Selecting and Setting up Your Campsite

 Selecting the perfect campsite takes a bit more thought than noticing a pretty area to pitch your tent.  Without considering all of the important factors of setting up your campsite, you may find yourself in a dangerous environment or you could cause damage to the environment.  Exercising a little precaution when choosing and setting up camp will ensure a peaceful campsite that provides the right amount of shelter and convenience.

Evaluate Your Surroundings

Before deciding on the place to pitch your tent, take a careful evaluation of your surroundings. Look around the entire area where you are thinking of placing your tent, look above to be sure a gust of wind won’t bring any tree limbs down into your tent.  Consider where you would set up your cooking area and a safe place to organize your gear. 

Check for uneven ground, dirt hills, ant hills or wasp nests which could quickly ruin your camping trip. It is best to set up your tent on a vegetation-free, flat area of land that offers some shade and buffer from the wind.  Think about drainage in case it rains to avoid a soaked campsite. 

Keep Essential Supplies Close

Once you determine the best place to set up your tent for shelter, unpack your gear systematically and keep your essential items close by. It is a good idea to have a flashlight or headlamps in a pocket near your tent entrance for late night bathroom breaks.  If you are camping with children, giving each child a headlamp helps them to feel some level of control and gives them an important job to keep track of their light source.  You can even hand out color coded lamps so each person has their own and keeps it handy. 

Make sure you can quickly access your rain gear, insect repellant, dry clothes or insulative layers.  Make sure everyone knows where the first-aid kit is as well as food and water supplies.  You will want to keep your cooler a safe distance from the tent to drain water without soaking your camping area. 

Leave No Trace

Be mindful of vegetation and follow the guidelines of Leave No Trace to reduce any impact to the environment.  Be respectful of others when camping in public areas and allow enough distance from other campsites and trails. 

Cascade Mountain Tech offers high-quality camping and hiking gear to make your camping trip a total success.  Packing a quality roto-molded cooler will help to keep your ice for up to 10 days, greatly reducing your need to trek back and forth for supplies of ice.  Check out our quality trekking poles, with something for the whole family.  We’ll show you how to select the right hiking trekking pole for you and offer tips to use your trekking poles correctly for the most benefit.  Top it off with comfortable camping chairs and you are set to enjoy a camping trip to remember. 

Cascade Mountain Tech provides quality hiking and camping gear that is built to last.  We offer a wide selection of quality trekking poles, camping chairs, super coolers, camp bedding and more. Contact us with any questions on setting up your camp and for quality gear that will be a part of your camping memories for decades to come.