Campground Scavenger Hunt Ideas – Site, Loop and Camp Signs

How it works

These campground scavenger hunt ideas cover what a campground has and a trail does not: site posts, rigs, the bathhouse, other campers' setups and the sounds after supper. Every find is spotted from your own site or the road.

Read the full guide

Print a sheet for the loop walk

Choose a list in the menu under the button: Around the loop road for the first evening, Camp buildings and signs for the walk to the bathhouse. Then press Print this list and hand each team a pencil. Pick 10 new finds changes the sheet. The note under a find is its judging rule, and it opens with the points.

Camping scavenger hunt ideas that leave every site alone

Nothing is picked up, caught or moved, and nobody walks through another site: setups are spotted from the road. After supper is played with a grown-up, well back from any fire. Where a find is a campground rule, such as quiet hours, the note says to read the campground's own sign.

Tips

Keep one sheet on the picnic table for the whole stay: a rooftop tent may take until the last day.

Questions and answers

What can kids find at a campground?

A site post with a reserved tag, a pop-up camper, a speed bump, the bathhouse, a pay box with envelopes, a hammock strung up at a site and, after dark, a tent lit up like a lampshade.

How is this different from an outdoor nature hunt?

The outdoor list is plants, animals and sky, with a short set for the campsite. This one is the campground itself: gear, rigs, signs, buildings and what other campers have set up.

How is the campground hunt scored?

Each find is worth 1, 2 or 3 points, shown at the start of its note. A find counts once the whole team has seen it, and the printed sheet ends with a line for the total.

All 60 finds

At your own site 12

A bedroll packed away small 3 points. All the way inside its bag, with the cord pulled. Half in scores nothing.
A big jug with a tap at the bottom 1 point. For drinking or washing water. Point, and leave the tap alone.
A camp stove with two burners side by side 1 point. Count the burners from a step back. Nobody touches the knobs.
A cooler latched shut 1 point. Shut and latched counts. Propped open does not.
A dish tub or a drying rack 2 points. Empty or full, on the table or under it.
A fire ring with a cooking grate 2 points. Look from a step back, and only with a grown-up beside you if it is lit.
A ground cloth with no edge showing 3 points. Walk round your own tent. One corner sticking out and the points wait.
A guy line with something bright tied to it 2 points. A ribbon, a sock or a strip of cloth counts. It is there so nobody trips.
A lantern hung on a pole or a branch 1 point. Lit or unlit, as long as it hangs.
A tent stake pushed all the way in 2 points. Only the hook at the top should show. Point, and leave it in.
A tent wearing its rain cover 1 point. The outer roof layer. Point to where it stops.
Shoes parked outside a tent door 1 point. A pair counts once, however many pairs there are.

Around the loop road 12

A bike rack on the back of a rig 1 point. With or without bikes on it.
A block against a trailer wheel 2 points. Spot it from the road. Nobody goes near the wheel.
A bumper sticker from a park or a trail 2 points. Read it aloud from the road.
A camper wider than when it drove in 2 points. A slide-out room has to be out when you spot it.
A one-way arrow on the loop 1 point. Painted on the road or up on a sign.
A pop-up camper 2 points. Soft sides that fold out count. Hard sides all round do not.
A rooftop tent 3 points. Folded or open, as long as it rides on a vehicle's roof.
A site post with a reserved tag 2 points. The tag or card has to be on the post. Read it from the road.
A spare tire cover with a picture on it 3 points. Say what the picture is. Plain covers score nothing.
A speed bump 1 point. Stand on the shoulder to point at it, never in the road.
A speed limit sign for the campground road 1 point. Read the number aloud to score.
A van with a roof that pops up 3 points. The roof has to be up when you spot it.

Camp buildings and signs 12

A flagpole 1 point. Count the flags on it.
A pay box with envelopes 3 points. The metal post or slot where campers leave a filled-in envelope. Look only.
A recycling bin 1 point. Name one thing its label says belongs inside.
A sign about pets 1 point. Read the rule aloud. It is the campground's own, so it goes by the sign.
A stack of firewood bundles for sale 2 points. Read the sign beside it aloud. Firewood rules differ, so check the campground's own sign.
An amphitheater bench 2 points. Count the rows from the back.
The bathhouse 1 point. Read the sign on the door from outside.
The camp sink for pots and pans 2 points. Outside the bathhouse or in a hut of its own. A bathroom sink is not one.
The campground map with numbered sites 1 point. Point to your own site number.
The campground's quiet-hours sign 2 points. Read the hours aloud. Every campground sets its own: check this one's sign.
The check-in window 1 point. Read the opening times aloud, if any are posted.
Today's forecast on the notice board 3 points. Today's date has to be on it.

Other campers' setups 12

A dog's water bowl outside a rig 2 points. The bowl counts with or without the dog. Nobody goes over to pet one.
A flag on a rig or a tent pole 1 point. Say what is on it.
A folding table set up as a kitchen 2 points. A pot, a pan or a stove has to be on it.
A hammock strung up at a site 1 point. Empty or full. Spotted from the road.
A power cord plugged into a site post 3 points. Follow it with your eyes from the post to the rig. Look only.
A row of towels drying on a line 1 point. Three towels or more make a row.
A screen tent over a picnic table 2 points. Mesh walls on every side.
A tablecloth clipped to a picnic table 2 points. Clips or weights have to hold it down.
A welcome mat outside a trailer 2 points. It has to lie at a door. Read it from the road if it has words.
A yard ornament brought from home 3 points. A flamingo, a gnome, a little windmill. The team agrees it did not grow there.
An outdoor rug under an awning 2 points. Spotted from the road. Nobody steps on it.
Lights hung along an awning 1 point. Spotted from the road. On or off, both count.

After supper 12

A beam of light sweeping the trees 1 point. Yours does not count.
A card game by lantern light 2 points. At your own table, or seen from the road.
A headlamp shining 1 point. On a head and switched on.
A lantern carried along the road 1 point. It has to be moving.
A marshmallow on a stick that is not yours 2 points. Seen from the road. Stay well back from every fire.
A moth at a lantern 2 points. Watched, never caught.
A song from another site 3 points. Singing or an instrument, heard from your own site.
A tent lit up like a lampshade 2 points. The light has to be inside it. Any color counts.
A zipper heard in the dark 2 points. Tent, sleeping bag or jacket: say which you think it was.
The first star above your site 1 point. The whole team has to see the same one.
Somebody reading by a book light 2 points. At your own site, or seen from the road.
The whole loop gone quiet 3 points. Everyone listens for a slow count of ten and hears no voices. Quiet hours differ: check the campground's own sign.

How this list was compiled

Written for this site by its editors on 2026-10-01: 60 things to spot on a lap of a campground, in five lists: your own site, the loop road, camp buildings and signs, other campers' setups, and after supper. Nothing was copied from another list. Every find is spotted and left where it is: nothing is picked up, caught or moved, other sites are looked at from the road, and anything near a fire is seen from well back with a grown-up. No campground, park or brand is named, so the list fits any campground. The notes are judging rules, not facts. Where a find is a campground's own rule, such as quiet hours, firewood or pets, the note says to read that campground's sign and gives no hour and no distance. Points and levels are the editors' judgment. Licence: own work