Prius Camping

If you're going to be tent camping it really doesn't matter what type of vehicle you have. Any reputable camping site or store can help you with that. The number of nights on-site and if the car is going to be close to the tentn are major factors. It makes a big difference whether you have to carry everything or if you can leave most of it in the car and just walk over and get it as needed.

On our cross country trips we will catch a night or two at a secured rest stop but that's always inside the car. Otherwise we look for a cheap motel. In the car a twin mattress fits between the wheel wells so we carry a cheap inflatable twin sized with us. My wife has rheumatoid arthritis so a thinner camp mat doesn't work for us. Camping was great years ago but now we're both retired and have difficulty getting up off the floor.

 

There might be some useful bits in the search..

https://priuschat.com/search/32844148/?q=camping&t=post&o=relevance&g=1&c[node]=22

Granted the above was only for the 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum', you may want to try with other sub forums (and or other generations).

 

Hi Geopupps. Perhaps you could take a look at the small annex type arrangements that attach to the rear hatch.
See for example : prius rear hatch tent - Google Search

Also take a look at the following thread in the Gen3 forums, there are some very good tips and tricks shown here: The Official Prius Camping and Road tripping Thread | Page 8 | PriusChat

Finally, have a think about alternatives to RV campgrounds if they don't allow tent camping. I realize that the situation may be different in your location, and that rv-campgrounds are probably a bigger thing in the US then they are here in Australia, but if you look into alternatives you might find some camping areas that are much nicer than RV parks.

BTW. I've done quite a bit of tent camping in the Prius and it's been great. At a pinch you can definitely sleep in the back, I've done it when I've not been able to make it to an "official" camp site in time. The main issue for me when sleeping in the back is that of space - where to put all my other stuff like tent and stove and coolers etc while I've got the whole hatch and back seat area taken up with bedding.

The photo below was taken after an "emergency" overnight camp at Bendalong (South coast NSW). We arrived too late to get into the official camp ground, so we slept in the car in this little clearing (non official camping area - naughty naughty . )

Sleeping in the Prius was comfortable enough, but a bit tight trying to fit all the rest of the camping gear behind and on the two front seats.

The next night I found a very nice camp and had much more room with the tent up. This was at Depot Beach on the NSW south coast.

 

I sleep in my Prius with THIS.
Super comfortable! That thing is also awesome for house guests, if you yourself get invited to stay anywhere or want the best possible sleeping pad for a tent. It's firm, but needs to be at only 4" thick. I'll never use an air mattress again.

With the back and front seats folding flat, it's comfortable even placed directly in the car with nothing additional supporting it. When I don't need the back seats, I have two pieces of plywood that I cut to fit the back that I put over everything and then I put the mattress on top for a perfectly flat comfortable space to sleep in. The main thing when sleeping in the Prius is to have some things to put on the front seats when folded flat to elevate the pad on top.

 

Thanks very much for the link to the mattress. I like that much better than a blow-up air mattress.

 

CAMPING ON EARTH!!

I love my 2007. 174k miles. Fixed odometer repair ebay and new muffler (catalytic). Other then that normal maintenance oil/ fluids/ spark/ air filters ..easy. Led interior lights. Led fog lights.

Foam mattress I have folds out inside for naps. Just take headrests off and put to side if you want your feet hanging. Or sleep at an angle or stick feet through middle. Use back side cover in liftback for air. Rain tunnels down sides. Great view as a mobile lounge chair. I also have a hammock but sleep in car mainly. Most comfy dream house. Go anywhere.

Best car ever for camping. I live in mine 80%. Minimalist dream come true. Built then ditched the tiny house. This is way better for people that have a life. Even for a family if they are conscious and can communicate. Excited for electric van that doesn’t exist yet. This will do for now. So many older Prius’s on the road. So reliable. Why everyone doesn’t drive one now I do not get. All houses should be able to move, be all electric, mini vans. This could be consolidated into only thing that exists in terms of housing/ transportation.. One color, black.

We are all just camping here, might as well get to the point. We can express ourselves other ways now that living is taken care of. We are stewards of the earth. Own nothing. Just borrowing and visiting. #priuscamping

“Seek ye first...”

 

Get rain guards so you can crack your windows in rain for air. Also the back side plastic in the lift gate method. Have fun oh also tint your windows. 35 percent front 20 back. Don’t worry about laws on that cause this is your privacy here totally necessary for health.

 

Don't forget that thing will idle all night for pennies you have the heat on or the AC on if necessary

 

We camp in ours with a full size blow up mattress. We inflate it before we stop for night with cigarette lighter pump. When we stop we cover windows with black landscape material that we clasp in the corners of the doors by holding just a little corner and shutting the door. We keep the car on when we need air conditioning but have never needed to heat it - just sleep under down comforters. We stay in state rest areas very frequently and the blackout material is necessary-along with earplugs. Flying J Truckstops and our chain gym offer us showers. We stow our small coolers in footwells behind the driver and passenger seats and we travel very light so we only have backpacks. I love it and feel smart when I do it!

 

does anyone also have an issue with some condensation from breathing all night? On a neutral temperature night (windows up) do you still run the fan or a/c to take care of that or just deal with it and air it out in the morning?

 

Set climate to temp you prefer, always press auto. Never try to override fan with you own personal beliefs. Leave car ON.

 

... or, better yet, READY. (ON won't last very long.)

 

We've camped in ours on several road trips. We fold the seats down, have a small sheet of thin plywood we then slide from the trunk, forward to cover the plastic lumps and bridge the angles from the seat to trunk floor, then have a flattened cardboard box over that to cover any potential splintering.
We have 2 inflatable camping pads we inflate, but the best thing we have found to improve the experience has been a Thule 665C hitch box. It enables us to keep all camping gear out of the car but still easily accessible and best of all it doesn't effect the MPG's.

 

There are lots of people on youtube who camp or live out of their Prius.
Some have not made any real mods but others have made platforms for sleeping. There are a wide variety of things you can find if you watch a few of those videos.