Key takeaways
- Leave No Trace (LNT) is a set of seven principles for minimizing your impact outdoors.
- Core ideas: plan ahead, stay on durable surfaces, pack out all waste, and leave what you find.
- Also: minimize campfire impact, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors.
- The goal is to leave places as good as or better than you found them, for nature and future visitors.
What Leave No Trace is
Leave No Trace (LNT) is a framework of seven principles for enjoying the outdoors while minimizing the impact of our presence on land, water, wildlife, and other people. It isn’t a set of rules so much as an ethic — a way of making low-impact choices that, multiplied across millions of visitors, keep wild places intact.
The seven principles
- Plan ahead and prepare — know regulations, conditions, and pack appropriately.
- Travel and camp on durable surfaces — stay on trails and established sites.
- Dispose of waste properly — pack it in, pack it out; use catholes or a wag bag.
- Leave what you find — don’t take or alter natural and cultural features.
- Minimize campfire impacts — use a stove or existing fire rings.
- Respect wildlife — observe from afar, never feed, store food securely.
- Be considerate of other visitors — yield, keep noise down, share the trail.
At a backcountry camp, a hiker pitches on bare ground rather than meadow, cooks on a stove instead of a fire, stores food in a bear canister, and packs out every scrap of trash — leaving the site indistinguishable from untouched.
Why it matters
Popular wild places degrade fast under trampling, litter, and habituated wildlife. LNT spreads impact thin and keeps ecosystems and experiences healthy for everyone — which is why land managers and groups worldwide teach it as the baseline outdoor ethic.
The bottom line
Leave No Trace distills responsible outdoor recreation into seven memorable principles, from planning ahead to respecting wildlife and other visitors. None require special skill — just intention. Applied consistently, they keep wild places healthy and welcoming, so the trails and campsites we love survive the growing number of people who love them.
Frequently asked questions
What are the seven Leave No Trace principles?
They are: (1) Plan ahead and prepare, (2) Travel and camp on durable surfaces, (3) Dispose of waste properly, (4) Leave what you find, (5) Minimize campfire impacts, (6) Respect wildlife, and (7) Be considerate of other visitors. Together they form a complete ethic for low-impact outdoor recreation.
What does 'pack it in, pack it out' mean?
It's the shorthand for proper waste disposal (principle 3): everything you carry in — food scraps, wrappers, trash, and hygiene items — you carry back out, leaving nothing behind. In many areas it also extends to packing out human waste in a wag bag where catholes aren't allowed.
Why does Leave No Trace matter?
Heavily visited wild places degrade quickly from trampling, litter, fed wildlife, and crowding. LNT spreads and reduces that impact so ecosystems stay healthy and the experience remains good for everyone — the cumulative actions of millions of visitors make individual choices matter.
Sources
- The Seven Principles — Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
- Outdoor ethics — National Park Service