Beer cans and graffiti. Shell casings and firecrackers. Taco Bell wrappers and Mountain Dew bottles. If you’ve ridden and camped in America long enough, you’ve come across more than a few campsites decorated with these leavings.
As motorcyclists and outdoor enthusiasts, we have a responsibility to protect the wilderness we explore. I’ve lived on the road for the better part of my career, and seen far too many once-pristine free campsites closed to the public because of morons who think “camping” means rolling up in a vehicle, getting wasted, doing burnouts, and leaving all their junk behind in the morning.
But although it’s relatively easy to be a good steward of the wilderness, it’s about more than simply packing out your trash. Even if you think of yourself as a responsible camper, you might be leaving an impact in ways you don’t even realize. In this article, we’ll talk about the seven principles of “Leave No Trace,” the leading system of outdoor ethics both in the United States and abroad. We’ll also cover the off-road-focused framework Tread Lightly.
What is Leave No Trace? A Short History
“Leave No Trace” (LNT) is an American framework of outdoor ethics that dates to the mid-1960s. At the time, America’s national parks and other wilderness spaces were rapidly gaining popularity. Unfortunately, this led to a corresponding rise in littering, accidental forest fires, trail-cutting erosion, and other ecological damages. In those early years, “Leave No Trace” was just a loose slogan thrown around by park rangers and wilderness guides, trying to remind the public of their impact on the outdoors.
As the problems of overcrowding grew worse, the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Forest Service (USFS) picked up on the slogan. In 1987, they collectively published a pamphlet, “Leave No Trace Land Ethics,” that expanded on the phrase, outlining exactly how park visitors could leave no trace. By 1994, the pamphlet’s success had sparked the creation of a nonprofit—the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.
The Leave No Trace Center, which still exists today, serves several roles. It promotes the “Seven Principles,” which we’ll learn about below, but it also funds science and research, spearheads professional training and youth education programs, and provides resources for outdoor enthusiasts looking to minimize their footprint. Today, organizations and brands worldwide—from the Boy Scouts of America to The North Face—have adopted the Leave No Trace principles.
The Seven Leave No Trace Principles
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
The first step to a successful trip is good planning. This includes scoping weather and trail conditions, printing (or downloading) maps, checking local regulations, and packing adequate gear, apparel, food, and water. Your kit should always include the Ten Essentials: Navigation, Sun Protection, Insulation, Illumination, First Aid, Fire, Repair Kit, Nutrition, Hydration, and Shelter.
In short, become familiar with the area you plan to enter. Are you likely to encounter wildlife? Do you need bear canisters? Can you start a fire? Do you need a backcountry permit? What’s the snowpack level? What will temperatures be like? This may seem obvious, but planning (good or bad) is often the make-or-break point for an expedition.
Two days ago I attempted to traverse five 14,000-foot peaks in the Palisade Range. The climbing was going well and the weather was great, but I’d failed to charge my portable power bank in advance. This (seemingly minor) mistake resulted in my phone dying early, me then having no access to my route maps and beta, rappelling into the wrong gully, getting my rope stuck, nearly killing myself by pulling out a hail of rockfall trying to get the rope loose, and ultimately deciding to bail on the trip without finishing.
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
This is especially important for us motorcyclists. Lugged tires leave a hell of a lot more mark than feet. Remember, designated trails and campsites exist for a reason. If you stick to these, you’re concentrating your impact and allowing natural ecosystems to thrive undisturbed.
It may seem minor to venture or camp off-trail now and then, but one person becomes two, and two becomes four, and soon you have dozens of people cutting switchbacks or packing the ground out of campsites that never should have existed in the first place.
Everyone will have to venture off-trail now and then. In some countries, like New Zealand, it’s par for the course. But when you do, choose rocky or sandy areas or other resilient surfaces—as opposed to grass, mud, and dirt—to minimize erosion.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
If you brought it in, bring it out. This includes food waste, personal hygiene products, and toilet paper. Some high-use wilderness regions—like the Mount Whitney Zone in California—even require you to pack out your feces in a “wag bag.” This might sound crazy, but when you consider tens of thousands of people attempting to hike this mountain (on the same trail) each year, it’s easy to see that, well… shit adds up.
When packing out human defecate isn't required, dispose of it by burying it in a hole 6-8 inches deep and at least 200 feet from water sources and trails. This also goes for washing clothes and dishes. When washing, use small amounts of biodegradable soap. Carry the dirty water 200 feet away from lakes, streams, or other bodies of water, and scatter it in a wide arc instead of pouring it in one place.
4. Leave What You Find
This one’s simple. Don’t take stuff out of the backcountry, and make as few changes to the environment as possible. Don’t carve your initials on trees. Don’t take rocks or plants as souvenirs. This stuff may seem minor, but again, when you consider the thousands upon thousands of other people who may do the same thing over months or years, you can see it adds up.
If you do have to construct a shelter, dig a trench, or make some other change to the natural environment for safety reasons, break your setup down when you’re done, and try to return the space to its original appearance as best you can.
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Camping really isn’t the same without a roaring fire, but campfires require responsible management. Wildfires that have burned homes, killed people, and scarred thousands of acres of land have started with a lazy camper and a campfire.
What’s more, as Earth’s climate warms, wildfires are increasingly becoming more widespread. Per Global Forest Watch forest fires today are burning twice as much tree cover as they did two decades ago.
So when you start a fire, do it right. Only build fires in areas (and during seasons) where it’s legal, and use designated fire rings whenever possible. Collect your firewood responsibly, using only dead and downed wood to avoid harming living trees.
Most importantly, put your fire out properly. Douse the embers with water, and stir the ashes until they’re cool to the touch. This may sound extreme, but many wildfires have been started by campers leaving behind hot embers, which wind can catch and carry into dry grasses, for example.
