How to break camp
- 1Take down shelter and gear — strike tents and the dining fly, pack the patrol/troop gear, and consolidate trash into sealable bags.
- 2Deal with the fire — burn down to ash if you can, pull all unburned trash and food from the ring, and make certain it's cold to the touch. Naturalize a fire you built where no ring existed.
- 3Handle wastewater — strain dishwater (bag the food bits), then broadcast it 200 ft from any water.
- 4Restore the ground — replace rocks and twigs you moved, naturalize disturbed soil, fluff flattened grass, and scatter leaves so tent and kitchen spots blend in.
- 5Inspect the whole site — walk it looking for trash, spilled food, tent stakes, cord, and micro-litter (twist ties, wrappers); pack out everything, including litter that isn't yours.
- 6Final sweep — spread the patrol across the site for one last look, then leave it better than you found it.
- 7Check out — follow any land-manager procedure and leave gates as you found them.
When to use it
- The end of every campout — the difference between a site that recovers and one that slowly degrades.
- Teaching outdoor ethics — the exit is where Leave No Trace becomes visible (or not).
- High-use and remote sites alike — restoring surfaces and removing traces protects both for the next visitors.
Common mistakes & safety
- A cold-out fire is the non-negotiable exit step. Leaving before the fire and all debris are cold to the touch risks a wildfire after you're gone — drown, stir, and feel for heat first.
- Pack out all food and scraps. Food left behind trains wildlife to raid camps and endangers both animals and the next campers.
- Greywater and waste go 200 ft from water. Dishwater and soap left near a stream contaminate the water others drink downstream.
- Account for sharp and loose gear. Sweep for tent stakes, broken glass, and cordage so the site is safe for the next group and for wildlife.
- Leave it better than you found it — the Scout standard is to pack out litter you didn't create.
Going deeper
- "Good campsites are found, not made." The one-line test: if the next person can tell someone camped there, you're not done restoring.
- Micro-trash is the trap. Twist ties, bits of foil, bottle caps, and crumbs are what get left — the final sweep is specifically hunting those, not just the obvious bags.
- Fluff and scatter. Restoring a tent spot isn't just picking up gear; lift matted grass and scatter natural leaf litter so the ground doesn't read as a used site.
Official source
The Leave No Trace seven principles — Scouting America →Breaking camp draws on Leave No Trace and the Outdoor Code — the "leave it better than you found it" ethic is the Scout standard.