“Camp away from water” is good ethics but bad navigation — how far is away? Leave No Trace works as a set of measurable distances, depths and heights, and most campsite damage comes from people who vaguely meant well and simply guessed the numbers. This guide walks all seven principles with the exact figures behind them: 200-foot setbacks, 6–8 inch cat holes, 15-foot fire clearance, and the Pacific Crest Trail bear-hang geometry that keeps wildlife wild and your food yours.
Why the numbers matter
Riparian soil is slow to recover, human waste carries pathogens into the very water downstream users drink, campfire rings multiply across meadows like slow-motion litter, and a bear that connects tents with food becomes a bear that managers must destroy. Distances are the cheapest, most effective tool in the whole ethics framework — they require no special gear, only pacing. Use this quick-reference table, then read the reasoning behind each row.
| Activity | Minimum distance | Metric | Pace-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat hole from water, camp, trail | 200 ft | ≈ 61 m | ≈ 70 adult steps |
| Washing and dishwater from water | 200 ft | ≈ 61 m | ≈ 70 steps |
| Cooking area from sleeping spot | 200 ft, downwind | ≈ 61 m | ≈ 70 steps |
| Fire from tent and low branches | 15 ft clearance | ≈ 4.5 m | ≈ 5 long strides |
| Bear bag bottom above ground | 6 ft minimum | ≈ 1.8 m | — |
1. Plan ahead and prepare
Every other principle gets easier with homework. Check land-manager rules before departure — many watersheds, alpine zones and popular trails require canisters, ban fires seasonally, or mandate pack-out toilets. Repackage food at home to cut packaging waste, carry enough bags to pack out everything (including toilet paper in many areas), and match group size to regulations, commonly capped around 8–12 people. Know the weather, carry the right map, and time the trip to avoid saturating a fragile area at peak weekend crowds. A prepared party does not improvise fire rings on wet nights or bury trash “just this once.”
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Durable means rock, gravel, dry grasses, snow, established trails and established campsites — surfaces that survive repeated contact. The rule flips depending on where you are:
- On popular, well-used sites: concentrate. Camp in the middle of the existing bare pad, keep foot traffic to established paths, and do not enlarge the footprint. A single worn campsite heals; ten parallel satellite ones never do.
- In pristine, untraveled country: disperse. Where no site exists, spread tents and traffic so no spot gets repeated impact, and choose surfaces like pine-needle duff or gravel. Avoid camping within the 200-foot riparian setback from lakes and streams, where vegetation is wettest, softest and slowest to regrow.
On trails, walk through mud rather than widening the path around it; bootprints heal, trail braids persist for decades.
3. Dispose of waste properly
Pack out all trash, leftover food and litter — including food scraps you assume are “natural”; a banana peel takes roughly two years to disappear at elevation and teaches animals to associate camps with calories. For human waste, dig a cat hole at least 200 feet (about 70 adult steps, 61 m) from water, camp and trails, make it 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) deep, do your business, cover with the original soil and natural duff, and disguise the spot. Use a trowel rather than heels — a proper hole keeps waste away from flies, runoff and digging animals.
Toilet paper does not reliably decompose in cold or dry climates and blows out of shallow holes: pack it out in a sealed bag alongside sanitary products. In high-use basins, river canyons and frozen ground, land managers increasingly require carrying waste out in wag bags — check before you dig.
Washing yourself and the dishes
Carry wash and rinse water 200 feet away from the source before using it. Even biodegradable soap does not belong directly in a lake or stream — its phosphates and oils feed algae and disrupt aquatic insects; “biodegradable” means it breaks down in soil over time, not instantly in water. Scatter strained dishwater broadly over mineral soil, flick food bits into the trash bag, and use a bandana or tiny drops of soap rather than a squirt.
4. Leave what you find
Examine rocks, plants, antlers, artifacts and wildflowers, then leave them in place for the next person's equal discovery. Do not build furniture, trenches or new fire rings, and never hammer tent stakes into trees or carve bark. Historic and indigenous artifacts — arrowheads, old cans, cabin remnants — are protected on public land and carry legal penalties when removed. A good camp looks identical when you leave: no stacked rocks, no cut boughs, no marker cairns that mislead later parties.
5. Minimize campfire impacts
Stoves cause a fraction of the impact of fires and are allowed in many areas where flames are banned. When a fire is legal and appropriate, contain it ruthlessly:
- Use an existing fire ring or a mound/pan setup; never start a new ring, and observe all seasonal fire bans and permits.
- Keep the fire at least 15 feet (about 4.5 m) from the tent, gear and low-hanging branches, with no overhead canopy directly above.
- Burn only dead, downed wood no thicker than your wrist — fist-sized sticks that ignite fast and burn completely to ash; never saw limbs off standing or live trees.
- Burn everything fully down to white ash, let it go cold, drown it with water while stirring, and scatter the cold ashes only where local rules permit. A ring with blackened half-logs advertises a careless fire.
6. Respect wildlife: distance and food storage
Observe animals from a distance that never changes their behavior: no feeding, no approaching for photos, no storing anything scented in the tent — that includes toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm and deodorant. A fed animal is a dead animal, and a bear that has learned the smell of human food loses its wariness and often its life. Secure all attractants day and night, and give large mammals at least a rifle-shot of space; in bear country, carry approved bear spray on your hip, not in the pack.
The PCT hang geometry
The classic Pacific Crest Trail hang requires a live branch at least 12 feet (3.7 m) high, with the bag suspended at least 4 feet (1.2 m) out from the trunk and its bottom 6 feet (1.8 m) above the ground; bears climb trunks and reach from below, mice dive from above. Most real forests lack the perfect branch, which is exactly why the geometry frustrates people. Work out the rope length, branch height and counterbalance setup with the bear hang & food storage calculator before dusk — hangs rigged in the dark with headlamps are the ones that fail at 3 a.m.
Canisters and the cooking setback
Where hangable trees do not exist — alpine basins, desert canyons, designated Sierra and Rockies zones — an approved bear-resistant canister is required and is simply the better tool. Store it 200 feet from the tent at ground level, wedged behind rocks or roots so it cannot roll. Cook and eat at least 200 feet downwind of where you sleep, in clothes you then store with the food, so your sleeping site carries no food signal at all.
7. Be considerate, and score your site
Keep voices low after dusk, leave the Bluetooth speaker at home, yield to stock animals by stepping off the downhill side, and let quiet travelers pass without making them negotiate your drying laundry. Campsite selection ties every principle together: score candidates on a ten-point scale with the campsite evaluator before pitching — drainage (no pooling under the tent), widow-makers (dead branches overhead), wind exposure, the 200-foot water setback, game trails that funnel wildlife past your door, flat durable ground, privacy from other parties, legal status, sunrise orientation, and a clean kitchen zone downwind. A site that scores well keeps you dry, keeps the land intact, and means the next visitors find the same place you did: wild.