Selecting a good campsite can be crucial to not only enjoying our backpacking adventure, but surviving it. It should be hoped that natural areas are appropriately protected from too much encroachment by humanity's spread; as such they may be prone to avalanches of snow, rockfalls and flash flooding, as well as encounters with native and sometimes exotic wildlife that may be potentially dangerous, particularly to the inexperienced backpacker.
This is as it should be; it is our responsibility to be prepared for ourselves and those in our care. If you do not know the ways of the wild, either don't go there or seek professional guidance before you do, especially if you are taking others with you, and most definitely if those others include children! Don't make presumptions about any aspect of your adventure, check every detail!
On well utilized trails in popular regions there will often be cabins or huts provided by the local, state or federal/national park services of the nation they lie within. Or there may be designated camping grounds that you are obliged to use. Camping outside these, except in emergency situations, may well be illegal so it definitely pays to check out the local rules before you start.
Accommodations and areas set aside for people's overnight use will almost certainly be located in areas unlikely to be impacted by natural disasters, although in today's world of ongoing climate change this may not be as certain as it was 20 years ago. Even when camping within a designated camping ground, your decision on where to pitch your tent can be the difference between having a great experience or a "I never want to do this again" one. Something an experienced outdoors person introducing a new loved one to the joys of camping may wish to be particularly aware of if they wish to share the adventure a second time.
Before starting, you should always check on the expected weather conditions and therefore the viability of your intended trip with the local park service. Where such is non-existent, try the local tourism bureau. These groups will be delighted to provide you with all the information you need; after all, finding backpackers that manage to get themselves into trouble is far more labor intensive and costly to their budgets than providing you with the information to safely see you through your visit in the first place. Not to mention the emotional cost experienced by both professional and volunteer searchers who find someone too late.
A designated camping ground will contain both ideal spots to pitch your tent and some that are not so ideal. It is best to start looking while there is still plenty of light; locating a site and pitching your tent at dusk or later is just looking for trouble. High ground is always preferable to hollows. Even if no rain or snow is forecast, you may be unlucky, and hollows get not only the downpour but the overground run-off. Even if your tent is watertight and no-one forgets to secure the flaps, stepping out into a mud pond is not the greatest start to the day.
Learn something about the local insect life before you go. Particularly the social insects like ants, termites, bees and some wasp species. Pitching your tent on or near a nest can be very unpleasant and potentially dangerous even to those who are not allergic to their bites or stings. Some may be migrating at particular times of year and transitory nests may be hard to detect.
While traveling an infrequently used track one Spring when I was young, I once stepped on a temporary bumblebee nest hidden in the debris covering the ground, and for those of you under the misconception that bumblebees don't sting, I can assure you that they most certainly can and when angry enough do. While wearing sufficient clothes to protect my body, one stung me through the eyelid into the eye. Fortunately it was in the woods above a friends house, so I was able to extensively bathe my face in cold water from his backyard hose and quickly obtain medical treatment. Even so, the facial swelling forced my eyelids closed and left me blind for two days.
It did at least gift me with some understanding of what it is like to be blind. Leading me to work in a seeing-eye dog kennels for a while later in life. Stepping on such a nest as the light fades at your recently pitched campsite would certainly be worse. Knowing the possible insect life and surveying your intended campsite for it, perhaps prodding the ground with a stick, before setting up camp is definitely recommended, and best done with plenty of light!
Many people arriving at a designated camping ground early enough like to pick an appropriate spot somewhat removed from others. This may work for you, but it may not. After all, those arriving late at a camping ground tend to be the worst neighbors. A good quality campsite close to people you can relate to is usually the better choice.
When it comes to selecting a camping site in the wilds, you have more to pay attention too. Always start looking well before dusk; if you find a good site but feel it is yet to early to stop, check it out. You may not find another and retracing your steps to the good one is the safest option. Continuing on may find you a good campsite, but it may not, and it is always better to be safe rather than sorry.
A good campsite where there isn't a designated camping ground should be on higher ground without insect nests, just like at a designated ground. In addition, you need to survey the area for potential hazards. A cave in a cliff face may look good, particularly if the weather is turning inclemental, but check the cave frontage first. If there is rock or scree anywhere along the base of the cliff or indications of water flow out of the cave, do NOT use it. A rockfall could trap you within or a flash flood might flow through the cave and carry away your tent and quite possibly, you with it.
In higher regions with snow-capped mountains, be aware of the potential for avalanches. These will flow where gravity takes them, do not set up camp within valleys below heavy snowfields, unless you are sufficiently up the sides of the valley without the possibility of snow or rock falling on you from further above.
Know the wildlife of the area and look for game trails. You most definitely do not want to set your camp beside a trail frequently used by a grizzly bear if you are backpacking in areas they inhabit. While there is always the possibility that you may encounter one in regions where they live, it becomes likely if you are camped next to a trail they frequently use. And the fact of the trail solidly indicates they consider that ground their territory; they are far more likely to become aggressive there than in areas they frequent less. This also applies to other potentially dangerous animals, wherever in the world you may be backpacking and camping.