Solo Motorcycle Camping: A Safety Plan, a Simpler Camp and Your First Nights Alone

Solo motorcycle camping is safe to plan for if you do four things: leave a written trip plan with someone at home, carry a way to call for help where there is no phone signal, make camp before dark, and keep the trip within your skill level. The National Park Service calls travelling with others the best practice, so going alone means planning for the help you won't have.

This guide is part of our motorcycle camping guide. It covers what changes when you camp by yourself. For the basics of a first trip, see how to go camping by motorcycle.

Key takeaways- Write a trip plan: where you will be, when you will arrive and return, and your contact details. Leave it with someone who is not coming.- Check in with your contact when you finish, so they know you are safe.- If you carry a 406 MHz personal locator beacon, register it with NOAA.- Arrive with daylight to spare and learn the site before dark.- Pick a simpler trip than you would ride with a group.

Leave a trip plan with someone at home

A trip plan is the single most useful thing a solo rider can do before leaving. The NPS hiking safety guide says it should include where you will be, your contact information, when you plan to arrive and return, and who is with you. Leave it with a trusted friend or family member who is not going. Those details help search and rescue teams if something goes wrong.

For a motorcycle trip, add the bike's details. The NPS backcountry camping page suggests documenting the year, make, model, color and license plate of any vehicle you take, and leaving a copy of your itinerary in the vehicle for rangers to find.

Stick to the plan once you leave. If plans change, tell your contact. When you get home, tell them you are safe.

The video below gives five quick tips for camping alone from a rider who travels full time by motorcycle. His points on planning ahead, setting up in daylight, telling someone your plans and storing food away from camp match the advice on this page.

Carry a way to call for help without signal

Phone signal often drops out where the best camping is. Plan for that before you leave.

• Personal locator beacon (PLB). All U.S.-coded 406 MHz beacons must be registered with NOAA SARSAT. Registration is the fastest way for search and rescue to respond to your alert or confirm a false alarm.
• Offline maps. The Ten Essentials list starts with navigation: a map, compass or GPS.
• A power plan. Charge everything you rely on, and know how you will recharge on the road.

Test any device before the trip. The NPS advises testing your gear before you go so you know how to use it.

Choose a campsite you can manage alone

Solo, the easiest first nights are at a campground with other campers and a host. Save remote dispersed sites for when you know your routine.

Whatever you choose, arrive early. The NPS advises making camp before dark and learning the terrain in daylight; if you must leave camp after dark, stay in areas you have seen in daylight and use a headlamp.

Judge the site the same way you would with company: dead branches overhead, low ground, distance from water and firm ground for the bike. Our guide to choosing a motorcycle camping site has a five-point check.

Run a simpler camp

Every job at camp is yours, so cut the number of jobs.

• Practice the pitch at home. You will not have a second pair of hands to hold a pole in the wind.
• Cook outside the tent. Never use a stove, heater or lantern inside a tent; opening the door is not enough to stop carbon monoxide building up.
• Store food away from where you sleep. Check the food storage rules where you camp; many parks require a bear box or bag. In bear country, the NPS says to keep 200 feet between your cooking and sleeping areas and to store food at least 200 feet from your tent.
• Keep the first aid kit where you can reach it. The Red Cross list is a good starting point.

Pack your kit so that the things you need first come off the bike first. Our guide to setting up a motorcycle camping kit shows one way.

Ride within your limits

With no one behind you, a fall on a dirt road or a dropped bike in a campsite is yours to deal with. Keep solo trips simpler than group trips: easier roads, shorter days and well-known campgrounds.

Load matters more when you have to lift the bike alone. Every motorcycle has a maximum load set by its maker, and it includes the rider. Know that number before you pack, and practice lifting the loaded bike at home before you need to do it at camp. Our guide on how to pack a motorcycle for camping covers load limits.

Your first nights alone

This section will be built from real team trips, not from imagined ones.

Questions the story should answer:

1. How did you choose the first site, and would you choose it again?
2. What did you do in the hour after sunset?
3. What did you bring that you never used, and what did you miss?
4. When did you check in with your contact, and how?

Gloves for a long day alone

On a solo trip your hands do everything: riding, pitching, cooking and packing. If you need riding gloves, look at Leather Collection motorcycle gloves.

FAQ

What should you take solo camping?

Start from the Ten Essentials: navigation, sun protection, extra clothing, a light, first aid supplies, fire starter, repair kit and tools, extra food, extra water and emergency shelter. Add a way to call for help without signal and a written trip plan left at home. Our motorcycle camping checklist covers the rest.

Is it normal to go camping alone?

Plenty of riders camp alone. The NPS says it is safer to go with a companion, and that if you go solo you should take extra measures to be prepared. A trip plan, a check-in routine and an early arrival are the core of those measures.