Are you planning a great camping trip for yourself and/or other folks? In addition to making sure that you’ve got everything you need to ensure a safe and highly enjoyable excursion, it is vitally important that you choose your campsite very, very carefully. Where you end up camping can truly make all the difference in the world in regards to the pleasure you and your party are able to get from the trip. For this reason, planning ahead and reserving a good spot at your favorite campground is highly advisable.

While not all parks will allow you to reserve your own campsite, there are plenty that will. This will allow you to get the best spot possible as early as possible, so that you don’t end up giving all the best campsites away to other campers. Now I realize that the “best spot possible” is a highly subjective term, and this will obviously vary from individual to individual, but truly no bad can come from getting your campsite reserved early. You will have many more options at your disposal, allowing you to select the campsite that matches your criteria perfectly.

So what are your criteria? That’s actually a great question, and the answer is highly dependent upon your particular situation. If you are camping with little ones, for example, you may want to make sure that your campsite is nowhere near a large body of water in which a child could get into and potentially drown. In addition, you will want to pay close attention to the surrounding terrain to ensure that there are no overly treacherous trails that a small child could get lost or hurt on.

It is also important to appeal to your own likes as much as possible. If you love to fish, for example, you can find a spot that is just a short walk to a lake, river, or stream. If you’re a hiker, something near the good trails, hills, or mountains may be your ideal camping spot. If you’ve got a boat, you will obviously want to be close to the spot where you intend to launch from. These are obvious and common sense, but when you don’t take the initiative to reserve your little slice of Heaven, they may not be a reality for you. Just a heads up.

You will also want to pay attention to the logistics of the various campsites you’ve got to choose from. If you’re pitching more than one tent, have an RV, or otherwise need lots of room, you’d certainly be wise not to settle for something too small. Not having enough space in which to fit your stuff or move around the way you would like to can create quite the uncomfortable set of circumstances, indeed. Make sure to plan ahead, take measurements, and really visualize and determine the amount of space you’re going to need on your camping excursion.