If you feel like you missed your window of opportunity to go camping this year, hold that thought. Expert autumn camper Heath Druzin, also the host of the “Extremely American” podcast, is here to encourage us all to take a fall camping trip.
“What a lot of us love about Idaho is that it's not a very crowded state, but especially post-pandemic in the summertime, it can get kind of crowded at campgrounds out in the mountains,” Druzin said.
That’s why to him and other veteran campers, fall is the camping season that too many Idahoans are missing out on.
Where to Go?
For fall camping locations, Druzin rattled off the usual suspects: Areas on Highway 55 on the way up to McCall, the Sawtooths, and the Wood River Valley. The latter might not be your first pick, but in the fall it has some of the widest variety of foliage colors.
🍂 From the archive: Day trips to find fall foliage.
To that list, I’d add a slightly longer drive to Joseph and Wallowa County in northeastern Oregon, where rolling hills and high peaks combine for some beautiful fall views.
Many campsites in those areas are still open for reservation, and some are first come, first serve. When it comes to finding a spot to pull off on the side of the road, practice makes perfect. Just give yourself as much time as you can — nothing is more frustrating than exhaustedly looking for a camping spot in the dark!
Every Boisean seems to have their own gatekeeping policy, and Druzin advocates a cautious but kind approach. He warned that blasting the locations of ecologically fragile places to Facebook groups is legitimately dangerous — hot springs being the prime example — but that sharing spots with conscientious newcomers should be common practice for all of us.
“I think when people ask for help and they're nice, you should help them in general, but you should be a little bit careful about how you share information,” Druzin said. “And I do think you should be cagey online.”
What About Gear?
A laidback autumnal camping trip shouldn’t be intimidating, so you can keep your gear list for an overnight car camping excursion shorter than you might think. Heath says beginners can’t go wrong with:
- A sturdy, reliably waterproof tent.
- A few headlamps — graduate from clumsily using your flashlight or cellphone light and you’ll never go back.
- A solid camp chair that you’ll want to take down to the river or up into the mountains.
- A cooler, freezer packs, and a couple large jugs of water.
