SELECTING A CAMPSITE
MUCH OFTHE SUCCESS of a campout depends upon the campsite you choose. A good site offers plenty to see and do. It is also easy on the land, allowing you to camp without leaving a trace. Here are some pointers for deciding where to make camp:

Environmental Impact
Protect the environment by using established campsites whenever you can, or by camping on durable surfaces that will not be harmed by your presence. If fires are allowed, build them in existing fire rings. Try not to put fresh marks on the land.

Safety
Don't pitch your tents under dead trees or limbs that might fall in a storm. Stay out of gullies or other low spots that could flood. Choose a site away from lone trees, mountaintops, high ridges, and other likely targets of lightning. Camp some distance from game trails, especially in bear country.

Size
A site must be large enough for patrol members to pitch their tents and cook their meals, When hanging food to keep it away from animals, find the trees you need at least two hundred feet (seventy-five steps) away from where you will be sleeping.

Carelessness in choosing a campsite can harm the land inseveral ways. Tents will mat down vegetationand cuto it off from water, air, and sunlight. Campers walking to and from cooking areas, water sources, and their tents will trample vegatation and fomr unwanted pathways The weight of many footsteps in the same area will compact the soil, making it difficult for new plants to take root and sometimes leading to errosion.

Atrail is an example of a strip of soil that has become so compacted that nothing will grow in it. The same is true of many campsites. We accept them because they concentrate human activities to limited areas, leaving the rest of the landscape untouched. However, it si important to do all you can to recognize and bypass places that might not withstand the impact of camping and hiking.