How to Use Essential Oils Outdoors: A Practical Guide for Camping, Hiking and Picnics
The outdoors can be wonderful, but it also brings a few small challenges. A hiking pack can pick up stale smells. A tent can hold onto campfire smoke. A picnic spot can use a little something to make it feel like yours.
That is where essential oils can earn their place.
With the right essential oils packed ahead of time, you can freshen gear and scent your space, and set up an outdoor spot that smells the way you like.
This guide covers which essential oils to pack, how to use them, and a few outdoor-specific tips to know before you go.
For patios, gardens, and balconies, explore these practical tips for scenting your outdoor space with essential oils.
Table of Contents
What to Pack: The Outdoor Essential Oil Kit
Not every oil belongs in a hiking pack or picnic basket. The ones that earn their place outdoors tend to be versatile, robust in scent, and useful for more than one purpose.
Pack these five into your outdoor essential oil kit:
- Lemongrass: Bright, grassy, and lemony, lemongrass essential oil works well diffused at a campsite or picnic table and blends easily with sweet orange or peppermint for a livelier daytime scent. A small amount goes a long way.
- Peppermint: Sharp, cool, and minty, peppermint is one of the most useful single oils to have outdoors. Its crisp scent freshens a stuffy tent, a warm car, or a crowded picnic blanket right away. Its strong scent means a light hand is better in small or shared spaces.
- Lemon: Lemon is the best single oil for freshening gear, bags, and outdoor spaces that have picked up musty or smoky smells. Its bright, clean scent cuts through stale air quickly and pairs naturally with peppermint or tea tree for a sharper freshening spray.
- Tea Tree: Tea tree is the sharpest, most assertively clean oil in the outdoor kit. Its sharp, camphorous crispness suits freshening gear that has been stored, rained on, or carried through warm conditions. A few drops in a gear spray are usually enough.
- Lavender: Lavender is the most versatile oil in this lineup. Its soft, familiar floral scent works in a linen spray for the outside of sleeping bags and tent fabrics, in a simple diffuser blend for a campsite, or on its own as a gentle background scent for a picnic blanket.
One practical note: Lemon is phototoxic, so keep it in sprays for gear and the surrounding area rather than applying it to skin before spending time in direct sun.
Five oils, each with a clear purpose. Decant into small dark glass bottles before you head outdoors. Full-size bottles are too heavy and too fragile for most outdoor kits.
How to Use Essential Oils in Nature
Freshen Gear, Tents, and Bags
Camping and hiking gear picks up smells quickly from campfire smoke, damp fabric, and the general accumulation of outdoor days. A simple essential oil spray deals with this effectively and leaves things smelling genuinely clean, not just masked.
Lemon, tea tree, and peppermint are the most effective essential oils for this purpose. Their sharp, clean scents cut through stale odors quickly.
Lemon and sweet orange are particularly good for sleeping bags and soft fabric items where you want something fresh without being sharp.
Tea tree suits harder surfaces and equipment where you want the most assertive freshening effect.
Mist lightly over the outside of bags, tent fabrics, and sleeping bag exteriors and let the air dry before packing away.
Avoid spraying directly inside tents on sleeping surfaces or near food storage. Scale down this linen spray recipe for a smaller bottle to carry outdoors.
A Roll-On for the Trail
A ready-made roll-on with an essential oil diluted in carrier oil is the easiest thing to bring for use on the skin when you’re outdoors.
This pre-diluted peppermint roll-on from Plant Therapy is ready to use straight from the bottle. Open it, swipe it on, and go. You don’t need to spend time measuring or mixing. Follow the directions on the label.
The same goes for any other scent you want to carry on the trail. Plant Therapy’s range of pre-diluted roll-ons covers a wide variety of scents, and they all work the same way.
To make your own instead, read how to make an essential oil roller bottle, where I cover the best carrier oils, proper dilution ratios, and simple blends. Make your customized essential oil roll-on at home before you leave.
Scenting Your Campsite or Picnic Space
A small battery-powered or rechargeable diffuser on a campsite table or picnic blanket adds a pleasant ambient scent to an outdoor space the same way a candle would, but without the open flame.
