As Fall begins, our North Texas heat is beginning to dwindle. Cooler temperatures can lead to great camping weather as it is too hot for many people to sleep in the great outdoors when our Texas summers average at 95 degrees every day. Though the days may still be a fairly warm while the sun is out, we get a nice drop in temperature in the evenings and early mornings that may just be bearable enough to whip out the old sleeping bag and sleep in a tent on the floor.

As families spend the weekend in the wilderness, there are some important rules that everyone has to be aware of wile spending time outside. The main rule we want to emphasize is being prepared. Countless families show up to a campsite without realizing they under packed on essential items. Some important things to bring are enough water, food, bug spray, and something to cook with should you decide to bring food that requires a grill or stove. Bringing enough water is obvious as too much time outside can cause dehydration. Food is also obvious as we assume you know what you consider is enough food to feed your family for a few days. It is very important that you check with your campground ahead of time to determine whether an open fire is allowed or not, and whether the campgrounds have grills. This information can determine how you decide to pack should you decide to cook or not. If the campground permits fires nor provide grills, you may want to look into bringing a small gas burner to cook your food in.

Another big thing you’ll want to pack is bug spray. Forgetting this can turn a fun weekend with the family into an itchy nightmare. Should you forget bug spray, there are some measures you can take to avoid mosquitos. One way to avoid getting bitten is to avoid campgrounds with sitting water. Mosquitos breed in still water and tend to swarm around these locations more. If your campsite allows for open fires, sitting near an open flame with smoke will also deter the pesky little insects as smoke provides for a natural repellent. We highly recommend prioritizing bringing bug spray to avoid having to take secondary precautions.

Should you decide to take advantage of the cooler weather and go camping, follow these tips as well as doing more in depth research so that you and your family have a safe, healthy weekend!