Choosing Safe, Comfortable Campsites

Bleary eyed from a scarcity of shuteye, you shimmy out of your sleeping bag, stick your head out your tent flap, and observe your campsite. It’s not a pretty picture. In fact, it looks like you woke up in the middle of a yard sale. Or the tail end of a party turned bad.

There’s gear spread out everywhere, a tarp blown up against a tree, protein bar wrappers discarded by hungry racoons. And now it’s time to pay the piper for last night’s decision for selecting and setting up a terrible campsite.

It happens. Sometimes it’s due to unpredictable weather, poor planning, inexperience, or just bad decision making. Fortunately, you can take steps to reduce its frequency. This post explains how, but first, let’s look into the importance of even having a quality campsite.

What’s the Big Deal Over Selecting and Setting Up a Quality Campsite?

Campsite selection, setup, and management aren’t always a top priority. It’s something we outdoor adventurers often do “on the fly,” when the need arises. However, the more thought and planning you put into it, the safer and more enjoyable your camping experience will be.

When contemplating the construct of a up quality campsite, you might want to consider the following factors:

• Safety: Providing protection from the weather and its effects, as well as from natural and human elements and neighboring campers ensures you’re not posing a risk to anyone’s safety.
• Comfort: You need to seek a sheltered area with a patch of soft, level ground to sleep on and an area where you can eat your meals in comfort.
• Efficiency: You should have enough room to organize your food and gear for convenience, and you want easy access to water and places to use the toilet and wash your dishes.
• Ecology: You want a campsite that’s conducive to practicing Leave No Trace (LNT) Principles. For example, try to find an established campsite instead of one that requires clearing vegetation.

Including Campsite Selection in Your Trip Planning

The process of choosing and setting up a proper campsite in a quality location should begin well before you embark on your backcountry adventure. During our pre-trip meetings with groups or during training sessions, we always talk about what makes a good campsite and important factors we need to consider before choosing sites.

When planning a trip and thinking about where you will spend the night, take the following factors into consideration:

• How familiar are you with the area (map knowledge or boots-on-the-ground knowledge). Knowing how to properly read maps can give you a leg up when choosing a campsite.
• How many miles a day you will be traveling and where that leaves you on the map and, ultimately, in reality. As explained later in this post, both underestimating and overestimating can get you into trouble.
• The type of weather to expect for the season, locations, and terrains you will be navigating.
• Natural and human factors that may pose a challenge or safety risk, such as trees; animals; water, rock, or snow hazards; human visitors and behaviors.
• Sunrise and sunset times depending on the time of year.

You can choose great campsites before you leave home if you can read a map, determine reasonable daily mileages, and find those flat spots and blue lines (water sources) on the map that look like they will provide comfortable space and a good water source to get you through a six- to12-hour stay,

In the following sections, we cover these factors in greater detail.

Know How You Roll

Whether on foot, bike, or boat, you need to have a good idea of how many miles you plan to travel a day as well as how fast you will travel those miles. This is very important. If you under-estimate your speed, you may end up deciding to push on farther before nightfall. If you overestimate how far you’ll get, you won’t reach the location you planned on, and you’ll have to choose a campsite on the fly.

Check the Weather

Be familiar with weather conditions based on location, season, and terrain. For example, if you’re planning on a trip in the Pisgah National Forest between May and September, you’d better be ready for monsoon-style rains. You want to choose campsites that are outside flood-prone areas and clear of mudslides and treefall.

Do your research, know what weather conditions to expect, and plan for the worst weather in the area.

Consider Potential Safety Hazards

You can’t possibly consider every safety hazard you might encounter at a particular campsite, but be sure to consider the following potential hazards:

• Dead trees and limbs
• Ground that does not drain well or is near drainage areas that could become overwhelmed by high rainfall
• Tides (coastal camping), fluctuation in water levels (dam release, rain)
• Rock fall
• Animals (bears, raccoons, wild horses, grazing livestock)
• Other humans (your proximity to other humans and how that might impact your experience as well as theirs)

Much information can be gathered by chatting with people who have been in the area to which you will be traveling. Park rangers and local outfitters offer great advice and the most current conditions. Internet resources such as websites and social media can also be helpful.

