At times, the terrain we find ourselves in when out wandering the wilds simply refuses to play ball by offering up a nice, flat, dry camping spot for your tent. Setting up camp in a less than stellar location can mean a cold and restless night in your sleeping bag.
So, what to do?
Pitching a tent on uneven, rocky, snowy, sandy, sodden, or even solid ground is just as easy as doing so on the most pristine patch of tent-primed turf on the planet—all it takes is a little bit of know-how and some practice.
To that end, we’ve prepared a short guide to help improve your setup process. We’ll take you through everything from choosing a spot to getting your tent stakes in the ground and those guylines taut to add the finishing touches. Ready to learn how to pitch a tent? Let’s do it!
Table of Contents
Pitch Your Tent In Regular Terrain
Before we venture into the ins and outs of pitching your tent in testier terrain, let’s make sure we’ve got the baseline covered with a few more general instructions about camping in regular terrain.
The following applies to any type of tent, whether you’re using a two-pole A-frame, geodesic model, tunnel tent, or any of the other formats of tent out there.
1. Choose the flattest and driest spot you can find and clear away any debris such as sticks & stones
2. Lay out your the groundsheet for your tent
3. Lay your tent over the groundsheet, ideally with the doors facing away from the wind to optimize ventilation and so the heads of the sleepers will be on the upside of any slope
4. If the wind is strong, peg out two or three corners of the tent with tent stakes to ensure your tent doesn’t blow away
5. Assemble the poles and thread them through the tent poles sleeves
6. Peg out the rest of the tent body, ensuring the walls are taut and the tent floor crease-free
7. Attach and peg out the tent rain fly, using guy lines and the tensioner cinches in the corners to make sure the fabric is taut and not in contact with the tent body
8. Tuck any extra groundsheet fabric under the pitched tent to prevent water or condensation from pooling in the material
How to Set Up A Tent In Snow
1. Invest in a set of snow tent stakes—standard tent pegs are all but useless in the white stuff.
2. Use a thicker groundsheet to minimize heat loss through the tent floor.
3. Make sure your would-be pitching spot is:
- Far from the run-out path of avalanche-prone slopes
- Not underneath any snow-laden tree branches—strong winds and the weight of the snow can cause rotten branches to fall.
- Sheltered by natural features like trees, scrub, boulders, or hillocks
- East-facing so as to catch the morning sun and warm up quicker
- Not on ice… (probe with your walking poles or ice ax before pitching)
4. Stomp out a “footprint” for your tent to compact the snow and ensure you have a solid foundation
5. Stake out all guy lines to make your tent is as stable as possible. If you’re struggling with the stakes in softer conditions, you can fill a few unused dry bags with snow or rocks and use these to secure the tent guy lines.
Pitching A Tent In Sand
1. Invest in 14-18cm sand tent stakes
2. Carry extra dry bags and stuff sacks to use as sandbags
3. Level off your proposed pitch with your feet
4. Peg out each corner of the tent body, placing rocks on top of the pegs to keep them in place
5. Position the tent entrance downwind to prevent sand from being blown into the tent
6. Fill your extra dry bags or stuff sacks with sand
7. Attach the dry bags/stuff sacks to the peg grommets, guyouts, or guylines in your rainfly, pull them taut, and cover them with sand to help keep them in place
8. Loop guy lines around any larger rocks you can find for added stability
How to Pitch A Tent On Rocks
1. Carry 8-10 lengths of 4/5mm accessory cord of varying lengths, ranging from 2 feet to 5 feet
2. Collect as many small stones (ideally roughly rectangular) and large stones as you have lengths of accessory cord
3. Tie the accessory cord to the grommets or peg loops in your tent body and rain fly
4. Tie a simple slip knot around the small stones and pull the cord taut
5. Place the large stone directly in front of the small stone to hold it in place
6. Alternatively, tie your cord and your guy lines around larger rocks with a trucker’s hitch and adjust the length until taut
