Hiking Trail Etiquette
A Beginner’s Guide to Not Being An Asshole on the trail
Thru-hikers camping on snow for the ultimate leave no trace campground.
Show of hands… Who loves getting the back of their seat kicked when flying? What about having someone nearby in a movie theater talking through the entire film? Hate these behaviors? Of course, right? These behaviors suck and they’re rude. They violate the cultural norms and standards that allow us to all get along peacefully.
Just as in civil society, there are guidelines and a code of conduct that should be followed when venturing into nature. These rules exist to help ensure that everyone who wants to enjoy nature can do so—with minimal human-caused impact, discomfort or degradation of their experience. Some rules are designed to help protect the environment, so that many years from now, others can enjoy nature just as you did. While other rules help hikers avoid being jerks to each other.
As more people flock to the trails, knowing and following these rules is becoming more important. In this post we will dig into the guidelines for proper backcountry behavior, including the most popular set of principles often referred to as LNT or “Leave No Trace”. We will also cover some basic trail etiquette that every hiker should practice in order to continue building a vibrant, friendly, and respectful hiking community.
Golden Rule of Hiking
Being a good steward of nature basically boils down to leaving nature like you found it — so the next person can enjoy it just the same. Some proprietary brands package guidelines for this behavior up into a framework that they call Leave No Trace, or LNT. This doctrine is a strict set of principles that outline ethical, responsible, and sustainable behaviors and practices. LNT is arguably the most popular set of rules or guidelines (though in my opinion, they tend to go way overboard in their quasi-fascist doctrine, with it’s most ardent supporters likely preferring you never set foot in nature). Never the less you should check out their approach, and see if it rings true for you. I take a more pragmatic approach with my guidance that centers around the golden rule we teach our children at an early age… Treat nature in such a way that it will be the way you’d want to find and experience it.
Here are seven ways to take good care of our natural environment when you’re travelling through it so that others can enjoy it as much as you di.
1.) Be Prepared
The act of protecting nature begins before you ever set foot on a trail.
Planning and preparing involves many interconnected steps. Your mind probably jumps right to trip planning activities: Acquiring a map and planning your route; including bail-out points, and emergency camping locations; Or maybe your think about getting all the equipment you need: Tent; sleeping bag; warm layers; etc. It’s not enough to just possess the equipment. Preparation also includes knowing how to use the gear. I’m always shocked by how many hikers I encounter deep in the woods who are without a map and asking for directions, or folks who roll into camp and don’t know how to set up their shelter… or they connect their water filter backward. (True Story). Don’t be that kind of dunce. Preparation includes knowing how to use ALL of your equipment, and how to deal with as many contingencies as you can imagine.
Dehydration is serious business. Once dehydrated, you lose appetite, physical activity becomes more difficult, and your mental focus can falter — all increasing risk and the likelihood of an accident occurring. My most unpleasant experiences on the trail involved becoming temporarily dehydrated.
Why are planning and preparation so vital?
The harsh reality is that an unskilled or poorly equipped hiker is more likely to end up in a scenario where they are forced to choose courses of action that hurt the environment in order to remain alive. If your rain jacket fails above the tree line in a storm, are you worried about the ethics of damaging some trees to make a shelter and fire in order to survive the night? No, of course not. In a survival condition, one should always prioritize survival over environmental impact. That’s why the objective is to never end up in such a situation.
We’ll cover planning in greater detail in later posts. For now, think about what your answers to the following questions are:
Equipment
Do I have the necessary gear for the terrain and weather conditions I’ve determined I may experience?
Do I know how to use all of my gear?
What items am I less familiar with and what risks do those pose?
Do I know how to improvise alternate solutions from the gear I will carry?
Do I have extra gear for emergencies?
Food
Do I have enough water for the route?
Will I need to collect water along the way?
Do I have enough food for the route
Plants & Animals
What poisonous plants exist in the area?
What insects might I encounter?
What animalsmight I encounter?
Are any dangerous?
Can I identify them?
What steps should I take if I come in contact with them?
Route
How well do I understand my route?
Do I have it memorized?
Can I properly read a topographic map?
Do I know the distance, the elevation gain, and the grade of various sections?
Do I know the terrain of the route?
Have I planned bail-out routes?
Do others know my itinerary?
Am I in a physical condition suitable to the challenges and obstacles the route contains?
Weather
What weather might I encounter on the outing?
Do I know the seasonal averages and extremes where I’m going?
What’s the worst weather I might encounter?
Do I have suitable experience and gear for this scenario?
What will I do in the event of serious weather?
