Camping
Food Storage and Camp Safety
Proper food storage and camp setup are the foundation of bear safety. A garbage-habituated bear is the most dangerous kind, and sloppy food storage creates them.
The Yosemite Problem
In a Yosemite study, 92% of backcountry users stated they stored food properly. Only 3% actually did. A food-conditioned bear is a product of human activity, not a "bad bear." And as Herrero notes, the people who create the problem through sloppy food storage are seldom the ones who get injured.
Camp Layout
The 100-yard triangle: sleeping, cooking, and food storage should each be at least 100 yards apart, with cooking and food storage downwind of your tent.
Do Not
- x Cook near your tent
- x Camp near a bear trail or seasonal feeding ground
- x Camp where food or garbage has been left by others
- x Camp where you see bear signs (tracks, scat, diggings)
- x Bury garbage (bears dig it up)
- x Cook inside your tent
Do
- - Cook at least 100 yards downwind of your tent
- - Store food at least 100 yards downwind of camp
- - Camp near a climbable tree in grizzly country
- - Leave packs outside with flaps open
- - Wash yourself after cooking to remove food odours
- - Change odour-impregnated clothes before sleeping
- - Use low-odour dried foods for backpacking
- - Plan meal quantities so everything gets eaten
Food Storage Methods
Bear Canisters (Recommended)
ABS plastic cylinders weighing around 3 pounds. Tested and proven in Yosemite, Sequoia, and Denali. Bears cannot bite or break them. Store on the ground well away from camp. Required in many parks and wilderness areas. The simplest and most reliable method.
Two-Tree Hang
Requires 100 feet of 1/8-inch or thicker nylon rope and two trees roughly 23 feet apart. Rope goes over limbs about 17 feet up. Food bag hangs at least 12 feet above ground. Effective but requires suitable trees and practice.
Counterbalance (One Limb)
Developed by Yosemite NPS. Use a live, downsloping branch. Position the rope where the branch diameter is 1 inch or less (so it will not support a cub's weight). Balance two equal-weight sacks of no more than 10 pounds each.
Treeless Areas
Place food in multiple layers of sealed plastic bags. Store several hundred yards from camp. Use boulders, crevices, or submerge waterproof bags in cold water. This is the least secure method. Use bear canisters in treeless terrain when possible.
Car Camping
- -Store all food and coolers in the trunk, not the passenger compartment. Bears can smell food through car windows and will break in.
- -Do not leave food wrappers, crumbs, or garbage in your vehicle.
- -Use the campground bear lockers if they are provided.
- -Clean your cooler and cooking area thoroughly after each meal.
This guide is informed by Stephen Herrero's Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (3rd Edition, 2018) and Parks Canada backcountry camping guidelines.