How To: Prius Prime Car Camping at Reserved Campgrounds

In this manual, I’ll show you how we pull off tent based camping at formal campgrounds using a Toyota Prius Prime as our one and only camp vehicle. We mostly camp up and down the California coast (sometimes a bit inland, like Paradise Campground in Las Padres), but I will generalize this manual for any formal, reserved camping at established state/national beaches and parks, represented on Reserve California or Recreation.gov.

Unloading Prius Prime to set up camp for the night

Who We Are

We are 1 man, 1 woman, 1 poodle, and 1 small terrier mix

Length of Stay at Campground(s)

We generally stay out for 2 to 4 nights.

Conditions

Generally mild weather: up to 90F during the day; down to 40F at night. Little to no rain.

Appropriate Floor Mats for the Prius Prime for Camping

DO NOT attempt to camp with this car using the carpeted floor mats and cargo space mat that usually comes standard. Either get the Toyota All Weather Rubber Liner mats and rubber cargo liner mat, which is what I have (mine’s a 2017 Prime). Or look on Amazon for rubber, all weather floor and cargo liners for your particular manufactured year for your car. For example these 3D MAXpider Complete Set Custom Fit All-Weather Floor Mat for Select Toyota Prius/ Prius Prime Models – Kagu Rubber (Black) liners will work for a 2017-2021 Prime, though someone in the comments section said they worked for their 2022 model too, though they’re not meant to, according to the manufacture’s answer to an Amazon question, regarding the 2022 Prime. They look like they have an advantage over the Toyota mats in that they cover the middle section of the back seat floors, where the manufacture’s mats don’t. Something like this TOUGHPRO Cargo/Trunk Mats Accessories Accessories Compatible with Toyota Prius Prime (again for the 2017-21 years of this car) would be good for the cargo space, though users say it’s stiffer than the Toyota version. I can tell you the Toyota version is soft, flexible rubber.

Prius Prime Cargo Space

Behind the front seats the Prius Prime has 36.6 cubic feet of cargo room. Bringing enough gear and supplies for a 4 day excursion, the car will be packed pretty tight, but it can be done. Obviously we have some glamping gear with the 100W solar panel, solar battery bank, 12V fan, and USB lights, alongside a queen sized memory foam bed topper, and Target shag rugs for the bottom of the the tent. I’ll talk more about gear and packing below.

Gear and Packing

There are ways to pack lighter than we did. As I just mentioned we had some comfort gear; I like to sleep with a fan making noise in the background and such. The dogs try to dig through the floor of the tent to make beds, so we bring carpet to lay down inside of it, to keep them from ripping up the floor.

We packed the Prius Prime with the back seats in their normal, upright positions to maximize cargo space and to compartmentalize gear so it’s not shifting during transport.

Here’s our Prius Prime Car Camping Gear List:

Gear in the Back Seats

Coleman Instant Beach Canopy, 13 x 13 Feet – this canopy lets some wind through at the top, so it can be used for beach type camping, however it won’t withstand more extreme winds. We’ve tried setting it up a Gaviota State Park Campground, a notoriously high wind area with constant stream of wind that doesn’t die away, and it bent up some of the upper structural components of the canopy. It’s good to use when you’re in a site with no shade, or as an added layer of protection to keep the rain off the tent. We place the canopy in its transportation bag in the floor of the Prius Prime, behind the front seats.
Solar Panel Stand – Portable for Camping – this is a DIY stand I made from some angled shelf racking from Home Depot. I bolt it onto my panel with a bolt and wing nuts, but use those bolts also to keep the racking pieces folded in a compact manner, which fits behind the front seats of the car, next to the canopy.
Cheap Shag Rugs for the Floor of the Tent – we use two 4′ x 6′ shag rugs for the tent floor. Our tent floor is actually 100″ x 86″ so we just strategically place them where the floor is most exposed, accounting for the queen blow-up mattress, to keep the dogs from digging on the floor and tearing it up. Dogs want to dig to make their bed (and then of course after they do so they jump on the bed!) The link isn’t the exact rugs we use, but any cheap rug will do if you have dogs. We lay both rugs on the seat and back areas of the car seats to minimize their transport footprints.
Memory foam topper for queen sized bed – we fold it up and secure the fold with bungee cords, then put it in the left back seat. The one we use is an expensive one from Bed Bath and Beyond but you can get a cheapo one off Amazon to use for camping, which is what I plan on doing for next time so as not to put any more unnecessary wear on my good one. This Best Price Mattress 3 Inch Egg Crate Memory Foam Mattress Topper CertiPUR-US Certified one looks good to me. I’ve made a link for you and for me for future reference.
Food Cooler – we just use a cheap one. Our foam one fell apart, so we just bought one from CVS when we we’re on the road. I’m still strategizing if I can rig up a 12V cooler, like this BougeRV 12V Car Fridge to my solar battery bank and at least run it when it’s being charged by the panel, during the day. This fridge draws 3.75 amps, and my solar panel can provide up to 5 amps in direct sun. So another wish list link for me here.
Coleman Sleeping Bags – we’re living in Southern California so we’re just using the 40 degree rated bags. You do you, for your area.
Bag with our cookware in it. We like the Enamelware like the GSI Outdoors Sierra Enamel Table Set for Four with Bowls, Plates and Cups for Camping for sentimental reasons. Be careful with these bowls though – they will get hot on you if you put hot food in them; use a picnic table. And of course if you want stuff to match here’s the tableware: GSI Outdoors Pioneer 12 Piece Cutlery Set, Camping Flatware – Blue
Hiking bags – I use a Patagonia Yerba 24L pack – I think it’s been discontinued but if you see one on Ebay grab it – it’s killer! She uses a REI Flash22 pack as she’s only 95 pounds.
Bag with cooking related stuff in it – Lodge 10-1/4-Inch Pre-Seasoned Iron Skillet (trust me and get the one with the handle holder and scrapers for cleaning) which is the correct diameter to work with our Coleman one-burner butane stove. Paper towels, aluminum foil, spatulas and cooking spoons, kitchen knives, salt, pepper, spices, sponge, dish soap, folding sink, zip lock bags, napkins, picnic table cover, matches, etc.
Bag with beach/bathroom towels
I was able to sneak in my 12V RV fan, that works with my solar battery bank, behind my driver’s seat also, in the end.
I’m thinking we also stored a few jugs of water behind the front passenger seat but we also had water in the area in front of that seat.