Lavender and sweet orange work well for this kind of gentle background use. Lemongrass combined with sweet orange or mint suits livelier daytime settings.
Keep the amount light. When using essential oils outdoors, aim for a subtle note in the air, not a room-filling diffusion.
Cotton balls with a drop or two of your chosen oil placed near the seating area are a simpler, no-device alternative. They don’t carry as far but are enough to add a light scent to the immediate space around a picnic blanket or small campsite.
Want more inspiration for scenting your backyard? You’ll find some easy and practical ideas in this post.
Practical Considerations When Using Essential Oils Outdoors
Using essential oils in nature raises a few practical considerations that don’t come up at home. These are worth thinking through before you pack.
Pack Small for Portability
Full-size bottles are heavier, more fragile, and less practical outdoors.
Transferring only what you need into travel-size dark glass bottles before you leave makes the kit easier to carry and more convenient to use.
A 5ml or 10ml bottle of each oil is more than enough for a weekend trip. Small dark glass bottles work best for the oils themselves, and a fine-mist spray bottle is the most practical format for a gear spray.
For skin, skip transferring oils into rollerball bottles and pack a ready-made, pre-diluted roll-on instead.
Pre-Make Blends at Home for Convenience
Measuring drops in the field is not very practical.
It is more convenient to make your gear spray at home and label it clearly before packing it, so it’s ready to use when you need it. Adding a label avoids wrongful use.
For skin, pack a ready-made, pre-diluted roll-on, or make your own at home using the ratios in the roller bottle guide. That way, you can reach into your kit and use everything right away instead of counting drops or blending oils after a trek.
Know When to Avoid Phototoxic Essential Oils
Citrus essential oils such as lemon, lime, bergamot, and grapefruit are phototoxic, meaning they can make the skin more sensitive to sunlight.
For outdoor use, limit the use of phototoxic oils, particularly citrus oils, to gear sprays or room sprays rather than applying them to skin.
Read more about citrus oils and phototoxicity to understand what precautions you need to take. This is especially important on days when you’re hiking or camping and are likely to be in direct sun for hours at a time.
Spray Upwind to Prevent the Scent Getting Carried Away
The same amount of oil that seems strong indoors may be barely noticeable outdoors if there is any breeze.
Spraying upwind of where you’re sitting can help the scent move toward you instead of drifting away.
For a campsite spray, misting around the perimeter usually works better than spraying one central spot, since the air is always moving.
Protect Essential Oils from heat
A bag left in a sunny car or on sun-warmed ground is a hostile environment for essential oils. Heat degrades these volatile oils faster than you might expect, and a bottle left in direct sunlight can noticeably lose its scent quality within a single day.
Keep essential oils in a small insulated pouch or tucked inside the main body of a bag away from direct heat.
Dark glass bottles offer some protection, but it’s not enough to protect against extended heat exposure.
Essential Oil Etiquette in Natural Spaces
When you’re outdoors, you are sharing the space with other people, wildlife, and ecosystems that have their own balance. A few simple habits make essential oil use in nature more considerate.
Use Less Than You Would at Home
The outdoor rule with essential oils is always to use less.
In an enclosed room, you’re managing scent in a contained space. In nature, you’re introducing a concentrated aromatic compound into an environment that isn’t designed for it.
As a rule, when using essential oils outdoors, use a light hand – enough to enjoy, not so that it intrudes on the space or the people and wildlife around you.
Keep Essential Oils Away from Water Sources
Never pour essential oils, rinse spray bottles, or dispose of oil-soaked materials near streams, rivers, lakes, or rock pools.
Essential oils are highly concentrated and can affect aquatic environments. In general, dispose of anything oil-soaked at home rather than in the field.
Be Considerate of Fellow Campers and Hikers
Campsites and popular trails are shared spaces. A scent you love may be unwelcome to someone camping nearby or passing on the trail.
Keep diffusion close to your own space and avoid strong oils in high-traffic areas.
