Leave No Trace Camping: Simple Ways to Protect the Outdoors
One of the best things about camping is waking up somewhere that feels a million miles away from normal life.
You unzip the tent, stick your head out, and there it is. Trees, hills, a lake, the sound of birds doing whatever birds do in the morning. No traffic. No emails. No one asking you what you’re doing for dinner.
It’s pretty easy to fall in love with places like that.
And once you do, you tend to want to look after them.
That’s really what Leave No Trace is about. It sounds a little formal, but it doesn’t need to be. You don’t have to become some sort of wilderness inspector with a clipboard. It’s mostly about camping without leaving a mess behind or making life harder for the people, animals and campers who come after you.
Here are a few things I’ve found make a difference.
Take a little care choosing where you pitch
Finding the perfect camping spot is half the fun.
You know the one. Flat enough to sleep on, sheltered from the wind, decent view, and preferably not sitting in a puddle.
If you can, try to use an established pitch or an area that can cope with being walked on. There’s not much point flattening a patch of lovely wild grass just because it happens to look good for the tent.
It’s also worth thinking about where you’re putting everything else. Keep the chairs, cooking gear and bags in one small area rather than slowly spreading your campsite across half the landscape.
A decent camping chair helps with that more than you might think. Once you’re comfortable, there’s less temptation to drag bits of kit all over the place. There are some practical options in the Outdoor Chairs section.
And yes, checking the weather before you go is probably worth doing too. We’ve all been the person who confidently packs for sunshine and then spends the evening discovering exactly how waterproof their tent isn’t.
The golden rule: if it came with you, it goes home with you
This one sounds obvious, but camping has a strange way of making small bits of rubbish disappear.
A crisp packet blows under the car. A bottle cap rolls into the grass. Someone drops a bit of food packaging and doesn’t notice.
Before you know it, your supposedly tidy campsite looks like it’s hosted a very small festival.
I usually keep a rubbish bag somewhere obvious so there’s no excuse. It also makes packing up much quicker.
And don’t leave food behind because you think it’ll rot away eventually. Banana skins and orange peel might be biodegradable, but that doesn’t mean they belong where you’re camping.
If you’re camping for a few days, a power bank can be genuinely useful too. It means you’re not relying on disposable batteries for every gadget you bring along. There are some Power Banks & Solar Chargers worth a look.
The important bit isn’t what you use. Just remember to take it all home.
Campfires are brilliant. So is knowing when not to have one.
There’s something about a campfire that makes even a fairly average camping trip feel like an adventure.
But they’re not always a good idea.
Check the rules wherever you’re camping, and if fires aren’t allowed, that’s usually a pretty good indication that there’s a reason.
When fires are permitted, using an existing fire area is usually the easiest option. Keep things under control and make sure it’s properly out before you leave.
For everyday cooking, I usually find a stove much easier anyway. Less fuss, less smoke in your face and you don’t have to spend half the evening hunting for firewood.
A small camping table can make cooking easier too. Somewhere to put the stove, food and mugs is surprisingly useful once you’ve spent enough time balancing everything on a log. Have a look at the Camping Tables if you’re after one.
Sometimes the simplest setup is the best one.
Wildlife is part of the experience
One of the nicest parts of camping is seeing wildlife going about its business.
The trick is to let it carry on doing exactly that.
It’s tempting to leave a few scraps out for the birds or get a little too close when you spot an animal nearby. But wildlife is generally better off finding its own food, and animals that learn to associate campsites with easy meals can quickly become a nuisance.
I prefer keeping food packed away and enjoying the wildlife from a bit of a distance. You often see more that way anyway.
If you’re camping with a dog, it’s worth keeping in mind what’s around the campsite and where you’re walking. A travel bowl is useful for keeping food and water together, and there are some options in the Travel Bowls section.
Mostly, though, I like the fact that wildlife can carry on around the campsite without becoming part of it.
Resist the temptation to take a souvenir
Camping has a funny way of making ordinary things look special.
A particularly nice stone. A feather. A bit of driftwood. A shell.
You think, I’ll take that home.
Then you get home, put it on a shelf, and six months later have absolutely no idea where it came from.
Better to leave it where you found it.
Apart from anything else, if everyone took a little souvenir home, there wouldn’t be much left for the next person to enjoy.
The same applies to flowers, plants and anything that looks remotely historic. Take a photo instead. It takes up considerably less room in the car.
For those little jobs around camp, a multi-tool is far more useful than dismantling the scenery for spare parts.
Keep the campsite comfortable after dark
Part of the appeal of camping for me is how much quieter everything feels once the evening comes around.
There’s usually no need for loads of lighting either. A decent headtorch or lantern is enough for finding your way around, making a drink or sorting something out in the tent. There are some useful options in the Lighting & Lanterns section.
I also like having less light around once everything is sorted.
If you’re somewhere properly dark, give your eyes a few minutes to adjust. The night sky can be one of the best parts of the whole trip, and it’s easy to miss when the campsite is lit up like a garden party.
Don’t make ten trips when two will do
This is partly about looking after the ground and partly about saving yourself from unnecessary exercise.
If you’ve got a car nearby, it’s very easy to make endless trips carrying one chair, then the stove, then the food, then the bag you forgot, then back again because you forgot the other bag.
A camping wagon can be genuinely handy if you’re carrying a lot of stuff. Load it once and move everything together rather than turning the campsite into your own personal shuttle service.
There are some Heavy Duty Wagons here if that’s something you need.
Although, obviously, don’t buy a wagon just so you can put one rucksack in it. At that point you’ve probably made things more complicated, not less.
The five-minute check before you leave
This is probably my favourite camping habit.
Once everything is packed, stop.
Don’t immediately jump in the car.
Have a quick wander around the pitch and look for the things that somehow escaped your attention.
A tent peg. A bit of guyline. A bottle cap. A crisp packet. The inevitable teaspoon that has somehow travelled six metres from where you were cooking.
Pick it all up.
Have a look at the ground where your tent was. If you’ve moved a few things around, put them back where they belong.
Then take one last look at the campsite.
Ideally, it should look pretty much like it did when you arrived.
That’s the whole idea.
Camping without making a big thing of it
You don’t need to be perfect.
You’re going to walk on some grass. You’re probably going to drop something at some point. You might accidentally leave a tiny dent where your tent was sitting.
That’s camping.
Leave No Trace isn’t about turning every weekend outdoors into an environmental exam. It’s simply about being considerate and leaving places in decent condition.
For me, that’s really all it comes down to. Enjoy the place, take a little care while you’re there, and leave it in much the same condition as you found it.
Nothing complicated, and it doesn’t need to get in the way of having a good weekend.
Now put the kettle on, and start thinking about where you’re going next.