Fall is an awesome time to take a weekend camping trip. Checking out the fall colors of leaves changing at a park, visiting some fun fall festivals, or just taking a quick trip to relax are all great reasons to get out this season and camp. There are tons of great destinations in the Midwest that offer wonderful fall activities, making sure you can actually enjoy them instead of cooking all weekend is the goal of this post. On our recent camping trip to enjoy Potato Creek State Park’s Halloween weekend, I planned an easy and mostly make-ahead menu that gave plenty of time to enjoy the trip. No matter if you are cooking meals for yourself or the whole family, making them easy to prepare and delicious are a breeze with a little bit of planning. I find this makes the trip much less stressful especially with young kids.
This weekend camping menu was planned out for a trip leaving home Friday morning and returning Sunday afternoon, so I needed to cover 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, snacks and desserts. I tried to choose a few recipes that could be prepped at home which greatly cuts down on time spent feeding the crew. Listening to “hangry” children waiting for a snack or meal is the last thing I want to do while camping, so this easy group of recipes was a crowd pleaser.
Updated May 2023
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Day 1: Friday – Hittin’ the Road!
After getting the camper hitched up in the morning we had a quick breakfast at home then left for the campground, so for the first day I only needed to plan lunch, dinner, and dessert. I always have a small cooler bag of easy snacks for traveling including granola bars, goldfish or peanut butter crackers, and some fruit like apples, bananas, or oranges.
- Lunch – Hawaiian bun sandwiches, chips, veggies and dip. Make the sandwiches before leaving home with some ham, turkey, and cheese and then pack them right back into the hawaiian bun package for easy storage. Celery and carrots sticks with some ranch dip and chips makes for a nice, light lunch.
- Dinner – cheeseburgers, campfire potatoes, and corn on the cob…Yum! Check out this easy recipe here from Delish.com which is another easy prep ahead side with easy clean-up in the foil packet.
- Dessert – Keeping it easy tonight after a busy day setting up camp so S’mores was the best bet. There are some great combos to try like caramel apple smores
Day 2 – Saturday – All day fun at the campground
We started the day with a hearty breakfast so that we could enjoy the day hiking, fishing, bike riding, and checking out all of the features of the park.
- Breakfast – Biscuits & Gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit. Make the biscuits before leaving from the easy Jiffy mix recipe. Check out this easy sausage gravy recipe from yellowblissroad.com which can also be made before leaving home and stored in the camper fridge.
- Lunch – Keeping with the easy cooking theme, just throw some hot dogs on the grill and bring some potato salad or side salad of your choice. After a hearty breakfast this lunch can be quick & easy. Another option would be some PB&J and fruit kabobs from OneLittleProject.com for the kids which is another great make -ahead meal.
- Snack – Created a nice tray of cheese, crackers, veggies & dip, and fruit to munch on while hanging out around camp
- Dinner – White Chicken Chili is a great make-ahead meal that can be warmed up in an Instant Pot or in a cast iron over the campfire. This will surely warm you up on the cool fall nights.
- Dessert – Foil packet Apple Crisp from PrincessPinkyGirl.com is definitely worth trying for a fall camping trip. These have all of the comforting flavors or the season with apples and cinnamon. Plus it is super easy to make and easy clean-up being a foil packet. If want to take it up a notch, bring along some vanilla ice cream in the camper to top it off.
Day 3 – Sunday – One last hike before we go home
- Breakfast – Blueberry Pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. Make this another easy meal buy bringing the little jug of pancake mix to and just add some fresh berries. Fry up some bacon over the campfire and boom! Breakfast is served!
- Snack – I found this great idea for a “Snackle Box” from PassionatePennyPincher.com to pack for the kids while driving home. This can be customized to whatever the kiddos like and keeps it neat in a little tackle box so it’s not all over the truck.
I hope you find this menu helpful when planning you next fall adventure. Check out some of my other camping and cooking posts on Pinterest for some more inspiration as well! Happy Camping!