Why the plan comes first
Most outdoor trips go well, and most of the ones that go badly start with something small: a late start, a missed forecast, a phone with a flat battery, or nobody at home knowing where the group went. None of those need special skills to prevent. They need a little time at home before the trip, and a habit of writing things down.
The National Park Service puts this plainly in its backcountry camping advice: spend time on a thorough plan if you want the trip to be both enjoyable and safe, and make sure everyone going agrees to it. Its hiking safety page for Great Smoky Mountains National Park adds a point that shapes everything else in this guide. Rescue is not a certainty, and in the backcountry it can take rangers several hours to reach someone who needs help. A plan is what fills those hours with the right decisions.
This guide covers two things that belong together: the planning routine itself, and the "ten essentials", a list of item categories the Park Service asks visitors to carry on outings into parks.
The planning steps
The Park Service's backcountry camping page sets out a short list of planning steps. They apply just as well to a long day hike or a paddle as to a night out. Paraphrased, they are:
- Check permits and regulations. Find out ahead of time whether the place needs a permit or reservation, and what its rules are. The public lands guide explains how passes and permits generally work.
- Decide where you are going and for how long. Note each starting point and destination.
- List the gear. Start from the ten essentials below and add what the activity needs.
- Work out the distances. Total distance and distance per day, allowing for changes in elevation, which slow most people down more than they expect.
- Think about the people and the place. Consider the physical and mental condition of everyone in the group, and the environmental factors you might meet.
- Gather emergency details. Emergency contact information for everyone in the group, kept together in case it is needed.
- Record your vehicle or boat. Year, make, model, colour and licence plate for anything you will leave at the trailhead or take on the water.
Two further points from the Great Smoky Mountains page are worth adding to that list. Choose a trail that suits the skills of the whole group, not its strongest member. And have a plan B: if the weather or the trail conditions are not suitable on the day, know in advance what you will do instead, so turning away from the original plan feels like following a plan rather than abandoning one.
Leave a trip plan with someone
Every source used for this guide comes back to the same step: tell someone where you are going and when to expect you back. The Park Service's ten essentials page says it in one line; its backcountry page calls sharing a detailed itinerary the most important step of all.
A useful trip plan answers the questions a rescuer would ask. The Great Smoky Mountains page lists where you will be hiking, contact information, when you plan to start and return, and who is with you. Give it to a trusted person who is not going with you, and agree what they should do if you have not checked in within a reasonable time after your planned return: in a national park, the advice is that they contact the park.
The backcountry camping page suggests two more habits. Leave a copy of the itinerary in your vehicle, where rangers can find it if they need to. And when the trip is over, tell your contacts that you are back and safe, so nobody starts a search for a group that is already home. On the water the same idea is called a float plan, and the US Coast Guard makes the same argument for it: without one, you are counting on someone remembering the details that rescuers need. The paddling guide covers float plans in more detail.
Stick to the plan you left
A trip plan only helps if you follow it. The Park Service advises against changing your route partway through a trip; if conditions change and the plan no longer works, it suggests heading back and trying again another time.
The ten essentials
The National Park Service describes the ten essentials as items that can help you, or someone else, through minor injuries, sudden weather changes or unexpected emergencies. It organises them into ten categories, or systems, and credits the system to The Mountaineers, whose book Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills describes it. The idea of a system is that each category can be met in different ways depending on the trip.
| System | Examples the Park Service gives | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Navigation | Map, compass, GPS | Plan the route and find your place on it. Learn to use them before you go, and carry a physical map as a backup to a phone. |
| Sun protection | Sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, covering clothing | Protects skin and eyes from ultraviolet rays that cause sunburn and skin cancer. |
| Extra clothing | Jacket, hat, gloves, rain shell, layers | For a sudden change in the weather. Pack for the worst conditions you could meet. |
| Illumination | Headlamp or flashlight, spare batteries | To find your way after dark or signal for help. Headlamps are preferred because they leave your hands free. |
| First-aid supplies | A first aid kit fitted to the trip | Start with a ready-made kit, check expiry dates and add any personal medicines you take. |
| Fire | Matches or lighter, fire starters | An emergency signal and a source of warmth. Check the local fire rules before you go. |
| Repair kit and tools | Duct tape, knife or multi-tool, scissors | To fix gear in the field. A trowel and toilet paper may also be needed. |
| Nutrition | An extra day's supply of food | No-cook, easy-to-digest food in case the trip runs long. |
| Hydration | Water and water treatment supplies | Drink often and before you feel thirsty, and know where you can collect and treat more. |
| Emergency shelter | Tent, tarp, bivy sack or space blanket | Protection from weather and exposure if you have to stop unexpectedly. |
A few details from the Park Service's descriptions are easy to miss. Bright clothing makes you easier to spot if search and rescue has to look for you. A phone light is not a substitute for a headlamp: the Great Smoky Mountains list says plainly that your phone does not count for illumination. If you rely on a phone for navigation, carry a spare battery for it, and remember that cell coverage in many parks is limited; the same park suggests airplane mode to stop a phone draining its battery while searching for a signal.
Adapting the list to the trip
The ten essentials are a minimum, not a complete packing list. The Park Service notes that some activities need more, and gives examples such as a life jacket, insect repellent or a two-way satellite messaging device. The Great Smoky Mountains page suggests that hikers consider a personal locator beacon, because cell service there is extremely limited.
Some parks add their own figures for a category. Great Smoky Mountains, for example, suggests at least one liter of water for every two hours of hiking on its trails. That is one park's guidance for its own conditions, not a national rule; hot days and dry country call for more, and the water and heat guide explains how to think about it. The safest habit is to read the website of the specific park or forest you are visiting, which the Park Service recommends on its ten essentials page.
Sun protection is one category people tend to drop on cool or cloudy days. The CDC notes that ultraviolet rays reach you on cloudy and cool days and reflect off water, sand and snow, so the hat and sunscreen belong in the pack whatever the forecast says.
Test before you trust
The Park Service's backcountry camping page has a simple rule: test your equipment before the trip. Make sure you know how to use everything, that it works, and that you have the right parts, such as the correct fuel for a stove or batteries for a headlamp. Try on the pack and the boots and go for a short test walk to make sure they fit. Footwear matters more than many people think; the Great Smoky Mountains page says that not wearing proper footwear is one of the leading causes of injuries in that park.
Skills need testing too. Knowing that a map and compass belong in the pack is different from being able to use them in fog. If any item on the list is something you could not use under pressure, that is a sign to practise or take a course before relying on it.
Example: one planning evening
Worked example
This is an illustration, not a route, and describes no real group. Two friends plan a long day hike in a national park they have not visited before.
- They read the park's website for permits, closures and trail warnings, and pick a trail within the slower walker's ability.
- They work out the distance and the elevation gain, and agree a turnaround time: if they have not reached the high point by then, they turn back.
- They choose a shorter trail nearby as plan B in case the forecast changes.
- They write a trip plan with the trail, the start and return times, both names, the car's details and the time after which the contact should call the park, and send it to a family member who is staying home. A copy goes on the car's dashboard.
- They pack the ten essentials, check the headlamp batteries and the first aid kit's dates, and charge a spare phone battery.
- When they get back to the car, they message their contact to say they are out.
None of these steps take long. Together, they mean that if something does go wrong, someone knows to look, knows where, and knows what they are looking for.