A packraft gets you to water most people never see. A riverbank with no footprints, a lake at the end of a long walk, a gravel bar under cliffs. The job is to leave it that way. Leave no trace is not a rulebook. It is a habit: plan well, camp light, carry it all out and clean your gear so the next paddler finds the place as you did.
Plan so you do not improvise
Most damage happens when a trip goes off plan. A late finish means a rushed camp on a fragile bank. Running short of fuel means a fire where there should not be one. Plan the day around the water, the light and the forecast, and you camp where you meant to.
Check the rules with the land manager before you go: Parks Victoria, NPWS, QPWS, DBCA, Parks and Wildlife Tasmania or DOC in New Zealand, or the local council. Some areas need camping permits, some cap group sizes, and some close sections of river seasonally.
Camping by the river
Riverbanks are where the life is. They hold the soil together, shade the water and shelter birds and animals. They are also the easiest place to leave a mark.
- Use established campsites and existing clearings wherever they exist.
- Camp well back from the water. Rules vary, so check the land manager's advice for the minimum distance.
- Gravel and sand bars below the vegetation line are durable, but check they will stay dry if the river rises overnight.
- Keep to existing tracks down to the water rather than cutting new ones through the bank.
- Leave the packraft on sand or gravel, not on top of reeds and riverbank plants.
Fires and stoves
Carry a stove and use it. It is faster, cleaner and allowed in far more places than a campfire. Many parks ban fires outright, and fire bans cover whole regions on high-risk days.
Where fires are permitted, use an existing fireplace, keep it small, burn only dead fallen wood and put it out completely with water. Cold to the touch before you leave.
Waste and water
Pack out everything you pack in. Food scraps, wrappers, fishing line and tape all go home with you. Orange peel and food scraps do not break down fast in the bush, and they draw animals to camp.
For toilets, use facilities where they exist. Where they do not, dig a hole well away from the river and camp, and carry out toilet paper in a sealed bag. Some rivers and gorges require you to carry out all human waste. Check before you go.
Wash yourself and your dishes away from the water, with a pot of water carried up the bank. Scatter the grey water on soil, not in the river. Even biodegradable soap harms the life in a creek.
Check, clean, dry
A packraft goes from one river to the next in a backpack. So can anything clinging to it. Aquatic weeds, algae and diseases hitch a ride on wet gear, paddles, shoes and straps, and once they are in a waterway they are almost impossible to remove.
New Zealand is the clearest example. Didymo, an invasive freshwater alga, has spread through South Island rivers, and New Zealand asks every river user to Check, Clean, Dry between waterways. Australia has its own threats, from aquatic weeds to the chytrid fungus that kills frogs and the dieback pathogens carried on muddy boots.
- Check: remove any plant matter, mud and debris from the packraft, paddle, straps, shoes and bags. Leave it at the site.
- Clean: wash everything with the cleaning solution the local authority recommends, including under the seat and around the floor.
- Dry: let every item dry completely, inside and out, before it touches another waterway.
Moving between catchments on a single trip? Clean in between. Follow the local advice, because the right method varies with the threat.
Private land and Country
In Australia, river access is a patchwork. Some banks are public land, some are private property down to the water, and the rules on crossing them vary by state. Launch and land at public access points, ask permission before crossing private land, leave gates as you find them and keep away from stock.
All of this land is Country, cared for by Traditional Owners for tens of thousands of years. Many rivers, lakes and gorges hold cultural sites and places of significance. Respect closures and signs, leave artefacts and rock art untouched, and learn whose Country you are paddling on. In New Zealand, the same care extends to places of significance to tangata whenua.
Wildlife and other people
Watch wildlife from a distance. Give nesting birds on sand bars a wide berth, never feed animals and store food where they cannot reach it at night.
Keep noise down near other campers and share launch points with anglers and other paddlers. A small group, a quiet camp and a clean site are what make remote water feel remote.
Wear your PFD and leave your trip intentions with someone at home. Then leave the place better than you found it.
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