Outdoor Safety Tips That Start Before the Trailhead

How to Prepare Before You Head Out

Hiking preparedness starts at home with the route, the forecast and the gear you plan to carry.

Most of the work happens before you put your boots on. Each of the three checks below has a reason behind it, so you know what you are looking for, not just what to tick off.

Research the Route

Look up the distance, elevation change, terrain and exit points of the route, and compare them with the daylight you will have.

Check each of these before you commit to the route:

• Distance - how far is it there and back, not just one way?
• Elevation change - how much climbing and descending is there, and where does it come?
• Terrain - is it a clear path, loose rock, roots, stream crossings or open ground?
• Exit points - where can you leave the route early if you need to?

Then put those next to the daylight you will have on the day you go. A route that fits easily into a long summer evening may not fit into a short winter afternoon. If the route and your daylight do not fit together comfortably, pick a shorter route or an earlier start.

Check the Forecast Again Before You Leave

Check the official forecast for the area the night before and again on the morning you leave, because conditions can shift between the day you plan and the day you go.

Use the official forecast for the specific area you are visiting, not the town you live in. Checking twice gives you a chance to change the plan at home, where changing it is easy, instead of on the trail, where it is not. If the morning check looks different from the night before, take that seriously and adjust.

Test Your Gear on a Short Outing

Wear the boots and carry the loaded pack on a short walk near home before the trip, so a sore spot or a broken strap shows up while you are still close to home.

Load the pack the way you plan to carry it on the day, then walk with it. Notice where the boots rub, where the straps dig in and what you could not reach when you wanted it. Each of those is far easier to fix at home than halfway along a trail.

Look Up the Rules and Hazards Where You're Going

Before you go, check the official site of the agency that manages the land you are visiting for its current fire restrictions, permits, closures and wildlife guidance.

First, find out who manages the land. It might be a park service, a forest service, a state agency or a local parks department, and the rules come from whoever that is. Then go to that agency's official site, not a forum or an old trip report, and look for its current notices close to your departure date. Rules and conditions are set by that agency, so it is the place to check them, and this guide does not state them for you.

Fire Restrictions and Closures

Check current fire restrictions and trail or area closures close to your departure date, because they can change with conditions.

A restriction or closure that was not there when you started planning can be in place by the time you go. Look at the land manager's current notices a day or two before you leave, and follow what they say over anything you read earlier.

Wildlife Guidance for the Area

Read the land manager's guidance on the wildlife in the area, including how it asks visitors to store food and trash.

That guidance is written for that place, so use it rather than general advice from somewhere else. Pay particular attention to how the land manager asks you to store food and trash, and plan what you pack around it.

Water, Heat and Cold Limits for Your Trip

Take questions about how much water to carry, how much heat or cold is too much, injuries and medical care to official sources such as Ready.gov, the American Red Cross and local emergency services.

For medical, safety, legal or emergency questions, Survival Report points readers to official sources such as Ready.gov, the American Red Cross and local emergency services.

That includes first aid. This guide gives no amounts, limits or first-aid steps for any of those questions.

Check the season as part of this. Look up the conditions for the actual dates of your trip, rather than assuming them from another time of year or from a trip you took before.

Treating water you find on the trail is a separate topic with its own guide. For it, read our guide to outdoor water purification planning.

Adjust the Plan for Who Is Coming

Plan the route, pace and turnaround around the least experienced person in the group, whether that is a child, an older relative or someone new to hiking.

The group can only go as far and as fast as its least experienced member can manage comfortably, so build the day around that person rather than the strongest walker:

• Route - choose a route that person can finish comfortably, not one the strongest person would enjoy.
• Pace - set the pace at their speed from the start.
• Breaks - plan more stops than you think you need.
• Turnaround - base the turnaround time on their pace, not yours.

Before the trip, ask each person what they can comfortably do and what they need to bring. If the group is mixed, choose the shorter option. Any personal medical questions belong with that person's own clinician or official health guidance, not with this plan.

Practice the Skills Before You Need Them

Practice every skill your trip depends on at home or close to home, where a mistake costs time rather than a night outside.

You do not need a course to get competent at the basics, but you do need practice. Here is how:

1. List the skills this trip depends on. Think through the day and write down every task you would need to do yourself.
2. Rehearse them at home or near home. Do each one where getting it wrong is cheap - the backyard, a local park, a short familiar trail.
3. Note what felt hard. Whatever was slow or confusing is what needs more practice.
4. Decide which skills need qualified instruction. Some skills should be learned from a qualified instructor before you rely on them on a trip. Be honest about which ones those are.

Once the skills for this trip feel familiar, you may want to look at the wider set. Our article on bushcraft skills covers what to learn, what to practice and what to leave to instruction.

Know When to Turn Around

Decide your turnaround time and conditions before you start, and turn back when the clock or the conditions reach that line, even if the summit or campsite feels close.

Write the conditions that end the outing down before you start, alongside the time: a change in the weather, someone in the group who is struggling, a route that turns out harder than expected. When the clock or any of those conditions reaches the line, you turn back.

The hardest moment is when the goal feels close. You will hear yourself say it: "We are nearly there, it would be a shame to turn back now." Say it out loud, then answer it: the line was set when everyone was calm, for exactly this moment, and the goal will still be there another day.

Set a Turnaround Time Before You Start

Pick the latest time you will keep going, based on daylight and the pace of the slowest person, and treat it as fixed.

Work it out from when daylight ends and how long the slowest person in the group will need to get back. Once you have set it, do not move it on the trail. A turnaround time that shifts every time you check it is not a turnaround time.

Have a Plan B Route Ready

Choose a shorter or lower alternative before the trip, so a change in weather or energy leaves you somewhere useful to go instead of a hard call on the trail.

Look at the map before you go and pick the shorter loop, the lower path or the earlier viewpoint you would use instead. Then, if the weather turns or the group runs low on energy, you already have a good option ready and the decision is easy.

Leave a Hiking Trip Plan With Someone at Home

Leave a written plan with someone at home that names your route, your group, your expected return and the latest time they should wait before raising the alarm.

Your trip plan should include:

• The route - where you are starting, where you are going and the Plan B route.
• The group - who is coming.
• The expected return - when you expect to be back.
• The latest return time - the time after which they should act.
• Who to contact - who the holder should contact if the group is not back by then, such as local emergency services.

Give it to someone reliable at home who will notice if you are not back. If your plans change, tell them before you change course. Then stick to the plan you left, because it only helps if you are where it says you are.

For more reading on preparedness, head back to the survival report home page.