Beginning campers often start by car camping: not sleeping in the car, as my family once did, but pitching a tent beside it, typically at a site in a private campground or at a state or national park. For your first trip, pick a spot within a few hours of home and plan to stay no more than two or three nights (you want your kids to beg for more, not beg to go home). Call ahead and ask the rangers if they offer family programs and activities, and see if you can reserve a site; many are first-come, first-serve

Once you arrive at a campground, look for a site that is flat, smooth and on top of a rise (rather than at its base) to prevent your tent from flooding during rainstorms. The ideal site also offers privacy, a mix of sunshine and shade, and a source of water. Our family tries to camp by a river, lake or oc

Other easy dishes include macaroni and cheese or penne with pesto sauce (bring frozen pesto). Hummus and a hunk of flat bread make good appetizers. Fruit, roasted marshmallows and, of course, S'mores are favorite desserts (I confess: Catharine and I sometimes smuggle Swiss chocolate bars into the tent to eat after the kids have fallen asleep). Breakfast is instant oatmeal, or eggs, bacon and any leftover potatoes, fried up. Lunches are typically sandwiches and fresh fruit. The crucial thing to pack is plenty of snacks, which especially come in handy during long, energy-sapping hikes.

Backpacking in a wilderness area is the surest way to find serenity and isolation, but since it involves hiking to your site and carrying all of your equipment, we waited to try it as a family until our kids were in grade school.

When my family goes car camping, we like to bring two coolers, one for drinks and one for food. We fill the latter cooler with frozen meat, fish and chicken, then defrost and grill the most perishable items first. We supplement meats with fresh salads, vegetables, little canned potatoes (great

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