“I think a lot of people are used to camping in these spots [close to water]. It’s hard when they say, ‘I’ve been coming here for ten years and I’ve always camped here,’ but we need people to understand why we’re restoring these areas and trying to get people back from water.” – Bell Bell, Wilderness and Trails Manager, Eldorado National Forest
It’s been a strenuous day of hiking to get to a beautiful alpine lake. Your shoulders ache from your pack, your legs are gassed from that final uphill push, and you are so hungry, that you don’t even want to wait for your water to boil. The trail deposits you right at the lake, and it looks like there is room for a tent along the shore. What do you do?
The temptation to have the amazing, picture-perfect campsite steps from the water is enticing, especially when navigating the rules of waterside camping can seem impossible. The official Leave No Trace (LNT) principle is to “protect riparian areas by camping at least 200 feet from lakes and streams.” However, this can come in direct conflict with land managers, clearly impacted areas, and water surrounded by durable surfaces.
With the help of experts Dustin Bell, Wilderness and Trails Manager for the Eldorado National Forest, and JD Tanner, Director of Education and Training at Leave No Trace (LNT), here is a guide on waterside etiquette.
Why is it important
The reasons to camp at least 200 feet from water sources span environmental and social. Setting up farther away from water allows animals access to water, helps keep the water clean, and prevents erosion.
However – “there are definitely aspects of camping back from the lake that are not just driven by protecting resources or regulations,” Bell said. He and other rangers patrolling Desolation Wilderness, a protected area along the western perimeter of Lake Tahoe that Bell said sees “[about] 150,000 visitors a year,” have a speech prepared for campers that harps, not on the ecosystem travesties, but of the personal and social aspects: mosquitos, privacy, and midnight bathroom runs.
Bell will approach a group close to a lake and tell campers that they will encounter fewer mosquitos away from the water. They will also create better privacy for themselves. Other campers, day users, and animals want –– or need –– to access the lake. Camping at a water source invites strangers on both two and four legs to walk through the site, perhaps even plopping down next to your tent to eat lunch.
“I don’t understand why people put all this effort and time into hiking up to the wilderness just to camp around a bunch of strangers,” Bell chuckles on the phone. “Right where the PCT comes down to South [Lake] Aloha is one of our most heavily camped areas. You’ll look around, there’ll be ten different groups of people, camped within 100 yards of each other.”
Bell also points out during our interview that camping waterside impacts the visual experience for other users, breaking LNT’s 7th principle: “Be Considerate Of Others.”
Bathroom location rounds out his speech. “If people are right by the lake, then I ask them this question: if you have to wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, are you really going to walk 200 feet away from the lake?” he said. “It’s better to set yourself up for success rather than put yourself in a spot where you’ve got to walk 200ft in the dark, in the middle of the night.”
Not everyone is happy when a ranger moves their camp, but with Bell’s recommendations, “they’ll come up and say, ‘well, thank you so much for helping us find this other campsite. We really love it.’”
Nuances to the Rules
Unfortunately, there are a lot of situations, especially in the backcountry, where rules aren’t so cut and dry. Let’s clear up different scenarios where LNT recommendations might be confusing:
Scenario 1:
Land managers contradict the LNT principle.
For example: Yosemite National Park allows backcountry campers to set up 100 feet from water sources in well-established sites.
“Leave No Trace … [is] not the dead set end all, be all for where you can and cannot camp,” Tanner said. “If a land manager has made the decision that you can camp closer to, then they’ve made that for a variety of reasons.” These reasons might include providing relief to other sensitive areas or sacrificing a portion of a lakeshore to save the rest.
When a land manager states a distance from water sources, their guidelines are the ones to follow –– though it should be noted that there may be fine print or contingencies, like Yosemite only allows camping within 100 feet if “terrain permits no other options.”
Land manager’s regulations are found on their website, reservation site, posted signage, and/or permits. If you cannot find this information or the land manager has not established a camping regulation, then fall back on the LNT recommendation and camp 200 feet away from water sources.
Scenario 2:
There is an impacted area that looks closer than 200 feet and vegetation covers much of the remaining landscape.
“You’re talking about backcountry-type sites where you don’t have these very well-marked designated spaces,” Tanner said, alluding to the lack of stated regulation from a land manager. “But if camping is permitted anywhere around in that area, then, yes … we would definitely recommend using the already impacted space, even though it might be a little closer to a water source than we would want.”
Scenario 3:
There is an impacted area closer to water than the land manager’s regulation permits camping.
“If it’s stated specifically by the land manager, that you need to be at least 200ft away, then I would encourage people to do what the land manager is asking … even if you see a highly or well-impacted space that’s closer,” Tanner said. “They’re asking that for a very specific reason, and people have impacted that other site against what the land manager is recommending, and I would encourage you to not use it and find something that’s 200ft at least.”
Scenario 4:
You promise to be really, really careful, and pinky promise to cook and go to the bathroom at least 200 feet from water. Plus, you plan to swim anyway so why does it matter what sunscreen or bug spray you may apply close to the water?
“Our argument would have started back at the very beginning of that [promise],” Tanner said, confirming that sunblock and bug repellent should be rinsed off before jumping in the lake (at least 200 feet from water). “Moving away to cook is great,” he continues, “but we encourage people to try to still do better. Move your whole camp away. If you’re going to cook that far away, why not just move your whole camp away and then avoid the risk of contamination.”
Scenario 5:
There is a durable surface close to water.
LNT principles do recommend camping on durable surfaces, however that does not trump its distance from water recommendation.
If a water source is surrounded by a durable surface, like granite or grass, campers must still follow land managers’ regulations or camp 200 feet back. Durable surfaces don’t account for wildlife and other user’s ability to access water, nor does it account for camp kitchens, bathrooms, and micro-contaminants.
Scenario 6:
Exhaustion influences a poor campsite choice.
The number one rule (LNT or otherwise) is preparedness. Understand your ability and make a plan for camp ahead of time.
Of course, there are always circumstances that mess up the best of plans. In that case, Bell recommends dropping your pack and taking five minutes to walk around and scout spots. “A lot of people … they drop their pack, they don’t want to pick it up again. They decide that’s where they’re camping,” he said. “But really they’re limiting themselves when there could be a much more beautiful campsite just up the trail or something that is also within leave no trace and rules and regulations.”
Final thoughts
If we don’t camp the recommended distance from water, we “risk of contamination, there’s safety concerns, and then the wildlife impacts and other environmental impacts are all things to consider,” Tanner said. “We just need to make sure that we’re making the proper decisions and protecting those water sources, protecting the wildlife with the decisions that we make.”
Bell agrees, stating: “If we continue to not do the right thing, then it puts someone like myself in a place where we have to make hard decisions in order to protect the wilderness area –– like putting in designated campsites, requiring bear canisters, or requiring wag bags.”.
The right campsite can set you and others up for a more peaceful experience. Plus, no one likes stumbling over tree roots for 200 feet at 2 am to pee.