Leave No Trace For Beginners

A practical guide for first-time hikers and backpackers

If you’re new to hiking or backpacking, welcome. Truly.

A lot of people want to get outside, but hesitate because it can seem like everybody else already knows the rules, the gear, the etiquette, and the secret handshake. They don’t. Most of us learned by doing a few things right, a few things wrong, and hopefully having somebody patient enough to explain the difference.

That is one reason Leave No Trace matters so much.

Leave No Trace is not about being self-righteous or making beginners feel unwelcome. At its heart, it is an outdoor ethic and a practical framework for making good decisions outside. The goal is to prevent avoidable impacts, minimize unavoidable impacts, and protect both natural and cultural resources while keeping the outdoors enjoyable for everybody. The seven official principles are: Plan Ahead and Prepare; Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces; Dispose of Waste Properly; Leave What You Find; Minimize Campfire Impacts; Respect Wildlife; Be Considerate of Other Visitors. 

In plain English, it means this:

Enjoy the outdoors without slowly wrecking the very thing you came to enjoy.

That applies whether you are taking a short walk in a local park or heading into the backcountry for an overnight trip. Leave No Trace uses both frontcountry and backcountry language because good habits matter in both places. 

So let’s walk through it in a way that actually makes sense.

First: what do frontcountry and backcountry mean?

These are terms Leave No Trace uses often.

Frontcountry usually means places that are easier to access: local parks, roadside overlooks, busy trailheads, picnic areas, developed campgrounds, and short day hikes.

Backcountry usually means more remote places: longer trails, primitive campsites, overnight routes, and places where you are more responsible for taking care of yourself.

You do not have to be ten miles into the wilderness for Leave No Trace to matter. If anything, some of the heaviest impacts happen close to parking lots, overlooks, and popular trails because that is where the most people go.

So whether you are in the frontcountry or backcountry, the basic ethic is the same:

go lightly, pay attention, and leave the place better than your worst instincts would.

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare

This is the first principle because almost every other good decision depends on it. 

A lot of outdoor problems begin before the trip even starts:

• not enough water
• no rain layer
• no headlamp
• no idea where the trail actually goes
• no idea whether fires are allowed
• no plan for bathroom needs
• no awareness of weather, wildlife rules, or permit requirements

When people are tired, cold, hungry, lost, embarrassed, or in a hurry, they tend to make messy decisions. They cut switchbacks. They camp where they shouldn’t. They leave trash. They build a fire they do not need. They panic.

Planning ahead helps prevent that.

For beginners, this means:

• check the weather
• know the route
• know how long it really is
• understand water availability
• know the rules of the area
• bring the essentials
• pack for the actual conditions, not for wishful thinking

It also means being honest about your ability level. There is no shame in choosing the shorter trail, the better-marked route, or the developed campsite. Pride has marched plenty of people into situations they were not ready for.

A little preparation protects both you and the place.

2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

This is one of the most useful Leave No Trace phrases to learn: durable surfaces. Leave No Trace teaches people to travel and camp in ways that reduce damage to soil and vegetation. 

Durable surfaces include things like:

• established trails
• rock
• gravel
• dry grass in appropriate settings
• established campsites
• snow in certain conditions

The point is to travel and camp where the ground can handle your presence without being damaged too badly.

For most beginners, this means:

Stay on the trail

If the trail is muddy, walk through the mud, not around it. Walking around mud usually widens the trail and kills vegetation on the edges.

Do not cut switchbacks

That shortcut straight uphill may save you thirty seconds, but it also increases erosion and damages the slope.

Camp where people are already camping

In popular areas, the usual beginner-friendly approach is to use established campsites rather than creating a new one.

Do not “improve” the site

Do not drag logs, dig trenches, pull plants, or clear new ground because you want a prettier tent spot.

A simple way to remember this principle:

Let the durable surface absorb the impact, not the fragile one.

3. Dispose of Waste Properly

This is the principle people usually summarize as pack it in, pack it out, and that is still a good summary. 

If it came with you, it should leave with you.

That means:

• wrappers
• cans
• food scraps
• fruit peels
• nut shells
• tissues
• wipes
• hygiene items
• fishing line
• microtrash
• all of it

And yes, this includes the “but it’s natural” category. Orange peels, banana peels, sunflower seed shells, and apple cores may break down eventually, but that does not make them invisible or appropriate to leave behind.

Learn the word cathole

If you are backpacking in an area without toilets, one important Leave No Trace term is cathole.

A cathole is a small hole used for disposing of human waste in appropriate backcountry settings. The standard guidance in official Leave No Trace materials is typically 6 to 8 inches deep and at least 200 feet from water, trails, and campsites when possible. 

That means:

• bring a small trowel
• walk away from water, camp, and trail
• dig the cathole
• cover it properly when finished

In many heavily used places, the best practice for toilet paper is to pack it out. Wipes should always be packed out.

If there is a privy, vault toilet, or restroom, use it. That is often the best Leave No Trace option available.

This principle is not glamorous, but it matters a great deal. The woods are beautiful partly because people before you handled the unglamorous parts correctly.

