Dollar Tree Camping Hacks: 50+ Clever Uses for Common Dollar Store Finds

Updated March 2026 by Stacy Bressler

Camping doesn’t have to be expensive – especially when you know what to actually DO with what you find at Dollar Tree. Anyone can make a shopping list. This article is about the hacks: the clever, sometimes surprising ways that $1.25 items solve real camping problems.

I’ve been stopping at Dollar Tree before camping trips for years, and I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) which finds are genuinely useful and which ones just look good in theory. Everything here is something I or a fellow camper has actually used at a real campsite.

🏕️ Dollar Tree Campsite Setup Hacks

These are the hacks that make your actual campsite easier to set up, safer to move around at night, and less likely to fall apart in the wind. Several of these come straight from real campers in Facebook groups who swear by them.

Pool Noodles as Tent Line Markers

Tent guy lines are basically invisible trip hazards at night – and almost every camper has taken a spectacular faceplant over one at some point. Slice a pool noodle into sections and slide them over your tent stakes and lines. They’re bright, visible, and cost about $1.25 for enough to cover your whole tent.

Shower Curtain Liner as a Tent Footprint

A proper tent footprint can cost $40-60. A Dollar Tree shower curtain liner does basically the same job – lay it under your tent to add a moisture barrier between the ground and your tent floor. It’s not as heavy-duty, but for occasional camping it works great and costs $1.25.

Tablecloth Clips to Keep Your Picnic Table Cover in Place

Dollar Tree sells these as tablecloth clips, and that’s exactly what they’re perfect for – keeping your picnic table cover from flying off every time a breeze comes through. But they have tons of other applications too: clipping a tarp, hanging a wet towel on a clothesline, or keeping a trash bag open on the side of your cooler. Grab a few packs.

Doormat Outside Your Tent or Camper

Put a Dollar Tree doormat just outside your tent or camper door and it’ll catch an impressive amount of dirt and sand before it gets tracked inside. Pair it with a shallow dish pan filled with an inch of water just outside the door – everyone steps in to rinse off their feet before coming in.

Over Door Organizers Hung from the Canopy

If you use a sun canopy and want to increase its usefulness, attach one of these hanging organizers with some velcro! It’s great for keeping track of small items as well as things you’ll be using often and so want easy access to.

Clothespins and a Length of Rope as a Camp Clothesline

Grab a pack of clothespins and a basic rope or clothesline cord from Dollar Tree, tie it between two trees, and you have a drying line for wet towels, swimsuits, and everything that always seems to be wet at camp. The clips also double as chip clips, bag closers, and anything else that needs clamping.

Sanitation Station from a Shower Caddy

A Dollar Tree plastic shower caddy clipped or tied to your cooler handle becomes an instant camp sanitation station – hand sanitizer, wet wipes, sunscreen, bug spray, all in one easy-to-reach spot. Keeps everything off the table and stops the “where’s the bug spray?” scramble every time someone sits down to eat.

Foil Pans as Wind Guards for Your Camp Stove

Set up two or three aluminum baking pans from Dollar Tree on either side and behind your camp stove to create a mini wind wall. This is especially helpful for Blackstone griddles where wind drops the temperature constantly and makes cooking take forever. Total cost: about $2.50 worth of pans.

🍽️ Dollar Tree Camping Kitchen Hacks

Camp cooking has more moving parts than people expect – keeping bugs off food, dealing with no running water, storing things without a full pantry. These Dollar Tree hacks solve the practical problems that come up every single trip.

Cake Carrier as a Bug-Free Plate Holder

One of the most underrated Dollar Tree camping hacks: a cake carrier or pie container keeps paper plates from blowing away AND keeps flies off your food between servings. Set it on the picnic table and it holds a whole stack of plates with a lid that actually closes. Way more useful than a food tent for everyday meals.

Food Tent to Keep Bugs Off Cooked Meals

Dollar Tree carries mesh food tents that fit over a couple of plates at once – perfect for when you’ve just pulled something off the fire and need to cover it while you get the rest of the food ready. Flies cannot resist fresh camp food, so this is a must-have if you’re camping in summer.

Condiment Squeeze Bottles for Pre-Mixed Ingredients

Mix up your pancake batter, salad dressing, marinade, or cooking oil at home before you leave, pour it into Dollar Tree condiment squeeze bottles, and label them with a marker. No measuring cups needed at camp, no open bags to spill, and the bottles are easy to clean and reuse all season.

