Adaptive Camping For Every Body

Want a better definition of a “good” camping trip? Try this: safety, comfort, joy, and connection. We take a human-centred approach to planning inclusive outdoor adventures, showing how small choices—like site surfaces, seating height, and sound levels—can unlock the outdoors for every ability and energy level.

We start with place and pace: how to choose accessible frontcountry sites with firm ground, curb-free paths, and nearby washrooms; why cabins, yurts, and tent trailers make great stepping stones; and when to go “backcountry light” with short walk-ins, minimal portages, and base camps that swap daily moves for real rest. From quiet loops to shade and cell coverage, we share the little details that make a big difference when health or mobility needs are in play.

Then we dig into practical tools. Mobility-friendly gear like chairs with arms and higher seats, raised cots, walking sticks, and portable ramps reduce strain and increase independence. Activity tweaks keep the fun without the fatigue: fish from docks, observe nature from camp, or make evenings campfire-centred. For neurodivergent campers, we map out routines, campsite previews, sensory supports like dimmable lights and white noise, and reset spaces stocked with familiar bedding, fidgets, headphones, or weighted blankets. Food, medication, and power planning round out the safety net—think familiar meals with one new treat, temperature-safe med storage, clear labels, and tested backups for devices.

Healthy group dynamics hold it all together. We set expectations ahead of time, normalise opting out, assign flexible roles so everyone contributes, and practise what-if scenarios to replace worry with readiness. Caregivers get strategies to prevent burnout—rotate tasks, slow the schedule, and celebrate small wins. Start small, expect learning, and keep a backup plan. The outdoors gets better when more people can access it, and adaptive camping is how we make that happen—gracefully, thoughtfully, and together.

If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us your best adaptive camping tip. Your stories help more people feel welcome outside.

Chapters

• 0:00 Mission: Camping For Everyone
• 1:12 Redefining Success Outdoors
• 2:00 Choosing Accessible Campsites
• 4:05 Backcountry Light And Base Camps
• 5:01 Mobility-Friendly Gear And Setups
• 7:02 Activity Modifications For All
• 7:48 Neurodivergent-Friendly Routines
• 9:05 Sensory Supports And Reset Spaces
• 10:03 Food, Meds, And Power Backups
• 11:43 Communication, Roles, And Expectations
• 13:14 Safety Walkthroughs And What-Ifs
• 14:17 Low-Barrier Nature Activities
• 15:29 Beach Mats And Water Wheelchairs
• 16:14 Supporting Caregivers Without Burnout
• 17:36 Start Small, Adjust, Belong
• 19:43 How To Reach Us

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hello and good day. Hey, welcome to the Super Good Camping Podcast. My name is Pamela.

SPEAKER_02: 0:04

I'm Tim.

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

And we are from Supergoodcamping.com. We're here because we're on a mission to inspire other people to get outside and enjoy camping adventures such as we have as a family. Today we wanted to talk a little bit about adaptive camping. So we're always all about trying to get people outside and enjoying their camping adventures, and that includes everybody. So inclusive outdoor adventures for those who have special needs. So why this matters? Because camping is for everybody, but it might look different for different people. So what I can do and what someone else can do can be different, and we want to try to adapt so that we can include everyone. Many people want to camp, but they might not see themselves represented, especially if you're watching YouTube videos and you're seeing people doing all these really rigorous backcountry adventures, and you're just not up to that. So it might be nice to be able to include everybody, and also then other people can see people that look more like them doing camping. Every campier camper of every ability adapts. There's always planning required, so we can plan around people that may have different needs, and we can we always have to adapt to things like weather that changes and we don't know what's going to happen. So no reason why we can't adapt to other people's needs. We'll talk about practical strategies and real-world tips and confidence to say yes to including everybody in your camping trip. So success in camping means kind of letting go of some expectation of, oh well, it's going to be really hardcore and we're going to go into the backcountry and we're going to just live off the wild and whatever. So it's going to be what people in your group or your party need. Success is safety, comfort, joy, and connection, connection with nature, connection with each other, not just about we got so many miles in or we were living really difficult conditions. So we're focusing on abilities, not what people's limitations are, planning about what people can do and planning trips with people, not just you know, planning a rigid sort of this is what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02: 2:00

Choosing the right type of campsite, accessible front country options, fully or partially accessible campsites, hard-packed pads, uh, accessible washrooms, elevated fire pits.

