Love Where You Ride is an educational effort that shares with bikepackers the knowledge and skills to not only minimize their impacts on the landscape through which we ride, but also have a positive impact on the communities we interact with as bikepackers. Our Positive Impact Bikepacking practices to inspire bikepackers to go beyond minimizing our impact and join us in working to cultivate a positive user-group identity and reputation with the communities, other user-groups, and land managers that we interact with while out riding.

Beyond this, we partnered with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics to offer bikepackers tools and practices for minimizing our impact on the landscapes through which we ride while having a positive impact on the communities along the way. We’ve adapted the Leave No Trace Seven Principles specifically for bikepackers and have compiled a set of guidelines to help bikepackers engage positively with communities and individuals we encounter while out riding.

Read on to learn more. We invite you to join us by adopting our Positive Impact Bikepacking practices and the Leave No Trace Seven Principles for Bikepacking and  participate in creating a future where our growing bikepacking community is one where individuals think globally and act locally to minimize their impact on the landscape and communities through which we ride!
This project was made possible with generous support from . . .
Before Bikepacking
  • Review the first of the  Leave No Trace Seven Principles for Bikepacking (“Plan Ahead and Prepare”) to “know before you go” and “pack for the unplanned.”
  • Learn the Indigenous lands upon which you ride. Bikepackers ride on stolen land. Learn it and acknowledge it. 
  • Gather resources to educate yourself about the landscape — from the geophysical, to the biological, to the human stories of where you’re bikepacking. Understanding fosters connection and connection fosters compassion.

When Bikepacking
  • Practice the Leave No Trace Seven Principles for Bikepacking.
  • Greet land managers kindly and share what bikepacking is, where you’re going, and why it’s awesome to bikepack there. 
  • Communicate graciously with other users on the landscape. Share what you’re doing, why it matters to you, and treat other users with respect. Try to build bridges between your experience and theirs.
  • When in more remote areas, ride more conservatively to minimize risks and to be gentle on trails that rarely receive maintenance.

In towns:
  • Leave town services as you find them. Dispose of your waste, and don’t leave a mess after you or your bike are cleaned. 
  • Camp in legal, permissible places. Don’t camp within town limits unless in a clearly established campground or if given permission by the land owner. 
  • Communicate graciously with store owners and locals. Share what you’re doing and appreciate riding through their home landscape. Try to build bridges between your experience and theirs. 
  • Pay for the goods and services you’re using. Your money is supporting the local economy.

When racing:
  • Practice all of the Leave No Trace Seven  Principles for Bikepacking!
  • Know and race within your limits. Actively prevent requiring help from other trail users, local residents, or calling Search and Rescue for help.
  • Follow all local regulations and laws. 

After Bikepacking:
  • Donate money or time to local bike or trails advocacy groups that ensure your route is taken care of. 
  • Get engaged with access and conservation processes to ensure a positive future for bikepacking is ensured!