Cooking related stuff hiding behind driver’s seat

One tip here is as the car gets fuller, roll the windows down and continue to add stuff through the window, then use the driver’s window controls to roll them back up. Another is to pack high, directly behind the front seat(s), but pack lower in the middle, so that you can still look out the back window. Lastly, if you’re driving into bear country, where there are no bear lockers, and food is not allowed to be stored in your car, you’ll have to pack some bear canisters (or bags where allowed).

Gear in the Cargo Area

I use the back of the Prius Prime for bulkier items, which I build up into a slope facing towards the front of the vehicle which my solar panel will lie on for the trip.

The first things that go against the back of the back seat are our two folding camping chairs. These chairs are the ones that fold down into a slim, cylindrical shape. I know one of them is a GCI Outdoor Pod Rocker Collapsible Rocking Chair, which isn’t my favorite, as your butt sits significantly lower than your knees in the chair and it feels like it cuts off the circulation to your legs; but people seem to like it on Amazon well enough: 84% 5 star reviews; 10% 4 star reviews; so maybe it’s just me. The other is a GCI folder too, and I like it much better; I think it’s this GCI Outdoor Comfort Pro Rocker Collapsible Rocking Chair though I bought mine on the REI website because I had a gift card. But the point is that they fold up and fit inside the Prius Prime cargo compartment well. Below you can see the top chair against the back of the back seats; there’s one below it that is hidden from view in the picture. Also hidden under those chairs is a small beach tent.

My DIY Solar Powered and Waterproof Battery Bank (in the green ammo can in the above picture) goes in next, after the chairs, and beside it I put my REI Base Camp 4 Tent (in the black bag, right of the battery bank).
In the next row goes the Coleman Blow-Up Queen Mattress that I have in an old Aero Bed bag. Mine’s outdated so I don’t have a link. Just make sure you get one that uses a separate, battery powered pump. The pump I used with it is this guy: Coleman Handheld Pump for Air Mattress | Battery-Powered QuickPump for Inflating Air Beds which take D sized batteries.
To the right of the mattress my is my Coleman Portable Butane Stove with Carrying Case. It’s a simple, cheap stove; nothing fancy; you don’t want fancy as fancy usually has more points of failure and is harder to diagnose when there is one. Beside that is the Coleman mattress pump I covered above.
In front of the mattress pump is a zip lock bag with my GSI Outdoors Glacier Camp Stove, the MSR IsoPro fuel canister it works with, and a small pot that fits on top of that stove that boils water for those Backpacking dehydrated meals.
On top of the Coleman Stove I have a zip lock with the said backpacking meals, to be used as a back up for food, and a zip lock with my USB Edison lights I use with my battery bank.
Between my chairs and tent is a zip lock bag with scissors, twine, a small hammer, and extra tent stakes for the tarps, and canopy.
To the left of the ammo can, I’ve got a zip lock with rope and adjustable bungee cords I use to hang my fan in the tent, and with my solar panel stand.
In that same area I have a bag with my solar extension cord to run between my panel and battery bank.
Also there, I’ve stuffed my toiletry case, an emergency urinal, a 30-day Duro Lantern, and my solar battery bank repair tools and parts, including a mc4 connection solar key to unplug the extension cord back from the solar panel.