SPEAKER_00: 2:11

So we have camped in pads that were like the campsite itself was all gravel, may not be the easiest thing for someone to navigate. We've camped in campsites that were all sand, also might not be the easiest thing for some people to navigate. Hard packed like mud or dirt is probably the most stable or solid ground.

SPEAKER_02: 2:31

Yeah, especially if you're if there's a mobility challenge. Uh absolutely. Um there and there are accessible ones. Uh we didn't have some ways back where you know there are literally paved walkways or or hard-packed walkways to um the site. The, you know, they make a point of not having curbs in the way, whether that's um, you know, fencing or or whatever, you know, and yeah, on onto it onto something that's because say sand is poopy if you're if you're trying to use wheels.

SPEAKER_00: 3:04

Although they did have a very cool giant wheeled, like big, big we have uh at Top Wheel mentioned, like rollators that are meant for that, like a walker.

unknown: 3:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:15

So driving sights reduce fatigue and anxiety. Um yeah, absolutely, man. It's they're easy, easier to find as well. Cabins, yurts, or tent trailers as stepping stones to get into camping or as a modification as mobility limitations to make sleeping in a tent more difficult. This is me waving my hands because that's gonna be a thing at some point.

SPEAKER_00: 3:37

Yeah, getting up off the ground.

SPEAKER_02: 3:38

Getting up off the ground is is more difficult though.

SPEAKER_00: 3:40

Like I find the dampness of sleeping like so close to the ground is just makes everything a little more icky and stiff in the morning here.

SPEAKER_02: 3:48

Yeah, but you're a big whiner anyhow.

SPEAKER_00: 3:50

Oh.

SPEAKER_02: 3:52

Uh Backcountry Light to Modified Adventures. So ones with uh short portages or walk-in sights. Um I want to say it's Balsam Provincial Park has one where it has a separate parking lot. Uh and then and then you it they call them hike insights, I believe. But yeah, you you know you walk for 10 minutes and you're into your site. Uh, there's a bunch of other ones, but I have been to those ones, and yeah, it's uh gives you that, still gives you that away from everybody else thing, which is one of my favorite parts, uh, but without you know the big slog. You could you could literally use it uh like a four-wheel dolly and and drag all your gear in instead of lugging it yourself, right? Paddling sights with minimal carries, which we've we've done that, so there you go. Uh base camp style trips instead of moving camps daily, which is again a hybrid sort of thing that I've been doing more of these days instead of moving on an eight-day trip, moving eight times. We used to do. We yeah, we move way less often, you know, three or four times. So you're a couple of days at a site and you go out and tour around, or you just chill, you just hang out and read. Key selection features, proximity to washrooms and thunderboxes, flat ground and shade. Shade is important.

SPEAKER_01: 5:10

Redheads.

SPEAKER_02: 5:10

Yes. Uh distance to the parking lot or or to parking, uh, quieter zones versus busy loops. Uh it's that gets my vote every time. And self-service score, uh quicker emergency access if needed.

SPEAKER_00: 5:23

Yeah, particularly if you have somebody whose health is not great, then you want to be able to make sure that they've got access to emergency help if they need.

SPEAKER_02: 5:30

Yep. Adaptive camping for mobility and physical limitations. So mobility and energy conservation. You use camp chairs with arms and higher seats because we've got some small ones for the backcountry, and those are challenging to get up out of some.

SPEAKER_00: 5:45

And easy to fall over in.

