My 6 Principles of Leaving no Trace

I absolutely love wild camping, it is a wonderful freedom to carry your home and everything you need on your back. The freedom to just walk until you want to sleep, not worrying about how much light is left in the day and whether you will finish the walk before the day turns to night. Falling asleep to stars above you and waking with the first light. But as camping has become more popular over the years, I feel like some people either aren’t aware of or don’t understand the principles of leaving no trace and being respectful to the places we’re visiting and other people who are visiting along with us. So I thought I’d write this post sharing what principles I try to stick to when I wild camp and I hope you find it useful!

Here is my list in brief ~

Take absolutely everything you brought with you away with you
Be inconspicuous & arrive late, leave early
Respect & protect the environment & wildlife
No big groups, fires or music
Toilet hygiene
Plan ahead & don’t stay more than one night

Take absolutely everything you brought away with you ~

If you don’t want to take it away when you leave your camp, don’t bring it in the first place. Once you’ve packed up in the morning, do a final check of the area to make sure you haven’t left anything behind. Taking everything away with you, this includes your compostable waste such as fruit peelings, it also includes your used loo roll! I know it sounds gross but don’t leave your loo roll behind. It can take years to decompose! I take a sealed bag with me to carry it back home, or to the nearest public toilet, where I can then wash it away.

Be inconspicuous & arrive late, leave early ~

I know it’s nice to set up camp and create a homely environment. But wild camping is still illegal in the UK, apart from Scotland and parts of Dartmoor. So being inconspicuous is quite important to me. It’s not only about the laws but also about being respectful of other people enjoying the countryside. They may be out for a quiet walk in solitude and might not want to see a brightly coloured tent or hear blaring music. When Brochan and I buy tents, the colour is very important. We only buy a natural coloured green that will blend into the landscape. I now have a bivvy bag which is even better in my opinion! It’s smaller than a tent and even less conspicuous :) We always arrive to camp late (unless we’re somewhere where it’s legal to wild camp, we will still arrive late but not just before dark) and either leave early or pack everything away early and just sit and have coffee/breakfast. I generally try to pitch up after dark and take down before the light, obviously in the summer this is a lot harder with the sort nights!

The magical colours and views you get when cooking dinner just before dark

Respect & protect the environment & wildlife ~

This one is very important to me. We are merely visitors to the wild, but it is home to many things that can’t just leave for somewhere else at the end of the day. Be thoughtful of how much noise you’re making when out camping. For example, we don’t shout to each other when we are out at all and absolutely never play music. I personally just think it’s unnecessary. Walk a bit closer if you want to talk and what’s the point in music when you can hear the wild?

This also comes with not leaving anything behind and not polluting the environment with chemicals or leaving your waste behind. Don’t move things around or cut things back to make a nicer camp spot, just find a suitable spot where there is already a clearing. If you need to move small things like sticks and stones, remember to replace them when you leave. Also be considerate of where and what you are camping on. Are there flowers or long grasses that won’t recover well? Try and find a durable surface e.g. short grass to pitch your tent as it will cause less impact.

No big groups, fires or music ~

This probably sounds like a killjoy point! I just think if you want to have big groups, fires and music, there are always campsites where you can do this. I would say one or maximum two small tents in a spot when wild camping. I think if you light a fire you are leaving a trace, even if you dig up turf to put back down, it's still leaving a trace. It’s also definitely not inconspicuous! Unless it’s about survival which, lets face it, it’s probably not in the UK in 2023, I just think use your camping stove. And there is a wonderful comfort to the sound of a stove to me :) Fires can also cause wildfires if not managed properly, especially in long hot and dry spells we are getting in the UK now.

On the point of music, I will never understand why people play music in the wild... I remember when Brochan and I first started dating and we went camping on a beach. We were quietly making coffee in the morning and he got out his phone and started playing Ben Howard. I love Ben Howard but not when I’m camping, I said “What on earth are you playing music for??” I think he was a bit confused and had just thought it would be nice to listen to. But we had the sound of the waves, the seagulls, sea birds and the gentle wind to listen to, I could listen to Ben Howard when washing up at home, far better time in my opinion :D

Toilet hygiene ~

Maybe this is the most awkward one for some people to talk about. But everyone does it! I always take a trowel with me, I actually just have a small gardening one but you can get very lightweight ones designed for this purpose. Dig a hole deep enough for you to do your business, at least 30m away from water sources, and when you’ve finished make sure to cover it back over with soil and the turf. Don’t bury your loo roll or sanitary items with it. I remember a time before I started taking my loo roll away with me: I had thought I’d buried it all deep enough but the next morning an animal had come along, dug everything up and the dirty loo roll was strewn allover the place! I had to go round picking it all up which was far worse than putting it in a bag initially…

Plan ahead & don’t stay more than one night ~

I usually find camping spots before I go camping. Either by walking in the area or studying an OS map to get an idea of the topography and whether the area will be boggy etc. This means you won’t be left after, potentially a long day of walking, with no places to camp that are suitable. If you can’t walk the area initially, get familiar with OS maps. They will indicate what kind of ground it is and whether it will be steep or not. Brochan and I walked 100 miles through mid Wales before, finding camping spots before we left with OS maps. Planning your walk ahead also means you can time it so you arrive to your camp just before dark, you won’t be hours too early or arriving after dark and having to flash torches all over the place to set up your tent.

One night won’t do long term damage to the grass you camp on. But keeping your tent up in one spot for too long will mean no light gets underneath and this will start to kill the grass. So make sure to move on to a new spot early every day.

My 6 Principles of Leaving No Trace When Wild Camping