The Leave No Trace Seven Principles

The places we hike through are also wildlife habitats, water catchments and landscapes with cultural significance. Our choices on the trail—from where we walk to how we wash a cooking pot—affect those places and the people who visit after us.

The Leave No Trace Seven Principles provide a framework for reducing our impact outdoors. They apply to day hikes, overnight trips and longer wilderness journeys.

Below is HSA’s practical introduction to the principles, with guidance for applying them on South African trails. It is an independent explanation, not a reproduction of the official Leave No Trace text. Follow each heading for the organisation’s full guidance.

Always check the rules for the reserve, trail or property you are visiting. Local requirements take priority over general advice.

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare

Preparation helps you make choices that protect the environment as well as improve your hike.

Check permits, access restrictions, weather, water availability and overnight arrangements. Choose a route that suits your group’s experience, and carry navigation tools you know how to use.

Plan meals and remove unnecessary packaging before departure. Bring what you need to carry rubbish out and manage toilet needs appropriately. Respect group-size limits and, where practical, visit outside the busiest periods.

Our Multi-day Hiking Checklist can help you organise equipment and supplies.

2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

Keep to established paths and avoid shortcuts that damage vegetation or create erosion. Walk through muddy sections where safe, rather than widening the trail by trampling its edges.

Use designated campsites where required. Where you may choose your own site, look for durable ground that needs no clearing, digging or rearranging. Leave enough space around water sources to protect their banks and allow wildlife access; Leave No Trace recommends approximately 60 metres when selecting a campsite.

Advice about dispersing activity in undisturbed terrain applies only where off-trail travel and camping are permitted and environmentally appropriate. It does not override reserve rules.

3. Dispose of Waste Properly

Carry out everything you bring in, including food scraps, fruit peels, cigarette ends and small pieces of packaging. Check your lunch spot and campsite before leaving. Do not burn rubbish.

Use toilets where available. Where burial is permitted and suitable, Leave No Trace recommends a small hole approximately 15–20 cm deep, at least 60 metres from water, campsites and trails. Cover it afterwards. Some environments require you to carry human waste out, so check before departure.

Pack out toilet paper, wet wipes and other hygiene products.

Biodegradable soap does not belong in a river or stream. Carry washing water at least 60 metres away from natural water sources and use as little soap as possible. Strain food particles from dishwater, pack them out and disperse the remaining water where permitted, away from camp and water sources.

4. Leave What You Find

Enjoy plants, rocks and natural features where they are. Leave flowers and other natural objects for the next visitor, and avoid moving rocks or branches to improve a campsite or photograph.

Treat rock art, ruins and other heritage features with care. Do not touch, trace, wet or mark rock art, or remove artefacts.

Clean soil and seeds from footwear and equipment between trips to help limit the spread of unwanted species. Avoid building decorative cairns or adding your own route markers, and leave official trail markers intact.

5. Minimize Campfire Impacts

For HSA hikers, the starting point is to establish whether any fire is permitted. An old fire scar or stone ring is not proof that you may light one.

Plan to use a hiking stove where allowed and a headlamp for lighting. Check restrictions on stoves as well as open fires.

Where fires are explicitly permitted, use the authorised facilities and follow the operator’s rules on fuel and ash disposal. Do not assume you may collect fallen wood. Keep any permitted fire small, attend it continuously and extinguish it fully with water before leaving.

If conditions or restrictions make a fire inappropriate, do without it.

6. Respect Wildlife

Give animals space and let them move freely. Avoid approaching, chasing or surrounding wildlife to get a photograph, especially near nests or young animals.

Never feed wildlife or leave food where animals can reach it. Store food and rubbish according to local guidance, including any instructions for baboons and monkeys.

Check whether dogs are permitted before bringing one, and follow leash requirements. Prevent pets from chasing wildlife or disturbing other visitors.

7. Be Considerate of Others

Share paths, viewpoints, huts and campsites thoughtfully. Keep voices low around resting hikers and leave speakers at home so others can enjoy the natural sounds.

Make room for people to pass where it is safe, without trampling sensitive vegetation. Keep rest stops clear of narrow paths. If you encounter horses or pack animals, communicate with their handler and follow instructions for passing safely.

In shared accommodation, keep equipment tidy, respect quiet hours and leave facilities clean.

Applying Leave No Trace on South African Trails

Conditions and rules differ between reserves, private trails and remote wilderness areas. Before setting out, establish:

• Where you may walk and camp.
• Whether fires, stoves and wood collection are permitted.
• How to manage human waste and washing water.
• Whether dogs are allowed.
• What wildlife precautions and group-size limits apply.

Use the principles to guide your decisions, and ask the land manager when you are unsure. A small amount of preparation can prevent impacts that take years to recover.

For further preparation guidance, see There & Back Safely.

The Seven Principles originate with Leave No Trace. This article provides independent HSA commentary and practical context; it is not an official or endorsed Leave No Trace adaptation. Visit Leave No Trace for the original guidance and educational resources.