SPEAKER_02: 5:46

Easy to fall over in. Yes, the legs stick into the dirt, and then you just go. Raised sleeping surfaces, cots, taller air mattresses, trekking poles, walking sticks, or all-terrain walkers. Minimize unnecessary walking, move the camp, not the person. Uh adaptive gear examples, folding ramps for trailers or thresholds. Thresholds, that's the word I was looking for earlier. Accessible picnic tables. Oh, interesting. I hadn't even thought about that. Of course. Yeah, all right. Wide mouth water containers at table height, and hands-free lighting. So headlamps or you know, like your Lucy lights, your solar lanterns, what have you. Uh, activity modifications, fishing from docks instead of trying to do it from uh, you know, getting in and out of a boat. Yeah, yeah. Uh nature observation instead of trail hiking, campfire-centered engagement, short optional activities instead of fixed schedules.

SPEAKER_00: 6:44

When the campfire-centered engagement is always our favorite part I find of camping anyway, just sitting around and enjoying the campfire and sharing stories and uh so we wanted to include not just like physical limitations, but also people who have more neurodivergent problems. So autism, ADHD, or sensitive sensory sensitivities. So people like that will thrive better on like more of a predictable routine. So you know, they know what the schedule is going to be, they know what they're going to be doing, and maybe it mimics a little bit what their normal schedule is at home. So if you can uh adapt your camping schedule to fit the routine that they're used to, then they'll do better with that. Um, previewing the campsite, so giving them a glimpse of okay, here's what how it's going to look, where we're going to be going, um, and maybe doing some trial runs. So try camping in your backyard, setting up the tent, see what it's like to set up the tent, see what it's like to sleep in a tent, see what it's like to sleep in the outdoors, uh, just so it there's a comfort level going into the process. Um, sensory considerations, so that's where it mentioned earlier, quieter loops. Um, you know, too much stimulation might be a problem. So trying to choose somewhere where it's going to be quieter, although you cannot control for crows that are crowing at five o'clock in the morning.

SPEAKER_01: 8:05

4 30.

SPEAKER_00: 8:07

White noise apps might help with that kind of thing, though. So if it is like too much, then you've got something to sort of calm and drown out some of that excessive stimulation. Noise canceling headphones or ear defenders, headlamp dimmers, so if the brightness is too much, soft lanterns, avoiding flashing lights, and textures, so familiar bedding, things that like often softness is a thing, comfort, clothing, food in things that they prefer texture-wise or taste-wise. And then regulation tools, so to bring familiar comfort items. So if there is a familiar blanket or something that does give that kind of comfort level, um, a quiet tent or a reset space. So if things do get a bit overwhelming, there's somewhere that they can go that's quiet and it's more um less stimulating. Bringing fidget tools, so something to distract or something to keep them occupied, headphones, weighted blankets. And then for in terms of movement, so we have a person that's a little bit on the neurodivergent side and and likes the physical activity, so the movement is good for him. Trail walks with a purpose, scavenger hunts them as a beaver scout leader. The kids love that, where they're they it's not just going for a walk, they're also actively looking for a red door and they're looking for a planter on someone's porch, and they're looking for a cat. And so that kind of thing makes it just that much more entertaining for them. Assigning them some heavy work where they're carrying the water jug or they're collecting sticks for a fire. Um, and then having some open-ended play versus just always having to do structured, like once like again, our kids, when we take them to the beach, mostly we would relax and then and they would keep themselves entertained the whole time that they're at the beach, paddling somewhere in our little inflatable thingy, or uh making sand castles or whatever. Food, medication, and health needs. So also just for the familiarity, it might be good to stick to familiar foods and maybe you try to introduce one fun new thing. So if s'mores are maybe a fun new thing, or spider wieners, which we did many times over the fire, something like that, but um making sure that there's a lot of familiarity built into what they're eating, uh, things that are texture safe or texture-friendly and temperature safe, and having backup snacks. So if you know it is a new food or it's a new environment, and maybe eating isn't gonna be working really well, then you've at least got a backup something that they're familiar with that they would snack on. And camp cooking that allows some flexibility, so there isn't a pressure necessarily to we have to all eat now or we have to all eat the same thing. Uh, medication and special needs. Um, so secure temperature-stable medication storage. So if you do have some prescription medications and they have to be kept as certain temperature, it can be really hot. Um, if you're winter tenting, it can be really cold. So making sure that your temp your temperature is suitable for the medication. Clear labeling and checklists, and you know, so say you got detained on a hike and the person needs to be getting their medication, then somebody there knows where it is and it's labeled clearly as to what it is and how much needs to be given. Backup power for medical devices, so if somebody has to maybe camp with a CPAT machine, even that you've got something for to keep their CPAT machine going. And emergency plans that are clearly communicated to all of the adults. So you know where the nearest hospital is, you know how to get out, you know how to contact emergency services. So, say you need to use a satellite locator, you know how to use a satellite locator, even if you're not the main person using it. That I, for example, don't know how to use a satellite locator.

