It can be very relaxing for your body and mind. But, let’s face it, being isolated out in the wilderness can be extremely dangerous. Since you’re often miles from the closest hospital or completely without cellphone service, you do put your life at risk. On top of safety issues, you have to deal with exposure to the elements, deadly wild animals, and, perhaps worst of all, other humans with less than noble intentions. So, with that said, pack up your gear, here are 25 camping horror stories that’ll make you appreciate hotels, and maybe even encourage you to rethink your plans for your next family vacation to the great outdoors. Things only got more suspicious when the sun went down. The sound of something big moving around their campsite became undeniable. Footsteps, low growls, and other strange noises were heard all throughout the night, and in the morning the two found huge feline-like footprints nearly 8 inches across, all around their tent and campfire ring. Once they returned home, a quick call to a park ranger confirmed their fears; they were being stalked by a fully grown mountain lion for their entire camping trip. The bear left him alone after he managed to scare it off by shouting. However, only a few minutes had passed before he turned around in surprise to find the same bear, now merely inches away, back into the camp behind him. What followed was an intense staredown between a man and beast that probably felt like forever, despite only lasting about 20 seconds. Luckily, the bear decided to leave the man be and ran off back into the surrounding woods. He still wasn’t gone for good, though. The man had to routinely wake up every half hour or so to scare the animal away from his campsite for the rest of the night. It didn’t take long. Not 100 meters from where the campers were sleeping, they found a massive boulder the size of five school buses which had broken off at the top of the cliff and slid down the mountainside, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. If it had broken off just a little bit closer, there would have been nothing the campers could have done to avoid being crushed by the enormous stone. Luckily, the campers remembered to hang their food a couple of feet off the ground, and they eventually managed to scare off the pack by firing a pistol into the air through the tent. Even for the most veteran of campers, running into a pack of wolves must be one of the most terrifying situations you could find yourself in. With the loud crack of a distant gunshot a second later, the hikers, realizing that they had been shot at, got off the trail, fast. Later that day, a park ranger informed them that they had caught an old guy hunting illegally in the woods where they were hiking. Here’s a warning to all the hunters out there: Always make sure you are 100% certain you know what you’re shooting at before you take a shot. Since this was a cold winter night, the guide knew that whatever had to be on the other side of the canvas had to be an animal of some kind; and, it was big. Without thinking, the guide moved, causing it to jump up and run off, away from the tent. A quick peek outside confirmed their suspicions. They must have been in a state of shock for the rest of the night after realizing that they had just been cuddling a fully grown male lion. This road was barely a mile from one of the most popular outdoor recreation spots in the entire region. It was only the next morning that some unfortunate hikers, camping in the area, stumbled across the corpse and reported it to the local authorities. Their romantic getaway became a nightmare as they dealt with pouring rain, horribly hot and humid weather, and an endless swarm of mosquitoes. Why anybody thought to vacation in Florida in the summer was a good idea is beyond me, but it’s probably safe to guess that those unlucky campers won’t be coming back anytime soon. When other campers woke and come to her aid by shouting and making a ruckus, the large animal decided a little food wasn’t worth it and fled back into the woods, not to be seen again. The group spent the next several hours digging it out, but as they were driving down the bumpy dirt road away from the campsite, the driver lost control of the van and all their possessions were thrown out of the vehicle through the back door, landing right in the muck. I wouldn’t blame any of them for not wanting to go camping ever again after that fiasco. Many skunks showed up and clawed at the tent to get at the crumbs. The ensuing freak out caused the surfeit of skunks to start spraying. The next few hours were filled with screaming, crying, and vomiting while the group packed their stuff to leave as fast as possible. The smell was so bad that nobody in the campground could get to sleep that night. Suddenly, as they were grabbing some wood out of the truck bed, a man and two young boys stepped out of the forest wearing dirty, tattered clothing and looking like they would fit right in on a “Deliverance” movie set. They had a brief conversation before the couple understandably creeped out, hurried back to their campsite with the firewood. They never saw or heard from the three strangers again. They cautiously went back to sleep, but it was only a couple hours later that they were once again disturbed, this time by an ear piercing screech right outside their tents, not unlike a human woman’s scream. The campers were shaken, but the rest of the night passed uninterrupted. Nothing more ever came of the thrown rocks or the terrifying scream. While both of those things would have been terrifying on their own, what he saw instead, when he went to the window, was something else. It walked upright like a human but appeared to be much, much larger. The next morning, when the trapper went outside, all the tracks had been covered up by the previous night’s snow. He never did find out what it was. Thoroughly spooked, the campers decided that was enough and retreated to their tents to ponder what they had just witnessed. If things weren’t weird enough already when the campers awoke in the morning, the first thing that greeted them was a good number of dead toads scattered around their tents and campsite. They stared at each other frozen for a good minute before the man, realizing the light had probably startled it, turned out his lamp. Shortly after, he heard the sound of the confused sheep continuing on its way, and in the morning he discovered hoof prints on the ground all around his tent and car. It would seem he had unknowingly set up camp right in the path of a grazing herd of sheep. This is why a couple of campers deep in the mountains of Georgia were so terrified when they woke to a number of wild boar sniffing around their campfire in search of some leftover food scraps. Luckily, the campers knew to stay quiet and not to scare the animals. Not before long, the dangerous hogs were on there way and the campers could relax once again. By morning they were all gone, however the next night the rats were back with a vengeance. After that, the camper decided he’d had enough and moved on to the next campsite. After waking at around midnight to an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, he decided it would be best to walk to the nearby outhouse and relieve himself to get it over with. When he arrived at the outhouse, however, he discovered somebody else had made it there first. A gaze of raccoons had moved in for the night and they seemed to have no interest in letting him get past. Feeling bloated and disheartened, the camper made his way back to his tent and, luckily, managed to hold it in until morning when he was finally able to do his business in peace. Finally, the curiosity became too much and the scientist closely inspected the lights next time he noticed them. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for his flashlight beam to land on some more of the glittery lights, and he stepped closer to find out what was causing it. Pulling back a leaf to get a better look, the scientist found himself face to face with the largest spider he’d ever encountered in his life. As it turns out, all of the small, shimmery lights had just been the light of his flashlight reflecting back at him in the eyes of millions of spiders. Without looking or thinking he sprinted through the underbrush as fast as he could, with the 700-pound moose hot on his heels. When he tripped over a log, he thought he was a goner, but he managed to roll into some bushes at the last second and stay completely silent until the moose finally gave up the chase and went on with his business. That night, after everybody had gone to bed, some of the friends decided to play a prank on the others by moving the face in front of the other tent. However, when they woke in the morning, the log had mysteriously been moved in front of their own tent, instead. Initially, they thought the other campers had caught on and reversed their prank back on them. But, when asked, the other campers seemed confused and claimed they never touched the log at all. Creeped out, the group quickly packed up and headed on, leaving behind the strange campsite and the wooden face of Steve where they had found them. You love being freaked out by scary stories. Who doesn’t? You have to check out 25 Horrible Demonic Possessions That Could Be True.
