Leave No Trace Checklist
Seven principles of outdoor ethics have become the common language for looking after wild places. They are not rules handed down from anywhere in particular. They are what experienced hikers, land managers and researchers found actually works, refined over decades of watching what damages trails and what does not.
The reasoning behind them is simple. Damage outdoors is rarely dramatic. It is one person stepping off the path to avoid mud, then a hundred more following the same line until there are two paths where there was one. It is a banana peel that takes two years to break down, and the animal that learns people mean food. Small choices, repeated by many visitors, are what wear a place down, which is also why small choices are enough to protect it.
Work through the checklist below before a trip, or use it to talk through the ground rules with a group that has not hiked together before.
This is an educational checklist, not a certification, assessment or qualification of any kind. Completing it does not certify anything and carries no authority.
EcoTrails is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics or any other organisation. The wording here is our own. Local regulations always take precedence over general guidance, so check with whoever manages the land you are visiting.
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You have been through all seven principles. Worth running past anyone joining you who has not seen them, since a group only leaves as little trace as its least prepared member. Have a good trip.
Nothing on this page is stored. Ticks clear when you close or reload it, so print the checklist if you want to keep it.