Picking a Tent Site: Ground, Drainage, Wind and Hazards
A few minutes spent looking around before pitching a tent can decide whether you sleep well or spend the night sliding downhill in a puddle. Good sites share a few traits: durable, level ground, natural drainage, some shelter from wind and nothing dangerous overhead.
Ground and slope
Use established tent pads or durable surfaces where possible, which protects vegetation and usually means the ground is already level. Lie down briefly where your sleeping pad will go; small roots and stones that look harmless are easy to feel.
If the site slopes slightly, plan to sleep with your head uphill.
Water and drainage
Avoid low hollows and dry channels, which collect water quickly in a storm. Look for signs of past flow such as flattened debris or bare sandy lines. In canyons and narrow valleys, never camp in a wash where a flash flood could arrive from rain far upstream.
Camping well back from lakes and streams also reduces condensation and protects the shoreline.
Wind and overhead hazards
Trees, boulders and slight rises can block prevailing wind, but always look up before settling under a tree. Dead branches and leaning dead trees can fall without warning, especially in wind.
On exposed ground, face the narrow, lower end of the tent into the wind and check the forecast for thunderstorms, which make summits and open ridges poor choices.