The World's Hottest Camping Trip

Alissa Grosso

Jun 25, 2025

Photo of the author sitting in the opening of a camping tent.

Yesterday I returned from a very fun and extremely hot camping trip. My sister Emily invited me to join her and her family for her annual birthday camping event. We met up at Moreau Lake State Park in New York. I made the drive up from New Jersey while they made the drive down from Maine.

Here’s a picture of the whole crew on the first day of our trip:

Photo of five people standing in front of a lake.

We had a fun time exploring some trails in the park, went for a peaceful morning canoe ride and hit the beach. Here’s a few snaps from the morning paddle:

Photo of two people paddling a red canoe on a wooded lake.

Photo of a wooded lake beneath a blue sky.

I’m thankful that we didn’t have to deal with any storms during our trip. We apparently missed one that hit the area Sunday morning. That said, the whole time we were there it was overwhelmingly hot. We cooked some meals over a campfire, but we certainly didn’t need a fire to warm ourselves up. The sweatshirt and sweatpants I brought along remained unused in my backpack.

Late Monday afternoon when we all felt like we were melting, we decided to cool off with a trip to a nearby ice cream stand in my brother-in-law’s air-conditioned pick-up truck. It was just the cool down that we needed, and gave us the energy to head out on a short hike after we returned. That evening there was even the vaguest hint of a breeze, which made sleeping in our tents just a smidgeon less sweltering.

I probably wouldn’t recommend camping in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave, but that’s not something you can really predict when planning trips months in advance. Just the week before things had been unusually cool and rainy, and I think a sunny excessively hot trip probably beats a cold rainy camping trip.

We definitely had a fun time, and I would argue that the super hot camping trip made the four hour drive home in my air-conditioned car something of a treat.

I hope wherever you are, you are surviving the heat and having fun as well!

— Alissa