Americans spend upwards of 535 million days camping in any given year. With over 40 million campers taking to the wilderness each year, family camping represents one of our nation’s most popular and beloved of vacation endeavors. For 70% of these campers, the chosen venue was a public campgrounds. If you’re planning a cabin camping trip, choosing from among the multitudes of family cabin camping parks can be a daunting task. To help simplify matters, we’ve compiled a list of important factors to consider when choosing a cabin campsite.
What to look for in family cabin camping parks:
- Are we there yet?: How far are you willing to travel?
Perhaps the first determinate in choosing a cabin camping park is deciding how far you’re willing to travel to get there. On average, campers travel 186.7 miles for their camping trips. Once you’ve set how long your family is willing and able to spend in the car, you can use that distance as a radius to start narrowing down family cabin camping parks in your chosen area. Don’t forget that your house doesn’t have to represent home base: cabin camping can be a great way to break up an otherwise urban vacation. - Bathrooms: Do I need a compass to find them?
Anyone who has traveled with children, knows bathroom stops are a frequent fact of life. One of the upsides to family vacation cabins is that unlike a tent, they can come with bathroom facilities included. Before choosing a family cabin camping park for you next trip, find out where the bathrooms are located. Do the cabins include bathrooms? If not, how far do you have to travel to reach them? On a scale of one to 10, how likely are you to get lost when doing so with a terrified toddler in the middle of the night? - Linens and things: Mine or yours?
All family cabin camping parks will offer different cabin amenities with their lodgings. Some may include everything from pillows and bedding to forks and knives, but others may leave you to supply your own towels and settle for campfire cooking. That’s not to say there’s anything lacking in a cabin camping trip with no indoor kitchen, but knowing ahead of time what you’re getting into is important. How else will you know what to pack and which food items to bring? - Food: Do I need a bow and arrow if I run out?
Speaking of food, another benefit of family cabin camping parks is that they sometimes come with a grocery store or food outlet on the camping grounds. Having easy access to the necessary supplies can be a life savor if that carefully planned packing list turned out to be a bust. Whether or not the cabin camping park has an onsite grocery store, it’s still best to stock up before you arrive, as, with all captive markets, prices at family cabin camping parks tend to be a tad inflated. - Entertainment: Who is bringing it?
Like food availability, entertainment options vary among family cabin camping parks. Before selecting a park, decide how many extracurricular activities your family will want. Park entertainments range from hiking trails to swimming pools to amusement parks. The beauty of cabin camping is you can set the level of our wilderness engagement. If you want to be able to commune with mother nature, look for family cabin camping parks farther off the beaten trail. If you want incomparable hiking venues and nationally-renowned views, you might prefer a stay in a national park where Mother Nature is sure to impress. On the other hand, family cabin rentals are often also available at more urban parks such as campgrounds with amusement parks. - Space: How much do we need?
We’re not talking about outdoor space here, but indoor space. When it comes to choosing a cabin camping park for your family, the amount of indoor space provided by your cabin rental is as important as the outdoor venue. How many rooms does your family need? Are you interested in intensive bonding time where everyone sleeps between the same four walls? Or do you prefer to have a door you can close on your bedroom?