The Leave No Trace Organization is dedicated to teaching people how to protect the natural world. They created 7 Principles to provide a framework for minimizing our impact on natural spaces while we enjoy them. Leaving absolutely NO trace when adventuring outdoors may sound nearly impossible, especially when you have kids in tow. However, Leave No Trace isn't about perfection. It's about understanding how our actions affect the environment and making choices that reduce our impact. While it may not be realistic to leave zero trace every time, we can all take steps to help protect the places we love to explore.
The 7 Principles Include:
- Plan Ahead and Prepare
- Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Others
In this blog series, we will dive into the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace and offer tips and tricks to help your family reduce their impact on the environment. In this post, we will focus on the second principle: Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces.
Principle 2: Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
This can be one of the hardest principles for little ones to follow, especially those with a curious and adventurous heart. However, it’s important to travel and camp on durable surfaces to avoid unnecessary damage to vegetation and organism communities, which can lead to soil erosion and habitat loss.
While it may sound counterintuitive, land management agencies construct trail routes to help prevent excessive damage to the ecosystems that they journey through. The expectation is that hikers, bikers, runners, etc., will use those trails rather than skip through the underbrush of a natural area. Durable surfaces include established trails and campsites, gravel, rock, dry grasses, and snow.
Wondering how you’re going to get your junior scientist to stay on the trail when they spot a whole slew of interesting critters and foliage? Check out these tips, conversation starters, and games to help children (and adults) understand why it’s so important to seek out durable surfaces:
What is a Durable Surface?
Take some time to discuss what is considered a “durable” surface. These surfaces include well-established trails and campsites, along with areas covered with snow, sand, rock, gravel, or dry grass. Seek out these durable surfaces if you need to go off-trail (such as for potty breaks that just can’t wait) and try to avoid walking on vegetation as much as possible. This video is a helpful, family-friendly resource to help kids visualize where they should be traveling and camping while recreating outdoors.
Conversation Starters: While looking at an area with vegetation teeming with life (such as a wildflower patch with butterflies or a grassy area with busy ants and beetles), ask “What could happen to these insects if we constantly trample their home?”
While pointing out signs of erosion along a trail or park, ask “What do you think happens to ecosystems when human actions increase erosion (such as hiking off the trail)?”
Make it a Game
Keeping young children on the trail can be a challenge—they’re curious explorers by nature! One way to help is by turning it into a game. Encourage them to stay in the center of the path by pretending to be sneaky ninjas, stepping lightly and quietly so they don’t “alert” the wildlife around them. You can also spark their imagination by imagining the trail is a narrow bridge over a volcano, with the plants on either side acting as bubbling hot lava they must avoid.
Turn a backcountry trip into a “camping mission.” Tell them they’re explorers searching for the perfect campsite, and they can only travel along the trail to find a safe, low-impact spot. Along the way, they can look for signs of a good campsite. These include areas that lack vegetation or have already been impacted by previous campers, and areas at least 200 feet from a water’s edge (or about 70 big adult steps). This reduces the impact on vegetation and wildlife.
Rebecca is a transplant Coloradoan living in Hawaii with her husband (Derek) and their two boys. She’s a teacher turned freelance writer/ homeschool mom working towards exploring as much of the area and nearby islands as possible before the next move takes her family elsewhere. She is also a certified Leave No Trace Instructor. You can follow her family hiking, kayaking, SUPing, geocaching, camping, and all things outdoor adventuring on Instagram @frazzlednaturemom .