SPEAKER_02: 11:56

Note to sell. I see some training in your uh communication and group dynamics. So set expectations before the trip, uh, having having plans, a group trip. It was not an awesome trip, at least in part because I did I knew what I had expectations of. I didn't, I don't think I communicated that very well to the other participants.

SPEAKER_00: 12:21

Or there wasn't enough back and forth communication, maybe about it.

SPEAKER_02: 12:24

Yeah. Normalize opting out of activities without guilt. I that goes without saying, I think.

SPEAKER_00: 12:32

Well, it's I I've seen interactions with families where families were like Oh, sure. No, we're going on a hike now.

SPEAKER_02: 12:39

And just well, but don't be a dick. So I don't know what to tell you. Assign flexible roles so no one feels like a burden and everyone feels useful. That's that's a thing that has worked well with our kids. Uh if if there are tasks that need doing, like I don't need to be a control freak and do it all myself so that it gets done exactly how I want it to do. Have the kids do some of that stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 13:05

Well, there's that, and also assigning them something that's that's age appropriate and ability appropriate for them because um assigning them something that is they don't know what to do, how to do it or the way it should be done is gonna set them up to fail. So it it's not difficult for them to go fill a water jug. It's all those heavy for them to lug it back, but when it's full. But anyways, something like that where it's something you know that they can do, it sets them up for success, and then they feel confident in doing what they're doing, and then that expands their confidence in the updoors. Yep.

SPEAKER_02: 13:39

Uh use clear, calm communication, especially during transitions. Yeah, again. Uh safety, emergency planning, and anxiety anxiety reduction. Use your words, Tim. Share the emergency plan ahead of time, which is a that seems to be a no-brainer for me, but absolutely do do that. Everybody needs to know. And I it I think earlier you said emergency plans uh clearly uh just laid out for the adults. I'm not adverse to laying it out for the kids.

SPEAKER_00: 14:11

Oh, I think I think they should absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 14:16

They can be more helpful and and you have to spend less time conveying that information when you when you're in a in a pickle.

SPEAKER_00: 14:24

Well, yeah, and I know like we train our beaver scouts to know like how to contact emergency services, what to say when you contact them. Um, and I think that's a good thing for and they're so they're five to seven years old. So that's a good thing for that age to know. That say they're alone with an with a parent, and some the parent has some kind of crisis. That you don't want a five to seven year old stranded out in the middle of a hiking trail by themselves with no idea what to do or how to how to keep themselves safe.

SPEAKER_02: 14:54

Yeah. Walk through arrival, nighttime, and departure routines. So everybody knows how that's going to play out. Nowhere the nearest hospital or or whatever, ranger station, the place you're going to go to if there is an emergency. Carry identification identification cards or medical info. I'm allergic to something.

SPEAKER_00: 15:14

There's a it's um pain medication.

