You are here

Essential Paddling Guide: Minimize Your Paddling Impacts

Share

Paddling starts out as a low-impact activity in the National Park System, but keep the following tips in mind to ensure you leave the lowest possible impact.

* When coming ashore, be careful of soft banks that could collapse under your weight.

* Choose your tent site wisely, in an area that won’t be affected by storm runoff.

* Use camp stoves for cooking. They’re clean, easy to care for, and don’t require you to scour your campsite for fuel in the form of branches.

* Bring a small strainer that you can filter your kitchen wash water through to catch small morsels, and store them in your garbage.

* Avoid a campfire, but if you choose to have one, check the regulations of the specific park where you’ll be paddling to see if you’re required to have a fire pan to protect the soils beneath your fire or to see if there are designated fire rings to use. Be sure the fire is dead out before calling it a night or leaving camp.

* If you wash, carry water at least 200 feet from streams or lakes and avoid the use of soap (use sand or a pot scraper to scour your dishes instead). Scatter strained dishwater and disperse toothpaste on bare ground well away from your camp or water sources.

* Store your foods out of the reach of wildlife. Many backcountry sites have bear poles you can hang your items from. If none are available, hang your items from a branch at least 15 feet off the ground and 5 feet from the tree’s trunk.

* Have a trash bag(s) to haul out your garbage.

* If the backcountry sites don’t have toilets, carry a “groover,” a portable toilet, thar can handle your group’s needs.

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.