1. Don’t damage the terrain on which you walk and camp
It may not seem so, but the backcountry is remarkably fragile. In some areas in the American Northeast, off-trail travel can strip the thin layer of soil and plant life down to the mineral stone. This can result in swaths of ground cover eroding away, a change that can take a millennia to recover. Reducing off-trail travel is an important way to protect the ecosystem. This is especially important as more people flock to the outdoors for recreation. Even deviating from the trail slightly out of convenience can have a lasting impact.
Stay on Trail
It’s tempting when trying to keep feet dry. but hikers should avoid hiking on the edges of the trail as it can widen the trail and increase erosion.
On hiking footpaths, as the trail gets ground down by hikers’ feet, it tends to fill with water and mud. The temptation to walk on the higher ground to the side of the trail is overwhelming. Officially you should avoid this as it widens the trail and contributes to erosion. If you possess a bit more pragmatism, as I do, this decree rings a bit overzealous. I have no problem hiking on a double or triple-wide trail. Nor do I mind seeing them in the distance. So for me, the rule is more focused on avoiding trampling fragile plants or contributing to soil erosion. When I encounter a giant mud patch, I do my best to gingerly step as close to center as possible.
Use Pre-Existing Campsites
When selecting your campsite, you should endeavor to utilize pre-existing or officially designated camping areas. This behavior helps slow the sprawl of unauthorized or “stealth” sites. In reality, you may not always be able to bed down at an officially sanctioned location. In this scenario, you should choose durable surfaces to avoid damaging the plant life.
Again, I feel there is room to be practical here. I find it completely acceptable to choose an existing stealth site. The goal should be to not expand what already exists. And of course, follow the posted signage. If it says no camping, then go somewhere else. Following posted rules and regulations helps give hikers a good name and ensures the continued availability of parks and public lands for our use.
3. Don’t litter and bury up your god damn poop!
Dealing with waste on the trail is one of the most important elements to ensuring the wilderness feels like wilderness when the next hiker comes throught. Waste includes both the trash you generate as well as all of the outputs of your body’s natural function. Let’s cover trash first:
Pack it in, pack it out.
Cheap plastic sleds left behind in a national park after they broke. This photo was taken in the middle of Summer. Litter left behind rarely is packed out and remains to ruin the enjoyment of other visitors.
You’d be surprised how many people assume it is acceptable to leave the trash bags from their camping trip for others to remove. They apparently think rangers exist to remove trash. Nothing is further from the truth. Trash left behind frequently sits where it is for months or years for all future hikers to see. If lucky, trail maintenance volunteers will haul it out. Even if someone else packs it out for you, littering in the woods is inexcusable. If you’re willing to leave trash in nature, you have no business or right to be in nature. If you could justify hauling it in, then you sure as hell can carry it back out. This is a non-negotiable. Don’t carry a six pack of bud light in and leave the cardboard and cans for someone else. If you managed to carry it in full, carrying out the lighter weight trash products will be easier in comparison.
What items need to be packed out?
Anything you brought with you — don’t contribute to litter in the backcountry.
Any wrappers for food.
Any containers.
Any broken gear.
Even the trash you find as you hike that someone else dropped or left.
All of it should be carried out. The only free pass you get is when it is someone else’s—and even then, you really should toss what you find into your own trash bag. When it comes to other people’s refuse left on the trail, I give you permission to draw the line at toilet paper, wag bags, and used tampons. Yes, these are all things that I’ve found lying on the trail.
Dealing with Human Waste
So speaking of bodily functions, what happens if nature calls when you’re stuck in nature? First, be sure you know how to poop in the woods. Then be sure you know what to do with your used paper and sanitary products once finished with your business. The answer depends on the climate in which you find yourself:
In dry, arid ecosystems, it is important that you pack out your toilet paper as it takes years to biodegrade and animals in the meantime enjoy digging it up and playing with it—risking contamination of the surrounding area and water with bacteria.
Pooping in the woods doesn’t have to be a scary experience! We wrote a tutorial about it. Learn how to poop in the woods with confidence.
In damp or wet climates, this isn’t strictly necessary because the paper products will degrade. However, if you like using wet wipes, even if it says “biodegradable,” or “flushable”, you should still bag these up and pack them out.
Regardless of the climate, you should always pack out sanitary napkins or tampons. I know to the uninitiated, packing out used toilet paper or sanitary products seems horribly gross (as it did to me the first time I learned what was expected of me on the Pacific Crest Trail). However, after a bit of practice, zip-locking your used toilet paper and packing it out to a proper receptacle becomes routine. Your cooperation in this regard will help future hikers enjoy a trail free from evidence of how many others crapped in that same area. And that is nice.
4. Don’t take souvenirs
They say, “Take nothing but photographs.” This helps ensure that the natural splendor is maintained for others to enjoy. National parks are visited by thousands of people per month. If everyone took a souvenir home, it could have a dramatic impact on the ecosystem.
