What Do Camping and Cars Have in Common?
By: Richard Nuckolls
Tags: Adventure Travel, Camping, Offroad, Maps, 4x4

Off-roading describes driving highway vehicles on unpaved road or trails. Car camping is literally sleeping in your car, or at least next to it. Overlanding combines them. Overlanding is a journey on land by vehicle with an immersion in nature.

“No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.” Yogi Berra

Overlanding is about the journey, not the destination. It’s escaping from the everyday. It’s about getting from point A to point B in a way that connects to the landscape. Sometimes you connect with other people.

Part of making the trip is getting out in the natural world, or at least the less developed world. A modern overlanding trip includes some driving on unpaved roads, some camping, and some travel time to and from home. Mostly overlanding enthusiasts travel in off-road capable motor vehicles. If you’re invested in the journey, the trek begins when you leave the interstate.

“It’s like deja vu all over again.” Yogi Berra

What we’re seeing today is a call back to a more self-reliant period in our history. The Oregon Trail was the original overland trek. You set off in a wagon pulled by horses, carrying everything you needed for the trip. You went with a group, in a train of wagons. You spent the night circled around a fire.

Today’s overlanding trips are the old adventure with a new destination. The trip starts with meeting a group of people and heading out for a trail. You drive together for the day. At the end of the day the group camps together. At the end of the trail you head home.

You can travel on your own too. You’ll depend on yourself for everything. You need to learn the basics and plan well. But travelling alone can be just as rewarding as in a group.

So what do you need to go on a journey overland? The list is pretty small.

A vehicle with decent ground clearance and good tires

A place to drive and a place to camp

Food and water

A tent and sleeping bag or other arrangements

First aid kit

Communications gear

Something to drive

“You can observe a lot just by watching.” Yogi Berra

Photo by Jairph on Unsplash

You may think you need an expensive 4x4 SUV with a big engine and big tires and big lights. For some trails you may be right. I bought a used Nissan Xterra that has bigger tires and beefy bumpers. It looks cool parked at Texas Roadhouse, and it drives through mud pits and over uneven ground too. But most roads you drive are going to be some amount of gravel, small rocks, and dirt.

You should drive slower on unpaved roads. Gravel sometimes chips the paint or chips the windshield but it’s easy to drive on. Rocky roads make your vehicle bounce around, but the rocks on the trail are usually not more than 6” tall. A line of vehicles raises dust when driving on dirt roads. Dirt turns to mud when it rains.

What you need in an overlanding vehicle is good tires, ground clearance, and storage space. The tires matter more once you leave the asphalt. Gravel, dirt, mud, and inclined surfaces lower traction. Fitting all-terrain tires to your overlanding vehicle helps prevent getting stuck. These don’t need to be big, knobby mud tires or cost a lot of money.

Pick a car, truck, or SUV with more than 8” of ground clearance. This will let you drive over rocks and channels and potholes and bumps in the road without scraping the bottom.

You’ll be packing some gear along for the trip. Food, bedding, and even firewood can take up a lot of space. It helps to have a back seat or plenty of space in the back.

If you get stuck, you have two options: put something under the wheels for more traction, or have a friend pull you out. Bring a shovel. You can dig out in front of your tires. You may want to get a vehicle with a tow hitch. The hitch, not the ball, provides a secure mounting point to pull your vehicle.

Four-wheel drive helps you get unstuck too. Having all four tires propelling the vehicle lowers the chance of any of them slipping. Spinning tires wear grooves in the dirt and gravel. Less slipping means less damage to the trail.

Finding trails

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Yogi Berra

Photo by Dan Gomer on Unsplash

I started my search with U.S. Forest Service resources. The national forests located in Virginia contain the few remaining public lands with trails for vehicles. I found a new term for 4x4: off-highway vehicle (OHV). The Forest Service provides an interactive map of forest roads. The national forests have miles of fire roads, logging roads, and trails not suitable for cars with low ground clearance. These are marked as OHV roads on forest maps. For states west of the Mississippi, the Bureau of Land Management provides another source of OHV trail maps.

I found the most effective way to find a trip is to join a club. I’ve joined two Facebook groups, Central Appalachian Mountain Overland and East Coast Xterras. I’ve gone on several trips sponsored by these clubs. The trip leader knows the routes. Sometimes the trail and camp is published before the trip, and sometimes you just go along for the ride.

Forums are another place to find ideas and clubs. Two of the biggest are Expedition Portal and Overland Bound. These sites have got loads of stories, lists, and ideas for overland adventures.

There’s a lot to learn when you start journeying off the highway. When you travel with a group, you get to ask questions. You get to see what works when driving on various terrain. You get ideas for gear or food or camp setup or how to fix a flat tire. You get help when you or your vehicle has a problem. I learned a lot driving a trail with others.

It’s dinner time

“Take it with a grin of salt.” Yogi Berra

Meal prep can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. Some people eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Some people carry a propane stove and cook steaks. I prefer to skip the cooking and just make sandwiches. I do like coffee though.

My major concession to cooking is an electric kettle. I carry a DC to AC inverter that I can plug into the battery of my vehicle. Then I plug in the kettle and I’ve got boiling water. I’ve made ramen, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, and my morning coffee at camp. I usually get a couple of gallons of water at the grocery store for the trip.

A good night’s sleep

“The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.” Yogi Berra

Photo by Dusty Barnes on Unsplash

You’ve got a lot of options for resting at the end of the day. A tent and a sleeping bag is about all you need. But you can have more. When you drive to camp, you don’t need to worry much about weight. You can carry ground pads, air mattresses, extra clothes for warmth, and lots of lights to make your camp time better.

The back seats of my Xterra fold flat. With the passenger seat moved forward, and a strategically placed cargo tote, I have 80” of deck in the back of my truck. I roll out a 6” foam pad, sheets, and a blanket. In hotter months I carry a fan, when it’s cold a sleeping bag. I prefer car camping to tent camping.

First aid

“You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.” Yogi Berra

Don’t let the thought of carrying a first aid kit discourage you from hitting the trail. You’re not packing for life or death scenarios unless you’re a trained medical professional. For emergencies you’ll be driving to a hospital. You just want to be ready for cuts, sprains, bug bites, allergies, and sunburn.

You can find checklists for making your kit at the Red Cross and REI. I’d recommend taking the Red Cross First Aid class with a buddy. That way you’ll have someone to practice on. You don’t know how much bandage you really need until you start wrapping it around a leg.

Buying a pre-made kit will get you started. Try to find one that’s large enough to add to later. Consider a zippered pack that’s red with a white cross on it. Hang it on the back of your seat or somewhere it’s easy to see and grab when you need it!

Can you hear me now?

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” Yogi Berra

So you’ve found a club and picked a weekend to get out of the house. Several people from the club have signed up for the trip. This is your chance to ask questions about the trail, the duration of the trip, and what to bring. Get the trip leader’s phone number. Find out when and where the trip starts.

It’s your job to rendezvous at the agreed time. Let the group know if you can’t make it or if you’re running late. Some trips are timed to make it to camp before sunset and don’t have much leeway.

Once you leave your meet-up location, you’ll be driving in a convoy. The convoy drives on paved and unpaved roads. Use your turn signals. Keep up. If you lose the convoy it can be hard to rejoin. The good news is the trail probably has no forks, so your convoy might be waiting for you up ahead.

“I never said most of the things I said.” Yogi Berra

You may need to go on to the campsite. You may need to call it quits for the trip and use your GPS to head back to the road. Texting while driving isn’t a viable option. Some trails are out of cell tower coverage, even when you have a passenger to text for you.

Once you’re out driving, having a radio lets each vehicle communicate. There are multiple types of radios available, but they all let you listen to your group talk, and talk when you need to. I’d recommend getting an inexpensive pair of UHF two-way radios a.k.a. walkie-talkies.

Cell phones — used to meet up with your group, may be out of service on the trail

GPS maps — used to meet up with your group, may not show the trail while driving

FRS radios — walkie-talkie, UHF radio, uses preset channel for the group

CB radios — old school off-road communications

Ham radio — advanced communications, requires a license

Your group will pick a channel on the radio. You’ll leave the radio turned on next to you. Other drivers will call out if there is a problem with a vehicle or you’re stopping for a break. If your trip includes more challenging terrain, like big rocks, muddy holes, or steep ridges, one or more drivers will get out and act as spotters as the other vehicles drive through, over, or around the obstacle. The spotter can talk to the driver over the radio and guide them through.

“Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.” Yogi Berra

Overlanding will get you out to parts of the countryside you never see from the highway. It also gives you an appreciation for the amazing invention that is the car. You are carried swiftly and comfortably through forests and over mountains. The car provides shelter and portage. When the journey is over, you can pack up and return to civilization. What are you waiting for?