SPEAKER_02: 15:17

It is too. They don't use it anymore. Demerol, that's it. So I have to I have to try to remember that before we go so that I can pass that on and do things like mention it to Pamela. Because thankfully we don't we don't run into it, but it would be really sucky if we did, because I do I get hallucinate and my heartbeat goes through the roof and stuff. So uh also for neurodivergent campers practice what-if scenarios.

SPEAKER_00: 15:45

Yeah, and so that again they feel somewhat empowered and prepared, and it's it doesn't feel like a scary situation. Uh so camp activities that can work well for anyone of any ability, um, nature crafts and journaling. We're gonna try to work up an episode about like crafts, especially crafts you can do with your kids while you're camping. Uh, campfire storytelling, so you can all tell your story of how your day was and what you saw, uh, wildlife spotting and sound mapping, uh, fishing, photography, cloud watching. So, yeah, these are things anybody can do, whether they're have mobility challenges, whether they have more neurodivergent challenges, um scavenger hunts that are optional and adaptable. And many Ontario parks, and we've mentioned this before in our accessibility episode, um, offer beach mats, which are just a it's a mat that takes you from the parking lot right down to the to the waterfront. And that way people in a wheelchair can actually access the waterfront. Uh altering wheelchairs, there's popular parks like Sandbanks and Wasaga Beach and Algonquin, Awenda, Bonashare, Blue Lake, Pancake Bay, they make it easier for people with those mobility challenges to enjoy the sand in the water. So it's a firm, accessible path along the sand so they can get to the waterfront. Um, there are special wheelchairs as well that called water wheels that let you actually get into the water.

SPEAKER_02: 17:13

Yeah, that's cool. Supporting caregivers and reducing burnout. So camping can be restorative, but only if caregivers get support. Yeah, so that says it right there.

SPEAKER_00: 17:26

We know some caregivers, and yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02: 17:28

Yep. Rotate responsibilities, that's an excellent one. So A that it does a whole bunch of things, but one person isn't carrying the load. Everybody, everybody gets an option, opportunity to share in responsibilities. Uh, it also lets them, let's everybody get more experience with different things so that they can learn how to do things better, hopefully. Or what and or give other people a different perspective on how to go about doing things.

SPEAKER_00: 17:58

Yeah, it builds confidence, it helps them to take responsibility so that it's not like, oh, well, mom and dad are just gonna do everything and we're just gonna that's not how this goes.

SPEAKER_02: 18:11

Yet, all right, it's your turn for dishes. Uh lower the bar, fewer activities, more rest, and absolutely. Uh especially if you're front country camping. It's like that's you're there to get some chill. Doesn't matter who you are, how what what your deal is, anything, that's that's the idea. Catch your breath, enjoy some of the nature, right? Celebrate small wins, celebrate all the wins. Uh, presence matters more than perfection, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 18:42

Yeah, so for first time adaptive campers, start small, think safety first. So maybe don't plan a full week of camping, you know, plan a weekend. Uh, just again, dip your toe in the waters rather than like plunging right in. Um, expect learning, it's not going to be perfect, so it's not gonna be flawless. Uh, adjust as you go and have a backup plan. So, backup plans like maybe your backup plan is you're gonna go camping for the weekend, but um at the first night it's not going well, so there's a hotel nearby, so you turn it into an overnight hotel stay instead of camping, and then you adjust for the next time you try. Uh, and everyone belongs outdoors, full stop. So, we like to see everybody, uh, every age, every ability be able to get outside and enjoy it, even if it's a hike, it's not necessarily a camping adventure. But outdoors is good for everybody. So it's not about special treatment for anybody, it's just about being thoughtful and trying to include everybody. And the outdoors is better when more people, more diverse people can access it. That's it for us for today. Uh, thanks so much for listening. And if you want to reach out to us anytime, we are at high at supergoodcampaign.com. That's hi at supergoodcamping.com. We are on all the social medias, likes. subscribe, share, and we would love to talk to you again soon. Bye. Bye.