10+ Simple Car Camping Safety Tips for Solo Female Travelers

If you’re a solo female traveler looking for some car camping safety tips, then this is the blog post for you. Don’t let fear of the unknown hold you back from new experiences; just be prepared. So many people warned me about car camping alone, but I realized that most people who are fearful of something have never experienced it for themselves. I never expect anything to go wrong during my travels, but I plan to be prepared just in case. When I started to organize my first cross-country car-camping road trip, I was concerned with my safety and researched “how to stay safe when car camping” for hours. I soon realized there is no one method to stay safe on the road but many methods to avoid unsafe situations.

Here are 13 car-camping safety tips I always follow that help me feel comfortable on the road and keep me prepared for almost anything when car camping solo.

Do your research

Once you know your route, it is good to research local city and state ordinances concerning car camping and overnight parking. Most states allow overnight parking at rest areas but impose a time limit. Other states like Colorado and Tennessee ban overnight parking at rest stops unless it is for emergency purposes and sometimes only with a permit. In most cases, businesses and parks will post no overnight parking signs but in some cases, asking local authorities to clarify the rules is a great idea to avoid a ticket or a knock on your window at night.

I use iOverlander and Freecampsites.net to find free places to sleep with reviews from people who have slept there before. In addition, Walmart, Cracker Barrell, Bass Pro Shop, and Campworld welcome overnighters in most towns unless the local ordinances say otherwise.

Here is a good article that dives deeper into overnight parking at rest stops.

Don’t drive in the dark

This may sound like a no-brainer, but I have to say it; driving at night is dangerous! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports you are 3x more likely to have a fatal accident at night versus the day. In addition, at night, a driver’s visibility is dimmed, meaning you are more likely to hit an animal, be hit by a drunk driver, or fall asleep at the wheel.

With cars zipping by, it’s never a good idea to pull over on the side of a highway, but if your car breaks down or you get a flat tire, you will have no choice but to pull over. Unfortunately, you will have to deal with the repairs in the dark and hope your roadside assistance or a local auto shop can service your car after hours.

You should always avoid driving at night, but if you can’t avoid it, make sure you have a clean windshield and lights to avoid glare from approaching cars. Install new headlamps to illuminate the road for maximum distances and keep cabin lights low to avoid shrinking the pupils and disrupting night vision. Here is a good article on Safe Night Driving from Car and Driver.

Check surroundings

Number three on my list of car camping safety tips is always to be aware of your surroundings. Watch your back. Don’t open your trunk if there are a lot of people around. Avoid getting out of your car where you are overnighting and make sure no one followed you to your overnight parking location. Have your bed set up and take care of your nighttime routine before you park, so you don’t have to get out of your car and alert any onlookers you are car camping solo.

Always be ready to leave if you feel unsure about an area you planned to sleep at, but be conscious of the time of day and avoid driving at night.

Share you location

This might feel intrusive but sharing your location with a trusted family or friend is another safety tip I live by. Yes, it is a little weird when my dad texts me to say, ” you should go to (insert random location)” after I haven’t talked to him for weeks. I always think, how did he know I was here- oh yeah, he tracks my phone. I use an iPhone and share my location with him when I am car camping. My parents are never too excited about me traveling solo, which I totally get, so this is just one way to ease their minds and mine too. If something were to happen to me, I like the idea of my family knowing where I was last.

Self defense

If you don’t have a black belt in karate, carrying mace, bear spray, or a taser is a good idea for car camping safety. You should always carry bear spray if you are car camping or hiking in bear country. Bears are known to break into cars searching for food, so make sure to store food securely away from your sleeping area. Also, keep the spray near you while you are sleeping, and make sure you know how to use it in case of an emergency.

Bear spray is not approved for use on humans or other animals. It is registered as a pesticide and may cause irrevisable damage to humans if sprayed directly in the eyes. While you may not care what happens to someone if they attack you, mace pepper spray is the “approved” defense spray meant for humans. This site sells a variety of mace and self-defense products geared towards females. I have a can of bear spray and a keychain mace dispenser that I have yet to use (which is a good thing), but at least the mace keychain makes locating my keys easy.

What about a gun? Many people ask if I carry a gun with me during solo car camping, and the answer is no, I don’t. Why? I am not traveling to high-crime areas, and guns don’t make me feel safe. Plus, you would have to do a lot of research to know if you can legally carry a firearm with you since gun laws vary from state to state.

Go with whatever safety tool makes you feel safe; make sure you know how to use any safety gear you bring with you and follow common sense and other safety measures to help prevent any dangerous situations while car camping.

Roadside assistance

You should always purchase a roadside assistance service, especially as a solo female traveler. Thankfully, breaking down on a car camping road trip is something that I have never experienced. Unfortunately, breaking down is the type of experience that may lead to a dangerous situation which is why I never car-camp in the US without an up-to-date AAA membership.

