Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace is a framework of outdoor ethics and practices for reducing human impacts on natural areas. Its seven principles guide choices before, during, and after a visit.

Plan Ahead and Prepare: A Leave No Trace principle calling for preparation that reduces hazards, waste, and damage during outdoor trips. Trip planning helps prevent avoidable impacts before they occur.
Backcountry Camping: Camping in remote areas with limited or no developed facilities. Dispersed travel and scarce facilities make campsite choice and waste handling especially consequential.
National Outdoor Leadership School: An American outdoor education organization founded in 1965 that teaches wilderness skills and leadership. NOLS helped develop and teach the practices that became Leave No Trace.
Recreation Ecology: The study of ecological effects caused by recreation and how those effects can be managed. Leave No Trace applies recreation-ecology findings to visitor choices.
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces: A Leave No Trace principle that directs visitors onto resilient terrain and established routes or campsites. Concentrating use limits trampling and the spread of damaged ground.
Hiking: Recreational walking on trails or through natural landscapes. Staying on durable routes helps prevent trail widening and vegetation loss.
The Wilderness Society: An American conservation organization founded in 1935 to protect wild lands and wilderness. Its conservation work formed part of the movement that promoted low-impact outdoor travel.
Trampling: Physical damage to vegetation or soil caused by repeated footsteps or other pressure. Foot traffic can compact soil, kill plants, and widen informal routes.
Dispose of Waste Properly: A Leave No Trace principle requiring visitors to pack out trash and manage human waste appropriately. Waste practices protect water, wildlife, and the experience of other visitors.
Human Waste Disposal: Methods for containing or depositing human feces and urine in ways that limit health and environmental harms. Backcountry visitors must follow local rules when toilets are unavailable.

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