Spring is here! And you know what that means: it’s camping season! By which I mean that every season is camping season if you have the right gear and know how to stay warm, but many folks like to hold out for warmer temps, less snow, and plenty of sunshine. I get it.
Spring and summer also mean road trips, sometimes combined with camping trips. Indeed, most of our road trips involve camping for at least part or all of the nights we’re out and about. Which means we appreciate a comfortable and reliable car camping setup: sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and yup, even a car sleeping platform. And we may have found the best car camping setup for comfy overnights on the road: comfortable, packable, usable, you name it.
Looking to compile your own car camping sleep setup? Read on for our recs and reviews and don’t forget these other adventure road trip essentials!
What Is Car Camping?
First things first: Let’s define car camping. Traditionally, it’s any type of camping where you drive your vehicle to the campsite instead of hiking or walking in (which would be called backpacking). Then you might pitch a tent or hang a hammock nearby to actually sleep in.
But some folks use the term “car camping” to describe camping where you actually sleep in your car. Maybe in a designated frontcountry campground, maybe at a dispersed campsite (a spot off forest service roads or BLM land, probably with no bathrooms or running water), maybe at a rest stop.
Is it legal to sleep in your car in the U.S.? Well, that depends. Some states or cities have rules about it, some don’t. Colorado, for instance, doesn’t allow people to sleep in their cars overnight at rest stops but you can on BLM land. Some businesses won’t allow it. We were once kicked out of a casino parking lot that allowed overnight camping at 3:00am because we were in a car instead of an RV. We were once even turned away from a developed campground in West Yellowstone because they didn’t allow campers to sleep in their vehicle for liability reasons (Boooo!).
But if you’re on appropriate public land (use sites like Freecampsites.net or Campendium.com to find available spots), you’re generally allowed to sleep in your car.
But let’s get to what you really want to know: what is the best car camping setup when sleeping in your car or SUV?
THIS is the Best Car Camping Setup
We’ve slept on many car camping platforms–mostly ones we’ve built ourselves–and tested many sleeping pads, bags, and pillows. This combo takes the cake every time.
Sleeping Platform: Pacific Adventure Works Hideaway
Full disclosure: the Pacific Adventure Works Hideaway platform bed is the first we’ve bought instead of built. We’ve owned and used several, but they’ve all been ones we’ve made ourselves from wood and screws. That route is cheaper, but it’s far from our favorite option (it doesn’t offer much flexibility and is hard to store when not in use). The Hideaway is superior for a few reasons:
- It’s adjustable: It comes with adjustable legs, plus you can buy more to customize the height of your sleeping platform and even adjust it based on whether you left the back seats in place or removed them entirely. You can also purchase extra stubby legs if you prioritize headroom over under-platform storage space. We do.
- It comes in various sizes: Pacific Adventure Works makes a platform for every car camper and every car, from SUV sleeping platforms to small vehicle sleeping platforms. We got the Double Hideaway for uneven floors that fits in our RAV4, a smaller SUV. But there are wider options for bigger cars and single platforms for solo campers in compact hatchbacks.
- It packs up small for easy storage: Unlike many other platforms, including DIY wooden ones, the Hideaway comes apart and rolls up easily for compact storage when not in use. Which means you can go from sleeping in your car to commuting to work without the hassle of breaking down a whole platform.
- It’s versatile: But you don’t have to roll the whole thing up and remove it to get it out of the way; you can also just slide the front support bars in, fold up or roll the platform top back, and be able to use your back seats in a flash PLUS have a raised platform in the trunk area for stacking gear.
- Setup is easy: Once you get the Hideaway set up the first time, it takes mere minutes to set up and break down when it’s time to use it or stash it.
We love this thing because of its versatility. We can leave it fully set up in the back of the car with our mattress inflated and sleeping bag in place so we can pop in and out of bed in a few seconds OR we can deflate our mattress, fold it in half with the platform topper, and have full and easy access to everything in the back seat.
Duffels and snacks on the floor of the back seat were still accessible when we left it in place, it was just a bit tighter squeeze. On the upside, there was lots of space on top of the platform to toss more daypacks and groceries and things when we were on the go.
Plus, because there’s a place on the Pacific Adventure Works website to enter the make and model of your car, you can be sure you’re ordering the platform that’s the right size. The only issue we had with the platform was loosening the adjustment knobs at the joints too much, which allowed the little plastic connector joints to pop out. But it was an easy fix: remove male bars, loosen knobs, re-insert connector joints, tighten and don’t loosen as much next time. 😅
When the trip was over, it was easy to disassemble, roll up, and stash in a corner of our shed or a closet.
Sleeping Pad: Exped MegaMat Duo
If there’s one sleeping pad that pairs with the Hideaway better than any other it’s the Exped MegaMat Duo. We also love the Nemo Roamer Double (read our review of them both here), but the version we own is a queen, and our RAV4 is only wide enough for a double/full, so the Exped is the default. But what a default it is!
It’s way more comfortable than a thin inflatable backpacking sleeping pad AND a traditional inflatable mattress, is thin enough to offer max headroom but thick enough to be comfy, and is super cushy to boot. That’s because it’s inflatable, but also has foam inside for extra squish. The outer fabric has some softness and stretch to it, too, so you don’t feel like you’re sleeping on a plastic bag.
It’s lightly self-inflating, but comes with a manual hand-pump/sack. Or you can get a rechargeable handheld inflator like we did or even use one of the more robust ultralight pad inflators we’ve tested to both pump it up and deflate it rapidly.
It also comes in a single size if you’re camping solo or you prefer for you and your camping partner to have separate sleeping surfaces. That’s convenient if you prefer individual bags and/or one of you tosses and turns a lot and the other is a light sleeper.
Sleeping Bag: Nemo Jazz Double
A double sleeping bag is a beautiful thing if you tend to camp as a couple. Heck, even if you solo camp, if you prefer a little extra wiggle room and want a full size platform and pad, you might as well get a double bag, too!
Now, don’t get us wrong, we love the versatility of our Exped MegaSleep Duo Sleeping Bag, but the Nemo Jazz Double is a cut above. It has a bulit-in but removable “top sheet,” zips all the way down to the feet for max venting, has a pillow sleeve and tech pockets, even a mummy hood of sorts. Plus the materials are top notch and it’s comfy cozy. It’s only available in a large “queen” size, but we don’t mind the extra wiggle room inside when it’s paired with a smaller double pad.
Other alternatives are to use sheets and blankets, of course, especially in warmer months, or bring along your individual backpacking sleeping bags if you sleep alone or with a friend but prefer to keep things separate.
Bottom Line: Sleep Well Out There
We love our SUV sleeping platform setup so much we chose to sleep in it most nights on a recent road trip around Nevada and Southern Utah when we were only staying in dispersed campsites for one night at a time. It was far easier and quicker than setting up a tent every night and cozier, too, when overnight temps were chilly. But it was especially nice in the winter when car camping on national forest land when overnight lows were in the 20’s.
Either way, don’t forget to crack a window or two and sleep well on your next car camping trip. 😜
