5 Tips to Stay Warm While Camping in the Smokies During the Fall
Many campers consider the fall season as their favorite time of year to visit the Pigeon River Campground! Whether it is the crisp mountain air, the gorgeous fall foliage or the comfortable weather, there is definitely something special about this wonderful time of year! The daytime temperatures are perfect in the autumn for outdoor activities such as hiking and fishing. If it gets a bit chilly at night, here are 5 tips to stay warm while camping in the Smokies during the fall:
1. Manage Your Body Heat
When you are packing for your fall camping trip to the Smokies, be sure to include multiple layers of clothing! The outdoor temperatures can decrease quite a bit during the evening hours and your own body temperature generally decreases 1 or 2 degrees at night. When you are hiking and enjoying other outdoor activities during the daytime, you will work up body heat so wear a light layer to avoid sweating. Since sweat cools off your body, it can end up making you too cool at night. Manage your body heat by constantly adding and removing layers to help prevent sweating as much as possible!
2. Add Gear Under Your Sleeping Pad
Another great way to stay warm while tent camping in the Smokies during the fall is to create more of a buffer between you and the ground. Since a camping pad insulates you from the cold ground, consider bringing two sleeping pads for your trip. You should bring one foam pad and one inflatable pad, placing the foam one on the bottom and the inflatable between the foam and your sleeping bag. If you have any flat pieces of gear, you can also add these items between your sleeping pad and the ground for some extra insulation!
3. Fill a Water Bottle with Hot Water
One of the classic ways to keep your body warm is to keep a water bottle filled with hot water right by your side. Just head over to our convenient bath house and fill your bottle just before you are preparing to go to bed. Once you get back to your tent, place this makeshift heated pad tucked right up against your belly or place it in the groin area of your long johns. From these positions, the warm bottle will heat the blood that travels throughout your body and warm your whole body faster. There is probably no better way to generate instant heat in your bag that will last all night!
4. Eat a Big Dinner
There is nothing quite like a cookout while camping at the Pigeon River Campground, so you will be happy to know that eating a big dinner is a fantastic way to stay warm while tent camping in the Smokies during the fall! Since your body burns calories to stay warm, snacking constantly helps to elevate your body temperature. This is especially important if you have burned even more calories during an afternoon hike! When you are planning the menu for your cookout, plan meals that are high in fat as they provide more than double the amount of calories per gram than carbohydrates or protein.
5. Stay in a Camping Cabin
If you’re still worried about the cool fall evenings while you’re camping, we have the perfect solution. Stay in one of our camping cabins! Our camping cabins are equipped with both air conditioning and heat, and the heat definitely comes in handy during the fall. Not only will you have heat, but our cabins offer other great amenities like beds, a porch facing the river, table and chairs, refrigerator, microwave and more!
If you love camping in the fall, you’ll also love camping in the spring! Here are some fun things to do in the Smoky Mountains in the spring.
Now that you know how to stay warm while camping in the Smokies during the fall, check out all of the information about our Smoky Mountain campground and plan your fall camping trip today! We look forward to seeing you this autumn at the Pigeon River Campground!
