Guide to Planning Backpacking Trips

Learn how to plan a backpacking trip, from choosing a destination and route to considering your experience, seasonal conditions, and creating a detailed trip plan.

How to Plan Backpacking Trips

The planning process outlined here is the method I’ve used for over 80 backpacking trips throughout Oregon and Washington. My goal in creating this guide is to help empower others to plan trips based on their own capabilities and interests.

Planning Trips That Fit Your Backpacking Style

Before you determine the type of backpacking trip to plan, take the time to think about what you want out of the trip. While others may influence where you choose to go, you should plan the trip according to your needs. Attempting to stick to a plan that is unrealistic for you can be frustrating, or worse, lead to a trip that makes backpacking seem like a miserable chore. Instead, learn how to plan the type of trip that fits your backpacking style.

1. What are your goals for the trip?

backpacking trip styles

Recognizing how you like to backpack can help you plan the most enjoyable trip for you. Before starting out, take some time to consider your goals and interests.

For many backpackers, especially beginners, a balance of hiking and spending time in camp is an enjoyable way to backpack, as well as being less strenuous. An easy trip might mean hiking in a few miles and setting up camp, then doing a mix of relaxing at camp and hiking short distances on subsequent days. If you are spending more time at camp, you might want to bring a backpacking chair, extra cookware, or reading material.

Others might prefer to do more hiking, covering more miles before stopping to camp for the night. In this case, bringing as little as possible is the goal, keeping pack weight to a minimum so that you can hike longer distances. This approach will allow you to see more of an area, and would be suitable for longer loop or shuttle trips.

For those interested in photographing scenery and wildlife, a trip plan might include shorter hikes to allow for carrying camera equipment and more frequent stops for photo opportunities. Photographers usually have a different type of schedule on backpacking trips. Capturing the best light of the day often means getting up before dawn, scouting locations for sunset, or staying up late to capture a star-studded sky.

2. What is your preferred level of difficulty?

consider terrain for backpacking trips

Consider all of the parameters that can determine the difficulty of a trip:

How many days do you plan to be out? Longer trips require more food, which adds pack weight. In addition, the longer a trip is, the more energy it takes to complete.
How much distance and elevation gain do you plan to cover on each day? Consider the cumulative total hiked over several days instead of individual days.
The terrain you’ll encounter can also have a big impact on how many miles you’ll be able to travel. For example, does the trail have any steep and rocky ascents or difficult water crossings? Or is it a well-groomed trail with gradual elevation gain?
Is water available along the route and near the camp area? Hiking additional miles to gather water and/or carrying extra water can impact trip difficulty.
What is the altitude at the destination? Hiking above 6,000 feet can be more challenging for some people.
What is the weather expected? For example, will there be exposure to cold, heat, or stormy conditions?

3. Which type of route fits your needs?

backpacking route types

For planning a route and campsites, do you prefer to do an out-and-back, a shuttle, or a loop hike?

Out-and-back trips are often the easiest since they offer the opportunity to set up a basecamp and day hike from there instead of hiking with a fully loaded pack each day.
Loop hikes offer the ability to cover more miles, requiring moving campsites from night to night in order to complete the loop.
Like loop trips, shuttle trips allow you to cover more miles but require more planning, with a need to shuttle cars to multiple trailheads.
Both loop trips and shuttle trips include an element of commitment once you begin a trip since you’ll tend to hike farther from established trailheads during the middle of the trip.

4. What is the experience level of other group members?

planning backpacking trips for groups

When planning a group trip, consider the experience level of the participants. Trips for beginners may need to be based on an easier style than a trip planned for experienced backpackers. Find out whether the group prefers to hike long days covering many miles, or whether they prefer to spend more time at camp relaxing… or a mix of both. Ask about previous backpacking experience, first aid training, or other expertise. And discuss the type of gear needed for a trip and whether or not anyone prefers to share gear with others to help lighten their loads.

Clear communication is key for success on group trips. Share the trip itinerary with everyone and hold pre-trip meetings to go over logistics and discuss trip expectations. Group trip plans should also include carpooling logistics and a list of any necessary fees. When everyone has an understanding of what a trip will encompass, misunderstandings are less likely to happen.

To determine the optimal group size, consider area regulations and campsite availability. Most wilderness areas limit group size for hiking and camping to 12 people. However, it would be very difficult to find campsites suitable for such a large group. Backcountry campsites vary greatly in size, with most being optimal for only a couple of tents. While it is possible to find sites suitable for groups of 6-8 backpackers, it’s not as common and could present a challenge. My preference is to go on trips with no more than 3-4 people so that it’s easier to find campsites and keep track of one another on trail.

Where to Get Ideas for Backpacking Locations

backpacking in the summer

How do you decide where to go? I usually start with hiking and backpacking guide books. Here are a few of my favorites:

Backpacking Washington by Craig Romano
One Night Wilderness: Portland by Douglas Lorain
Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Oregon by Eli Boschetto
Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Washington by Tami Asars
Alpine Lakes Wilderness by Nathan Barnes and Jeremy Barnes

This website is also a resource for ideas – check out the Where to Go: Backpacking Locations section for lists of destinations including:

I also turn to online hiking forums and websites for ideas. Two of the best resources are the Washington Trails Association and Oregon Hikers websites. Both offer extensive information and trip descriptions, and although they are geared more to hiking than backpacking, they can still provide helpful info needed for planning a backpacking trip.

Social media can be another good resource for ideas. Seeing posts about other people’s trips can be a great motivator for finding out more about a destination on your own. It’s also a great way to see the current conditions for specific areas.

Since the places we go backpacking are within national forests, designated wilderness areas, and national parks, utilizing public land resources is an important part of the trip planning process. See Planning Your Next Outdoor Adventure? Don’t Overlook These Resources for more info.

Choosing a Backpacking Location by Season

early summer backpacking

There are many options in the Pacific Northwest for backpacking in every season – from coastal and rainforest trips to high desert and subalpine mountain locations.

In the spring, low elevation locations are usually snow-free, but this time of year can also be quite rainy. It helps to have some flexibility in your schedule so you can take advantage of good weather when it happens. Forest locations near streams and rivers are a great destination in the early season. The high desert, which can be scorching hot in the summer, is also a good option in the spring since it gets sparse rainfall compared to the rest of the region.

Early summer will likely still have a fair amount of snow at higher elevations in the mountains, but mid-level elevations (2,500-4,000 ft.) can be snow-free in May or June depending on the year’s snowpack level. It can also be a great time to backpack on the coast.

Summer is prime backpacking time, usually mid-July through September. Most people prefer to backpack in the summer, as it’s the only time of year to experience higher elevations without snow cover. This is also when mosquitoes can be a problem – usually the first several weeks after snow melt (typically through July and early August). In popular locations, consider mid-week trips to avoid crowds and issues with campsite availability.

As the weather starts to change in the fall, so do the colors of foliage, making this time of year great for trips to areas with brilliant fall color. The days are shorter and the weather a bit more unpredictable, but a bonus is that there are fewer people on the trails this time of year.

Backpacking is also possible in the winter, although it can require special skills and gear to deal with snow and colder conditions. Backcountry snow camping is popular at places like Mount Rainier or Mount Hood but definitely requires pre-planning due to elevated risks in changing winter conditions.

Documenting Trip Plans

Documenting a trip plan may seem like an unnecessary step, but there are several benefits to doing so. You’ll get a better sense of the overall trip parameters and have a clear way to communicate the plan to other trip members.

To document a trip plan, I create a daily itinerary that includes the following:

location and trailhead name
trail routes for the trip
potential campsite locations
mileage and elevation gain for each day
info about permits and passes
links to maps, weather forecasts
land manager contact info
travel info, including driving directions and planned stops (I also print the directions for driving to the trailhead. Cell service is not reliable in backcountry areas, and navigation apps may not show the correct route)

EMERGENCY PLANNING

Prior to departing on your trip, leave a copy of your itinerary with a trusted person to provide info about your where you’ll be and when you plan to return. Also include how much time after your planned arrival that they should wait before calling emergency officials, providing a reasonable buffer in case your delay isn’t an emergency. Additional details that can be useful to emergency responders include the make and model of the vehicles that will be left at the trailhead and the full names of people on the trip.