4. Leave What You Find

This one is straightforward and harder for people than they expect.

If you find something interesting, beautiful, historic, or unusual, the default answer is:

leave it there.

That includes:

• wildflowers
• antlers
• feathers where possession is restricted
• old bottles
• foundations
• artifacts
• arrowheads
• mining remnants
• carvings
• unusual rocks
• neat bits of history

Leave No Trace specifically includes protecting natural and cultural resources, not just scenery. 

This also means not rearranging the place to suit your mood:

• do not build decorative rock piles for no reason
• do not carve names into trees or shelters
• do not “improve” things by hacking branches away
• do not pocket little souvenirs because “it’s just one”

If every visitor took one small thing, there would be nothing left that felt untouched.

Take photographs. Take memories. Take your own trash. Leave the place itself alone.

5. Minimize Campfire Impacts

Notice the wording here. Leave No Trace does not say “never have a fire.” It says Minimize Campfire Impacts. 

That is because fires can have real impacts:

• scarred ground
• blackened rocks
• stripped wood from the area
• half-burned trash
• damaged roots
• escaped fire
• visual mess for the next visitor

For beginners, the simplest advice is this:

Use a stove when you can

A small stove is usually easier, cleaner, and lower impact than building a fire just because a fire feels traditional.

If fires are allowed and appropriate:

• use an existing fire ring
• keep the fire small
• burn only appropriate wood if local rules allow
• burn it down completely
• drown it, stir it, and make sure it is cold

Never burn trash

Not wrappers, not foil, not cans, not wipes, not plastic. All that does is create gross, half-melted leftovers that the next person has to look at.

A good beginner question is not:

Can I have a fire?

It is:

Should I have a fire here?

Sometimes the best Leave No Trace fire is no fire at all.

6. Respect Wildlife

Wildlife is not there for our entertainment, our selfies, or our snack-sharing impulses.

Leave No Trace teaches people to observe wildlife from a distance, avoid feeding animals, and store food properly. The basic idea is simple: keep wildlife wild. 

For beginners, that means:

• do not feed animals
• do not approach them for a better photo
• do not corner them
• do not chase them
• do not leave food where they can get it
• do not assume smaller animals are harmless to the ecosystem just because they are cute

A good rule:

If the animal changes its behavior because of you, you are too close.

That could mean:

• a deer stops and stares nervously
• a bird starts alarm-calling
• a squirrel begins hovering because it expects food
• a bear lingers because it smells your snacks
• a raccoon starts patrolling camp like a paid employee

Wild animals that learn to associate people with food often end up paying the price later. Respect means distance, restraint, and proper food storage.

7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors

This principle protects something people often overlook: the experience of other people. 

The outdoors is shared space. Other visitors may be seeking quiet, beauty, challenge, solitude, family time, prayer, exercise, or simply relief from noise. They should not have to filter their experience through your speaker, your shouting, or your sprawling trail blockade.

So:

• keep noise down
• let the woods sound like woods
• yield politely on the trail
• keep your group from taking over the whole path
• manage pets responsibly
• do not monopolize overlooks, shelters, or campsites

And yes, this is where I say it:

leave the Bluetooth speaker at home.

You may think your playlist is enhancing the moment. The rest of the trail probably disagrees.

Courtesy is part of stewardship too.

Common beginner mistakes

If you are new, here are a few of the most common mistakes people make:

• leaving orange peels or apple cores because they seem “natural”
• walking around mud and widening the trail
• cutting switchbacks
• camping in a fresh new patch of ground instead of using an established site
• building a larger fire than necessary
• burning trash
• going to the bathroom too close to water or trail
• picking flowers or pocketing artifacts
• playing music out loud
• feeding wildlife, intentionally or accidentally

None of these necessarily make someone awful. Usually it just means nobody explained why those things matter.

That is the whole point of education.

A simple beginner checklist

Before you go:

• check weather and regulations
• know the route
• bring enough water
• pack layers and a light
• know if fires are allowed
• know your waste plan

While you are there:

• stay on durable surfaces
• use established campsites where appropriate
• pack out trash and food scraps
• use toilets when available
• use proper cathole practices where appropriate
• leave rocks, flowers, and artifacts where they are
• keep wildlife wild
• be considerate of others

Before you leave:

• scan for microtrash
• look back at your site
• ask yourself whether it looks like you were ever there at all

That last question is a good one.

The goal is not perfection

You do not have to know everything right away. You do not have to perform outdoor virtue. You do not have to become unbearable after one weekend with a backpack and a titanium mug.

You just need to start building good habits.

Leave No Trace is not about anxiety. It is about awareness. It is about learning to notice that our choices matter, and then choosing well more often.

That is all.

And honestly, that is a lot.

If more people learned that early, more trails would stay narrow, more campsites would stay clean, more wildlife would stay wild, and more beginners would feel welcome learning how to do this well.

So get outside. Start small. Learn steadily. Pay attention.

And leave the place looking like you were wise enough to know it was never really yours in the first place.

---

• Leave No Trace Ethics Guide
• The 7 Principles of LNT