Leave No Trace

Fall doesn't warn you before it changes. Daylight shortens, temps drop fast, and weather turns quicker than summer trips have you used to. A few extra minutes of planning keeps you and the terrain out of a bad spot.

Fall is a crowded season on the landscape. Hikers, hunters, and migrating wildlife are all using the same corridors at the same time. A little awareness of who else is out there (and why) goes a long way.

Fall trails look forgiving. Cooler ground, fewer crowds, soft light. But recovery slows down as temperatures drop, so damage from off-trail travel or new social trails sticks around into spring. What you do this month has more staying power than it looks like.

You don't need a permit, a group, or a plan. Next time you're out and you see something that shouldn't be there, pick it up. That's it. That's the whole system.

One person picking up trash is good. A group doing it together is how it actually adds up fast. Find a local cleanup, bring a friend, or start your own. Stewardship gets easier — and more fun — when you're not doing it alone.

The trail you're on today is what someone else sees tomorrow. What you do with your trash, your noise, your group size — that's what they walk into. Stewardship isn't about fixing what's broken. It's about not breaking it in the first place.

Come learn. Come help. Come connect. Come Leave No Trace. Our final 4 Spotlights of 2026: 📍 Ice Age Trail Sept 25-27 📍 Buffalo Bayou Park Oct 16-18 📍 Black Canyon at Lake Mead Nat Rec Area Oct 29-31 📍 Joshua Tree National Park Nov 5-7 👉 Swipe to learn more about Spotlights near you! #LeaveNoTrace

Picking up trash that isn't yours feels small in the moment. It's not. Every piece you grab is one less thing in the water, one less thing an animal finds first. Stewardship isn't a special event, it's what you do on a normal Tuesday hike.

We’re doing something big this September with our friends at @Mountain Hardwear. Stay tuned.

When the master of Leave No Trace meets the bear who prevents wildfires. The 7 Principles help us protect the outdoors. Learn more about how you can Leave No Trace on your next adventure at LNT.org #EnjoyYourWorld #LeaveNoTrace #BigFoot

What's left behind doesn't stay behind. Wind moves it, rain moves it, wildlife eats what they shouldn't. That wrapper you meant to grab on the way back? Grab it now. Pack out everything you packed in, including food scraps.

Stewardship doesn’t have to start with something big. Pick up one piece of trash. Leave a trail a little better than you found it. Take one small action to care for the places we all share. One piece. One small action. Multiplied by all of us. It adds up. 🌎 #LeaveNoTrace

Your dog might be great off-leash. The problem is nobody else on the trail knows that — not the family with a toddler, not the hiker with a dog reactive to others, not the deer bedded down thirty feet off the path. A leash closes that gap for everyone, including your pup.

Nobody's born knowing how to pack out trash or stick to the trail. Every kid picks it up from someone walking right next to them. That someone could be you.

Bringing a big crew out? Awesome! More people means more people learning to love these places. Just plan for your footprint: split into smaller clusters on trail, stagger your start times, or book a site actually built to handle a group your size. Same trip, way less impact.

On a shared trail, bikers give way to hikers and horses, and everybody gives way to folks with mobility differences. It's the same rule you already follow at a four-way stop: know your place in line, and go.

You think you know Leave No Trace. You might not (fully). Our free online course, Leave No Trace 101, covers the 7 Principles, wildlife safety, waste disposal, and low-impact camping. Most people find at least one thing they got wrong. Free. Online. zurl.co/TzG1B

What an incredible few days on the Fjällräven Classic USA! We connected with hikers from around the world, sharing Leave No Trace education and inspiring stewardship. Every conversation reinforced that protecting the outdoors is a global effort. #LeaveNoTrace #Fjällräven_na #BearVault #CleanWaste

When a trail's backed up, it's tempting to step around the crowd. That's how braiding starts — multiple parallel paths eating into vegetation that won't grow back this season, or maybe ever. Waiting ten seconds costs you nothing. Widening the trail costs everyone.

Most outdoor spaces don’t stay open simply because they’re public. They stay open because people care for them. The future of our public lands depends on the choices we make when no one is watching. Protect the place. Protect the experience. Protect access.

Land managers don't want to close trails, cap permits, or add more rules. They do it when overuse forces their hand. Every person who packs out their trash, stays on the trail, and gives wildlife space is part of why a place stays open instead of getting locked down.

Got a shot that captures what adventure means to you? Leave No Trace is proud to support The Illume Awards 2026, and we want to see your best work in the adventure category. Submissions close July 31st. Submit yours here: zurl.co/EGueq

Rock scorching, scattered ash, and a canyon full of dry vegetation. Your campfire choices have consequences that outlast your trip. Fire season is already intense, so know the restrictions and understand the impact. Sometimes the right call is no fire at all.

Protect the Next 250 Years and Explore 250. Turn this weekend (or any day this summer) into outdoor time — trail challenges, journaling prompts, and real skills for taking care of the places they explore. Free download, no screens required - zurl.co/BQzaF

Rules can't cover every situation. Ethics fills the gaps. What's one outdoor ethics principle you think more people need to know?

