What this tool is, and who it is for
A backcountry trip budget looks simple until you add the small items: park fees, fuel for the drive, the gas station breakfast, the post-trip laundry. This estimator starts from the categories that drive the total — travel, lodging or fees, food, gear rental, permits and contingency — and lets you set a low, expected and high value for each. The output is a single number for each scenario and a recommendation on how much contingency to set aside. It is calibrated against published budget surveys and against the costs of trips our editors have actually taken in the past year.
Flights, fuel, transit tickets.
Bear canister, down jacket, etc.
Per person per night: $53.
Low and high scenarios applied across categories.
- Food$220
- Travel$180
- Contingency (15%)$69
- Gear rental$50
- Permits & fees$12
- Lodging$0
Step-by-step user guide
How to operate the calculator in your browser, what to enter, and what to do with the result.
- 01
Enter the trip duration in nights and the number of travellers. Per-person costs are computed where they apply.
- 02
Choose a trip profile: frontcountry car camping, hut-to-hut, backcountry backpacking, or international. Each profile has its own default category mix.
- 03
Adjust travel, lodging, food, gear rental, permits and contingency values to match your trip. The defaults are mid-range figures; replace them with your own.
- 04
Read the low, expected and high totals at the bottom of the result card. Plan against the expected figure; reserve the difference between expected and high as your contingency.
- 05
If a category feels unrealistic, run the estimator again with a different trip profile. The defaults are useful as a starting point, not as a ceiling.
What the calculator actually does with the numbers you enter
- 01
Category defaults are drawn from published outdoor recreation expenditure surveys, supplemented by recent trip cost data from our editors and from publicly available permit and transit price schedules.
- 02
Low, expected and high scenarios are produced by applying a per-category spread that reflects observed variation in real-world prices.
- 03
Per-person costs are computed where they scale with group size; flat costs (park entry, transit pass) are not scaled.
- 04
Contingency recommendation is 15 percent for domestic trips under five nights, 25 percent for international or longer trips, drawn from standard trip-budget guidance.
Published sources behind the formulas
- [1]Outdoor recreation expenditure surveyU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · 2025
- [2]Travel price index and accommodation dataEUROSTAT · 2025
- [3]National Park Service fee scheduleU.S. National Park Service · 2026
Frequently asked questions
Short, sourced answers to the questions readers send us most often about this calculator.
Are these numbers current?
The defaults reflect 2026 prices for the most common trip types in our reporting. Prices change — particularly fuel, permits and hut fees. Verify the categories that matter most for your trip against current sources before committing money.
What if my trip is international?
Switch the profile to international and the defaults shift to include visa fees, travel insurance, and a more conservative food and lodging spread. The estimator does not include airfare in its default categories; add it as a separate line.
Should I budget for gear rental?
Yes, unless you already own the kit. Gear rental for a one-off winter or alpine trip is often cheaper than buying; the estimator lets you enter rental costs as a flat figure or zero them out if you own everything.
What about gear depreciation?
The estimator does not depreciate owned gear. For a fair cost comparison, divide the purchase price of the equipment by the number of trips you will use it for over its lifetime and include that figure in the budget. The cost-per-wear calculator on this site is designed for exactly that calculation.