Although I’ve rarely used my member benefits, knowing that I have it gives me so much peace of mind. Memberships vary from $59-$119 a year, but all come with emergency roadside assistance and towing. If something happened to my car, I would rather call AAA than push my luck searching for a local business or tow truck company. Solo female travelers make for easy targets, and auto shops are known for price gouging. So it is always important to be prepared and have a reliable plan to avoid any sticky situations. It is more secure to go through a reputable company like AAA when car trouble strikes than try your luck elsewhere.

Car knowledge

For increased car-camping safety, make sure you know a bit about your car and how it runs. Review the owner’s manual (and bring it with you) and know basic car care such as how to jump a battery, change a tire, check tire pressure, and how to check your oil. Know what type of oil and gas your car needs to run and stay up to date on your oil changes.

Even with roadside assistance, knowing car basics is really helpful if you run into trouble on the road. You may be able to save time and money if you can diagnose your car troubles yourself. Breaking down on the side of the road is the last thing you want to happen when solo car camping but being prepared and knowing what to do are the most important things you can do for your safety.

Service your car

One more car-focused safety tip is to always keep up with servicing your car. Regular upkeep and maintenance will help avoid serious complications on the road and help your car last longer. Oil changes should be done every 10,000 miles if your car uses synthetic oil (earlier if not). Frequently check tire tread depth and replace if needed. Use RainX on your windshield and make sure wipers are functioning properly, along with all headlights and brake lights.

I have always maintained regular maintenance and am still driving my 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe with over 136,000 miles. I’ve spent an estimated $7,000 on car upkeep over the last 10 years. Many people say it’s time to get a new car at 100,000 miles, but I am hoping mine lasts another 100,000!

Fill up frequently

Keeping your gas tank at least 1/2 full is another useful car camping safety tip I always try to stick to. You never know when you may want to take an unplanned detour or get stuck in traffic, and nothing is worse than sweating about running out of gas. Gas Buddy is a popular app that shows you where the cheapest gas is in a specific location; Google Maps also has a similar feature. I always use google maps for navigation, and then I “search along the route” for gas stations and select the one I want according to distance.

Sleep safely

This car camping safety tip goes back to researching. Choosing a safe sleeping spot is very important when you are on the road alone. Always make sure to park legally and never park on the side of a highway. Only use pull-offs that are marked for overnight parking and avoid residential neighborhoods and city-owned land. Although I don’t recommend it, I sometimes “stealth” camp at hotel parking lots and residential areas without posted “no overnight parking signs.” Try to get to your overnight spot before dark to scope out the surroundings and leave yourself enough time to move locations if needed.

If you have trouble getting to sleep while car-camping, these tips for how to sleep comfortably in your car may be just what you need.

Be ready to move quickly

One of the luxuries of car camping is the ability to move quickly, which also adds to its safety appeal. It is important always to be ready if something strange happens and you need to bolt. Always lock your doors and keep your car keys and defense spray nearby when you are sleeping and make sure to park in an area with a clear exit; don’t block yourself in. Don’t leave anything set up outside of your car, so if you do need to leave, you can do so quickly and not have to waste time packing. Approaching voices or cars could be nothing but if you feel uneasy, set off your car alarm to discourage anyone from coming too close.

Keep your car tidy

If you choose to sleep in your car and want to be safe, it’s best to use a car that doesn’t draw too much attention. Avoid driving a messy, unkempt car. Keep your car clean, make sure your headlights, brake lights, and turn signals work. Don’t drive around with duck tape holding your car together. You should make sure your car has all of the necessary driving features in good working condition and get any car damage fixed that would deem it illegal to drive.

Different states have different laws regarding street-legal cars, but in general, driving with major bumper damage, missing mirrors, broken lights, or structural issues like hood damage is illegal. 

Keep your electronics charged

Another useful car camping safety tip is always to keep your electronics charged! This may be a no-brainer, but sometimes I still forget to plug my devices in. My car outlets charge so slow that I now travel with a Jackery 300 on all of my car camping road trips. The Jackery charges all of my devices fast, and it is so compact for its power taking up very little space in my car. It is always a good idea to have a portable power source to ensure you have a charging method for emergencies, and it is especially wise to have one on cold weather days when batteries die twice as fast.

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At the end of the day, no matter how prepared you are, sometimes bad things happen. One thing I have learned about travel is no one can predict your experience. Even in the “safest” of towns, something could go wrong; you never know, but don’t let that stop you from adventuring. More times than not, solo female travelers have the best experiences and come back with the most amazing memories. It is important to be a smart traveler, use common sense and all of these car camping safety tips to ensure your experience will be the best it can be.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article. If you are interested in learning more about car camping and road trips take a look at my other road trip articles in the links below. If you have any questions or more car-camping safety tips please leave them in the comments below.

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Additional Reading:

• How to Plan a Cross-Country Car Camping Road Trip
• The 15 most popular car camping questions answered
• How to sleep comfortably in a car while car-camping
• 13 Must-Have items for your Car Camping Packing List (+FREE Checklist)
• 49 Essentials for your road trip packing list you can’t travel without (+FREE Checklist)