Pill Organizer or Small Container Pack as a Mini Spice Kit

A 7-day pill organizer or set of small containers from Dollar Tree is exactly the right size to hold a week’s worth of spices – salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, and one wild card spice. Each compartment holds enough for several meals. Label the lids with a marker and you have a complete camp spice kit that fits in your palm.

Car Sunshade Reflector Repurposed to Insulate Your Cooler!

Keep your cooler items cold for long by getting a car windshield shade and cutting it to fit around your cooler! While it may not be a big concern for a short trip, if you’re staying out longer than a weekend you don’t want your milk and meat to spoil!

Foil Pans for Campfire Cooking and Easy Cleanup

Dollar Tree aluminum baking pans are workhorses at camp – use them directly over a campfire grate for foil packet meals, as serving trays, as a makeshift lid for a pot, or to catch drips under the camp stove. When you’re done, they either clean easily or you just toss them. A multi-pack for $1.25 is one of the best deals at Dollar Tree for campers.

Chip Clips for Every Open Bag

Camp kitchens go through chip clips like crazy – you need them on everything from bread to marshmallows to coffee bags. Dollar Tree sells multi-packs for $1.25, so grab two packs and don’t look back. They also work on trash bags, tarp edges, and keeping your tablecloth clipped down.

Love camp cooking ideas? Check out these cheap camping meals that are actually delicious!

🔦 Dollar Tree Camping Lighting and Safety Hacks

Relying on your phone flashlight is a great way to kill your battery by 9pm. These Dollar Tree lighting hacks keep your campsite visible, safe, and fun after dark for almost nothing.

Glow Sticks on Kids (and Dogs!) at Night

Clip a glow stick to your kid’s belt loop and their dog’s collar at sundown and you can spot them instantly from 50 feet away across a dark campground. Dollar Tree glow sticks come in multi-packs and are genuinely one of the best $1.25 camping investments for families. The kids think it’s a fun accessory – you know it’s a safety tool. Win-win.

LED Push Lights Inside the Tent

Battery-operated LED push lights or tap lights from Dollar Tree are perfect inside a tent – stick one to the tent pole near the door so everyone can tap it on when they stumble in at night without fumbling for a flashlight. Also great on the picnic table for ambient lighting without burning through candles.

Reflective Tape on Tent Stakes and Trip Hazards

Wrap a small piece of Dollar Tree reflective tape around your tent stakes and any low ropes or obstacles around your site. When headlamps or flashlights hit them, they light up instantly. Much better than discovering a stake with your toe at 2am.

Backup Flashlights and Headlamps

Dollar Tree flashlights and headlamps aren’t meant to replace your good gear – but as backups stashed in your camp kit, they’re perfect. Keep one in the bathroom bag, one in the kids’ sleeping area, and one in the car. When batteries die or someone leaves their headlamp at home, you’re covered for $1.25.

String Lights to Help Light Up Your Tent and Campsite

Depending on when you camp, it gets dark pretty early, so you may want some string lights! They have traditional and cute designs (check this dog themed set!) and are perfect for reading in your tent or finding your way around camp at night.

🧼 Dollar Tree Camping Cleaning and Hygiene Hacks

Staying clean at camp takes a little creativity – especially without running water. These Dollar Tree hacks make dish duty easier, keep everyone feeling human, and save you from bringing full-size bottles of everything.

The 3-Bin Dish System

This is one of the most-shared camping hacks in every Facebook group I’m in, and Dollar Tree makes it cheap enough to actually do: grab three plastic bins – one for soapy wash water, one for a rinse, one for a sanitizing rinse (a capful of bleach in water). Set them up on the picnic table and you have a proper camp dish station that works without a sink. Amy S. uses exactly this setup and swears by it.

Microfiber Towels for Everything

Dollar Tree microfiber towels are one of the best camping finds period. They dry fast, pack small, and can be used for dishes, drying off after swimming, wiping down surfaces, or padding fragile items in your bin. Grab a whole pack – you’ll find uses for all of them.

Travel-Size Toiletries On a Carabiner!

Dollar Tree stocks travel-size liquid containers of various sizes, as well as a few simple shower things. To make carrying your shower things easier, try putting it all onto a carabiner! That way it’s easy to hang anywhere and still small enough to pack. Angela G. shared that she drilled a hole in her razor handle too so that it was able to hang with her soaps!

