The 7 Leave No Trace Principles, Explained With Examples

Leave No Trace is a set of seven outdoor ethics principles: plan ahead, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors. They turn “do no harm” into specific habits you can practice on any trip.

The framework comes from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. None of it is law, but agencies and landowners write many of its habits into their rules, so it pays to know why each one exists.

1. Plan ahead and prepare

Most damage and most rescues start with poor planning. Know the regulations, closures and fire restrictions before you leave, and bring the gear to handle weather and an unplanned night out. Prepared people make fewer desperate decisions, such as cutting a new trail around a washout or burning live wood because they ran out of fuel.

• Check the managing agency’s rules, permits and closures for the exact area
• Visit in smaller groups, and avoid the busiest days and seasons where you can
• Repackage food to cut trash, and bring a way to carry out all waste
• Carry a map you can read without a signal; see offline maps for hiking and hunting

2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces

Durable surfaces are rock, gravel, dry grass, sand, snow and established trails and campsites. Fragile ones include wet meadow, streamside vegetation, cryptobiotic or desert crust, and alpine plants that take years to regrow. A single footstep rarely does much; thousands of them in the same place do.

On trails, walk in the middle even when it is muddy, because stepping around puddles widens the trail. Do not cut switchbacks. In popular places, concentrate use on existing campsites. In pristine places with no sign of use, spread out, moving between nights so no site gets worn bare.

A common guideline is to camp at least 200 feet from lakes and streams, but agency rules take precedence. See the setbacks listed in dispersed camping rules.

Group size matters as much as location. Large groups trample more ground, make more noise and strain a campsite’s capacity, so many areas limit party size. Snow is a durable surface, which makes winter travel a low-impact option, though it brings its own hazards. Wherever you walk or camp, pick the surface that will bounce back soonest.

3. Dispose of waste properly

“Pack it in, pack it out” covers everything: wrappers, food scraps, orange peels, cigarette butts, tape and bits of gear. Food scraps are not harmless. They attract animals, take a long time to break down in dry or cold climates and spoil the next visitor’s camp.

Human waste is the part that surprises people. Where burial is allowed, a common recommendation is a cathole about 6 to 8 inches deep, at least 200 feet from water, trails and camp, then cover and disguise it. Pack out toilet paper in many areas, and use portable waste systems where the managing agency requires them, which is common in river corridors, alpine zones and some desert canyons. Check local rules.

For dishes, carry water 200 feet or more away from streams and lakes, scrape food off into a trash bag, wash with a small amount of biodegradable soap, and scatter the strained wash water widely.

A small waste kit makes all of this easy. Carry these items so you never face the choice between leaving something behind and improvising:

• A sturdy trash bag, plus a second one for anything messy
• A trowel for catholes, or a portable waste system where required
• A sealable bag or container for used toilet paper and hygiene products
• A strainer or mesh for dishwater scraps
• Gloves, so you can pick up litter other people left without a second thought

4. Leave what you find

Look but don’t collect. Rocks, antlers, flowers, fossils, arrowheads and old structures belong to the place and to the next person. Removing cultural or historic objects is illegal on much public land, so leave them where they are and photograph them instead.

• Do not build new structures, dig trenches or carve into trees
• Do not move rocks or logs to create seating or windbreaks; dismantle anything you build
• Skip hauling in or spreading firewood, plants or seeds that could introduce pests
• Leave campsites looking as though nobody had been there, or better

Where gathering is permitted, such as mushrooms, berries or firewood, follow the harvest rules and the ethics in foraging ethics and sustainable harvest. Permission to take something is not the same as an obligation to take it.

5. Minimize campfire impacts

Campfires scar soil, scatter blackened rings across the landscape and start wildfires. The lowest-impact choice is a lightweight stove for cooking and a headlamp or lantern for light. If you do build a fire where it is allowed, use an existing ring, keep it small and burn only wood that is dead and down, fully to ash.

Do not build new rings, do not burn trash, and do not leave a fire unattended. Before leaving, drown it, stir it and feel for heat until it is cold to the touch. Campfire rules and safety covers restrictions and extinguishing in detail.

6. Respect wildlife

Observe from a distance, and never feed wild animals. Feeding changes their behavior, makes them dependent and often ends with the animal being relocated or destroyed. If an animal changes what it is doing because of you, you are too close.

• Store food and scented items the way local rules require
• Keep dogs on a leash where required, and under control everywhere
• Avoid wildlife during sensitive times, such as nesting, mating and winter stress
• Use binoculars, a zoom lens or a spotting scope instead of walking closer

In bear country and other areas with food-storage orders, the rules exist because a habituated animal is a danger to people and often pays for it. Store everything with a scent, not just food, and never leave coolers, dishes or trash out overnight. The same applies to small animals: mice and squirrels chew through packs and tents for a single crumb.

7. Be considerate of other visitors

Other people came for the same quiet you did. Yield on trails, keep voices and speakers low, camp out of sight of trails and neighbors where you can, and keep pets under control. Leave gates as you found them. Share the road and parking area rather than blocking access.

Technology is part of this. Phone speakers carry far in quiet places, headlamps on high beams bother neighbors, and drones are restricted or banned in many public areas, so check before you fly one. Let others pass at viewpoints, and step off the trail to let faster groups go by.

This includes landowners and hosts. On private land, treat every rule as the actual rule, even when it is stricter than anything a public agency would demand. Private-land camping etiquette goes into the specifics, and the WildPass community guidelines set the baseline for guests.

Applying the principles to foraging, hunting and fishing

The principles were written around hiking and camping, but they fit every outdoor pursuit. Foragers should harvest well below what the patch can sustain, avoid trampling surrounding plants, and carry out whatever they cut. Hunters can plan retrieval routes to reduce disturbance, pack out remains where required and respect other users. Anglers should follow regulations on handling, pack out line and tackle, and avoid trampling shorelines.

Start with one principle per trip until the habits stick. If you are building a first kit, the first-time backcountry camping checklist shows where each habit fits into the planning. To see which public lands and access programs are near you before you go, start with the Explore map.