Leave No Trace for Car Campers: The 7 Principles in Practice

The seven Leave No Trace principles come from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, and the National Park Service publishes a summary of them for visitors. They're often taught with backpackers in mind, but nearly every one applies when your gear is a few steps away in the car. Here's what each principle looks like at a drive-in site.

1. Plan ahead and prepare

The NPS summary of this principle starts with knowing the rules and hazards of the place you're visiting. For car campers, that means checking a few things before you leave home:

• Fire rules. Are campfires allowed, and are there current restrictions?
• Food storage rules. Does the campground require lockers, or can food stay in your vehicle?
• Firewood. Can you buy it near the campground?
• Quiet hours, pet rules and stay limits for your campground or forest.

Repackaging food at home cuts down on the trash you'll need to deal with at camp, another tip from the NPS summary.

2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces

In a developed campground, the durable surface has already been chosen for you. Pitch your tent on the tent pad, park in the parking spur and use the paths that are already there instead of cutting through vegetation to the restroom.

At dispersed sites, the same idea matters even more. Use a spot that's already been camped on instead of clearing a new one. Mt. Hood National Forest, for example, asks campers to choose an existing dispersed site, to camp at least 100 feet from streams, rivers and lakes, and to stay no more than 14 consecutive days in one location. Rules vary by forest, so check with the ranger district for the area you're visiting.

A note on finding dispersed sites: please don't post exact coordinates of quiet spots online. Shared pins can concentrate use on places that can't handle it. Ranger districts and official maps are the right way to find where dispersed camping is allowed.

3. Dispose of waste properly

Car camping makes "pack it in, pack it out" easier, because you have room to carry trash home. The NPS summary of this principle asks you to carry out all trash and leftover food and to check your site for litter before you leave. A practical routine:

• Do a final sweep of your site for micro-trash: bottle caps, twist ties, foil scraps and food bits around the picnic table and fire ring.
• Use the restrooms where they're provided.
• Handle dishwater carefully. The NPS summary says to wash yourself and your dishes at least 200 feet from water, use only a little biodegradable soap and scatter strained dishwater. Pack out the food scraps you strain out. If your campground posts its own rules for dishwater, follow them.

At dispersed sites without toilets, Mt. Hood's guidance is to dig a hole about 6 inches deep at least 100 feet from any water source, fill it in and pack out toilet paper.

4. Leave what you find

Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects where they are. Look at and photograph historic structures and artifacts without touching them. The NPS summary also asks visitors not to build structures, furniture or trenches. At a campground, that means no rock walls, hammered nails or carved picnic tables. A second side of this principle is not bringing things in: the NPS summary says not to introduce or transport non-native species, which brings us to firewood.

5. Minimize campfire impacts

Campfires are part of the car-camping experience, so this principle takes some care.

• Use the existing fire ring. Both the NPS summary and Forest Service campfire guidance say to use established rings where fires are allowed. Keep the fire small.
• Check restrictions first. Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest tells campers to check current fire restrictions before they go.
• Don't move firewood. The NPS explains that firewood can carry invasive insects and fungal spores, and recommends buying it near where you'll burn it. Packaged wood with a USDA APHIS or state heat-treatment seal is generally considered safe to move. Leave extra wood at camp or with the camp host rather than taking it home.
• Burn it down and put it out completely. The NPS summary says to burn wood down to ash, put the fire out completely and scatter cool ashes. Forest Service guidance spells out the method: drown the fire with plenty of water, stir the ashes and embers until everything is wet, and touch-test the coals and ring to make sure they're cool.
• Never leave a fire unattended, and keep water and a shovel nearby.

6. Respect wildlife

At campgrounds, this principle is mostly about food. The NPS bear safety guidance says to keep food within arm's reach or properly stored, and points out that bears treat coolers, toiletries, sunscreen, bug spray and fuel as food. It says never to store food in a truck bed or strapped to the outside of a vehicle, and not to burn leftover food in the fire.

Rules vary by park. At Rocky Mountain National Park, campers use the shared food lockers first. If they're full, food goes in the trunk or out of sight in the passenger compartment with windows closed and doors locked. Rocky Mountain also asks that coolers, even bear-resistant ones, be stored away whenever the site is empty, and that dirty dishes and grills be cleaned and stored like food. Some parks only allow food in vehicles during the day, so check the rules for your destination.

And as the NPS summary says, watch wildlife from a distance and never feed animals.

7. Be considerate of other visitors

Campgrounds put strangers close together, so courtesy matters:

• Keep voices and music low, especially during posted quiet hours.
• Keep pets under control and follow pet rules.
• Point lights down and turn off bright lanterns when you're done with them.
• Walk around other campsites, not through them.

The short version

Use what's already there: the pad, the ring and the existing site. Store every scented item. Buy firewood locally and make sure your fire is cold before you leave. Pack out more than you brought in.

Sources

• NPS: Leave No Trace Seven Principles
• USDA Forest Service: Mt. Hood National Forest, Dispersed Camping
• USDA Forest Service: Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Campfires
• NPS: I Didn't Know That! Don't Move Firewood
• NPS: Bears, Storing Food
• NPS: Rocky Mountain National Park, Food Storage at Campgrounds and Trailheads

Last verified: November 1, 2026.