We've seen bears multiple times in Shenandoah, near our campsite and using trails, but the park's campsites have bear boxes. If I didn't have one I'd put it in the car.

Put the cooler in the car. You'll be fine. Also, if you're car camping, it probably means you're in a pretty populated area, so your chance of seeing a bear is pretty minimal. There's always a chance, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Anonymous wrote:^ I give up

^ I give up

try again

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going car camping in Maryland this weekend. I'm from the west coast so I don't know a ton about bear protocol around here.

I normally do back country camping and use a bear canister or, if I'm in an area not known for aggressive bears, hang the food. But since this is car camping with a group, we'll have a large cooler that would be a huge PITA to hang.

My initial thought was to just leave the cooler on the edge of the campsite so that if a bear does come by, it doesn't destroy my car.

The campground website advises leaving the food in the car trunk so its less likely to be detected. Maybe that makes sense around here, but would be a complete disaster in say, Yosemite.

Anybody have thoughts on the correct approach? Or is the likelihood of anything happening near zero to begin with?

This, bolded. You should be much more concerned with the possibility of lightning strike.

Seriously... Now these are cute!

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I've camped in western MD, eastern MD, northern VA and western VA and have never heard of advice to store food items a certain way to keep bears away. We also just made sure not to put anything in our tent. Usually went in the car overnight or just left it out. Bigger concern for us were skunks! Had to make sure to take your trash away at night.

I go car camping very often, and I have never had a problem with bears in this area. We usually put the cooler in the car, but sometimes we just leave it outside. The only thing we ever had happen was that a squirrel ate through our cardboard container of mixed nuts.

Anonymous wrote:Going car camping in Maryland this weekend. I'm from the west coast so I don't know a ton about bear protocol around here.

I normally do back country camping and use a bear canister or, if I'm in an area not known for aggressive bears, hang the food. But since this is car camping with a group, we'll have a large cooler that would be a huge PITA to hang.

My initial thought was to just leave the cooler on the edge of the campsite so that if a bear does come by, it doesn't destroy my car.

The campground website advises leaving the food in the car trunk so its less likely to be detected. Maybe that makes sense around here, but would be a complete disaster in say, Yosemite.

Anybody have thoughts on the correct approach? Or is the likelihood of anything happening near zero to begin with?

This, bolded. You should be much more concerned with the possibility of lightning strike.

OK, leaning towards leaving it in the trunk.

I do know the difference between brown and black bears, though, and I am quite certain black bears that are acclimated to food can do serious damage.

They don't have grizzlies (brown bears) in Yosemite.
Black bears destroy cars in Yosemite, they'll peel the metal frame of your door like a sardine can. They know what coolers look like. That's why they have metal bear boxes at the campsites.
That said, as former California backpacker, if you are car camping out here, just put your cooler in your car. For some reason the bears here are not generally as aggressive. Cover it with a tarp if you are worried.

Black bears =/= brown bears.

Leaving the food in the trunk will be fine. It's also fine to hang it. Black bears can't destroy a car the way a Grizzly can.

Bring a gun and shoot it so you have more food to eat.

Frequent MD car camper here...we put the coolers and food bins into the car or slide them under the picnic table bench.

Going car camping in Maryland this weekend. I'm from the west coast so I don't know a ton about bear protocol around here.

I normally do back country camping and use a bear canister or, if I'm in an area not known for aggressive bears, hang the food. But since this is car camping with a group, we'll have a large cooler that would be a huge PITA to hang.

My initial thought was to just leave the cooler on the edge of the campsite so that if a bear does come by, it doesn't destroy my car.

The campground website advises leaving the food in the car trunk so its less likely to be detected. Maybe that makes sense around here, but would be a complete disaster in say, Yosemite.

Anybody have thoughts on the correct approach? Or is the likelihood of anything happening near zero to begin with?