Wet Wipes as Your Secret Weapon

If there is one single Dollar Tree item every camper should have regardless of anything else on this list, it’s wet wipes. Sticky hands before dinner, muddy kids after a hike, sandy feet, dirty faces – wet wipes handle all of it instantly. Buy two packs minimum. You will use all of them.

Mesh Laundry Bags for Wet Gear and Beach Toys

Toss wet swimsuits and towels in a mesh laundry bag so they can air out without soaking everything else in your bin. If you’re camping near a beach or lake, put sandy toys in the bag and shake it vigorously as you walk back – most of the sand falls through the mesh before it ever gets near your car.

🧰 Dollar Tree Camping Organization Hacks

If you’re an organization person (and I very much am!), Dollar Tree is genuinely heaven. The bin selection alone is worth a dedicated visit before every camping season. Here are the most useful Dollar Tree organization hacks for camp.

Plastic Pouches for Small Gear Organization

The plastic zip pouches in the school supplies section are perfect for organizing small camp items – batteries, matches, fire starters, headlamp, first aid supplies, kid activities. Alysse R. uses them to keep every category of small item separated in her camp bin, and the system works brilliantly because you can see what’s in each pouch at a glance.

Pill Organizer for Meds, Coins, and More

Beyond the spice kit hack mentioned above, a 7-day pill organizer is one of the most versatile Dollar Tree finds for camping. Use it to store small batteries, laundromat quarters, fishing flies, earrings – anything tiny that normally gets lost in a bag. Keep one dedicated to your camp first aid kit stocked with Advil, Tylenol, Benadryl, and Melatonin so you never have to dig through full bottles at camp.

Glasses Cases for Cords and Small Electronics

Hard plastic glasses cases from Dollar Tree are perfect for protecting small, easily-lost items in your camp bag – charging cords, a pocket knife, a lighter, fishing lures. They’re rigid enough to survive getting thrown around in a bin and they actually close securely unlike a zip pouch.

Duct Tape, Zip Ties, and Bungee Cords – Always

I say this every time: bring duct tape and zip ties on every camping trip, always. Dollar Tree sells both. Duct tape fixes tent tears, patches holes in tarps, and can temporarily repair broken gear straps. Zip ties secure loose items to your pack, hold a tarp corner, and fix a broken zipper pull in a pinch. Bungee cords hang your drying line, strap gear to a roof rack, and keep bins closed. All three together cost about $4 at Dollar Tree.

Want more organization ideas? This RV organization article is full of ideas that work just as well for tent campers too!

🧒 Dollar Tree Camping Hacks for Kids

I stop at Dollar Tree before almost every camping season to restock the kids’ camp activity supply – it’s the best possible way to keep them entertained without spending a fortune on things that will get lost, broken, or left at the campsite. Here’s what actually gets used.

Build a Dollar Tree Camp Activity Bucket

Grab a Dollar Tree bin and fill it with a few small activity finds – a coloring book, crayons, a card game, a jump rope, bubbles, sidewalk chalk – and keep it as a dedicated camp activity bucket that stays packed between trips. When kids say they’re bored, you point at the bucket. Total cost to fill it: about $10, and it lasts for years.

See the full kids camping activity basket I built from Dollar Tree finds here!

Glow Sticks for Nighttime Games

Beyond the safety use mentioned earlier, glow sticks are genuinely one of the most fun things you can bring camping with kids. Glow stick catch, glow ring toss, putting them in a shallow creek to watch them glow in the water – kids will entertain themselves with these for hours after dark. At $1.25 for a multi-pack, you can afford to let them go wild with them.

Fairy Lights for Tent Ambiance

Battery-operated fairy lights or glow wands strung inside the tent make bedtime way less scary for younger kids who aren’t totally comfortable in the dark yet. Dollar Tree usually has them in the seasonal section – grab them in summer when the selection is good and stash them in your camp kit.

Card Games and Mini Puzzles for Rainy Days

Rainy day at camp with restless kids is rough unless you’re prepared. Dollar Tree card games (Go Fish, Uno-style games, Old Maid) and mini puzzles pack flat, don’t need batteries, and are cheap enough that you don’t stress if they get rained on or lost. Keep a small stash in a zip pouch in your camp bin permanently.

More ideas for keeping kids busy at camp: 21 camping activities for toddlers and 37 camping games for kids!

🚐 Dollar Tree RV Camping Hacks

RV campers have some unique challenges that tent campers don’t – moisture control, small cabinet spaces, screen doors, keeping things from sliding during travel. These Dollar Tree hacks are specifically useful if you’re camping in a camper or RV.

Diapers + Damp Rid for Moisture Control in Closets and Cabinets

Dollar Tree sells diapers and Damp Rid, which is perfect to put into RV closets, under sinks, and anywhere moisture tends to build up. They absorb a surprising amount of humidity, and are something people often overlook to save money (or they think it won’t affect them!)

Related: Check out these RV Mattress Moisture Control hacks for more info on this topic!

Pool Noodles on RV Awnings

The awning arms of RVs have claimed ALOT of victims – avoid becoming one by putting a pool noodle on it! Slit a pool noodle lengthwise and clip it over the awning arm – instant soft bumper that stays in place and is easy to see! Dollar Tree pool noodles are perfect for this and cost a fraction of purpose-made edge guards.

Fabric Organizers for Closet Tidyness

Dollar Tree collapsible and hanging fabric organizers are the right size to sit in the awkwardly sized RV closets to hold your, underwear, socks and anything else you’d normally fold and stack (where it immediately falls over). They’re flexible enough to fit odd-shaped spaces and cost almost nothing.

Dollar Tree Bins for Every Cabinet and Drawer

The single biggest organizational upgrade you can make to an RV kitchen is putting bins inside every cabinet so things don’t slide around when you’re moving. Dollar Tree’s bin selection is genuinely excellent – every color, size, and shape – and buying them here instead of a container store saves you $5-15 per bin. Fill your whole RV for under $30.

Cute Doormat for the Camper Entrance

Dollar Tree has surprisingly cute entry mats – camping themes, fun colors, seasonal designs – and they hold up fine for a camping season. Swap them out each year for $1.25 instead of stressing about keeping an expensive mat clean. Pair with the dish pan foot rinse station mentioned earlier for a complete mudroom setup.

Mini Tension Rods to Secure the RV Refrigerator During Travel

Another cheap buy that will save you TONS of time should the worst happen – simply mount these in front of your items in your RV’s fridge, and arrive at the campsite with no clean up to do!

RV camper? You’ll love this full list of RV hacks with real photos – way more RV-specific ideas in there!

🐜 Dollar Tree Bug and Sun Protection Hacks

Bug protection and sun protection are two things you absolutely cannot skip at camp – and both categories are well-covered at Dollar Tree for a fraction of what you’d pay elsewhere.

Citronella Candles Around the Campsite

Dollar Tree citronella candles don’t have the power of a big expensive patio candle, but set up a few of them around the perimeter of your seating area and they do make a genuine dent in the mosquito situation. At $1.25 each you can afford to use four or five at once – which is where they actually start to work.

Bug Spray and Fly Swatters as Backup Supplies

Keep Dollar Tree bug spray and fly swatters in your camp kit as backup supplies – not your primary protection, but handy when your good bug spray gets left in the car or runs out mid-trip. The fly swatter in particular is something people never think to bring but use constantly once they have one at camp.

Kids’ Sunglasses and Sun Hats – Buy Here, Not Elsewhere

I learned this lesson quickly: do not spend real money on kids’ sunglasses for camping. They will be lost, sat on, or left behind within the first two days. Dollar Tree sells seasonal sunglasses and sun hats for $1.25 – buy a couple pairs per kid, accept that they’ll disappear, and don’t stress about it.

Travel-Size Sunscreen and Aloe for the Day Pack

Keep a Dollar Tree travel-size sunscreen in your day pack or the campsite caddy so it’s always within arm’s reach when someone needs a reapplication. Same with aloe gel – if someone gets a sunburn or touches a campfire edge, having aloe immediately available makes a real difference. Both are available at Dollar Tree in the travel toiletries section.

🖨️ Free Printable Dollar Tree Camping Shopping List

If you’re like me and you walk into Dollar Tree with the best intentions and walk out with candles and picture frames instead of what you came for – this free printable shopping list is for you! Click the image below to download and print before your next trip.

---

More Camping Ideas and Tips

• 61 RV Hacks That Make Camper Life Way Easier (With Real Photos!)
• 61 RV Organization Ideas – Kitchen, Bathroom, Storage + Real Camper Photos
• 37 Best Camping Games for Kids
• 47 Tent Camping Setup Ideas (With Pics!)
• The Ultimate RV Camping Checklists (9 Free Printable PDFs!)