What is LEAVE NO TRACE?

Leave No Trace is a well-known phrase among hikers and campers. If you’re new to these worlds, you probably have some questions, like what does Leave No Trace mean, how do I follow the rules, how do I teach them to my children, can I get in trouble for not following them, and why are they important?

First let’s start by saying LNT aren’t “rules” that you must follow. They are principles that guide you to do the right thing. They are a framework for thinking about the impact you have on nature – whether that means in your own neighborhood or a conservation area.

The basic idea behind LNT is that you leave nature just the way you found it and you respect the earth and all it’s people and creatures.

Here are LNT’s 7 Principles:

1. Plan ahead and prepare

2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces

3. Dispose of waste properly

4. Leave what you find

5. Minimize campfire impacts

6. Respect wildlife

7. Be considerate of others

Sounds pretty easy, right?

Let’s talk about these seven principles and hiking with children.

1. Plan ahead and prepare

This one is really for adults. A hike planned with the right gear means you’re prepared to leave nature the way you found it because you know the rules and expectations for the area you’re hiking in. Your hike will be low risk because you’re prepared for weather, know your trail route, have plenty of time to find your campsite (when camping), and have foreseen food, trash, and equipment needs.

One way this would be applicable to children is to warn them of foreseeable dangers. One often encounters trails used for hiking and biking. The bikers come whizzing by, and it’s important for children to stay in single file and to the right.

Another example our family recently experienced was when hiking parallel and down to the Niagara River. Knowing it has an extraordinarily strong and fast current, we gave strict instructions that our children weren’t even allowed to put their toes in the water.

2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

We tell our children that even your feet will crush plants, so walk where others have walked, sit where others have sat or on rocks, and try to keep your damage to a minimum. Once a child understands that her feet and hands can cause damage, they become aware of their responsibility to protect nature.

We often choose well-known hikes where climbing and exploring is allowed an encouraged, because it’s very difficult for a child to come across a fallen tree or a mossy “mountain” and not consider them personal challenges to overcome.

3. Dispose of Waste Properly

Often phrased as “pack it in, pack it out” That means you must carry out (back to the car) all your trash, waste and anything else you brought in (including dog waste!).

Children intuitively get this one- it’s basically “don’t litter” and even little children know littering is bad. As the adult you need to be prepared with trash bags or containers for smelly and messy trash like banana peels and half-eaten-and-then-dropped-in-the-dirt granola bars.

4. Leave what you find

This one is really hard for kids! You can let your children pick up sticks and pinecones and such, but put everything back where you found them and of course, don’t pick flowers or take things home. We’ve found that taking pictures is a good compromise. This is also a good way to introduce the idea that you never put anything – not even delicious looking berries – in your mouth. Leave them untouched. And don’t touch any plants you can’t identify because you never know if it’s stinging nettle or poison ivy or some other plant that could hurt you with thorns or rashes. I mean, you don’t want to freak your kids out, but they need to be aware.

5. Minimize Campfire Impacts

We don’t want forest fires, right? If you need to make a fire, do it responsibly with as little possible damage or spread as possible. Most families aren’t making fires when hiking with children, and most families with young children are camping in camp grounds with designated fire rings. But it’s a good one to include for serious hikers or teens… teach them young.

6. Respect Wildlife

Stay away from animals and don’t feed them or mess with them. This one is both intuitive and difficult for kids. They usually instinctively know to stay away from bigger animals… But tadpoles, frogs and bugs are a lot harder to resist!

Truthfully we bend this one a bit… we have hand fed wild birds, we’ve caught tadpoles and frogs, and we’ve picked up bugs and worms. But we are always very careful and always put them back unharmed where we found them. I do think parents need to balance this one with logic and a child’s curiosity and natural desire to examine and learn.

7. Be considerate of others

Be kind, helpful and respectful. This means we use our quiet voices, we don’t play loud music, and we don’t scream and yell. We want other hikers to hear the sounds of nature, not human sounds. This also means we are helpful and kind to other people: we step to the side to let them pass, greet them kindly, and offer help if they need it.

As you can see, LNT are great guidelines for teaching children to be responsible stewards of the earth.

Encouraging them to think about the impact they have on nature leads to a lot of great questions and discussions about responsibility, kindness, and taking care of the earth. 

We want our children to enjoy and appreciate nature, and LNT gives them the guidelines to do that responsibly.

 For more resources on LNT, please visit https://lnt.org/.

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