What’s the difference between car camping and backpacking, and which one should you choose for your outdoor adventures?
Believe it or not but there is a big difference between the two.
Below I will outline the definition for each one so you have better informed decision. After you’ve completed reading this article you will learn the main differences.
You will also know which one is more suited for you. Enjoy.
What is Car Camping?
Car camping is the most popular trip within the camping world, a lot further in front than backpacking actually.
To put it simply, an average car camping trip is when you pack everything you need in the trunk of a car without a care in the world.
No one has to worry about space (usually) and weight is never an issue.
And that’s why it’s extremely popular, because it’s so simple yet highly effective at the same time.
When the car is packed it’s just a matter of driving to the destination and sleeping in the tent you brought.
That is the most simplest way to put it.
What is Backpacking?
The act of backpacking is when you purchase a backpack for your outdoor adventures.
Now rather than putting everything into a car, you store ALL your equipment in your backpack and hang stuff off of it.
There’s two types of backpackers – ultralight and normal.
Ultralight
These people usually take the bear minimum with the least amount of weight.
They will likely travel a few miles every day, so they can’t be hauling around a 60 pound backpack.
Normal
Normal backpackers do worry about weight, however, it’s not AS important to them than it is for ultralight backpackers.
They don’t cover as many miles as ultralight backpackers. Most of the time they will travel to their destination, camp out, then travel back home.
You can choose to backpack into the wilderness for a few days or go on an “extended” trip, where you will be camping and packing up every so often, as they cover a few miles every day.
How to Find One that Suits You
Do You Already Have a Love for the Outdoors or a You a Mere Newbie?
First and foremost, backpacking is not actually for newbie outdoors people.
It is best suited for advanced car campers who want to increase their knowledge more, to make more memories and to be more adventurous.
If you have no idea about the outdoors yet, your best chance of having a successful trip is to start with car camping.
You’ll be setting yourself up to fail if you just “wing” a backpacking mission for the first time.
Are You Fit or Do You Shy Away From Exercise?
This is a good indicator for whether or not you’ll be a good backpacker.
You don’t have to LOVE exercise, but if you count yourself fitter than your peers, you go camping or hiking often (at least a few times a month), or you’re just an all-round active person, you may be okay for backpacking.
On the other hand, if you never hike, never camp, never exercise, and just care more about playing video games, eating junk food and scrolling through social media, you should stay away from backpacking at all costs.
Do You Prefer Simplicity or Adventure?
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about simplicity. It’s a good reason why everyone loves car camping.
However, backpacking is aimed more towards people that love adventure, learning and growing constantly.
It really comes down to personal preference.
Car camping offers simplicity and a wide range of challenges.
However, backpacking offers even bigger challenges. It will test and test you. As a result you will come out stronger and more wiser than you went in.
Does the thought of a Backpacking Trip get you Excited?
If you get really excited even at the thought of a backpacking trip into the wilderness with your friends and family, there’s a good chance you will absolutely love it.
Taking into consideration that you aren’t a newbie and already know what you’re doing of course.
Backpacking is exactly how you picture it in your mind.
- The challenges (good and bad)
- Knowing when and when not to rest
- Knowing when to pack up your site and move on
- Resting with a view of the mountains in the distance
- Or just setting up camp there so you have that same view for the night (or even longer if you want. It’s your trip so you call the shots)
- The mass adventure – discovering things on the way, seeing things you weren’t expecting to
Choosing One for You
I think you already know which one is for you.
Car camping is for people that love simplicity (the good kind of simplicity), and backpacking is for those who want to maximize adventure.
So if you’re looking to spice up your outdoor adventures, you’ve camped multiple times before and consider yourself “experienced” in this field, then you should definitely go on a backpacking trip.
However, if you don’t care about:
- walking through thick forest;
- getting tired and needing to stop for breaks often;
- having to shop around for lightweight items;
- packing up almost everyday to move on with your adventure;
then you should stick to car camping.
Sometimes simple is better, but it all depends on the person and what he/she enjoys more.
Thanks for reading this article, it was a blast to write.
Please show the love and share it with your friends and family 🙂
Also, add a comment below. I’ll be happy to hear from you 😀
So this is what people mean when they talk about backpacking through different places. I’ve never been camping (car or backpacking), but it looks like a great experience. What’s been the most memorable camping experience for you?
Yep, that is exactly what that means.
YOU choose where you want to go and YOU execute your plan. You can call it quits whenever you like, finish at your destination or extend it and keep on going. That’s the beauty of doing the whole “backpacking” thing. But even if you don’t want to backpack you can still do it while car camping.
My most memorable car camping trip was when me and my partner traveled all around the North Island in the summertime, camping at all the various spots. It was great. I wish I vlogged it now that I think about it. It would’ve been awesome putting it up on my site for everyone to see, however, when we do the South Island (sometime in the future) I’ll definitely be recording it!
I think I would fall into the “car camping” category. If for no other reason than it’s just convenient, and the wife and I can change spots or campgrounds every evening during a long trip. Plus we usually meet cool people doing the same thing we do.
Great article!
Awesome, Jay. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi, Brandon, I have gone on a backpacking camping trip one time, I went to the Appalachian mountains in Georgia, towards the blue ridge mountain area, I did this around January of this year, 2017. It was quite a memorable experience, in fact, one that I think about every day almost!
I really am interested in Car Camping, I think that would be a lot of fun! I think I would just go on like a 10-12 day road trip, just driving all throughout the U.S.A, and maybe I would map out all the camp sites and plan accordingly to a place to rest every night!
By the way, great site seems you really know what you are talking about! I will stop by here anytime I need some advice about camping!
That is awesome! I’m super glad you enjoyed your experience out there.
Bingo! That’s the best way to do it, plan your trip before you even leave your home. You’ll have a campsite all ready to park into so you can setup camp quickly and quietly. You won’t run into any problems later – when you have nowhere to stay!
That’s really kind of you to say that. Thank you very much 😀
I went backpacking with a friend for a week when I was 18. I thought of him as the ‘expert’ on the basis that he’d done something similar the year before, and had a copy of a popular special forces survival handbook at the time(!)
To say we were under-prepared and clueless would be an understatement. Neither of us thought to take a wristwatch but we had a compass (not that we needed it) and of course a couple of Rambo-esque survival/hunting knives, replete with screw off top and ‘essential’ survival equipment in the handle – like a thread and sewing needle(?) Not that we would’ve had a clue what to do with it.
Food was ‘add water’ to eat so that kinda meant finding water, and I don’t recall us having water bottles… but we must’ve had bottles of Coke at the very least.
Not that any of this really mattered because we were never far from civilisation or a shop.
We had ideas of being away for ‘weeks’ or some such… first night we camped out and my friend insisted on lighting a fire, which drew the attention of the local farmer who owned the land, who came roaring up in his jeep to ask us WTF we were doing lighting fires? Basic stuff I thought my ‘expert’ backpacking, survival specialist, friend would’ve known – ask the owner if you can camp on his land first.
It went downhill after that.
After four days of wandering in a circle and backbiting, we finally called his mum to come get us at some roadside cafe. Half bitten to death by insect bites, tired and hungry.
The experience convinces me I may be a car camper should I try this again… 🙂
Wow, what a mix of emotions. That is so funny, I’m sorry I laughed, however, it just shows that you really do need to know what you’re getting yourself into first.
People think it’s so easy when it’s not. It’s difficult and a massive challenge even for avid car campers. But please don’t let it put you off backpacking forever, just let it be a lesson that you can’t just “wing” something and expect to have it go successfully.
You guys took the giant plunge and that’s what life is about. You did what most people wouldn’t even THINK of doing, so hats off to the both of you for trying.
What a great story. Thanks a bunch for sharing it!
Nice article ! I am quite the other way around. Before I got my car license, I used to camp out a lot at the beach and only had the option of backpacking. I car camped once and I totally agree with you. You are way better off camping by car. Especially if you ever God forbid, forget anything, a quick ride to the nearest store is possible whereas with backpacking it could ruin your trip.
You are spot on my friend. I’ve found that out first hand MANY times, and the main reason why I camp near civilization or stores. I still go on backpacking/camping trips in the wilderness every now and then, just not as much as I use to.
I’ve never been camping but I am ready to start probably next year, For me it will be car camping to start with as much as I would love to do back packing I doubt my knee would be very kind to me !!
thankyou for sharing this information and I will be back to buy my tent!!
Well you have plenty of time to get yourself new equipment anyway. It’s always good to hear people taking on new adventures, so hats off to you and good luck.
Great review, I have done both, car and hiking camping, now that I have my daughters we are more into car camping, don’t know if you talked about it and I guess is important is when car camping, at least here in Colorado you can go to campsites which have some amenities like bathroom or showers or you can do some open space camping in national forest land where it is a more natural environment.
Thanks for pointing that out. That is another good reason why people enjoy car camping at public sites rather than going in the wilderness. The hot showers and bathrooms make it a no-brainer for most people.