Picnic hikes may be an effective way to spend a summer season afternoon enjoyable by an alpine lake or get pleasure from a sundown out of your favourite overlook. However for those who’ve by no means packed up a meal for the backcountry, it’s possible you’ll be questioning what to pack for a picnic hike.
It’s all about discovering the appropriate steadiness between what you want for the hike itself and what you want for the picnic, all whereas maintaining it as light-weight and manageable as doable.
On this submit, we stroll you thru the method of packing on your picnic hike and supply ideas and solutions to make your expertise as satisfying as doable.
Be a part of our neighborhood for entry to our free member assets!
Obtain Useful Out of doors Packing Checklists & Journey Planning Guides
How To Plan Your Picnic Hike
Earlier than you begin packing your climbing backpack, it’s important to get a transparent plan in place on your picnic hike – identical to another hike you may go on.
Your plan ought to account for a wide range of elements, which can in the end dictate what you have to pack. Right here’s what you need to contemplate:
Save 30% on AllTrails+
Get 30% off an AllTrails+ membership so it can save you maps for offline use, get alerts for going off-trail, preview the hike in 3D, and extra.
Meals Concepts for Picnic Hikes
So that you’ve picked out a fantastic path with a pleasant picnic spot, however what do you have to pack to eat?
The traditional is a PB&J, however for those who’re studying this, chances are high you need one thing a bit extra refined.
When packing on your picnic lunch, select meals which are comparatively light-weight, can stand up to some jostling round, and gained’t soften or perish in a couple of hours. At all times search for gadgets that don’t create a ton of mess or require elaborate setup.
Listed below are our prime picks for what to pack for a picnic hike:
Have extra concepts? Share your favourite picnic hikes lunches within the feedback!
Tip: Take away as a lot extra packaging and plastic earlier than heading out in your hike so you narrow down on the trash you’re needing to pack out!
What To Pack For A Picnic Hike
Along with the 10 necessities you need to pack on each hike, there’s a couple of issues you have to elevate your climbing sport on a picnic hike.
You’ll be able to most likely cobble collectively all the pieces you want on your picnic hike with what you’ve gotten in your kitchen and equipment closet, however for those who’re seeking to make your expertise further particular, listed here are our favourite gadgets for a pleasant picnic on the path:
1. Picnic blanket
Whether or not you’re headed to a distant seaside or a rocky peak, the REI Co-op Out of doors Blanket is the right picnic companion. It weighs only a pound and a half and might simply be stuffed into your day pack.
The underside layer has a waterproof end to maintain you dry whereas the highest is made of sentimental microfleece, nice for having fun with a post-picnic nap.
Store the REI Out of doors Blanket at:
2. Swiss Military Knife
Each outside adventurer ought to have a superb Swiss military knife. They turn out to be useful on picnics when you have to slice a block of cheese, pop that half bottle of wine, lower open a bundle, and even choose a pesky morsel of meals out of your tooth with a toothpick.
The Swiss Military Camper Knife options a wide range of helpful instruments whereas nonetheless being compact and light-weight.
Store the Swiss Military Camper Knife at:
3. Hydro Flask Cooler Cup
The Hydro Flask Cooler Cup is a intelligent design that retains drinks chilly in your hike in after which doubles as a cup when it’s time to drink them.
For added chill issue, refrigerate the containers the night time earlier than so that they’re further chilly while you head out.
Store the Hydro Flask Cooler Cup at:
4. Picnic Flatware
Elevate your picnic expertise by bringing stainless-steel flatware as an alternative of low-cost plastic utensils.
This flatware set by Hydro Flask comes with its personal carry sleeve that retains your forks, knives, and spoons organized and simple to seek out.
Store the Hydro Flask Flatware Set at:
5. Plates
You should utilize any non-breakable plates on your picnic hike, however in order for you a set that cleans up nicely and appears good, take a look at the stainless-steel Hydro Flask camp plate.
Store the Hydro Flask Camp Plate at:
6. Bee’s Wrap
I’m at all times looking for methods to scale back single-use plastics, so I used to be actually excited to find Bee’s Wrap, which can be utilized in lieu of plastic wrap.
These sheets are coated with a skinny layer of beeswax and can be utilized to wrap up sandwiches, cheeses, veggies, fruits, or another meals gadgets you’ve gotten deliberate on your picnic.
To scrub them, merely rinse them with cool water and allow them to dry earlier than reusing them!
7. Stasher baggage
These reusable silicone Stasher Baggage are good for carrying picnic goodies like chopped fruits and veggies, sandwiches, path combine, or different picnic provides.
In contrast to regular ziplock baggage, these are supposed to be reused, so merely rinse them out and repeat!
8. Loopy Creek Chair
For a picnic social gathering, my Loopy Creek is my go-to chair. It takes about 5 seconds to place collectively and gives greater than ample again assist. It additionally has hook-and-loop straps to connect to your backpack so that you may be hands-free in your hike.
This chair can also be good for outside live shows and flicks and particularly useful on river journeys the place you might be sitting upright in a ship all day.
Store Loopy Creek Camp Chair at:
9. Moist Wipes
Moist wipes are at all times helpful to have round. They’re nice for cleansing up post-picnic when you have to wipe off soiled utensils or plates. These Surviveware moist wipes are good and thick and enormous sufficient so that you solely want to make use of 1 or 2.
Please bear in mind to pack out all used moist wipes and eliminate them in a trash can, even when they are saying biodegradable.
Store Surviveware Moist Wipes at:
10. Hand sanitizer
Convey a small bottle of hand sanitizer with you to scrub your arms earlier than you eat your picnic. I like this travel-sized bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Hand Sanitizer.
Store Dr. Bronner’s Hand Sanitizer at:
11. Bug repellant
Nothing can break a pleasant picnic sooner than a swarm of mosquitos or pesky gnats. Be ready to fend off bugs with some good bug repellant.
Natrapel is a plant-based, non-toxic bug repellant that works fairly nicely. Nonetheless, if biting bugs can be an issue, you may need to go along with one thing that accommodates DEET.
Store Natrapel Insect Repellant at:
Learn Extra
Further Picnic Hike Gear Suggestions
Depart No Hint on Picnic Hikes
It’s vital to say the 7 Depart No Hint rules so you possibly can comply with good environmental practices in your picnic hike.
They’re:
- Plan forward and put together
- Journey and camp on sturdy surfaces
- Get rid of waste correctly
- Depart what you discover
- Decrease campfire impacts
- Respect wildlife
- Be thoughtful to different guests
You’ll be able to learn extra concerning the 7 Ideas and discover examples in our Depart No Hint weblog submit.
Have a fantastic hike!
On the lookout for extra outside journey concepts? Take a look at these associated weblog posts:
We hope this submit helps you propose a memorable picnic hike! What are your greatest picnic hike ideas and necessities? Do you’ve gotten a favourite hike or expertise to share? Tell us within the feedback!
Associated
