Camping: This is the best pitch – what campers should pay attention to

Watchman Campground: a campsite in Zion National Park, USA, surrounded by bronze-red canyons, near the Virgin River. The ideal destination for a camping trip – and as it has now turned out, also for a scientific study.

With 179 campsites and 23,000 reservations, Will Rice – Assistant Professor of Outdoor Recreation at the University of Montana – examinedwhat matters most to campers when choosing a place. The data speak for themselves.

Camping: price and access to electricity most important

Accordingly, the price and a power connection play the most important role. This is probably due to the preference of visitors to the park to spend their camping holiday in camper buses. This is followed by easy access to toilets, water points and rubbish bins in the ranking, like Deutschlandfunk Nova reported. Nature, on the other hand, is of secondary importance for the camping enthusiasts in this study, and the number of neighbors is not the crux of the decision.

Too far away, too close: the problem with the toilets

Professor Rice attaches a far more important role to these findings than a mere preference analysis of American campers. “This information is essential for the protection of ecological resources and a balanced distribution of recreational opportunities.”

One dilemma that Rice mentions should not be a novelty for many camping enthusiasts: the distance to the toilets. If they are too close, an unpleasant smell is mixed with the sunbathing in front of the camper; if they are too far away, half a marathon has to be accepted at night if the bladder squeezes. This balancing act will probably keep generations of campers busy – science will no longer help.