Leave No Trace isn't a set of rules handed down to spoil your fun — it's the reason the places we go are still worth going to. As more people get outside, the cumulative impact of small careless choices adds up fast: braided trails, trampled meadows, fouled water, habituated wildlife. The seven principles are a simple framework for treading light. Here's what each one means once you're actually out there.
1. Plan ahead and prepare
Most damage starts with a bad plan. Know the regulations, the weather, and the terrain. Repackage food to cut trash, carry a map so you don't cut switchbacks looking for the route, and size your group to the place. Preparation is what keeps you from making desperate, high-impact decisions when conditions turn.
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Stay on the trail, even when it's muddy — walking around a puddle widens the trail and tramples the edge vegetation that holds it together. Camp on established sites, rock, gravel, or dry grass, and keep camp at least 60 metres from lakes and streams. In pristine areas, spread out so no single spot takes a beating.
3. Dispose of waste properly
Pack it in, pack it out — all of it, including food scraps and orange peels, which take years to break down and teach animals to associate humans with food. For human waste, dig a cathole 15–20cm deep and at least 60 metres from water, trails, and camp, then pack out your toilet paper. In alpine and desert zones, pack out solid waste entirely.
4. Leave what you find
Take photos, not rocks, flowers, or artifacts. Don't build cairns, carve trees, or move stones — let the next person discover the place as wild as you found it.
5. Minimize campfire impacts
A stove cooks faster and leaves no scar. If you do build a fire, use an existing ring, keep it small, burn only dead-and-down wood, and drown it cold before you leave. In many alpine and desert areas, fires are simply off the table — know before you go.
6. Respect wildlife & 7. Be considerate
Watch animals from a distance, never feed them, and store food where they can't get it — a fed animal is often a dead animal. And give other people the quiet they came for: keep voices down, yield on the trail, and let the wild stay wild. Tread light, and the trail stays worth walking.
