Backpacking For Beginners

Last Updated on April 3, 2024 by ETC Team

Backpacking is a term you’ve probably heard in a variety of contexts but never quite understood what it really involves. It can mean different things to different people, and most often they are similar, which can cause confusion.

As it relates to the outdoor world, backpacking is an adventure that blends multi-day hiking (in which you load up your gear in a backpack) with backcountry camping. It lets you broaden your horizons beyond the car campground to enjoy a richer, more immersive outdoor experience.

A key distinction from day hiking is the size of your pack—your backpack (and you) must carry all of life’s essentials on your back. And you must choose those essentials with care. If this sounds like a fun and exciting challenge, then maybe you are ready to make the leap from day hikes and car camping to overnight backpacking.

To help you prepare for your first backpacking trip, we’ve highlighted some important steps:

1. Choose an easy destination: Short overnight hikes close to home are best.

2. Get essential gear and clothing: Borrow and scrounge gear to save money.

3. Plan your food: Just-add-water meals or other easy to cook options. Also pack plenty of snacks for trail fuel.

4. Get ready for your trip: Condition yourself to do the planned hike with a fully loaded pack; get your permits, if needed; brush up on Leave No Trace principles.

If you have an experienced backpacking friend, invite them along and they can be your guide. But you can also do this backpacking thing on your own. We advise you to bring a friend regardless of their backpacking knowledge, though, because that makes any trip safer and more fun.

1. Choose an easy destination

The key advice here is to pick a hike that tends to be on the easy side. If the hike is too hard, it can make for a tough and miserable experience. But if it’s too easy, then you simply have more time to explore the area around your camp.

Follow these tips when you decide where to go backpacking for the first time:

Consult with experienced backpackers: Hiking club members, friends with real backpacking experience, and even your local hiking supply store love to make trip recommendations. Hiking guidebooks are a valuable tool—you can find the best selection for a given area in local outdoor retailers. 

Pick a place close to home. You want to spend more time hiking than driving. You also want to have plenty of daylight hours to reach camp before dark.

Just a few miles roundtrip is fine: Plan on shorter distances than your typical day hike because walking with a heavier pack is slower and more difficult.

Aim for a few hundred feet of elevation gain: If you’ve hiked much, then you know that mileage alone doesn’t tell the full story. So you’ll want to choose a trail with less elevation gain than your typical day hike.        

Pick a well-traveled trail and well-established camp: It is very helpful to have hikers and backcountry campers nearby who can give you a hand if you run into difficulties.

Make sure there’s water near camp: If your source for filtering water will be a large river or lake, you’ll probably be fine. Streams and springs can dry up, though, so double check with local land managers before relying on a small water source.

Consider going without the kids or four-legged-friends on your first trip: Though they can both be great fun, their presence will tend to complicate things a little. Once you have a little more experience, it will be easier to have them join in on the fun.

Opt for summer weather: Unless your destination is one where extreme heat or fire danger can be an issue, choose mid-summer to maximize daylight hours and your odds of comfortable conditions. Always check weather forecasts and don’t hesitate to delay, turn back or cancel if bad weather moves in.

Consider “walk-in” campgrounds: Some state and national parks have campgrounds that are within a mile or so of a car campground. Staying in one of them is an excellent way to transition into backpacking.

2. Get essential backpacking clothing and gear

Keep your initial investment low by borrowing or renting the priciest items—your tent, sleeping bag and pad. Because they must fit you well, boots, and to a lesser extent packs, need to be your own personal gear.

What gear to bring backpacking

Because you have to carry and fit it all into your pack, backpacking gear needs to be compact and lightweight. That’s why, with a few exceptions, it’s not functional to simply repurpose car camping gear. Remember, that you’ll also be splitting up gear like tents and pots and stoves when you hike with a friend. The following are essential items you’ll need for any backpacking trip.

Tent: Plan to share. A two-person tent weighs less and is more economical than two one-person tents. And unless you are experienced in mountaineering(probably not), bring a tent rated for three seasons (spring, summer and fall) rather than a four-season tent.

