Nothing will ruin your camping trip like coming into contact with poisonous plants will. As a general rule, you shouldn’t be touching any plants you see in the wilderness. Not only does touching them increase the risk of you getting poison ivy or something similar, it could disrupt the natural habitat out there that animals rely on for food and survival.

You should try to hike in locations that have well kept trails and be careful where you setup your tent- even a rooftop tent can end up in the wrong area. These are locations that won’t have lots of plants and trees bunched up. When that occurs, you have to virtually touch them every step of the way if you want to get through them. Try to find paths that allow you to freely walk through all of it with ease and to avoid touching the flora around that location.

Many of the plants that are poisonous out there are similar to bushes and shrubs. You also want to avoid those that have flowers of four on them as they tend to be the most dangerous. If you aren’t absolutely sure what a plant is, don’t touch it. You can always photograph it and then look up information about it later.

Even with your best attempts, there could be times when you do come into contact with poisonous plants during your camping trips. With that in mind, you need to make sure you have a well stocked first aid kit. You should have cortisone cream and some form of antihistamine on hand just in case.