What Food to Pack for a Camping Trip?

We go camping for the fresh air, to escape the heat and daily grind of city life, and to enjoy the water and wilderness that camping offers. We bring fancy tents, comfortable camp chairs and hammocks, water toys, canoes and fishing gear, and, of course, food and drink. From spirits to beer, soda pop to juice boxes or sport drinks, and water for drinking, and food. Of all that we bring for eating and drinking, knowing what food to bring for a camping trip can make the difference between an extraordinary camping trip and a rather depressing one.

Hot dogs and hamburgers may be staples for camping, but when the dinners that you eat while camping do not give you the energy and nourishment that you need in order to keep up with the next day's excursions, then you could be listless and unable to complete the excursion, let alone keep up with your group. And being too tired to play with your kids in the afternoon heat can be quite aggravating.

The basic foods that should be brought when camping are potatoes and onions, fresh corn on the cob, one steak dinner per weak of camping, eggs, bacon, bread and butter, spices, cereals and porridge, pancake mix, maple syrup, and all of the ingredients for night time campfire snacks, and any other meals that your family loves. Oh, and of course hot dogs, hamburgers, cheese slices, catsup, mustard and relish.

The amount of food that you should bring depends upon whether or not there is a small town with a grocery store nearby where you are camping or not. There may be farmers who sell vegetables, berries and meats at the end of their driveways, but that should never be counted on. Make sure that you bring enough food so that everyone will have enough to eat, and if there is food left over at the end of the trip, it is much better than running out of food while camping over a hundred miles from the nearest store.

If you are camping in a place that you know, and you know that there are no places to buy anything more than ice at the nearest gas station or the campground's office, then you should bring enough food and drink for the entire camping trip. In cases like this, large coolers should be brought, and it would be cheaper in the long run to buy electric coolers than to buy ice a few times per day.

Knowing what food to pack for a camping trip, how much and what kinds will make everyone happy after eating, and happy people are a lot more fun than people rumbling because the food is no good, or too repetitive. Hot dogs and hamburgers are great over hot wooden coals, but when you eat them everyday, you get tired of them pretty quickly.

Camp smart. Camp informed.