Walk the site for five minutes before you open the car. Look down for drainage, up for dead branches, across for wind, and back for your exit path. Most bad nights are decided in the 30 seconds between pulling in and saying “this looks fine” — a hollow, a widow-maker, or a fire ring in a flood line.
Look down: drainage
| Sign | What it means |
|---|---|
| Puddles or damp patches | Low point; will flood in rain |
| Cracked, dried mud | Water flows here and dries fast |
| Lush grass in a dry field | Seep or runoff line |
| Slope less than 2° | Water stands |
| Compacted bare ground | Previous tents — good drainage, hard surface |
Pitch on a slight crown or a 2–3° slope, never in a hollow. If the ground is already soft, it will be a puddle by midnight.
Look up: overhead hazards
| Hazard | Check |
|---|---|
| Dead branches (widow-makers) | Look for grey, barkless limbs |
| Leaning trees | Root plate lifting or trunk crack |
| Loose rock | Scree above the pitch |
| Power lines | Never pitch under them |
| Bee or bird nests | Visible mass in the branch fork |
A dead branch falls in wind, not calm. Walk the pitch perimeter and look straight up — most people only look ahead.
Wind exposure
| Indicator | Exposure |
|---|---|
| Grass bent in one direction | Prevailing wind |
| Trees with branches only on one side | Strong prevailing wind |
| Ridge or saddle | Severe |
| Tree line on the windward side | Lee, sheltered |
| Open lake shore | High, plus waves |
Pitch with the low end into the wind, and leave room for guylines on the windward side. If the site is on a ridge, expect 10–15 mph more than the valley forecast.
Water distance
Stay 60 m (200 ft) from lakes and streams:
- runoff does not reach your tent,
- insects are less concentrated,
- Leave No Trace rules are satisfied,
- animals coming to drink pass you by.
Closer than that is convenient for water and bad for everything else.
Fire ring condition
| Ring state | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Clean, ash only | Regularly used, legal |
| Full of cans and foil | Previous camper was careless — pack it out |
| Ring on bare rock | High-impact site, often closed |
| No ring, fire scar | New fire on unburned ground — do not repeat |
| Ring under trees | Fire risk; find another pitch |
Use an existing ring where fires are allowed; do not build a new one. Check the fire ban before lighting anything.
Access path
- Note the route back to the road in daylight.
- Check for a second exit if the main track floods.
- Confirm the car is not parked in a drainage line.
- Look for hazards you would trip on at night.
A site you cannot leave in the dark is a site you should not sleep in.
Leave No Trace at the pitch
- Choose a durable surface (rock, gravel, dry grass) over fragile plants.
- Keep the kitchen 100 m downwind from the tent.
- Pack out all trash, including food scraps.
- Do not trench around the tent; choose a better pitch instead.
What each bad choice costs
| Mistake | Cost |
|---|---|
| Pitching in a hollow | Wet sleeping bag, cold night, early exit |
| Under a dead branch | Risk of injury; tents are not rated for falling wood |
| On an exposed ridge | Bent poles, sleepless night |
| Within 20 m of water | Insects, runoff, animals at night |
| Building a new fire ring | Long-term site damage, often illegal |
| Blocking the access track | Neighbours cannot leave; you may be asked to move |
None of these are recoverable at 2 a.m. All of them are avoidable in five minutes of daylight.
Night-time checks
Before dark, walk the pitch once more with a headlamp:
- Are guylines visible enough that you will not trip on them?
- Is the path to the toilet clear?
- Is food and trash sealed and stored?
- Are boots and a headlamp where you can reach them from the sleeping bag?
Ten minutes at dusk prevents the two most common night accidents: tripping over a guyline and searching for a headlamp in the dark.
When the site is the only option
Sometimes the only pitch is a bad one — a crowded campground, a late arrival, a site assigned by a host. In that case, mitigate instead of moving: pitch on the highest point within the site, add guylines, keep gear off the floor, and put the tent’s low end into the wind. A poor site handled well beats a good site handled badly.
The five-minute checklist
- Any standing water or hollow? Move.
- Any dead branches overhead? Move.
- Which way is the wind? Pitch accordingly.
- How far is water? At least 60 m.
- Is there an existing fire ring, and is fire legal?
- Can I walk out of here in the dark?
Six questions, five minutes, and most of the night’s risk is removed.
Where to go next
For choosing the site itself, see the campsite selection guide; for shelter in wind and rain, the shelter guide; for weather thresholds that mean leaving, the weather limits guide.
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