Most backpackers choose to cook over a lightweight backpacking stove, instead of a campfire. Even in areas where campfires are permitted, stoves are the prefered choice because they minimize damage to the soil and to the trees, and stoves provide a consistent heat for cooking.Choose a location for your camp kitchen.

• Locate your kitchen 200 feet from water and 100 feet from your sleeping area (especially in bearcountry) and trails.
• In a high-use area, camp in an existing campsite and set up your kitchen on a site that is so highly impacted that further careful use will cause no noticeable impact. These sites are obvious because they have already lost their vegetation cover.
• At a pristine campsite, look for a site which naturally lacks vegetation, such as exposed bedrock, sand or gravel.

It is imperative to maintain a clean camp kitchen. Messy kitchens and food odors can attract bears and other critters.

• Pick up all food scraps that fall on the ground, even small morsels.
• If you are cooking in the dark, scan the area with a flashlight or headlamp to ensure you have picked up all food scraps. Do not leave clean-up for the morning.
• Pack out all food scraps with your garbage.
• Under no circumstance should food scraps be buried! Discarded or buried food scraps becomes attractive to small animal life which live in the area. Human food is not natural to wild animals and their natural feeding cycles and habits will become disturbed.

Backpack: Bear Country: Basics

Backpack: Bear Country: Camping & Food Security

Backpack: Bear Country: Hiking & Bear Encounters

Backpack: Desert: Basics

Backpack: Desert: Camping Considerations

Backpack: Desert: Hazards

Backpack: Desert: Hiking

Backpack: Desert: Water & Food: Dry Camping

Backpack: Desert: Water & Food: Finding & Carrying

Backpack: Desert: Water & Food: Food

Backpack: Finding Water

Backpack: Fitness

Backpack: Food & Water: Plan Meals

Backpack: Food & Water: Repackage

Backpack: Fording Rivers

Backpack: Highcountry: Basics

Backpack: Highcountry: Camping Considerations

Backpack: Highcountry: Hazards

Backpack: Highcountry: Hiking on Scree & Talus

Backpack: In Camp: Bathing

Backpack: In Camp: Campfire: Basics

Backpack: In Camp: Campfire: in the Rain

Backpack: In Camp: Campfire: Low-Impact Fires

Backpack: In Camp: Food Storage

Backpack: In Camp: Ideal Campsite

Backpack: In Camp: Making Camp in Adverse Conditions

Backpack: In Camp: Managing Human Waste

Backpack: In Camp: Sleeping Warm

Backpack: In Camp: Tent or Tarp?

Backpack: In Camp: Washing Dishes

Backpack: In Camp: Women's Sanitation Concerns

Backpack: Packing Your Pack

Backpack: Plan Your Trip

Backpack: Putting on Your Pack

Backpack: Staying Found: Emergency Signaling

Backpack: Staying Found: How to Use a Compass

Backpack: Staying Found: Why Carry a Compass?

Backpack: Treating Water

Backpack: What to Bring: Clothes