  • Know before you go — ride bike-legal trails, be aware of seasonal closures, directional trails, and permits or fees for parks and parking. Bikes are never allowed on trails in Wilderness Areas (ridden, pushed, or carried). 
  • Know where you are, where you’re going, and if evacuation routes exist. Carry a downloaded GPS file, have maps saved for offline use, or carry paper maps (and have backup means of navigation in case of navigational failure). If riding solo, tell someone where you’re headed. 
  • Plan for the unplanned! Carry repair items, light, water treatment, first-aid, ample water capacity, shelter, and layers to keep you warm and dry in unanticipated conditions. 
  • Following wet weather or winter/spring, check with local trail organizations or bike shops for current trail conditions. Know what happens to the surface if rain occurs while you’re riding — some routes become impassable when wet or will be damaged by riding when wet. 
  • When planning a route, especially for newer bikepackers (regardless of cycling experience) plan to ride significantly less mileage than you would unloaded. 
  • If riding an e-bike, know what trails they are legal on — do not ride trails closed to e-bikes. If riding non-motorized trails, assume e-bikes are prohibited until you learn otherwise. 
  • Wear a helmet. It could save your life and reduce the need for search and rescue.
  • Durable surfaces for cycling include dry, established trails, authorized slickrock areas, dirt/gravel roads, pavement. 
  • Avoid riding off-trail unless local regulations permit.
  • Keep singletrack single! When encountering water, ice, or mud ride through it rather than around. Ride or walk an obstacle rather than ride around it. 
  • The best camps are found, not made!
  • Ride on dirt, not mud. Avoid wet trails — when your tires leave large divots or create deep ruts it's too wet to ride. 
  • Especially on backcountry trails that receive minimal maintenance, prevent erosion by braking carefully — slow down before making a turn rather than in the middle of a turn, and do your best to avoid skidding. 
  • When leaving the trail for other users, breaks, or scenic viewpoints, walk your bike rather than riding it. 
  • Durable surfaces for camping include established sites, bare dirt, dry vegetation, and rock. Avoid camping on live vegetation, and never on living (cryptobiotic) soil. 
  • Make your camp on already impacted sites to concentrate impacts. If no existing sites are available try to minimize your camp's footprint. 
  • Camp at least 200 feet (70 big steps) from water sources like streams and lakes. 
  • Know the land ownership across the route you’re riding. Camp/bivy ONLY where it is permissible. Stealth camping in unauthorized locations, or bivvying on private land, creates negative impressions about bikepacking and can lead to reduced access.
  • Pack it in, pack it out. Pack out all food waste, toilet paper, hygiene products, and wrappers. 
  • When restroom facilities are not available, deposit solid human waste in catholes 6-8” deep, dug at least 200 feet from water sources and trails.  Pack out toilet paper. Cover and disguise your cat hole. 
  • Urinate 200’ away from camp and water sources and out of sight of other trail users. 
  • Bag and pack out dog waste. Alternatively, move dog waste far away from trails and water sources, and bury it in a 6-8" hole. 
  • Leave the environment better than you find it and pick up trail trash.
  • Observe but do not touch cultural or historic structures and artifacts. Leave rocks, plants, and other natural objects as you find them. 
  • Wash your bike and gear between rides to prevent the transportation of non-native species. 
  • Do not build unauthorized trail or trail features. Work with land managers and trail advocacy organizations to engage in trail stewardship and building. 
  • Be gentle on trails.
  • Campfires can cause long-lasting impacts on the environment. Use lightweight stoves, shelters, or candles as alternatives. 
  • When building a fire, use existing fire rings, keep fires small and burn wrist-sized or smaller dead and downed fuel. Avoid creating large fire rings. 
  • Attend fires until  all wood is burned to ash. Ensure the ash in your firepit is cool enough to touch before leaving it unattended
  • Know the status and level of current fire bans. Alcohol stoves are not permitted during fire bans. Some fire bans prohibit any type of open flame, including camp stoves.
  • Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow or approach them. 
  • Avoid disturbing livestock. Running cattle is a legal offense in many ranching areas.  
  • Never feed animals. Feeding wildlife affects their health, alters natural behaviors, and exposes them to predators. Pack out all food waste and scraps! 
  • Control pets at all times or leave them at home. 
  • Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating/nesting season, winter, dusk, and dawn. 
  • In bear habitat, use caution and consider carrying bear spray. Avoid solo travel and make noise to prevent surprise encounters. 
  • Negative bear-MTB interactions will risk MTB access to trails and lead to preventable bear management (relocation or euthanization). 
  • Store your food appropriately for your area to prevent wildlife encounters. Bear canisters are highly recommended and far less prone to error than bear hangs. 
  • Be able to hear your surroundings.
  • Always ride in control and within your limits. 
  • Cyclists always yield to hikers and horses. Default to stopping and dismounting for oncoming traffic. 
  • When passing, announce your presence with your voice or a bell and ask to pass. Share how many other cyclists are in your group or if you’re solo. 
  • Talk to equestrians and ask for their instructions. Speaking and making eye contact helps ease the horses. Step to the downhill side for stock to pass by. 
  • Downhill cyclists yield to uphill cyclists. Descend in control and be cautious riding in areas with poor lines of sight and around blind corners. 
  • Contain your pets. If dogs are allowed off-leash make sure that they stay close and are well behaved.   
  • When riding in groups, travel together to reduce noise and strung out passing for other users. Adjust your speed to keep dust down. Keep the size of your group reasonable.
  • Keep music to yourself and make sure you can hear your surroundings. 
  • Step off the trail for breaks, to fix mechanicals, or adjust layers so other travelers can pass easily.
  • Be friendly! Greet people politely. Talk to other users and land managers about responsible bikepacking and be a good ambassador.
Right click to view full-size images. Illustrations by Jen Reddy Ink

The Positive Impact Bikepacking practices and Leave No Trace Seven Principles for Bikepacking are copyright Bikepacking Roots and Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics (www.LNT.org). Please inquire for permission to reproduce these in any manner.