How to pick a campsite that still works at 2am
The spot that looks best at 4pm is often the worst one to sleep on. Six things to check before the tent comes out of the bag.
Walk the site before you unpack
The single best habit in camping costs five minutes: park, leave everything in the car, and walk the site first. Once poles are out and a tent is half up, nobody moves.
Look at the ground you would actually be lying on, not the clearing as a whole. Get down and press your palm into it. Ground that feels fine underfoot at standing height can read very differently through a quarter inch of foam at 2am.
Read the ground for water
Water is the reason most bad nights happen, and it announces itself if you look. Fine silt, matted grass laid flat in one direction, or a shallow channel of clean-swept gravel all mean water has run through recently.
Avoid the lowest point in any clearing, even in clear weather. Slight rises of six inches or so are enough to keep a puddle from forming under a floor. And never pitch in a dry creek bed, however inviting the flat sand looks.
Think about the sun, not the view
Sunrise position decides what time your tent becomes an oven. East-facing sites get light and heat early, which is welcome in fall and miserable in July. Filtered shade from the east buys you an extra two hours of sleep.
Afternoon shade matters for the cooking area more than the tent. If you have a choice, put the tent where it will be shaded in the morning and the table where it will be shaded at dinner.
Check what is above you
Look up before you commit. Dead branches, leaning trunks, and heavy dead limbs are a real hazard in wind, and they are called widow-makers for a reason.
Standing dead trees are the ones to watch. A live tree with dead limbs is a smaller risk than a bare gray trunk with no bark, which can come down without much wind at all.
Distance from water, and from other people
Most public land guidance asks you to camp at least 200 feet from lakes and streams. That protects the shoreline, keeps you out of the coldest air, and puts you away from where insects concentrate at dusk.
Sound carries strangely outdoors, especially across water. A site that seems a comfortable distance from the next group at midday can feel very close after dark.
Wind direction and the fire
Note which way the breeze is moving before you pick where the fire goes. Smoke follows the prevailing wind and will settle into whatever is downwind, including your tent door and everything drying on a line.
Wind usually shifts in the evening as the ground cools. If you are near water, expect the breeze to reverse direction around dusk, which catches people out constantly.