significantly fewer people, and many campsites actually lower their prices since there are not as many people as during summer.

Autumn Season in MontenegroHowever, autumn is also a specific season – especially because of the weather that can unexpectedly change within a few hours. That’s exactly why you need to be prepared for everything. We hope that our tips will help you in organizing and planning out your little camping trip. Have fun!

Line seperator

Are you on Pinterest? Pin these!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:Many of the articles on Two Monkeys Travel Group are guest posts by a number of Approved Contributors and are hosted by Two Monkeys Travel Group. Approved Contributors control their own work and post freely to our site. This includes all text and images that they use within their own work. All contributors are instructed to follow internationally recognised copyright and intellectual property guidelines. Two Monkeys Travel Group takes its own responsibilities very seriously, so if you feel that any part of this work is abusive in any way, please send us an email so that we can investigate - [email protected]


DISCLOSURE: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. So when you make a purchase we sometimes make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. The cost to you remains the same, sometimes even cheaper if we have negotiated a special deal for our readers.We use all of the companies we have listed here and that’s why they are in this list, but of course we need to keep Two Monkeys Travel Group running as well as it can, which is exactly what you’re helping with if you do decide to buy or book something through an affiliate link! If you have any more questions about the companies we use or any other companies you’re looking at, just email us and we’ll be happy to help.Please see our full disclaimer page for more information.

Written by Two Monkeys Travel - Contributor

Two Monkeys Travel Group – Community Travel Blog is a travel blog and website. We quickly grew into a valuable source of inspiring travel stories, advice, itineraries and travel guides, with the aim of demonstrating how to live a sustainable life of travel, whilst living your own definition of success. If you'd like to contribute and write a guest post, contact us at [email protected]