When heading out into the great outdoors, it’s wise to bring along a few safety tips and guidelines, and to educate your whole family/group before beginning your journey. You simply never know what’s going to happen out there! So below, we’ve included three simple safety tips that everyone must follow. So read on, and happy camping!

Plan Out Your Trip

A planned trip is a safe trip. It’s endlessly important to know the area you’ve chosen to camp in. Find out things like which insects are common in the area, what kind of wildlife you could potentially run into (are there dangerous snakes around? What about alligators?). Knowing what you’re “getting into,” will help with packing, preparing, and well, camping!

Protect Yourself Against Dehydration

Bring plenty of water, especially if you’re going on a hike in a remote area. Make sure it’s coming from a safe source, as well. The last thing you want is for you or someone in your group to become dehydrated; it’s incredibly dangerous. Watch out for symptoms like dry lips and mouth, leg cramps, and weakness, and headaches. If you feel the slightest bit thirsty, drink up! There are tons of ways to carry water on your person; use a canteen, or Camelbak.

Obey Warning Signs

This one sounds simple, but you wouldn’t believe how many people make mistakes just by not paying attention to warning signs! If you see warning signs posted at the edges of cliffs, lakes, rivers, anything- obey them! They’re there for your benefit and they could save you from a lot of trouble.

There are so many safety guidelines to review before camping; we wish we could cover them all! But these are our top three, and we hope you follow them! Have a great time, and be sure to stay safe out there!