Find Out When the Sun Sets

As a rule, I like to plan on being in camp before dark. This gives me time and daylight to choose the best location for my tent or bivy and decide where I’ll put my kitchen and where and how I’ll store food — especially the smelly bits that are likely to attract unwelcome wildlife guests.

Arriving at your campsite before dusk also gives you time to relax, snack, and unpack in an organized manner.

Knowing What to Look for in a Campsite

Whether you’re choosing a campsite or setting one up, you can benefit from knowing the following eight key characteristics of a campsite:

Look for Level Ground

To get a good night’s sleep (restful and restorative), try to find the most level spot possible. If you can’t find a perfectly level spot, think about how you’d like to sleep to adapt to the uneven spot. You probably want to have your head elevated to avoid waking up with a headache and have your feet slightly elevated to reduce swelling. Know your sleep habits and think about how you can get the best night’s sleep.

Check Your Campsite’s Drainage

Pay attention to drainage. Is the surrounding area sloping down toward your campsite? If it rains overnight, where will the water go? Look around the area for evidence of how water will travel, such as piles of leaves, erosion, or areas where pooling may occur. The last thing you want to do is get out of your warm, cozy sleeping bag in the middle of the night and move your tent because of flooding.

Some people dig moats or channels to prevent pooling beneath the tent. However, I would rather not damage the area, instead finding a spot where water will drain naturally down from the tent.

Make the Most of Sun and Shade

During the colder seasons, pay attention to where the sun rises and orient your tent so that the morning’s sunshine reaches it as early as possible. This will help you warm up in the morning. In the height of summer, look for trees and rock outcroppings that will provide the most shade and shadows.

Check Your Proximity to High Traffic Areas

Especially in established campgrounds, be aware of the location of high-traffic areas, such as bathrooms and water sites. Noise from bathrooms, water spigots, and walkways can become a nuisance and spoil your stay.

Check for Unhealthy Trees

Pay close attention to the health of trees around the site. During exploratory trips for course areas, we have run into groves of dead hemlocks due to the woolly adelgid, which has damaged swaths of forest. Dead branches falling during the night is a huge risk. If you see dead branches or dead trees, find another place to camp. If you’re hanging a hammock, never anchor it to a dead tree!

Watch for Sharp Bits and Lumpy Ground

By clearing rocks, pinecones, and debris from your tent footprint prior to setting up your tent reduces the chance of discomfort or sleep pad puncture. Also scan for roots and holes that might become uncomfortable while you sleep.

Remember the children’s story, “The Princess and the Pea?” In this fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, a prince is searching for a true princess to marry. One stormy night, a young woman claiming to be a princess arrives at the castle. To test her authenticity of royalty, the queen places a single pea under 20 mattresses where she sleeps. The next morning, the young woman complains that something hard had disturbed her rest. Her sensitivity proves she is a true princess, and the prince joyfully marries her.

Remember the 200-Foot Rule for Campsites

If you’re at a dispersed site (not an established campground), be sure to follow the 200-foot rule. Set up camp more than 200 feet away from the water’s edge (lakes, ponds, rivers, etc.) to prevent any ecological impacts on the area, as well as 200 feet from any trail to prevent hikers from wandering into your campsite at night. It’s also a good rule of thumb to have your tent 200 feet from where you do your dishes, use the toilet, and store your food.

You can’t judge how true a campsite is to LNT principles just by how beautiful it is. Go online, and you will see photos of gorgeous campsites that violate all LNT principles in regard to the 200-foot rule.

Remember to Leave No Trace

Minimize your impact and “leave no trace” in order to protect the outdoors. Choose an existing camp location whenever possible. At the very least, camp on a durable surface instead of fragile areas. Don’t forget to clean up your trash, avoid cutting vegetation, and leave what you find. If you aren’t familiar with the seven Leave No Trace Principles, check them out here before you head out at.

Keep in mind that where you camp has a tremendous impact on how much you and others enjoy your time in the backcountry. The right campsite can help protect your safety, maximize your comfort, simplify your ability to stay organized, and facilitate adherence to all seven LNT principles. Don’t let campsite selection become an afterthought. Be proactive in choosing sites, starting at your trip planning stage!

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About the Author: Stephen Mullaney is the Director of School Partnerships and Staff Development at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE).