by Sage Doak

Created on: February 21, 2009

Campsite selection is often the key difference between a great trip and a bad one. When hiking or back packing your campsite will be a place for you to sleep, eat, relax and possibly share some close moments with your hiking partner. Whilst how much a campsite will affect you is an important factor, how much you will affect your campsite is just as important. This article will look at key ways to ensure that you can get that all important sleep, cook safely and remove your personal wastes as well as minimizing the impact you will have on the environment though good campsite selection. This article assumes that you are setting up at different places along your journey, but many of the ideas can be applied if you are setting base in a public camp ground and day tripping from there.

MINIMISE YOUR IMPACT

It is vital that we have as little of an impact on our environment as possible when out camping. This can be done fairly easily by making sure you do a careful scan of potential camp spots to ensure no significant plant or animal species are present as well as making sure everything you carry in, gets carried out. Also by looking for spots that have been previously camped upon can reduce spreading the effects further.

PLAN AHEAD

When planning your trip make sure to research ahead and check for any areas which are known as good stopping points along your track. This easy to obtain knowledge is one of the easiest ways to make sure you get a good spot, as well as making sure you can plan your trip to get there on time to setup before nightfall. Arriving at your campsite two hours before darkness is recommended so that you can set everything up as well as have time to make changes if needed.

FIND A GOOD BASE

The first key in insuring a good sleep is the ground that you will be sleeping on. Look for areas that are relatively bare with as few stones as possible. Whilst soft ground may initially seem appealing, softness is a sign of moisture and camping on soft spots is highly likely to result in water seeping though the bottom of your tent. The space above your tent is just as important as the space below it. Trees can provide good shelter, but having anything above you is a risk. Look out for any signs of dead branches or any other things that may become dislodged if it gets windy over night. Once you pitch your tent layout your sleeping gear and try it out, if you notice any discomfort try and seek a better spot as this will become increasing painful overnight.

LOOK FOR GOOD

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