How to Put Up Your Camping Tent

There are two basic types of areas where you will most likely put up your camping tent. One will be a campground with designated areas for pitching your camping tent. Usually these areas will have gravel or hard dirt pack to set up on. These areas will have a community wash area and toilet facilities.

The second possibility will be a primitive campsite. This type of area is usually one which you may hike in to which and has no pre-designated area to set up your campground (although, not to confuse the issue, but some parks have areas designated as primitive campgrounds).

The thing that distinguishes primitive campsite from a regular campsite is usually the amenities like wash and restroom facilities. I generally think of primitive camping as one where I can just pitch my tent in whatever space I can find beside the trail or streamside or alongside a lake. I just never expect a bathroom other than the tree 20 yards away.

When you are preparing to pitch your camping tent there are a few things you may want to consider. The biggest thing is drainage.

Hopefully it won't rain during your trip but you want to be prepared in the event that it does. Even if you are on a tent pad at the state park campgrounds it is usually a good idea to put down a groundcloth.

The groundcloth is especially important if you are pitching a tent on the bare ground in the wilderness. The groundcloth should never extend outside of the ends of the tent. The reason is if it does rain the groundcloth will capture the rain and potentially channel the rain between the tent floor and the groundcloth making for a soggy situation.

The camping tent itself should be placed on high ground. The camping pads shouldn't be a big deal as they will be built on a pad keeping rainwater from washing into the camping tent area. However, if you are at a primitive location you do not want to place your tent in a low place that water could drain into.

I would look for a knob of some type, even towards the top of a hill if possible. Also, be careful of flood plain areas around streams and creeks. They make nice flat areas to camp on beside the water but if it rains quickly and the stream rises unexpectedly you could have a problem.

One thing you don't want to do is to dig a little trench around the perimeter of the tent. Back in the day the idea of the trench was to keep rain wash from draining into the tent area by diverting it away.

The trench encircled the tent and had an opening in the moat that would allow the water collected to drain out and away from the tent. Sounds like a great idea but it's really not necessary if you locate the tent on higher ground.

Besides, digging a trench leaves a large "footprint" in the woods and is not very environmentally friendly. Unless it is absolutely necessary don't dig a trench.

Before I am ready to pitch my camping tent I always think of ways to make the bottom of the tent as soft as possible. Unfortunately most tent pads at public campgrounds that I have stayed at were made of gravel. This is not the most comfortable substance to sleep on.

I usually grab some pine straw, grass or leaves and spread it down over the gravel. Then I place my groundcloth down. Then I pitch my tent.

If you are at a primitive location you generally have more choices as you can camp right on the grass or the floor of the forest. However, before you pitch the tent make sure you have removed all the rocks, limbs and other debris from the tent area.

Also make sure the ground is fairly level. That bump you might not have taken care to notice in the earth won't make your back feel so great the next morning.

Fiberglass poles are not as lightweight or as durable as aluminum poles. They are generally found with cheaper camping tents.