That amazing rock you found? Technically, you’re supposed to leave it where you found it. The purists might even fault you for picking it up! But we know that’s a bit too extreme. Pragmatism rules here and all I’m advising is that you avoid making changes to the landscape and not remove items for a collection back home. Leave these wonders for the next hiker to enjoy.
5. Avoid Fires - Or minimize their impact
Careless human behavior can have catastrophic impacts on nature. The Eagle Creek Fire in Oregon burned thousands of acres and was started by teenagers being careless with fireworks.
If you can be comfortable without a fire, don’t make one.
Campfires are not super-great for the environment. In many places with dry climates, and even in wet climates stuck in a seasonal dry-spell, they can be highly dangerous. There is always a risk of fire getting out of control and creating a disaster. Frankly, you don’t want that outcome on your conscience. Nor do you want the financial liability or public shame that accompanies starting a massive blaze.
If you must burn a fire, use an established fire pit.
Ensure the pit is well constructed and can hold the entire contents of your fire. Clear the forest floor down to the mineral soil for an area of five feet around the perimeter of your pit. Note that in pine forests, the forest floor has so much dried fuel, forest fires can travel for miles burning in the ground. Use only dead or downed wood as fuel. Cutting down trees or removing limbs from trees is strictly a no-no. This means that at popular places you may have a struggle finding firewood, so go back to Step One, and get comfortable without a fire.
Lastly, follow best practices with fire safety including:
Never leave a fire unattended
Always have enough water on hand to completely extinguish the fire. (Usually a gallon or more.)
Keep a trowel or shovel handy to help control the embers and to dump dirt on the fire when it needs to be snuffed.
Ensure the fire is completely out when you leave camp in the morning. Yes, the fire needs to be completely out… anything still smoldering risks flaring back up, and unattended could create a full-on forest fire.
6. Don’t stress out the animals
Observe animals and critters from a distance and nothing more. You are the unnatural outsider invading their habitat. Most animals are afraid of you and will flee when they encounter you. As such, your presence and proximity can stress animals out.
Bringing your dog can compound this, so keep your pets on a leash. Off-leash dogs can also bring back bears and ticks, presenting safety hazards to you and others. Additionally, while most people love an opportunity to pet a passing trail dog, not everyone is comfortable with dogs. Keep your dog on a leash.
Do not feed wild animals
Do not under any circumstances feed animals. Feeding animals conditions them to see humans as a source of food. This can turn small animals into pests and larger ones into dangerous opportunists. They become less inclined to forage for food in natural ways and will begin begging for food from other hikers or sneaking into camp to steal scraps.
When animals develop a taste for human food, they see humans as a source of food. In the case of bears that begin to pester humans for their food, they are destroyed. Don’t let a bear die because you failed to protect your food!
Why is this a problem? The animals in question that you’ll be most dogged by are mice. Mice carry disease. (Fleas, Deer Ticks, Hunta virus) After rodents, the next most likely visitor to come looking for your food are bears. Granted most bears want nothing to do with people, and are very skittish, that may not be enough to overpower the temptation of an easy meal in the form of your food bag—which should be stored in a bear-proof manner.
Store food in animal-proof containers, or hang your food properly so that animals cannot access it. I can’t stress this enough. When you hang your food, be sure you know how to hang your food correctly so bears can’t get it. Most backpackers do a truly pathetic job hanging their food. There is a saying “If a bear didn’t visit your campsite last night, there wasn’t a bear in the area.”
Lastly, Don’t even leave food behind for other hikers. Frequently this food ends up unused and then must be packed out by another hiker. It may feel generous at the time to lighten your pack by leaving the repackaged bag of oatmeal in a bear box, but ask yourself if you would ever consider picking up a random zip lock of oats to add to your meals the rest of the trip. If you said yes to that, congratulations Hiker Trash, you’re ready for the big leagues of dirt-bagging.
7. Be Considerate to Others
With more and more people recreating in nature every year, the solitude once enjoyed in nearby parks and wilderness areas is rapidly diminishing. Even as you venture deeper into protected wilderness areas, you’re likely to come across other humans. Therefore it is important to behave in a way that is respectful and considerate to their needs, and to expect them to do the same in return.
Greeting Others
Hikers tend to be a fairly friendly bunch. I’m not sure if it’s just that nice people tend to value nature, or if there is an underlying realization that we are all taking some inherent risk when we venture into the wild and being kind and considerate of others is a way to pay it forward and acquire better trail karma. When hiking, it is very common for other hikers—complete strangers—to greet one another. Sometimes you may even find yourself stopping to have a short chat. Or maybe you’ll exchange trail beta about the sections you each hiked through. Either way, it helps to be courteous and to smile and greet the folks you pass.
