About
A structured camping planner.
Trailstead Guide turns six questions into a complete first-trip plan: timeline, gear, meals, kid activities, and safety notes — built around four scenario templates.
What we do
We build structured camping plans. Six questions in, you get a complete trip: hour-by-hour timeline, gear list, meal plan, shopping list scaled to your party size, age-appropriate kid activity plan, and safety notes.
Plans are templates, not fantasies. They map to four pacing archetypes — backyard test, first night, first weekend, easy basecamp — and adjust to your family rather than the other way around.
What we don't do
- Review 14 tents to tell you to pick one.
- Use inspirational photography as a substitute for a plan.
- Pretend camping is easy the first time, or hard once you have a plan.
- Sell anything we wouldn't buy ourselves.
Why this exists
First-time camping is overloaded with conflicting advice, unnecessary gear lists, and unclear starting points. The information exists; the structure doesn't. A stack of blog posts is not a plan.
Trailstead Guide is the missing structure: a short planner that hands you a complete weekend instead of a reading list, plus four ready-made plans you can run as-is.
About the founder
William Blacklock
Founder, Trailstead Guide
I earned my Eagle Scout at 13 — rare; most Scouts hit it at 16 or 17 — and have spent the years since paying it forward as a Cub Master, Scout Master, and Wood Badge Antelope.
As part of my Wood Badge ticket, I founded ScoutNerd, a site that reviewed apps and workflows to help Scouting leaders run better troops. A Philmont alum from a 12-day backcountry expedition in New Mexico, I now camp regularly with my three outdoor-active kids out of Austin, Texas.
Trailstead Guide started as the planning system I wished I had as a young dad: structured, beginner-aware, and built to make the first trip work.
The promise: read less, plan once, sleep outside.
- Eagle Scout — age 13
- Wood Badge Antelope
- Philmont alum
- ScoutNerd founder
Knows about: Camping · Outdoor Skills · Family Travel · Scouting · Scouting Leadership · BSA Wood Badge · Knot Tying · Camp Cooking · Backpacking
Follow along: @wtblacklock on Instagram
How we build it
How we build Trailstead's recommendations
Plans are grounded in 20+ years of personal scouting and family camping — Eagle Scout work, Wood Badge ticket, Philmont, then a steady cadence of trips with my own three kids. That experience gets distilled into structured templates, not freeform stories. If a plan made our family weekend work, it earns a spot.
The common-mistakes sections aren't guesses. They're drawn from pattern analysis of recurring beginner regrets across r/camping, r/CampingGear, r/CampingandHiking, and r/Outdoors over the trailing year — the same threads where new families admit what actually went sideways. The full reads live at first-time camping regrets and what 1000 campers actually pack.
Gear picks come from real beginner-family use. Nothing gets recommended that isn't already trusted by the camping community at large — no obscure dropshipped gear, no “sponsored” favorites in disguise. Affiliate links are disclosed transparently and have zero influence on what shows up in a plan.
Skills sections lean on the BSA Wood Badge curriculum and Cub Scout / Scout BSA program adaptations — the same progression-based teaching used to bring kids and adults up the curve safely. Knot diagrams use public-domain references; technique videos are embedded only when the source permits it.
The site keeps moving. Quiz personalization, comparison pages, and seasonal guides are all live and getting iterated based on what readers actually use and ask for. If something's wrong or unclear, that's a fixable problem — tell us.
How we make money
The plans, guides, and quiz are free. We earn an Amazon Associate commission when you buy gear through links on our gear pages, and we sell printable Trip Pack PDFs of each plan. Both fund the writing; neither changes what we recommend.
Press & partnerships
Want to interview, partner, or feature the methodology?
Take a minute and tell me through the contact form — what you're working on, what you need, and when. I read every message.
Get in touchFrequently asked questions
Who built Trailstead Guide?
- William Blacklock — Eagle Scout (earned at 13), former Cub Master and Scout Master, Wood Badge Antelope, Philmont alum, and dad of three outdoor-active kids based in Austin, Texas. Trailstead Guide is the planning system he wished he had as a young dad.
Is Trailstead Guide affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America?
- No. Trailstead Guide is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America or Scouting America. The methodology — structured plans, age-appropriate progression, repeatable routines — draws on William’s scouting background, but BSA is not a partner.
Where do the recommendations come from?
- A blend of personal experience camping with our own families, careful reading of camping subreddits and first-trip post-mortems, and outdoor industry standards from organizations like Leave No Trace. Plans are templates we’ve actually run, not theoretical advice.
Are gear links affiliate links?
- Yes, transparently. Some gear links are Amazon Associate links that pay Trailstead a small commission if you buy through them. Your price is identical either way, and we only recommend gear we’ve used with our own families.
How is this different from other camping sites?
- Most camping sites are blog posts you have to assemble yourself. Trailstead Guide hands you a complete trip — timeline, gear, meals, kid activities, safety — built around four pacing archetypes for first-time families. Read less, plan once, sleep outside.
Can I work with William or get in touch?
- Yes — the easiest way is Instagram (@wtblacklock) or the contact page. For partnerships, guide writing, or feedback on the planner, the contact form goes straight to the inbox.