This winter camping checklist for the Northern Michigan outdoors covers all the necessities when venturing out on a snowy safari. Jeff Smith, editor of Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine, gives his show-and-tell with these notes and a photo gallery.


I seem to be getting a lot of questions these days about how to go winter camping, so I thought a visual gear checklist might come in handy—a photo gallery of the gear I take when I head out in the wintry backcountry with my friends. Would love to hear what others pack along that they’d suggest adding to the list, so share your thoughts below. Winter camping is easier than it might sound and if you have the right gear, you don’t get cold. Promise. Enjoy the snow! (And check out our video about how to build a quinzee—a snow shelter you sleep in for nice warmth.)