I’ve noticed in recent years an influx of novice hikers on trail whose faces border on sheer panic when I verbally greet them on trail. The trail is one place where I feel extremely confident trusting in my fellow human beings. All you really need to do is keep some sense of street smarts and read the situation. The joy of truly connecting with another human in such beautiful places is very moving. All things considered, being friendly to—and trusting your fellow hikers will result in a more enjoyable experience for you.
All of that said, if you are uncomfortable because of the way another hiker is behaving, be smart and move on. Though it is extremely rare, people have been assaulted and even killed while on trail or in trail towns. Trust your gut when you meet someone new.
Let Hikers Going Uphill Have the Right of Way
When crossing paths with other hikers, it is polite to pause and step out of their way. On relatively flat terrain, hikers both take a quick step off the trail as they pass each other without breaking stride. Undoubtedly the purist LNT warriors are already seething in their quick-dry hiking shorts over the off-trail footsteps that will widen the trail. You should always try to avoid damage to the environment by stepping off trail, however keep in mind the impact varies greatly by environment. In arid or high altitude regions, the growing cycle is limited and vegetation is more fragile. In the Adirondacks, especially on the high peaks, off-trail foot traffic can contribute to erosion and slides that take thousands of years to recover.
But what about when passing on an incline? You should always let the hiker traveling in the uphill direction have the right of way. Here are a couple reasons why:
They may be in “the zone”, and you don’t want to break their stride.
They’re working hard and their attention will be focused closer to their body–often immediately within a few steps.
The more challenging the terrain, the more close to themselves they will focus.
Sometimes uphill hikers decline the right of way. I frequently do this as I don’t mind a brief 30 second break in a long climb. If an uphill hiker declines, you shouldn’t protest, but pass in a safe manner. Keep in mind, descending is usually where the majority of accidents happen. Be sure to choose a route that keeps the ascending hiker out of your fall line.
Rattlesnakes inhabit a wide range of climates across the United States. They blend well with their surroundings. They have no desire to harm us, and even warn us when we get too close to them for their comfort. Don’t play music so loud that you can’t hear the rattle!
Keep it to a Mild Roar
The human voice carries a considerable distance, and sounds utterly out of place in nature. Since most people attempting to enjoy nature are seeking respite from the crowds of civilization, it can be quite irritating to hear other groups of humans creating a ruckus. You don’t have to be silent, just be cognizant that even if you think you’re alone, there may be other hikers or groups nearby that can hear your hollers, laughs and other noises. If you must listen to music, don’t play the music on speakers, but rather use headphones so the sounds of nature go unspoiled to the rest of us. If you do choose to use headphones, it’s recommended to hike with one earbud out so that you can hear potential dangers on the trail.
Considerations for Backpacking
When overnighting in nature: Backpacking, camping, car-camping, maintaining quiet is even more important at night. Though it is the responsibility of sensitive sleepers to bring and use earplugs, many noises will still permeate these. Therefore once the sun goes down and until it comes up, your noise-discipline should be in full effect. This means speaking in a hushed voice or whispers and taking care with your own equipment not to make too much rustling or clanking.
Artificial light can also be a major detractor of one’s enjoyment of nature. Obviously, while hiking at night, you should use as much light as you need to be safe. However, in camp or when passing through areas of sleeping hikers, use care to cause as little disruption as possible. I frequently turn down my lights or turn off my flood light. When in camp, try to use your red light to avoid impacting other hikers’ night vision, or waking those already asleep. If your headlamp doesn’t have a red light, set it on its dimmest setting and hold it in your hand. This will help you avoid shining it in people’s eyes when you converse.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’re now on your way to becoming a good steward of the outdoors. These rules and guidelines are important for preserving the quality of everyone’s experience in the backcountry as well as preserving the natural beauty for future generations. It is on you to help teach and enforce these practices. Remember, in America, most of the land we backpack in is public land. Meaning you as a taxpayer are a part-owner of it. If you see someone damaging the land, respectfully ask them to change their behavior. You don’t have to be a jerk about it. There is a good chance they never thought through the consequences of their actions. We all started as ignorant beginners with a love of experiencing the beauty and challenge of nature. It is up to us to help others experience it safely and respectfully so that future generations may share an unspoiled experience just as we did.
Next Steps
These are the guidelines I try to follow when I’m in the wilderness. Keep in mind, I’m no expert, I only play one on YouTube. My approach is more pragmatic than the teachings of Leave No Trace. If you are interested in being gentler to nature when you’re hiking and backpacking, I suggest you visit these LNT resources: