14 Things To Do While Camping Alone | Your Adventure Coach

Are you trying to figure out different things to do while camping alone? Sometimes hikers, myself included, can get caught up in all the obvious, physical aspects of hiking and backpacking – do I have all the backpacking gear I need? Too much gear? What am I going to eat? Do I have enough food?!

And no matter how many times I pack and repack, I still always feel like I’m forgetting something. But, knock on wood, I haven’t forgotten anything major yet!

Then there are those of us who tend to overthink things – again, I’m totally guilty of this. When you sit down to think about it…. How are you going to fill all the hours of your day on a backpacking trip??

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience, see my full disclosure for more info.

Backpackers are generally split into two camps here, in the one camp, they say if you get bored while backpacking – you aren’t hiking far enough, long enough, or hard enough in a day – hike more, and then literally all you will want to do when you set up camp is lay down and go to sleep.

You won’t have time to get bored.

Then there are the lazy hikers like me. I use that term affectionately for those who do like to take long breaks throughout the day and enjoy some ‘downtime’ at camp before you go to bed.

So, what do we do when camping alone without Netflix to entertain us?

Here are my top picks:

Kindle Paperwhite

• Now with a 6.8” display and thinner borders and adjustable warm light
• Up to 10 weeks of battery life, and 20% faster page turns.
• Purpose-built for reading with a 300 ppi glare-free display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.
• Waterproof reading – Built to withstand accidental immersion in water, so you’re good from the beach to the bath.
• Pair with an Audible subscription and Bluetooth headphones to listen to your story if that's your thing.

9.7Check Price

Oil Pastel Essentials Travel Set

• The customized zippered carrying case is perfect for hiking, travel and camping
• Includes 12 oil soft pastels, 3 blending stumps, 1 graphite pencil, 1 white eraser, 1 sharpener, 1 pastel paper pad
• This kit measures 6-inch by 10-3/4-inch

9.5Check Price

The Hiker's Journal

• Lightweight, durable hiking journal.
• Includes prompts to record trail names, lengths, difficulty ratings, hiking companions, weather conditions, as well as descriptions of flora, fauna, and other sights and memories.

9.1Check Price

Field Guide to Tracking

• Study this book to learn how to restore your senses and move as silently as Native American scouts.
• Spot and identify tracks of a wide variety of animals.
• Track and find humans lost in the wilderness.

8.8Check Price

Don’t underestimate the damaging effects of boredom on the trail. It really can ruin your trip if you let it. I find especially if I don’t have a way to preoccupy my mind at night – I get super anxious, scared, and paranoid that something bad will happen. Nothing bad has happened yet, so it’s best to keep negative thoughts from popping up in the first place.

Check out these 6 things to remember as a solo hiker

I’ve also heard that some backpackers go stir crazy hiking all day alone with no one else to talk to, which doesn’t sound like a fun trip at all! I don’t think that’s ever happened to me though, camping alone as a woman, I enjoy the scenery and trees way too much to get bored while walking in the woods.

The goal here, and always, is to have a fun, stress-free trip that will give you the momentum to keep going out on more hiking trips. Keep your mind occupied on the trail with the tips below.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to download the Badass Backpacker’s Bundle to get the ultimate backpacking gear list, complete first aid kit checklist, and easy backpacking snacks and meals for your next trip.

14 Things to do while camping alone (besides hiking and sleeping)

If you’ll be camping alone in the woods, you might be nervous that there is nothing to actually do out there. Don’t worry, there are plenty of outdoor activities to do alone on your next backpacking trip.

Steal a few ideas off this list of things to do while backpacking by yourself:

• Bring a book, preferably a lighter weight paperback if you bring a physical book. Bonus points if it’s a bookabout the great outdoors.
• Load up a book or a few on your kindle app to read on your phone or bring along a kindle.
• Download plenty of podcasts or audiobooks to your phone to listen to offline.
• Bring a lightweight journal or notebook and journal away. Print out a sheet or half sheet of journal prompts to bring along if you need some ideas.
• Play in nature. This is something we tend to miss out on as adults, but why not explore – go flip over rocks and logs and see what you can find, dig around in the creek and see what’s in there, see how many different types of kindling you can find and practice starting fires (if fires are permitted,) if you have a decent pocket knife, grab some dead branches and whittle away, make nature art with twigs, small rocks, and whatever else you can find (snap a picture and then disperse them to Leave No Trace.)
• If you’re at a shelter or shared campsite, get to know a little bit about each of the hikers there with you.
• Take the time to stretch, especially your legs and back, at the end of the day.
• Meditate, either on your own or download some guided meditations to listen to offline.
• Bring a small travel book of sudoku, word puzzles, or an adult coloring book.
• If you took a million photos that day, don’t we all tend to do that now that film is largely a thing of the past? Go through them every night or every couple of nights and delete any that you know you won’t use. Then you won’t even have to bother uploading the bad photos when you get home.
• Bring a handful of postcards or note cards and write letters to send when you get to town or at the end of your trip.
• Bring a harmonica or other musical instrument, if you’re willing to spare the weight of it.
• Bring a field guide to the local plants/trees/birds/etc and try to identify as much as you can around you.
• If you’ll be on a more popular trail, it might be worth it to bring a deck of cards or other small/light game to play with other hikers.

FAQ about camping by yourself

Is it weird to go camping alone?

Nope. Nope. Nope. It is not weird to go camping alone. In fact, many people find camping alone more enjoyable than camping with or near others. If you can find a spot to go camping alone, you don’t have to worry about other hiker’s dogs barking, waking you up, or chewing on your tent; loud music coming from the tent next to you; or other campers attracting bears into your campsite.

Is it safe to go camping alone as a woman?

Yes and no. There is always some inherent risk in camping and backpacking, it will never be 100% safe. But neither is driving down the highway, walking alone downtown, living alone, or doing anything else in our day-to-day lives. As long you are prepared to meet your needs with adequate food, water, shelter and know how to stay safe around wildlife, camping alone as a woman is just as safe (or just as dangerous) as doing anything else.

What are the benefits of camping alone?

Camping alone can be an amazing way to reset your circadian rhythm and get your nervous system back on track if you’ve been feeling overcommitted, overworked, or overwhelmed by life lately. If you’re backpacking or hiking into your campsite, that also gives you all the physical benefits of exercise. Simply sitting at the campsite, or forest bathing has also been proven to improve mental health.

How to get over fear of camping alone?

It’s common to have some (or a lot of!) fear of camping alone, especially if you’ve never done it before. It’s okay. Start small and just ‘practice’ camping somewhere close to home and where you know you have cell phone service if you need it. Once you get comfortable and confident setting up your gear and sleeping in your sleeping bag, then branch out to other locations more remote or farther away that you want to visit. Just always let a trusty friend know where you’ll be and when you plan to return.

Hopefully, that gives you some ideas of solo camping activities to do on your next hiking trip! Boredom on the trail is something to think about ahead of time.

It’s too easy for new solo hikers, or even some experienced ones, to just lay awake in their tent at night, anxiously running through all the worst-case scenarios that could happen to them alone in the woods. Don’t let that be you, okay?

Hopefully, you found something new here to try to do while hiking and camping by yourself!

For more hiking and backpacking tips, check out:

• What to include in your hiking itinerary
• How to pack a backpacking pack
• Hiking snack ideas to add variety to your pack
• The master list of backpacking tips and tricks

About the author, Mallory:

After studying Recreation, Park & Tourism Management, Mallory spent several years teaching environmental education, guiding hikes, and leading backcountry trips. Her life-changing trek from Georgia to New York on the Appalachian Trail is what sparked the creation of Your Adventure Coach, to share backpacking tips and resources with as many new hikers as possible.