The 5 W’s of Campsite Selection

Choosing the proper site for camp is incredibly important. Without taking a few things into consideration you might have an inconvenient experience if not a dangerous one or even fatal. I’m not sure who first came up with the Five W’s but I learned them years ago. I’ll go through each one and do my best to explain why it’s useful. The Five W’s are Wood, Water, Wind, Widow-makers, and Wildlife.

Wood

Wood is a valuable resource to take into account when choosing a campsite. I typically camp in cooler temperatures so a campfire is an essential element to my comfort and safety. I need firewood to ensure I can cook food, purify water, and keep warm. Finding standing dead trees for harvesting is ideal. Wood is also very handy for building shelters and other camp projects.

Water

Having access to a water source is obviously needed while camping and how close to it is something to think about. Ideally you keep 200 ft between your camp and your water source. This does several things. It allows you to be less visible from others. It allows wildlife direct access to the water. I’ve also found that this is usually a little higher elevation than the water so you have less chance of the water rising and encroaching on camp. Any further than this becomes a nuisance for collecting water for drinking, cooking, and washing.

Wind

The third “W” to consider is wind. The direction the wind is blowing can factor which direction to set up your shelter weather that be a tent, a lean-to tarp shelter, or something more primitive. It also can be a variable where you put you fire. You don’t want to have smoke filling up your lungs while you’re sleeping. Depending on the wind you might need to build a fire reflector/wind break behind your fire.

Widow-makers

Tree branches are really heavy! This is why widow-makers is on the list. You must look up when picking out a campsite. You don’t want to be directly under any branches that might fall down onto you or your shelter. Especially if broken branches are hanging on other branches. Even a slight breeze and that branch could end up on top of you. Just be smart and don’t say to yourself, “Oh, that branch ain’t going nowhere. I’ll be fine for one night!”

Wildlife

Knowing what wildlife live in the area you are camping is important. Also, knowing the behaviors of these animals is equally as important. Look for animal signs like game trails, bedding sites, or scat. It wouldn’t be fun to go to sleep only to learn you put your bed on an ant colony. Or to be surprised to have an elk crash through camp because you thought a game trail looked like a great spot.

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Be smart. Have fun.

We go out into nature to relax. To take a break from life’s stressors. To find something that can’t be found staring at our phones while sitting on the couch with Netflix on. These 5 W’s are simple precautions which can help to insure an advantage to finding the serenity that the wilderness can offer. Be smart. Have fun.