Camping Etiquette: Respecting Nature and Fellow Campers
Camping offers us this unique opportunity, but it comes with a responsibility: to respect the environment and those who share it with us. We often get questions about camping etiquette, campground etiquette, and what outdoor etiquette is.
Let’s cover:
Embracing the outdoors as your second home, including taking care of the land and practicing responsible campsite setup.
Sharing the land with wildlife, from observing animals from afar to properly storing food and waste using wildlife safety tips for campers.
Being a good neighbor to fellow campers.
Leaving the campsite better than you found it, through waste reduction, proper disposal, and active participation to care for the parks.
Respect the Wildlife and Avoid Wildlife Encounters
Respect the wildlife by keeping a distance and not attracting wildlife into your campsite. This is a key part of how to camp responsibly and ensures safety for both humans and animals. This can be done by keeping the campsite clean and ensuring food is stored properly. Food can be stored in:
Coolers: While coolers can help keep food cold, they are not always animal-proof. Consider using a bear-resistant cooler or taking additional precautions to secure your cooler.
Vehicles: In some cases, food can be stored in a locked vehicle. However, this is not always a reliable method, as some animals can break into vehicles.
If in areas with known bear activity:
Food lockers: Some campgrounds provide metal lockers for storing food. These are a convenient and effective option when available.
Bear bags: These bags are hung from a tree, suspending your food out of reach of animals. Hanging a bear bag properly requires some skill and a suitable tree.
Bear-resistant containers are hard-sided containers designed to prevent bears and other animals from accessing your food. They are often required in areas with known bear activity.
Being a Good Neighbor
Practicing campground etiquette is key to creating a respectful space for everyone.
Communal spaces like the bathrooms and shower rooms, let’s keep these spaces clean after each use.
Personal spaces are the campsites that you’ve reserved. It’s important to make sure you’re walking through only your campsite and not through your neighbors.
Always be thoughtful of how sound travels. Official quiet hours are typically from evening to morning. Keep conversation and any noise to a quiet volume within your campsite.
Be a Land Steward
Leave the campsite better than you found it by keeping a trash bag at your campsite. This practice aligns with respecting nature while camping.
Double check that there is no trash left behind at the campsite either in the fire ring, on the picnic table, or anywhere else in the campsite.
Dispose of trash bags at the trash disposal site at the campground. If there are signs for “pack in, pack out,” that means we’ll need to take the trash with us when we leave the campground and dispose of it at home.
By practicing thoughtful camping etiquette, we can all enjoy the beauty of nature while being thoughtful of our neighbors at camp and ensuring these spaces continue to be here for future generations to come.
This camping and outdoor know-how is brought to you in collaboration with Washington State Parks Foundation and Washington State Parks and Recreation as a part of a new series to help park visitors gain essential camping skills.