6. Respect Wildlife
When entering the wilderness, you’re entering the home of countless wild animals. Observing native wildlife is one of the coolest parts of camping, but these animals have to be respected, both for your safety and their own.
It’s cool that you think you’re a badass and aren’t scared of a bear, but think of the animals, too. Just a few days ago, a friendly black bear, Victor, was euthanized in Mammoth Lakes after a female camper refused to back away from him, filming a video for her TikTok page. Victor, trying to get at some food, swiped at the woman, minorly injuring her. Wildlife officials later tracked him down and killed him.
Do not feed, follow, or approach wildlife. (If a bear comes near you, back away.) Do not bring pets into the outdoors unless local regulation allows. If it does (and you do), keep them under control. In particular, be careful not to disturb wildlife during sensitive periods like mating, nesting, or winter hibernation.
This includes properly storing food. Use hanging bags or canisters for foods and other smellables when required to prevent unwanted wildlife encounters. Last week I forgot to bring a storage canister up to Finger Lake in the Sierra Nevada, and mice tore into half my food stash.
My girlfriend and I made the same mistake while motorcycle camping in Vietnam. A rat ate through her favorite backpack to get at some steak tips I’d stashed in there.
She wasn’t happy.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
This one should be easy. The outdoors are for everyone. Respecting the land, plants, and animals is important, but we also have to respect each other. Motorbikes are already loud and often looked at askance by fellow outdoors enthusiasts. So leave the loud music, raucous lovemaking, and rowdy nonsense at home. No one wants to hear that. Keep a clean camp, try to avoid disturbing other folks, yield trail to hikers coming uphill… You know the drill. Be chill.
Critiques of Leave No Trace
For the most part, Leave No Trace is a highly-regarded outdoor ethics system. But some experts argue that it oversimplifies the issue, failing to account for regional differences. Leaving no trace in the bayous of Louisiana, for example, requires a different skill set than leaving no trace in the high deserts of Nevada.
Others say that the Leave No Trace principles promote a view of nature as separate from humans, leading to an “exclusionist” approach, or that it doesn’t take into account indigenous practices and longstanding cultural traditions in certain regions, such as sustainable hunting and fishing.
Still others say that Leave No Trace doesn’t go far enough. In a 2009 issue of Ethics, Place and Environment, Gregory Simon and Peter Alagona offered an additional seven principles of wilderness ethics, through a paper entitled “Beyond Leave No Trace.” These principles are:
- Educate yourself and others about the places you visit
- Purchase only the equipment and clothing you need
- Take care of the equipment and clothing you have
- Make conscientious food, equipment, and clothing consumption choices
- Minimize waste production
- Reduce energy consumption
- Get involved by conserving and restoring the places you visit
The pair further elaborated explained their opinion that Leave No Trace “could not exist in its current form without a plethora of consumer products” and that “the use of such products does not erase environmental impacts,” adding that Leave No Trace “systematically obscures these impacts, displacements, and connections by encouraging the false belief that it is possible to leave no trace.”
The key thing to understand, however, is that although there are criticisms of Leave No Trace, these critiques focus on adding to (not detracting from) the existing principles. They see Leave No Trace as not going far enough, but agree with the core philosophy of respecting and preserving natural space.
What is T.R.E.A.D. Lightly—Guidelines for Low-Impact Off-Roading?
Tread Lightly is another nonprofit similar to Leave No Trace, but with a specific focus on off-road powersports like motorcycling, boating, and four-wheeling. Tread Lightly espouses their own principles via the acronym T.R.E.A.D. These principles tread (hah hah) a lot of the same ground as the LNT principles, but they’re worth covering here as well.
Travel Responsibly
on land by staying on designated roads, trails and area. Go over, not around, obstacles to avoid widening the trails. Cross streams only at designated fords. when possible, avoid wet, muddy trails. On water, stay on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.
Respect the Rights of Others
including private property owners, all recreational trail users, campers and others so they can enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed. Leave gates as you found them. Yield right of way to those passing you or going uphill. On water, respect anglers, swimmers, skiers, boaters, divers and those on or near shore.
Educate Yourself
prior to your trip by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies. Plan for your trip, take recreation skills classes and know how to operate your equipment safely.
Avoid Sensitive Areas
on land such as meadows, lake shores, wetlands and streams. Always ride with caution any time water is present. Wet soils are more susceptible to damage. Riding along river and stream beds causes erosion and habitat destruction. Stay on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitats and sensitive soils from damage. Don’t disturb historical, archeological or paleontological sites. On water, avoid operating your watercraft in shallow waters or near shorelines at high speeds.
Do Your Part
by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species and repairing degraded areas.
Conclusion: Go Easy on the Wilderness
There are enough 7-Eleven parking lots and burned-out backlots in the world. If you want to see used condoms and firepits stuffed with beer cans, there are plenty of places to go. (Mad Max wasn’t supposed to be a prophetic documentary, although some of those motorbike chases do look pretty fun.)
The point is, there aren’t many wild spaces left in the United States, and the ones that are around only stay wild if we keep them that way. If you enjoy pristine, untrammeled wilderness, then make sure the riders and campers that come after you get to enjoy it, too.
Every season, trailhead, campsite, and wilderness area requires slightly different preparation and practices, but keep the Leave No Trace and Tread Lightly principles in mind anytime you head out into the wilderness.
As the adage goes: Take only photos, leave only footprints. (Or tire tracks.)
Owen Clarke is an American action sports journalist primarily covering rock climbing and adventure motorcycling. He has ridden (and crashed) motorcycles on six continents. Among other roles, he is a frequent contributor to Climbing, Outside, and Summit Journal, and is the Africa Climbs & Expeditions editor for the American Alpine Journal.