On top of the tent and ammo can, I put my tarps for under the tent and its vestibule.
Then I lay my solar panel in its cardboard delivery box over the entirety of what I’ve packed.
Finally on top of the panel, I put bed sheets, pillows, and a picnic blanket. Note that I have ready access to the picnic blanket; this will be pertinent during camp set up.

One quick tip here, is if you don’t know if there is a local place near your campground that sells firewood, then plan on just using your stoves or buy a few bags at Home Depot. For Prius camping similar to what we do, though, you’re not going to want to dedicate more than two nights’ worth of wood (roughly two Home Depot bags) to that precious cargo space, unless you’re using and rack mounted cargo box (don’t put the wood in the box as it gets heavy and reaches the weight limit quick). If you’re not bringing as many luxury items as we do, you’ll likely have more room for a few more day’s worth of wood.

Gear in the Front Seat

We each sat on more pillows! Hey I need at least two pillows to sleep!
We had a bag for the dog related items: extra water, dog food, toys, leashes, longer plastic cord chains to tie them to the picnic table or tree, bowls, water flask that dispenses water into an attached cup, etc.
a bag with her clothes, bathing suits, and toiletries
Jackets, hats, and random clothes layers (most of my layers fit in my backpack, as did my water flask, back up glasses, sunglasses, phone battery and cord, etc.)
Purse
Jugs of water where her feet were supposed to be, in front of the passenger seat.
A bag with dry food items.

Front area of Prius Prime packed tight for camping.

So basically, for the trip we were packing for in the pictures, we traveled with the poodle in the right back seat, me driving, my small, 95 pound girlfriend in the passenger seat, and the small terrier dog on the blue striped pillow in the middle compartment of the Prius. We were only 2 hours from the campsite, so the ride wasn’t that bad. But had we been going on a 4+ hour journey, I would have opted for one of those rooftop cargo carriers.

Roof Racks and Cargo Carriers Compatible With the Toyota Prius Prime

I’ve researched compatible roof racks and cargo boxes for the Prius Prime, and regarding the roof racks, it’s looking like that even though three main options are being marketed online for this car, only two are actually compatible, with the third being questionable. The first compatible option is the Toyota OEM rack for the Prius Prime, which you can buy at the dealership, and the second is the Yakima rack system, which includes multiple parts: YAKIMA – BaseLine, Adjustable Towers for Vehicles without Rails, Gutters or Factory Roof Options, (Set of 4), YAKIMA – JetStream Bar Aerodynamic Crossbars for Roof Rack Systems 50”, Yakima BaseClip BC123 – Set of 2, and Yakima BaseClip BC169 – Set of 2.

The questionable manufacture is Thule. Thule claims on their website that they have three options for the Prius Prime, but this may or may not be correct, based on one Amazon review of a Prius Prime owner, purchasing the Kit 145029 component of the systems, meant to be used with cars with “naked roofs, fixed points, flush rails, mounting tracks or custom rack installs”, and which Thule claims on their site is necessary for the Prime. Indeed Thule’s options all require this kit:

Option 1: Thule Wingbar Evo 135, Thule Clamp Evo, Kit 145029
Option 2: Thule Clamp Edge, Thule Wingbar Edge 104, Thule Winbar Edge 95, Kit 145029
Option 3: Thule Squarebar Evo 135, Thule Clamp Evo, Kit 145029

I’ll post the Prime owner’s review below:

“The 5029 clamp kit is listed on Thule’s website as suitable for my 2021 Prius Prime but after hours of trying to fit it I gave up. This is the first review for the kit on a 2021 Prius Prime, as far as I can tell. I couldn’t find any others anywhere. Both the front and back clamps are too short. Each has a peg that fits nicely into a factory-drilled hole in the door jamb, but they can’t be positioned to fit properly into the rain-gutter groove on the roof. They’re about 5 mm too short. The result is that during tightening the rubber pad pulls out of the groove and is no longer secured into place. I tried adjusting the side-to-side distance on the Evo Wingbars several times but there was no way to make the clamps fit. I asked for help from Thule’s website and was told none of the kits fit my Prius model; ironically, I was told to see proof on Thule’s fitmycar link, but there it was, clearly stating that the 5092 kit fits the 2021 Prius Prime!!! The end result of this futile exercise is that I can return the kit and car rack, but that leaves me with no roof rack at all. No other company makes them for Prius. No car rack, no bike rack, which the purpose for the roof rack. Not a happy customer.”
Thule Roof Rack System Fit Kits page on Amazon.com

As far as the cargo box goes, looks like everyone on PriusChat.com is using the Yamika Skybox 16 with their Prius Primes. If you click my link with intent to purchase, I’d play it safe and get the size 16 (16 cubic feet of cargo room) that has been working for other owners.

