What Makes a Campsite Kid-friendly?

Campsites are definitely not created equal and when it comes to camping with kids, the differences are even more apparent. 

Most Important Kid-friendly Criteria - No Hilly Drop Off

If I have a choice, the one thing I try to avoid most is a campsite with a hilly drop off so my youngster has more freedom to run around safely.   You can usually call the park to ask your questions about the peculiarities of their various sites.

Nice flat campsite with trees for shade - Photo by: Flickr/speices snob

Although I would never let campsite placement within the campground dissuade me from camping, these are some other important kid-friendly considerations:

• Even ground to pitch your tent: everyone sleeps a lot better when they aren’t rolling on top of each other and out of their sleeping bags and pads.
• Clean bathrooms:  not all campgrounds will even have regular toilets and if you have a potty training preschooler, then the last thing in the world you need is to persuade your child to use a nasty toilet
• High rim for the fire ring:  some campsites have very low fire rings and it’s very dangerous when you have little ones running around as they could trip and fall right into hot embers.

Some nice to have kid-friendly features:

• a campground in a nice grove of trees – provides shade during the hot summer days.  Trees in a campground is usually a good indicator that the campground doesn’t have that super dry dusty dirt that makes camping so miserable
• warm showers – not many campgrounds offer hot showers, but it sure is nice especially if you are camping for more than two nights.  Check if you have to feed the shower quarters.

How do I book a campground?
Availability at campgrounds in the summer months can be slim pickings.  Sometimes you need to take what you can get. You can reserve campsites online on Reserve America.  Some State and County Parks have their own reservation system that you can call to reserve.  Most campgrounds have walk in sites as well, but I highly recommend reserving ahead of time because preparing for your first camping trip is quite an affair.  At popular campgrounds and on holiday weekends, you have to book the day that campsites are released for booking.  This varies from place to place and can be anywhere from 6-9 months ahead of time.  Call up the park or campground to find out

Do you have a question about camping with kids that our savvy parents can help answer? 

Ask us your questions

Related:

• Camping for the First Time with Baby/Young kids
• What is the best age to start camping with kids?

• How do I book a campground?
• How can I help my baby sleep while camping?
• How do you keep kids from getting too cold or too hot?
• How do I feed my baby while camping?
• What are good toys to bring camping?
• What are important safety rules I should teach my child about camping?
• Camping Packing List and Gear Recommendations for Families
• Kid-friendly Camping Recipes

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Jessica Nugent (aka fani*fam) is the mom of a a one year old boy and loves outdoor adventures.  They are known for braving the outdoors any season of the year.  LiLing Pang (TravelPangs) is co-founder and contributing author on Trekaroo - - a reviews website dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.

Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA