Camping without a trace: Leave No Trace in practice

Every overnight stay leaves traces: trampled plants, fire scars, litter, human waste and disturbed animals. A single group usually does little harm. At popular places, though, thousands of small traces add up, and then you get bare patches, polluted streams and animals that have learned that people mean food.

So Leave No Trace is less a rulebook than a way of thinking. With every decision in camp you ask yourself: what will be left of this when I am gone? The seven principles follow from that: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimise campfire impacts, respect wildlife and be considerate of others.

The principles are published by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics in the USA and used in outdoor education worldwide. They do not replace laws but add to them – even where much is allowed.

Good planning saves traces later. Find out beforehand whether camping, fires and catholes are allowed. Repack food at home so that you carry less packaging. Small groups leave fewer traces than large ones.

For your campsite it is best to use existing sites or durable surfaces such as rock, gravel, dry grass or sand. Soft plant cover, bogs and riverbanks are sensitive. Do not dig trenches around the tent, remove plants or leave branch structures standing. Living trees are not damaged – no carving into bark, no breaking off branches.

Everything you bring in, you take back out, including food scraps. Burying or leaving food scraps attracts animals. Where it is required, you take toilet paper back out too. Before leaving, sweep the site in a line: litter, pegs, cord ends, fire remains.

Fire is the biggest risk. In dry weather, under a wildfire warning or a fire ban there is no open fire – a stove is then the alternative, if it is allowed. Where fires are allowed, use existing fire rings, keep the fire small, burn only dead wood from the ground and put it out completely. Before leaving, check that there is no residual heat. In case of fire, call the local emergency number (112 in the EU) at once.

You protect water by doing catholes, washing up and personal washing well away from water, trails and camps. The Leave No Trace organisation gives about 60 metres (200 feet) for this. Where permitted, human waste goes into a hole about 15 to 20 centimetres (6 to 8 inches) deep; otherwise use existing toilets or pack it out in a bag. That way no germs get into water others may drink.

Do not feed wildlife, and store food securely. Animals used to human food become pushy and can become dangerous. In regions with bears or other large wildlife, special rules apply – check them beforehand.

Leave No Trace fits every trip: a day hike, a trek, a bushcraft camp and youth groups. Groups in particular set an example – whoever learns it as a child usually keeps doing it for life.

In a genuine emergency, safety and survival come first. Then you build a shelter or make a fire, even if it leaves traces. As soon as the situation allows, you remove those traces as far as possible. Leave No Trace should never stop you from protecting yourself when in danger.

Whether and where you may wild camp, make a fire or collect wood differs greatly between countries, regions and even individual areas. Some countries allow a lot, others almost nothing. Leave No Trace is not legal advice – local rules always take precedence.

Special landscapes such as deserts, glaciers, rivers or bear country have their own recommendations that go beyond the basic principles. Before such trips, get information from the responsible local authorities.