Backpack: Before deciding on what pack to bring, try it on first to be sure that it fits comfortably. Load it up with assorted items to about 30 pounds, and take it out on a long test hike. If it’s comfortable on the hips and in the shoulders, it’s probably fine for your first backpacking trip. It can be tempting to choose an ultralight model for your first backpack but less weight also means less padding and less support structure than a more deluxe model. Instead look first at ultralight tents, sleeping bags and sleeping pads as a way to minimize weight.

Sleeping bag: If you decide to buy a bag, consider the pros and cons of down fill vs. synthetic fill, especially in terms of the weather conditions you’re likely to encounter. For your first bag, synthetic is a good choice because it’s versatile and generally more affordable than down.

Sleeping pad: Cushioning is crucial to a good night’s sleep. Insulation is, too, which is why you can’t take an inflatable pool float and expect to sleep warm. If you buy a pad, consider the distinctions of each type: closed-cell foam pads, insulated air pads and self-inflating pads. If you can sleep well on a super-firm surface, then a closed-cell pad can save a lot of weight and money. For a good compromise between comfort and value, choose a self-inflating pad.

Stove: If you own a single-burner camp stove and it weighs less than a pound, it’s probably fine for your first backpacking trip. If you choose to buy, you’ll have to consider fuel types first and then make your stove choice. A lot of beginners go with a gas-canister stove because they’re affordable and easy to use. Don’t forget you’ll need pack a full canister or bottle of the right type of fuel for your stove. 

Water treatment: Even pristine-looking sources can hide things you’d rather not drink, so it’s best to treat all water while in the wild. You can borrow a filter, but an ultralight and simple option for your first trip is chemical treatment. This type of treatment will use  tablets or drops you add to a bottle to purify your water.

Kitchen supplies: Save money by repurposing camping gear or well-worn items from your local thrift shop or home kitchen. Bring just enough pots, pans, plates, cups and utensils so that you can cook and eat each of your planned meals. Bring a small sponge and some biodegradable soap for washing dishes (well away from camp and water sources). A small towel also comes in handy.

What clothes to bring backpacking

You don’t need to buy a bunch of special hiking clothes, especially for your first backpacking trip. Simply go through your fitness wear and find clothing made of moisture-wicking, quick-drying fabrics. Moisture-wicking fabric pulls sweat away from skin to keep you dryer. Check the tags and look for fabric made with nylon and polyester. Avoid cotton, which holds water and takes a long time to dry when wet. These wet clothes can chill you and, in a worse-case scenario, lead to hypothermia. I like to think there is no bad weather, just bad clothing decisions.

It’s best to think of your backpacking clothes in terms of layers:

Next-to-skin base layers (aka long underwear): Important because even warm days can end with cold nights.

Hiking layers: Nylon pants (may be rollup or zip-off), T-shirts, sun shirt(shirts with UV protection), sun hat.

Insulation: Puffy vest or jacket, lightweight fleece pullover, warm hat and gloves.

Rainwear: A waterproof/breathable jacket is a must; whether you also bring rain pants depends on the weather forecast. Rainwear is also good at preventing mosquito bites.

The benefit of layering is that it lets you quickly adapt to changing conditions. It also lets you put together an all-around clothing defense against storms that move in suddenly, bringing cold and rainy weather.

These days everyone has a favorite pair of non-cotton athletic tights or yoga pants, they can work as either your base layer or your hiking pants. Worn as pants they won’t offer convenient stash pockets and they’ll be more susceptible to brush snags and rock scrapes than regular hiking pants.

What shoes to bring backpacking

Your feet are crucial to a comfortable and successful trip, and because of this, footwear is your most important item. Some backpackers rely on supportive over-the-ankle boots, while others prefer lightweight trail running shoes. Your boots or shoes should be well broken-in before you go. Wear wool or synthetic socks, and consider bringing an ultralight pair of shoes or water sandals for wearing lounging around camp and wading into water.