Congrats to the "Hippie Jerry Campsite Challenge" Grand Prize Winners! Festivals Are More Sustainable Because of the Choices We Make. #TellurideBluegrassFestival #LeaveNoTrace

Leave No Trace is about more than following "rules." It's about the choices you make when there's no sign, no ranger, and no one watching. Those choices are what actually protect the places you love, even when nobody’s watching. #LeaveNoTrace #OutdoorEthics

As part of the Leave No Trace Spotlight program w/Boulder OSMP, we joined community members at Boulder Valley Ranch for a stewardship project focused on construction, trail sustainability, & improve accessibility for everyone who visits. #NationalTrailsDay #LeaveNoTrace #publicland

Join us for Leave No Trace Trivia Night on Thursday, June 4, from 6–8 PM at Fjällräven Boulder as we kick off the City of Boulder OSMP Leave No Trace Spotlight! A fun evening of stewardship-themed trivia, great prizes, & 30% off Fjällräven merchandise for attendees. 📍1048 Pearl St, Boulder, CO 80302

Millions of birds are moving through right now, stopping to rest and refuel. Noise, dogs, and off-trail foot traffic can push them from the stopover sites they depend on. A little space during their migration goes a long way. 🧐

Public lands are home to the wildlife that lives there year-round. We're the visitors. Treating that time in their habitat with respect; keeping distance, managing pets, and storing food is part of the deal.

An animal that gets food from humans learns to expect it. That changes how it behaves — and where it goes looking. Animals that associate humans with food are more likely to end up in conflict situations. Feeding wildlife isn't kindness. It's a slow harm.

Leave No Trace helps turn awareness into action by teaching people how to reduce their impact, protect natural spaces, & inspire others to do the same. Our public lands depend on everyday acts of stewardship so places can continue to be enjoyed for generations to come. #LeaveNoTrace #publiclands

Right now, birds across North America are nesting. Stepping off the trail — even briefly — can disturb nest sites. Some species will abandon a nest if they feel threatened. Stay on durable surfaces, especially this time of year.

A fawn alone in the grass. A bird on the ground. These animals are almost never abandoned — their parents are nearby, watching. Human intervention often does more harm than good. If you find young wildlife, the best thing you can do is leave it alone.

Most harm to wildlife happens not because people don't care, but because they don't know better. This is why learning matters. The 7 Principles of Leave No Trace help us understand how to share outdoor spaces with others, including wildlife.

The best thing about stewardship? It's contagious. That's the theme for our 4th and final challenge for Earth Month. A held-open gate. A tip about a muddy shortcut. Picking up someone else's trash. It counts. Drop your best tip below and tag us with #LNTEarthMonth. @Fjällräven

April's almost over — but there's still time to take the pledge, make a gift, and enter to win @Fjällräven gear. Every donation supports Leave No Trace education and puts you in the draw for one of ten gear packages. zurl.co/sXBm1 #LNTEarthMonth

A short stroll on any trail can turn into a mini clean-up mission. It's wild how much trash we can pick up in a short hike, but every piece we remove is one less in our beautiful wild spaces. Small actions can make big change. 📍Ancestral land of Miwok #LNTearthmonth #EnjoyYourWorld #LeaveNoTrace

Earth Month in action. Mountain Hardwear, Leave No Trace and Marin County Parks restoring the places we all love. Acts of stewardship don't have to be big to make an impact. They just have to happen. #LeaveNoTrace #LNTearthmonth #MountainHardwear #MarinCountryParks

The Artemis II crew just returned from the Moon — humanity's farthest trip from Earth since 1972. NASA astronaut and Leave No Trace Level 1 Instructor Dr. Kjell Lindgren said it from orbit a few years ago. This Earth Month, it still holds. zurl.co/54XOp

Trails, campgrounds, and wild places belong to everyone, including the wildlife that calls them home. How we move through those spaces tells a lot about what we value. #LNTEarthMonth

Earth Month is a habit, and not a holiday. Show us how you're practicing Leave No Trace this April. Share your story and tag #LNTEarthMonth.

Make your Earth Month count. Take the Leave No Trace pledge, make a donation in April, and you're entered to win a gear package from Fjällräven. Ten winners. One month. Your actions matter. zurl.co/WnUHL #LNTEarthMonth

What happens upstream doesn't stay upstream. Waste, runoff, and litter travel. Healthy waterways depend on decisions made on land, including yours. #LNTEarthMonth

Leave No Trace and @CitSci are hosting the third annual #LeaveNoTrash University Challenge. Compete against other colleges and universities to see who can clean up and record the most trash. Sign up today → zurl.co/dQwqV

You don't have to go to a national park to practice sustainability. The choices you make every day — at home, in your neighborhood, on your commute — matter too. What are some of your daily life solutions? Tell us below ↓ #LNTEarthMonth

For 30 years, federal land managers have made our mission possible on the ground. Healthy public lands need people to protect them. We stand with the agencies that do that work. Read more at zurl.co/cI3Tg

This Earth Month, we're asking you to do three things: learn it, practice it, share it. Take the pledge at zurl.co/WB6Rc Go a step further and make a donation, you'll automatically be entered to win gear from Fjällräven. #LNTEarthMonth

Earth Month is a great time to clean up — literally. Buy 2 or more #LeaveNoTrash Cleanup Kits and save 25%. Discount applies automatically at checkout, no code needed. The sale runs through April. Grab yours (and grab one for a friend): zurl.co/OPTmY