Camping is an incredible experience letting you get in touch with nature in ways few other experiences can. In order to discover the wonders of the great outdoors, it’s important to adopt appropriate camping etiquette to ensure a peaceful experience for you and anyone else who may be camping nearby.

Be Considerate

As you arrive at the campsite be considerate to others that are already there. If you arrive at the site in the later hours of the day be sure to keep the noise and lights to a minimum. As exciting as you may be to get your campsite set up, there will be others nearby so be considerate to them. When setting up your camp be sure not to block any exit point and setup at a reasonable distance from your neighbors, giving them plenty of room for their camp and you will have your own space.

Treat Your Site Like Home

When you go camping there will more than likely be others already on site, for most avid campers these grounds are like a home away from home and should be considered as such.

• Don’t wash dishes near any natural water sources or too close to anyone’s site. The bits of food could attract unwanted attention from critters.
• Keep trash away from any lake or stream near your site and make sure to keep your campsite and the surrounding area clean.
• Follow any guidelines posted in the campground.

Leave Your Camp Looking Better Than You Found It

When you finish your time camping, do two patrols of your site. The first is to be sure you’ve collected all your items – you don’t want to leave tent stakes, ropes or anything else that you brought with you behind. Finally, make sure that you do a trash patrol to make sure that all of the garbage in and around your site has been picked up. Find trash that’s not yours? Pick it up anyway. Make sure that the site is cleaner than it was before you got there.

If there are no trash cans around the site take the garbage with you and get rid of it elsewhere. Finally, if you have leftover firewood, leave it for the next camper.

Follow these guidelines and you will be sure to make camping a great experience for you and others in the campsite.