3. Plan your backpacking food

For an overnight backpacking trip, plan for dinner, breakfast and a couple of lunches. Freeze-dried backpacking food is your lightest and easiest option (just add boiling water) for entrees, but it can get pricey. Save money by going to the grocery store instead. You won’t have a cooler, so perishable things like fresh eggs can’t make it on the menu.

Avoid canned food that tends to be too heavy and try to accurately forecast how much you’ll eat because an excessive amount food adds weight and bulk to your pack. This is important because you will need some extra food that is enough for an added day in the wild, just in case. Here are some specific meal-planning tips for your first backpacking trip:

Dinner: Look for all-in-one meals such as packaged noodle or rice entrees. Boxed meals can be removed and placed in a plastic bag for easier packing.

Lunches and snacks: Bring high-calorie, high-protein energy bars and trail mix to snack on during the day because backpacking burns a lot of metabolic fuel. Keep thing simple by making lunch a trailside stop with ample snacks and a longer rest. Other backpacking lunch options include bagels, jerky, dried fruit and nuts.

Breakfast: This can range from a cooked entrée or hot oatmeal to a mix of multiple breakfast bars. Your personal preference and needs will dictate this choice. Do you like to start your day warmed up and fueled up versus getting an earlier start on the trail. If you can’t think without your favorite caffeinated beverage, your simplest option is an instant coffee mix or tea bags.

Wildlife Precautions: While on the trail, follow common-sense measures like keeping a respectful distance away from animals and being mindful not to come between large mammals and their young. At night, secure all food and scented personal products well away from camp. Often this is done by putting everything in a spare carry sack and then using some nylon cord to hang it from a high tree branch. You can also use a bear canister to secure things, even if the main concern is rodents stealing your food.

4. Preparing for your backpacking trip

You’ve chosen the trail. Your clothing and gear are set. Your meals are prepped and packed. The next detail is to set yourself up for success by taking steps to be sure you’re physically, mentally and logistically prepared for your trip. To get ready for backpacking, follow these tips:

Get physically ready: You’re not training for a marathon, but even a short trip can be physically demanding. At a minimum do plenty of day hikes and be able to comfortably handle trails with a similar distance and elevation gain as your planned trip. Do at least a few pre-trip hikes of similar difficulty wearing a backpack loaded with 30-plus pounds.

Get mentally ready: Familiarize yourself with your gear ahead of time. Pitch your tent, fire up your stove and filter some water before you go. Learning basic first aid as well as map and compass navigation is also a wise move. These skills will serve you well even if you don’t go on future backpacking trips.

Figure out your logistics: In addition to figuring out your ride to and from the trailhead, you need to make sure you have all of the necessary permits. The more popular a destination is, the more likely you are to require them. Check with the local land management agency to learn what’s required. Land managers are also a great resource for updated trail conditions, fire restrictions and other valuable information.

Leave a trip plan with a friend or family member: This is good practice for any trip but especially extended backpacking. Include details about where you’re going and when you expect to be back. That gives them a jump on alerting help should you ever need it.

Do your packing early: Don’t wait until the night beforehand to load your pack. Do your pre-trip pack loading a few days in advance, then weigh it to be sure you didn’t overload it. A rule of thumb is that it should weigh no more than 20 percent of your body weight. If your pack weighs well above that mark, take a hard look at your checklist and see what you can discard.

The Wrap

Backpacking is a wonderful outdoor activity that can take your love of camping and hiking to the next level. These tips are just a few things to help you get started in what can lead to amazing adventures and bring you closer to the great outdoors.

Backpacking is a rewarding activity, and everyone was new to backpacking at some point. As you learn from your future explorations, everything from preparation and packing to hitting the trail, you will realize that you are gaining experience in backpacking as well as everlasting memories.

You will continue to learn which gear you prefer, how to train properly for big trips, planning for bad weather, and much more as you continue to Explore, Travel, and Connect through backpacking.