Late Season Camping With Kids in Wyoming

While it’s been a mild week weather-wise, it’s January. It’s cloudy. It’s dark. It’s windy. I’m tired. So I’m dealing with it by going back through my photos from last summer, looking for warmth and sunshine and all sorts of awesomeness while camping with kids in Wyoming.

Out for a hike while camping with kids in Wyoming.

I love being outside. Always. Summer, winter, spring, fall. I will always choose outside over inside, assuming I have a sweater on hand. I am married to someone who makes his living through the outdoors, and spent three (flipping fantastic) summers working as a wildland firefighter. I never loved tent camping, mostly going for the portability of the bivy. I stashed all the peanut butter I could manage from MREs, didn’t shower for weeks at a time, and forgot what it was like to be in civilization.

Then we had three kids. And indoor jobs. And school. And life. And obligations. Sleep was a mess, and we were doing whatever we needed to get by. While there are a lot of amazing families taking their little ones camping, there was not enough adult bandwidth going around for that to happen.

Once our youngest two started school, I could feel a bit of life come back. We started skiing while my husband was furloughed (ah, the joys of being a federal employee), we went to more concerts, and…we finally bought a tent. A giant one.

The North Face Wawona tent, sitting in forest.

I get no kickback on any of these links, but I need to rave about the awesomeness of The North Face Wawona 6 tent. I’m an engineer, so many hours were spent researching the perfect family tent. While not perfect in EVERY way, I really feel like this tent is going to get us through enough summers until we can make everyone carry their own bivy and sleeping bag.

North Face tent used while camping with kids in Wyoming.

We went camping on the Medicine Bow National Forest in southeast Wyoming. Where exactly? Mums the word, because this spot was dynamite. (And honestly, I think the only reason it was so empty is because my husband took off a weekday. I guarantee that camp spot is crawling with rock climbers every Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Nothing wrong with that, but we did appreciate the quiet and solitude!)

Quick note: While clearly I do have three children, one of them wasn’t feeling particulary stellar this trip, so she spent a lot of time curled up in the tent with a good book. Just in case you’re wondering where she is in a lot of these photos!

Girl reading book in shade while sitting near tent.
Kids sitting in chairs in forest.
Girl smiling at camera, holding grass
Handpicked bouquet, with late summer wildflowers.
Kids hiking up hill.
Kids climbing through boulders.
Silhouetted rocks.
Girls standing on rock, looking off into distance.
Moss in late evening sun
Looking through boulders, to path beyond.
Giant pile of boulders.
Tiny green plants growing on rock
Giant pile of boulders at sunset.
Sunshine on grass
Aspen grove
Hillside at sunset.
Kids hugging near trees in long grass
Girl hugging knees.
Kid playing with rocks
Clouds at sunset
Shadow at end of the day while camping with kids in Wyoming.
Kids after night of camping.

Hopefully we can get a few more trips under our belt this summer, so I can write up a proper blog post with more tips and tricks for camping with kids in Wyoming! Until then, I’ll be sitting here in my cold winter office, pretending the space heater is the late summer sun.


Thinking about family photos but wanting to do something different? Considering having me tag along for an evening or afternoon on your camping/floating/hunting trip! No posing, no directing, just you and your family hanging out, doing your thing. BYOB and BYOM(arshmallows). Sound interesting? Get in touch!

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