Quick answer: to choose a safe campsite, look up first and avoid pitching under dead trees or broken limbs; stay out of dry washes, creek beds and low spots that can flood; avoid exposed ridges, peaks and lone tall trees where lightning is a risk; camp at least 200 feet from lakes and streams where Leave No Trace guidance applies; pick flat, durable ground with a little natural drainage; and keep your sleeping area well away from where you cook and store food. At a developed campground, use the designated pad and check that it does not sit in a dip that will collect rain.
Where you put your tent shapes the whole night. A good site means a dry floor, a quiet night’s sleep and a morning without surprises. A poor one can mean a puddle under your sleeping pad, a branch falling in the wind, or rising water in a canyon miles from any storm you could see.
This guide covers the hazards that land managers and safety agencies most often warn about, the details that make a site comfortable, and a quick checklist to run through when you arrive. It is one chapter of our camping safety guide, which covers weather, wildlife, fire and emergency planning in more depth.
Sources: National Park Service (NPS) camping and hazard tree guidance; USDA Forest Service safety tips for dispersed camping; National Weather Service (NWS) lightning safety and flash flood guidance; Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, Principle 2 (Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces); Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee and NPS food storage guidance. Checked October 2026.
Start With the Rules for the Area
The first question is not “where is the prettiest spot?” but “where am I allowed to camp?”
- Developed campgrounds assign numbered sites with a tent pad or parking spur. Pitch your tent on the pad or in the area the campground designates, not in the surrounding vegetation.
- Dispersed camping on national forests and Bureau of Land Management land allows camping outside campgrounds, often with rules about distance from roads, water and trailheads, and limits on how long you can stay. Our guide to dispersed camping rules on national forests and BLM land explains the differences.
- Backcountry sites in national parks often require a permit and may assign a specific site or zone.
Check the agency website or call the ranger station before you go. Posted rules exist for safety and for protecting fragile areas, and they override any general advice here.
Look Up: Dead Trees and Hanging Branches
Falling trees and limbs injure and kill campers every year, and the danger is easy to overlook when you are focused on the ground. Foresters call dead or damaged limbs that are hung up in a tree, or dead trees likely to fall, “widowmakers” or hazard trees. The National Park Service and the Forest Service both advise campers to look up before choosing a spot.
What to look for
- Dead trees (snags), especially ones with no needles or leaves, peeling bark or fungus at the base
- Broken branches lodged in the canopy
- Trees leaning noticeably over the site
- Cracks or splits in large trunks
- Trees with roots lifting out of the ground
- Areas recently burned by wildfire, where many trees may be weakened
When it matters most
Wind, heavy rain, snow load and the period after a wildfire all increase the risk of falling trees and limbs. If high winds are forecast, avoid sites under or within reach of any tall trees with obvious defects. In a developed campground with a hazardous tree near your site, tell the camp host or ranger; they can often move you.
Water: Flash Floods, Low Spots and Distance From the Shore
Flash floods
The National Weather Service warns that flash floods can occur with little or no warning, and that heavy rain miles upstream can send a wall of water down a dry wash or canyon where the sky overhead is clear. Do not camp in:
- Dry washes and arroyos
- Narrow canyons and slot canyons
- On sandbars or gravel bars in a river or stream
- Close to stream banks with signs of past high water, such as debris lines or flattened vegetation well above the current level
Look for a site on higher ground with a clear route to even higher ground. Check the forecast for the whole watershed, not only your location, and pay attention to any flash flood watches or warnings.
Low spots and drainage
On a smaller scale, avoid slight dips and hollows where rain will pool, even if the ground looks dry. Look for ground that is flat but slightly raised, or that slopes gently enough for rain to drain away from the tent. Our guide to camping in the rain has more on pitching for wet weather.
Distance from lakes and streams
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics recommends camping at least 200 feet, or about 70 adult steps, from lakes and streams in places without designated sites. That protects fragile shoreline plants and water quality, gives wildlife access to water and also tends to keep you a little drier and warmer, since cold air and dew often settle near water. Many agencies write a similar distance into their rules.
Lightning and Wind Exposure
Lightning
The National Weather Service states plainly that no place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area. You can still reduce risk with where you camp:
- Avoid peaks, ridgelines and other high, exposed ground.
- Avoid open meadows where you or your tent are the tallest object.
- Do not camp under a single tall tree or next to tall isolated objects.
- Avoid metal fences, power lines and open water during storms.
- A hard-topped vehicle with the windows closed provides much better protection than a tent.
Our guide to camping in thunderstorms and lightning covers what to do when a storm arrives.
Wind
Some shelter from wind makes a big difference to comfort and to how well a tent holds up. A site in the lee of a stand of healthy trees, a large boulder or a slight rise is usually calmer than an exposed bench. Point the narrowest, lowest end of the tent into the prevailing wind and stake out all guylines if it is breezy. Avoid sites so sheltered that they are also in a damp hollow.
Wildlife and Food Storage
Keep cooking and sleeping apart
In bear country, many agencies recommend separating your cooking area, food storage and sleeping area. A common guideline used in backcountry areas is to keep cooking and food storage about 100 yards (roughly 90 meters) from your tent and downwind where possible, though developed campgrounds usually provide bear-resistant food lockers near each site and require food to be stored in them or in a hard-sided vehicle. Follow the rules where you camp.
Even outside bear country, raccoons, rodents, skunks and birds will raid food left out. Never keep food, scented toiletries or trash in the tent. Our guide on how to store food safely from bears and raccoons explains lockers, canisters and hangs.
Signs of animal activity
Avoid pitching right on game trails, near fresh scat, beside berry patches in bear country or next to a beaver pond. Check the ground for anthills and the trees and shrubs nearby for wasp nests.
Ground, Slope and Surface
Durable surfaces
Leave No Trace Principle 2 is “travel and camp on durable surfaces.” In popular areas, that means using existing, well-worn sites rather than creating new ones. In pristine areas, choose durable surfaces such as rock, gravel, dry grass or snow, and spread out activities so you do not create a new bare patch.
Flat but not perfect
A slight slope is fine and can help with drainage. Lay your sleeping pad on the ground before pitching to check for slope and bumps. If there is any slope, sleep with your head uphill.
Clear the small stuff, leave the big stuff
Brush away pinecones, small sticks and pebbles from where the tent will sit. Do not dig trenches around the tent; Leave No Trace and most land managers discourage it because it damages the ground and is rarely needed with a modern tent and a good site.
Ground hazards
Check for poison ivy, poison oak and cactus, sharp rocks, broken glass from previous campers and roots that will be under your hips all night.
Comfort Details That Make a Good Site Great
- Morning sun. An east-facing site warms up faster after a cold night and dries dew from the tent.
- Afternoon shade. In hot weather, a site with shade later in the day helps; see our heat safety tips in the safety guide.
- Distance from restrooms and roads. Close enough to walk at night, far enough to avoid door slams, headlights and foot traffic.
- Neighbors. In busy campgrounds, sites at the end of a loop are often quieter.
- Tent fit. Measure your tent footprint before you go and compare it with the pad sizes listed for the campground. Our tent buying guide explains how capacity relates to floor size.
Special Conditions: Snow, Desert and Coast
Snow and winter sites
In snow, avoid camping on or beneath steep slopes where avalanches can run, and stay out of the runout zones at the bottom of open chutes. Avalanche centers such as those listed by Avalanche.org publish daily forecasts for many mountain areas in winter. Pack down the snow where the tent will go and let it set before pitching, and stay clear of trees heavily loaded with snow, which can drop clumps or branches.
Desert sites
In the desert, shade and wind become the main comfort issues, and flash floods remain the main hidden hazard. Avoid washes completely. Check for scorpions and snakes around rocks and wood piles, shake out boots in the morning and keep the tent zipped.
Coastal and beach sites
On beaches, check tide tables before choosing a spot and pitch well above the high-tide line and any debris line from recent storms. Sand stakes or buried deadman anchors hold much better than standard stakes in loose sand.
Your Arrival Checklist
Run through this list before the tent comes out of the bag:
- Am I allowed to camp here, and is this the designated pad or area?
- Look up: any dead trees, broken branches or leaning trunks within reach?
- Is this a wash, canyon floor, low spot or riverbank that could flood?
- Is this exposed high ground, an open meadow or under a lone tall tree?
- Which way is the wind coming from, and is there some shelter?
- Is the ground flat, durable and free of sharp objects, anthills and poison ivy?
- Is the site at least 200 feet from water where that rule applies?
- Where will we cook and store food, and is it well away from the tent?
- Where is the nearest exit route and higher ground if the weather turns?
- Do we know the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, including any flash flood or wind alerts?
Frequently Asked Questions
How far from a tree should I pitch my tent?
There is no single official distance, but look up and avoid camping under or within falling reach of any dead tree or tree with broken or hanging limbs, especially in wind. If in doubt, move.
How far from water should I camp?
Leave No Trace recommends at least 200 feet, or about 70 adult steps, from lakes and streams where there are no designated sites. Follow any distance the local land agency sets.
Is it safe to camp in a dry riverbed?
No. The National Weather Service warns that flash floods can arrive with little warning, even from storms far upstream, and dry washes and canyon floors are where the water goes.
Should my tent door face the wind?
Usually not. Point the low, narrow end of the tent into the wind and keep the door on the sheltered side, then stake out guylines.
What is a widowmaker when camping?
It is a dead tree or a broken, detached limb hung up in a tree that could fall without warning. Check overhead before choosing a site.
The Bottom Line
Choosing a safe campsite takes about five minutes and a deliberate look around: up for dead wood, down for low spots and washes, out for exposure to lightning and wind, and across for distance from water and your food storage area. Use designated pads and durable surfaces, follow the rules for the area and move if anything feels wrong. A few minutes of checking at arrival is the easiest safety step of the whole trip.
