Principles
- Carry in; carry out.
- Leave only footprints; take only pictures.
- Travel and camp on durable surfaces.
- In popular areas, concentrate use on existing trails and campsites. In pristine areas, disperse use.
- Good campsites are found, not made. Don’t alter a site.
- Know and respect the use restrictions of the area where you are traveling.
Trip Preparation
- Use food containers that double as trash containers.
- Take trash bags and pick up refuse, yours and that of others.
- Limit groups size in general, to 10 in wilderness areas.
Travel
- Stay on the trail; do not cut across or create switchbacks.
- Where possible, walk in mud rather than widen the trail.
- Leave the trail to defecate, step off the trail to urinate.
- If you leave a trail, avoid damage to plant life and unstable ground.
- When bushwhacking, spread out, do not walk in the footprints of others.
Campsites
- In wilderness areas or away from established campsites:
- Camp out of sight of trails, streams and lakes.
- Choose sites free of ground plants.
- Do not dig ditches around tents or otherwise alter the site.
- Use backpack stoves to cook and heat water and candle lanterns for light. No fires.
- When leaving, return the site to an apparently unused condition by sweeping the site with dead branches and covering marks from tents and other activities with brush.
In established campsites:
- Use backpack stoves to cook and heat water.
- Do not expand established campsites by spreading out.
- When leaving, check the site for refuse or lost items.
- Keep fires small.
- Use existing fire rings; do not scorch rocks.
- If there are no fire rings, build fires on mineral soil, not organic soil.
- Burn wood from downed, dead trees. Standing dead trees have a major role in forest ecology.
- Burn all wood and coals to ash. Make sure your fire is out. Pick unburned trash from ashes.
Sanitation
- Carry water away from water sources to bathe and wash dishes. Scatter strained dishwater.
- Clean up spilled foods.
- Put food in a bear bag to protect against rodents and bears.
- Use a cat hole to defecate, away from water sources.
- Pack out all garbage and trash, including used toilet paper and hygiene products.
Courtesy
- Downhill hikers yield to uphill hikers.
- Keep dogs on leashes; bury their waste.
Environmental
- Respect the privacy of other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.
- Use clothing and equipment that blends into the environment.
- Avoid any interaction with wildlife, especially intentionally or accidentally feeding them.
- Do not collect plants, animals, or human artifacts.
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