Choosing a campsite: overhead hazards, ground and where the sun comes up

A campsite check runs in a fixed order. First confirm that camping is allowed on the ground and what the fire rules are. Then look up for hazards, judge the ground for drainage and sleep, and decide which way the open end of the shelter should face. Each step can rule a site out, so the order matters. A site that gets the morning sun is still the wrong site if camping is not allowed there. Water sets a distance rule of its own, covered below.

Check the rules before the ground

Rules and fire restrictions vary by area and can change. Check them before you walk in, and again at any office, trailhead notice board or land manager's website that covers the area. A site that looks good may be closed to camping, reserved or limited to fires in a particular place. Rules decide whether a site is available at all, so they come before the ground, the view and the sun.

Keep the rules in mind as you choose the spot. If a fire is not allowed, the stove still needs a place well away from the shelter. The wind pitching guide covers keeping flames outside a shelter.

Distance from water and durable ground

Leave No Trace’s guidance is to camp at least 200 feet (61 m) from lakes and streams, which it puts at 70 to 80 adult steps. The distance protects the banks and leaves wildlife a way to reach the water. Pace it out rather than guessing: 200 ft is longer than it looks from a tent door.

The same principle says good campsites are found, not made, so altering a site should not be necessary. In popular areas, use an existing site rather than starting a new one; elsewhere, durable surfaces such as rock, gravel, dry grass or snow recover best. Where a land manager sets a different distance or designates sites, those rules apply.

Look up before you pitch

Look straight up from the spot you have in mind. Dead branches, dead limbs that hang over the sleeping area and leaning dead trees are the hazards to check first. A dead branch can fall without much warning, and a gust makes that more likely. A leaning dead trunk is a reason to move the sleeping area, not a reason to plan around the lean.

Exposed ridges and open ground raise a separate question. They are covered by the lightning safety guide. A tarp does not change the lightning risk on an exposed site, so check the forecast before you choose a high spot, and follow the guidance in that guide if the sky turns.

Judge the ground for drainage and sleep

Avoid dry stream beds and low ground that can flood, and follow local warnings about flood-prone areas. A dry channel is the route water takes when it runs, which is why it is on the list of places to avoid. Low ground at the bottom of a slope can also collect water from the slope above it, so look at where the water would run before you choose the hollow.

For sleeping, lie down on the spot as you would sleep. Note whether your head is higher than your feet, and whether the slope runs toward one side. A slope that feels slight at dusk can move a sleeper down the pad overnight. A level spot is easier to sleep on, and a spot a little above its surroundings is less likely to hold water than a hollow. Check the drainage again after rain, because a spot that was dry in the afternoon may not stay dry.

Walk the ground before you settle

Walk the ground in the light you will pitch in. Look for roots under where the pad will lie, rocks that will press through a thin mat and loose stones that a stake will not hold in. Test the ground for stakes by pushing one in by hand at each corner. If a stake will not go in, or pulls out easily, move the pitch rather than forcing it.

Stake positions drive the guyline geometry. A site with poor stake ground changes how much line you need and how far out the stakes must go. The guyline length guide shows how the end guy length follows from the ridge height and the stake distance, so decide on the stake points before you cut any line.

Set the open end for morning sun

The Sun and daylight tool gives the sun's bearing, its elevation and an approximate sunrise for a date, time and place. Its inputs and outputs are in UTC, so add your own time offset by hand to get local clock times. The example below uses 46.5° N, 8° E on 15 July 2026, with an unobstructed horizon.

sunrise (UTC)                 = 03:49
sun bearing at 04:00 UTC      = 58.5° true, elevation 0.8°
sunrise with a 5° obstruction = 04:22 UTC, 33 min later

The sun's bearing at sunrise is about 56° true, and the bearing at 04:00 UTC is 58.5°. Both are north-east. With a 5° obstruction, sunrise moves to 04:22 UTC, so the bearing to read is the one at that later moment rather than the unobstructed figure. A real valley can block the sun for longer than a uniform 5° angle suggests, so check the sky on the ground.

To put one open end on the sunrise bearing, set the ridge bearing to the sunrise bearing. The open ends then face 56° and 236° true. The Shelter studio plan at a 56° ridge bearing shows the two ends in plan view.

Balance sun, wind and ground

An open end that faces the morning sun can also be the end the wind blows through. The wind pitching guide explains how to choose which open end faces the wind. For this choice, weigh the forecast for the night first, since the sun matters only in the morning. If the forecast is calm, face the sunrise. If the wind is strong, the wind decides, and the morning sun waits for the next site.

Ground can also decide it. A flat, dry spot may face the wrong way for the sun, and a sunny slope may slope toward one side. A site can offer only one of the good options, and the choice between them is a judgement about your night. The sun figures give direction and time. They do not weigh the ground, the forecast or your comfort.

Fit the shelter to the chosen site

Once the site is chosen, check that the tarp fits the flat strip you have. Measure the strip along the ridge and across it, then compare with the table in the what size tarp guide. The A-frame geometry guide covers the ridge height and the headroom strip, which matter once the tarp sits on a slope.

What a site check cannot tell you

A site check finds the obvious problems on the day. It does not show what the ground will do in rain, whether a stake will hold in a particular soil, or whether an animal or another person will change the site overnight. Conditions change as well. A branch can come down after the check, a wet slope can soften, and the forecast can move. Check again when you arrive and again before dark.

For the items to carry if the site is remote or the weather turns, see ten essentials. For the timing of the sun across the evening, see sun direction at a campsite.