Toyota Prius Prime with Yakima Skybox 16 cargo box

Unpacking Strategies Once You Arrive at the Campsite

Assuming hospitable weather between 40-90F with no rain:

Once you’re at your site, if you have dogs, find a place to tie them up for the moment: a tree, a picnic table, a fire pit grill, etc.; if you don’t have dogs, then proceed to the next step.

Shelter – Priority One

Survey your site for a good place for the tent. In summer conditions you’d want to have it in the shade, to avoid solar heat gain (the morning heat can wake you up if you’re looking to sleep in), so look for a shady spot under a tree, with not much slope. If there are no shady spots then just find a flat area and plan to use the canopy over the tent. In the cooler seasons you may also take into account the placement of the tent in relationship to the fire pit, designing for a more proximal placement to such; not too close of course: you don’t want fire or smoke getting on, or in the tent. The National Park Service recommends 15 feet of leeway between your fire and anything flammable.

Locate you picnic table and assess if it’s appropriately placed to start putting dirt sensitive items like pillows on top of it, in relation to where the tent will go. If so, lay a picnic table cloth or a picnic blanket on the table and unload your dirt sensitive items onto it, and non-sensitive items near the planned tent area, until you’ve gained access to your tent’s footprint or tarp that serves that purpose, your footprint’s stakes and hammer, and if there is no shady area, and shade is required, your canopy.

If you’re canopy is required, set it up first, according to the manufacture’s instructions or youtube videos. Then lay your tarp underneath, taking care to adjust for shading conditions you most care about (for example, avoiding morning sun heat gain and light).

If you are not in need of the canopy, set it aside and reload it into the car at a later time. Then lay your tarp or footprint down and strategize where your tent exits and vestibule will be. Secure your tarp with your hammer and stakes, then unpack your tent on top of the tarp. Separate the fly and place it on the picnic table or car to keep dirt off of it. Then construct the tent on your footprint, and secure it in place with the stakes. Add your fly and secure that as well with more stakes. If you have a secondary tarp for the vestibule, now is the time to place and secure it too. Open the ventilation areas of your tent if needed.

Next is the part where we would add the dog rugs, but if you have no rugs then now is the time to blow up your bed and put your mattress foam on it, which is what we would do after the rugs. Then subsequently add your sleeping bags, sheets, and pillows.

Fire and Food – Priority Two

At this point you have shelter, and can move on to unpacking the rest of your stuff at your leisure, but if you didn’t bring firewood, tinder and kindling, that very well could be your second priority after your shelter is constructed, depending on the time of day and your eating schedule. Sometimes the camp host sells wood; sometimes there’s a small general store on site; sometimes there’s a Home Depot or Ralph’s near your site; sometimes you’ve brought a night or two’s worth of wood; sometimes you’re just going to have to use your stove. Just keep in mind it can take up to 90 minutes from the time you start building a fire to the point it’s ready to use for cooking.

Of course, don’t put food, or fragrant toiletries, in or near your tent. If you’re not in bear country, you can store your cooler and food in your car at night. However, in bear country, you’ll have to research whether or not it’s allowed to put food in cars at night, which depends on if the local bear population has become adept at breaking into cars to get at food items. If there are bear lockers, that’s your best bet. If not and you can’t put food in your car, then put it in bear canisters. One last resort is to hang food from a tree at night using a rope.

Lights and Power – Priority Three

Keep your lanterns and flashlights in your tent and know where they are at all times, so as not to stumble around looking for them after the sun goes down.

And if you’re using solar plus a battery bank – I have instructions on how to build a solar battery bank and which panel and accessories goes with it – then I would set that up as well if there is still sun on your site. Otherwise just put the battery bank beside the tent, or on the side of the vestibule, and get your comfort items (USB lights, 12V fan, in our case) hooked up and ready to use. I like to put my lights around the tent entrance for some immediate outside lighting and to easily find the tent when returning to the site (say from the bathroom) after dark.

Lights help you find your tent after coming back from the bathroom

If you’re interested in the adjustable bungee cords, the Boundless Breeze 12V Fan, or the USB Edison lights in the pictures, just use the links I’ve provided. I bought all this stuff off Amazon. If you need stakes to hold your tarps to the ground I used these: Tent Stakes Heavy Duty Metal, Galvanized Rust-Free Yard Stakes. And if you need a small tarp for your vestibule I used this: 5×7 Multi-Purpose Blue Medium Duty DRY TOP Poly Tarp.

Prius Prime Car Camping – Further Reading

If you liked this article I have a few more in my Prius Prime car camping series: