Help!!!!! we are camping for the first time in RMNP. WE have two children(9-12). Any thoughts on what kind of tent to buy???? What to bring???? What kind of sleeping bag to buy??? We plan on a dry run closer to home(ie backyard). Would love to here some tips. What do we fix to eat? What else should we see on our way out from Indiana? Where do you recommend to stay around RMNP (just in case!?!?)thanks for any help. OUr trip is not till July 23rd.

I'll speak for our family of four, kids 11 and 14. We car camp and backpack.

First, realize that you might want to rent or borrow equipment, or adapt items from home, since for 4 people, you're looking at at least $500 of equipment, even if you buy the cheap stuff. Walmart ususally has some of the less expensive equipment. Since you're driving from home, you can go for less expensive, heavier eqipment than if you were flying into Denver and driving from there.

I'd get a fairly large dome tent or one of those big rectangular ones that look like houses. You'll want to be able to kneel or stand up, at least in the middle of the tent. I'd recommend that you go for a 4-6 person tent. The 3-4 person size will be a little too cozy. You'll need a waterproof groundcloth for under the tent. We use an old poncho, plastic shower curtain, or tarp. An S-hook is good for hanging a lantern-style flashlight from the middle of the tent roof.

Synthetic sleeping bags would be fine. You'll also want pads, such as Thermarest or Ridgerest, for under your sleeping bags. They help you stay warmer, and they cushion the bag so you don't feel a lot of little rocks poking into your back. (We also take a couple of big Mexican blankets to put on the floor of the tent.) If you have good padding on the floor, you can probably get by with some blankets from home, without having to buy the bags. Everyone should have a light knit cap and wool socks to stay warm, just in case. We don't take pillows camping, but they're nice to have. Cots are useless if you have several people in a tent.

For our kitchen area, we take a picnic basket with plastic bowls, cups, and spoons for each person, along with a pot or two, a big spoon, and dishwashing liquid. A cooler is often useful. We cook on a Coleman 2-burner propane camp stove. We also take long skewers for cooking hot dogs and marshmallows around a campfire. A Coleman lantern is really nice to have, as is a tarp to rig up over your picnic table, in case you have to cook and eat in the rain. We often take a folding chair for each person.

We tend to cook up one-dish casserole type meals, heavy on the carbs, if we'll be hiking a lot. Examples: mac and cheese with a can of ranch style beans, soup mixes with a lot of extra stuff thrown in, Uncle Ben's and Lipton packaged rice or noodle mixes. You get the picture. (Cayenne pepper goes a long way toward making these dishes more palatable for the adults.) Sometimes I'll dehydrate leftover meat and veggies at home in a warm oven, and use these to dress up the soups or noodles. Tortillas are great for wiping a bowl pretty clean before washing it. In the mornings, we have instant oatmeal and something hot to drink. I tend to go for stuff that keeps us from getting a pot dirty, whenever possible. Cereal and yogurt are good, too, since yogurt doesn't spoil as fast as milk. We take sandwiches, trail mix and water bottles for the day.

There is a fantastic REI Flagship store in Denver; it is likely to have everything you might need, if you decide to wait until the last minute. It also has a climbing wall that you can use for free with a membership.

I would suggest that you borrow some camping supplies, go to a local state park and give it a try. It is very common for at least one person in a family to HATE camping.

If everyone enjoys it, then it would be a good investment because you'll be hooked and want to keep camping.

Be sure to bring cold weather clothes, hats, gloves, socks, blankets, etc. It gets VERY cold at night in the Rockies.

We do bacon/eggs for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and chicken, steak or fish with canned or fresh veggies at night.

We stop at local grocery stores to stock up. Of course it is handy to have some hot dogs for those nights when you get in too late to cook a dinner.

Two more pieces of equipment that I would add to travellyn's list are two Rubbermaid wash basins (one for washing/one for rinsing) and chairs.

I agree with Travelly about the tent size. A 4 man tent has only room for 4 sleeping bags and no room to move around! They also make tents with two rooms if you think you might like some privacy.

If you have 4 quilts that's all you will need for summer camping. Just lay on one side and fold the other side over you. If sleeping on the ground is to much, you might consider some kind of camping mattess.

We cook the same things camping as we do at home. Easy breakfasts can be instant oatmeal and fruit but we like the bacon, eggs and hashbrown!

Utahtea

A few years ago we bought a tent from Sears for around $116 that would fit around 4-5 people in it. Sleeping bags, depending on how insulated they are can be expensive also. REI or Gart Brothers are some good places in Colorado to get your gear if you live here. I would probably take my favorite pillow too.

You should bring at least one big cooler that you can put food/drinks in with ice. We usually take a carton of eggs, hot dogs, etc... so we need the ice. Also don't forget to bring paper or plastic plates, cups and utensils, papertowells. At least one roll of toilet paper might be good too. Also a good idea to buy firewood (if permitted) at the store before you go. Usually rangers will sell you firewood but we take it just in case. We also take lanterns with us.

We usually make hot dogs, s'mores, in the morning my husband likes to make something sort of like a scrambled omlette with ham and whatever else is leftover. You can buy some flat grilling pieces to make bacon or other items. Be creative, I think the cooking can sometimes be the most fun. You can also get those portable propane cookers.

You'll have the chance to possibly see Moose, Elk and Big Horn Sheep in RMNP. We saw all three last June in one day. For the kids, you might want to bring some family games or activities for them to do also.

Oh, me where to start. I suggest you go to the library and get some books on camping techniques. You need to walk through everything you plan to do and write down what it will take for you to do it. One very important thing is to put a drop cloth under your tent--and be sure where you pitch your tent is level and without sharp pointy things. Also as high as you can get it in case of rain. If it rains you need a trowel to dig a shallow ditch around your tent for drainage.
As far as food, walk through it and bring what it takes to fix it. You need a large basin of some sort for washing dishes. LIBRARY!!

In additional to all of the good advice you've gotten, here are a few additional tips and recommendations:
1)Have you made campgroung reservations? The RMNP campsites tend to fill up quickly, especially in summer. A few of the camgrounds are first-come-first-serve, but those can also be tough to get. You can make online reservations at the RMNP website.
2) Don't count on being able to cook over a campfire. Fires are sometimes restricted, depending on the fire level danger, so if you plan on having hot meals, you will need a stove. The Coleman stoves are a good choice, and are usually more stable than the backpacking stoves.
3)In terms of places to stay near RMNP, if you enter the park from the Northeast, Estes Park is the closest town in the mountains. It is also a popular place, particularly in the summer months, and hotels may be full. Fort Collins and Loveland are about 45 minutes-1 hour away, and are east of Estes, just along the foothills before you get into the mountains. If you are coming into Colorado on I-25 from the north, you will pass by Fort Collins and exit highway 34 or 36 at Loveland to go up to RMNP.
4)You can buy ice in or near the park, so keeping a cooler cool is feasible and convenient for sandwiches.
5)If you rent a tent, be sure they don't forget to give you the rain fly, ground tarp and tent poles (we have ended up creatively stringing up our tent from trees because the poles were left behind).
6)Take some extra rope for a clothesline, tying things down, etc.
7)Clothespins (it gets windy in the mountains)
8)The rubbermaid buckets (suggested for dishwashing/rinsing) are also good to use for bucket baths if you will be there for awhile, since showers may be a ways off. You can create a sort of stall with towels in a square and bathe within. One note on water usage - you will want to use biodegradeable soaps, such as Dr. Bronner's, for any water that you are not putting down a drain.
9)Granola bars are a good energy source, and you can also get powdered hummus that cames in separate packets and mixes with water for an easy snack/lunch. The boxes of couscous that you can get in stores are also convenient because all they require is hot water.
10) Water jugs/bottles. The campsites have drinking water available, and it's nice to have a larger container that you can fill up to have on hand at your site for cooking or drinking. If you don't want to invest in something, bring some empty milk or bottled water jugs from home.

Keep in mind that even if you realize you've forgetten some things, you can easily pick them up when you get there, or do without. It's all part of the experience! Have fun - this is a great family adventure, and you have the right idea in planning a dry-run or two first!

A couple more things...

You can't pour out liquids on the ground so a bucket is very handy to have. Anytime you need to throw something out, just pour it in the bucket and when it gets fairly full, carry it to the restroom and pour it out. A lot of campgrounds even have a special sink (actually looks like a huge toilet) to pour it into.

As for showers in RMNP, there are showers in Estes Park at the laundromat (in the strip mall).

WOW! Ilove this web site.. All of your advice is much appreciated. I want to ask "travellyn" why not bring pillows?!? What do you use if not a pillow?!? And yes "missthesnow" we have made reservations in Moraine. I have read that it's a great site to see wildlife and sounds convenient also. I will make a trip to the library!!!!!!! Would anyone advise a GPS? We have friends who use theirs all the time. They do travel alot and then find themsleves running in unfamiliar territories. Thanks again.

Oh, I'm jealous! I love camping and haven't been for a couple of years! My #1 recommendation of what to bring...Bug Spray. It was the one thing we forgot on one camping trip and we were MISERABLE until we found a friendly camper that let us use theirs. Trust me...pack it first. Also, make sure to bring PLENTY of water or a water purifier. You and your family will want to drink a LOT of water in that altitude and no one will have fun if you are dehydrated.

Have a great time!!!

We don't bring pillows because we use our fleece jackets for pillows. The only reasons not to bring them are personal preference and using up space in the car. You might find them handy on the long drive.

We liked Moraine Park when we camped there about 6 years ago. We had a doe and her fawn stroll through our campsite as we relaxed on our folding chairs. There are 2 levels of camping sites there. Since we were staying for a week, the ranger gave us an upper site. There's initially more work setting up a little further from your car, but it turns out to be quiet and peaceful with great views.

One thing I didn't put on my list above was a package of baby wipes. We used them to get clean, since there are no showers at RMNP. We liked them so much that we have brought them on every camping trip since then. (There's a lot to be said for settling down to dinner without dirt all over your arms and face.) I washed my hair with cold water in a big cooking pot, but a Rubbermaid basin, as Connie mentioned, would have been nicer. Moraine Park has potable water, so you don't have to buy water or carry it all with you. We generally take a cylindrical cooler full of ice water on any car camping trip.

Yes, bug spray and sunscreen are essentials. We make sure that every family member has a belt pack that includes a water bottle, flashlight, whistle, emergency blanket and a few hard candies, just in case. I generally carry a fairly extensive first aid kit. We used it at RMNP when my son fell and scraped both knees pretty badly.

My husband always carries a GPS, but I think it's more for his own entertainment than any usefulness on popular hiking trails. There's a book available at the park about hikes in the park. You'll probably want a topo map. Trails Illustrated makes good waterfproof maps covering a whole park. The are usually less detailed than most topo maps for backcountry hiking, but just fine for most of RMNP.