Lesson 1: Choose the Site

Learn

A good site does most of the work for you

Before anyone unpacks, walk around and look. A sensible campsite usually has:

• Reasonably level ground: a gentle slope is fine (sleep with your head uphill); a steep one is not.
• Drainage: rain runs away from it, not into it. Low hollows and flattened channels in the grass show where water collects or runs.
• Low flood risk: not right beside a stream or in the lowest ground. Debris caught in bushes shows how high water has come.
• Manageable exposure: some shelter from the wind, but not under trees with dead branches.
• Nothing overhead: look up. Dead branches fall, especially in wind and rain.
• Little damage: an established site that has been used before, rather than fresh fragile plants.
• Enough space for every tent and a cooking area, without spilling onto paths or plants.
• Not on a path: other walkers should not have to walk through your camp.