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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.

Learn more about this author, Perry McCarney.
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