Milder scents such as lavender and light citrus are easier to share a space with than sharp, assertive ones such as eucalyptus or tea tree.
Avoid Strong Scents in Wildlife Areas
In areas with diverse wildlife, strong unfamiliar scents can be disruptive. This is even more important in remote or protected natural areas than on well-managed campsites.
Be especially careful when spending time in genuinely wild spaces. The lighter your hand with oils, the less impact on the surrounding environment.
Take Back Everything You Brought with You
Don’t leave essential oils and related materials behind. Pack all used cotton pads, empty spray bottles, packaging, and any materials that have been in contact with essential oils as you use them and take them back with you.
Some essential oils can harm animals. Never leave oil-soaked materials where wildlife or pets could reach them. If you camp with a pet, or you are concerned about an animal’s exposure, check with your vet.
This applies everywhere outdoors but particularly in protected natural areas where leave-no-trace principles apply.
What Essential Oils Are Unsuitable For Outdoor Use
Not everything in your collection is suitable for packing in an outdoor kit. A few categories of oils are better left on the shelf.
Expensive, Delicate Essential Oils
Neroli, rose absolute, and jasmine are beautiful indoor oils, but are not suitable for outdoor use.
These delicate oils don’t survive heat well and degrade quickly. They also disperse immediately in open air and are far too costly to use in an outdoor spray.
Keep these essential oils for the diffuser at home where their nuance can actually be appreciated.
Heavy Resinous Oils
Frankincense, patchouli, vetiver, and similar deep base notes feel out of place in a natural outdoor context.
They are also poor choices for open-air diffusion as they don’t carry well and can feel incongruously heavy in a garden or wilderness setting.
Large Bottles
Full-size 10ml and 15ml bottles are practical and cost-effective for home use.
For outdoor use, decant into 5ml dark glass travel bottles and pack a ready-made, pre-diluted roll-on if you want something for skin. Lighter, less likely to break, and you only take what you actually need.
You’ll carry less when leaving home and when returning too.
Frequently Asked Questions
What essential oils are good for camping?
Lemongrass, peppermint, lemon, tea tree, and lavender are some of the most useful oils for camping. They cover common outdoor needs like gear freshening and campsite scenting.
How should I use essential oils around wildlife and natural spaces?
Use them lightly and keep them away from water sources. Keep scents to your own space, avoid spraying near streams, lakes, or wildlife areas, and take anything that has touched essential oils back with you. The key principle is to use enough to enjoy the scent in your immediate space without imposing it on the surrounding environment.
How do I make an outdoor essential oil spray?
Add two ounces of distilled water and a teaspoon of witch hazel to a small glass spray bottle, then add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil. Shake well before each use. This spray is for gear, fabric exteriors, and the air around your space, not for use on skin. Make it at home before you leave rather than measuring drops in the field.
How do I store essential oils when camping or hiking?
Keep oils in a small insulated pouch or inside your bag, away from direct sun and heat. Avoid leaving oils in a hot car or on sun-warmed surfaces. Small 5 ml dark glass bottles are the most practical option for travel. For skin, pack a ready-made, pre-diluted roll-on.
What essential oils should I avoid using outdoors?
Avoid applying phototoxic citrus oils on your skin before heading out in the direct sun. Also avoid taking delicate oils as well as heavy, resinous oils, which are usually less practical outdoors. Keep your outdoor kit focused on the versatile, robust oils that actually earn their place in a bag.
Pack Light and Use Thoughtfully When Using Essential Oils Outdoors
The best outdoor essential oil kit is a small one. Five versatile oils – lemongrass, peppermint, lemon, tea tree, and lavender – cover most situations you’ll encounter in nature, from a summer picnic to a multi-day camping trip.
Decanted into small dark glass bottles, with a gear spray made at home and a pre-diluted roll-on tucked in alongside, they take up almost no space and require almost no thought in the field.
The outdoor considerations, including phototoxicity in direct sun, wind affecting diffusion, heat degrading oil quality, and the etiquette of shared natural spaces, are all easy to manage once you’ve thought them through.
