Leave No Trace is a U.S. organization based on a system of guidelines for environmental consideration and mindfulness when experiencing the outdoors. 🌄 There are 7 principles to follow:
Know where you’re going, what you’re doing, and what you’ll need for your trip. Prepare to have a safe, fun, and minimally impactful trip.
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces 🏕
Walking or camping on vegetation or on crumbling rock can degrade and erode the landscape, and can even be dangerous. If there is an existing path, use it!
3. Dispose of waste properly 🚮
A good rule of thumb is the montra “pack it in, pack it out.” If you brought something on your trip outdoors, make sure it goes back with you to be disposed of properly. If you will be out in the wilderness without access to a toilet, make sure you understand your area’s requirements for human waste disposal.
Minimize your impact by leaving nature how you found it. If you move something (rocks in a campsite, for example), make sure to put it back when you’re done with the space. Avoid damaging live trees and plants. If you would like a souvenir, take a picture, not a piece of nature.
5. Minimize campfire impacts 🔥
Before you build a fire, understand what the risk of forest fires is in your area. Some parks may prohibit fires in a certain season or during a drought. Once you’ve decided to make a fire, ensure you know how to clean it up safely when you’re done. The mark of a good fire is no mark at all. For more details on how to Leave No Trace from your fire, see the link above.
If you see an animal, observe it quietly and from far enough away so as not to disturb it. Do not feed, touch, or chase any animals. If you are in bear country, however, make sure you know how to safely avoid conflict with a bear, and be prepared for an encounter with one, even if an encounter is unlikely.
Nature is something for everyone to enjoy. Make sure your enjoyment of nature does not diminish other people’s enjoyment of it.
Following these principles helps you Leave No Trace, preserving wilderness for the wild and for other people who want to enjoy it. Please Leave No Trace when you go outdoors!
These principles even apply to sound (minimize noise pollution when you're immersed in nature)- check out our Instagram post on the quietest place in the United States 🤗
