3 Ways to Keep Bears Away from Your Campsite

Spending a night in the backcountry is one of the greatest joys of outdoor adventure — the quiet, the stars, the feeling of total escape. But when bears come sniffing around your campsite, that joy can quickly turn into a stressful situation. Knowing how to keep bears away from your campsite is crucial for both your safety and the protection of wildlife.

Let's set the scene before we delve into the nitty-gritty.

You’ve found the perfect spot in a stand of aspen. Tension melts from your shoulders as your pack slips to the ground. Tent up. Bedroll smoothed. You step back and smile with satisfaction. A good night’s sleep is headed your way!

The gurgling creek down the hillside calls your name. Moments later, the boots are off, the socks are airing, and crystal-clear water is rushing over dirty toes. This is pure bliss. The sound of water rushing over smooth stones fills the air around you. It can’t last forever, though, and eventually you’re trudging back uphill. And as you come close to camp, you realize you’ve had a visitor… 

Your pack is ripped open and its contents scattered across the ground. Empty wrappers flutter in the breeze. Crumbs in the grass laugh at your growing hunger. Even the tent looks sad, with its broken pole and droopy entrance.

This isn’t the adventure you had in mind. 

How do you prevent this from happening? In this guide, we’ll explore why bears visit campsites and share proven strategies to help you protect your food, your gear, and yourself during your wilderness adventures.

Trying to attribute intent to an animal is always going to be something of a guessing game. Still, with the incredible studies done by organizations like Bear Smart and BearWise, we have a better understanding of how bears behave and how we can best interact with them. 

Bears are curious creatures with a powerful sense of smell. Their visits to campsites often boil down to three main reasons:

Understanding these factors helps you plan and prevent unwanted encounters.

#1. Store Food and Scented Items Properly

More often than not, bears visit campsites for high-calorie human food. They smell something incredible and, for whatever reason, the bear is unbothered by humans. 

Maybe the bear has done it before and gotten away with it, or maybe they’re a first-time offender. Either way, they must never get away with human food ever again. 

Why is that important? 

Because any reward received for visiting camps and approaching humans is setting bears up for a premature exit from this world. When a bear figures out that it can obtain easy, free food in certain spots and through specific methods, it starts making the behavior a habit. 

Proactive wildlife management policies, like the one cited in the 2020 report from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, stipulate a single strike approach for what’s called “offensive aggression”. This kind of behavior is described as “behav[ing] aggressively toward people, injur[ing] people, or damag[ing] property in their attempts to gain access to human foods”. Once a bear gets a strike, it becomes a target for elimination.

The most important thing you can do to keep bears away is to manage food and scented items. 

Here’s how you should store them safely:

Proper food storage protects both you and the bear by preventing them from becoming habituated to human food sources.

#2. Choose Your Campsite Carefully

Where you set up camp matters. If you choose a spot that bears like to visit, you can expect to have one drop by. Knowing what to look for in the way of signs and general habitat can help you avoid it. 

Here’s a list of things to watch for.

Prioritize things like good visibility to help ensure you can see any approaching wildlife from a greater distance. Consider your proximity to other campers as well, and make sure you have a way to communicate in case of emergency. 

Choosing wisely when it comes to your campsite can mean having a bear-free trip altogether.

#3. Use Bear Deterrents and Stay Alert

Whenever you go exploring in bear country, whether that’s on a day hike or for an extended backcountry campout, you must have protection options in your supply list. There’s no good reason to leave them behind, especially when you consider how curious bears can be when it comes to your strange camp gear.

Keeping bears out of your campsite and away from your belongings is crucial for maintaining a harmonious balance in the world. 

When bears learn to associate campsites with food, they become a danger to people and often face fatal consequences. Ensuring bears never make a connection between human campsites and easy food, you’re doing a great service for generations of campers and bears alike. 

Enjoy your adventure knowing you’ve set the stage for peaceful nights under the stars — and a future where bears and humans can coexist.