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Reading Time: 7 minutesLast Updated on June 19, 2025 by Paul Clayton
Table of Contents
7 Definitive Tips to Keep Bears Away When Camping
Bears, especially black ones, can be docile and harmless, making safe camping in bear country possible.
However, hungry bears can come to your campsite to forage. When they smell food in your camp, they’ll do anything to get it. Running into a bear can also make them feel threatened, leading to a terrible attack.
Key Takeaways:
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- Strategic Campsite Selection: Choose a campsite free of bear signs (droppings, claw marks, carcasses) and natural food sources (berries). Pitch your tent at least 100 yards away from cooking areas, food storage, and water sources, especially in regions where grizzly bears are present.
- Implement the Bear-Muda Triangle: Maintain a 100-yard separation between your sleeping area, cooking area, and food storage to minimize the attraction of bears to your tent.
- Strict Food and Scent Management: Store all food, cooking items, and scented products (including toiletries) in odor-proof bags or bear-proof containers, keeping them at least 100 yards from your tent (or in a locked car trunk). Never keep food inside your tent.
- Avoid Aromatic Attractants: Minimize bringing highly aromatic foods, such as bacon, fish, and honey, as their strong scents are irresistible to bears. If brought, ensure they are securely sealed and all crumbs are meticulously cleaned.
- Immediate and Proper Cleanup: Clean all cooking utensils and food preparation areas immediately after use. Do dishes away from your sleeping area and properly dispose of all food scraps and garbage in designated bear-proof containers or by burning where permitted, never burying them.
- Maintain Overall Campsite Cleanliness: Change into clean sleeping clothes after cooking, avoid bringing food odors into your tent, and ensure the entire campsite is free of any lingering food scents or debris.
- Control Pets: Keep pets leashed at all times to prevent them from provoking bears. Feed pets away from your sleeping area and ensure their food is also stored in a bear-safe manner.
If you don’t want to be a victim of bear attacks, here are a few practical tips to help you keep them away from your campsite.
How Do You Keep Bears Away When Camping?
1. Choose the Right Campsite
When choosing a campsite, consider whether the area is bear-friendly. Are there bear droppings nearby? Do you see any claw marks on the nearby trees?
Messy sites are usually a significant bear attraction as they probably have fallen food and other scents that can encourage bears to visit.
It would also be helpful to check whether the site has any natural bear food, such as berries and other wild fruits. Animal carcasses are also a red flag, as the killer could still be around.
If you realize that your coveted site looks suitable for furry creatures, the best thing to do is to steer clear of that area. Then, look for another camping ground that appears unappealing to bears.
Pitching your tent near a water source puts you at a higher risk of bear encounters or attacks, especially in grizzly bear country.
It helps to camp further away from water sources, regardless of how attracted you feel to the water. Otherwise, you’ll be sleeping between thirsty grizzly bears and their favorite drinking spot, which might end badly.
2. Observe the Bear Country Campsite Set Up
When camping in bear country, the best way to be safe is to set up your camp using the bear-muda triangle.
The Bermuda triangle is a strategy for separating your three main areas: cooking, sleeping, and food storage. These crucial areas should be about 100 yards apart.
Depending on the orientation of your chosen campsite, the sleeping area should be at the top of the triangle. This way, the food hanging and cooking areas will be on the lower side, so bears won’t have a reason to come to your tent and distract your sleep.
If a tree is not nearby and you must store your food in bear canisters at your preferred campsite, keep the containers 100 yards from your tent.
3. Store Your Food In Odor-proof Bags or Containers
Knowing how to store your food correctly when camping in bear country can save your life. Since bears have an excellent sense of smell, you need to keep all your scented food in an odor-proof bag or container.
If you are car camping and your vehicle is nearby, keep the cooler and the food bags in the trunk.
Since your vehicle is not scent-proof, ensure the bags and containers are properly secured to prevent any conspicuous smell. Bears will go crazy and mess with your car’s paint, trying to get inside when they smell food.
If you don’t have your car and have to keep your food outside, you may be tempted to bring everything into the tent, but this is a recipe for disaster in bear country.
Instead, store your food and scented items in odor-proof bags, such as those used for toothpaste and other similar products. Then, find a suitable tree and hang your items.
The best way to hang your food is to look for a tree with extended branches. Ideally, the food should be 15 feet from the ground and 4 feet from the tree trunk.
If you have a bear-proof container or bear kegs/tubes, keep them at least 50 meters from where you are sleeping.
4. Don’t Bring Aromatic Foods to the Campsite
When camping in bear country, the type of food you bring determines how safe you’ll be from the hairy creatures.
Bears love aromatic foods like fish, bacon, fresh fruit, nuts, and honey. The more scented your food is, the more delicious it will smell to hungry bears.
If you must bring these foods, keep them in tightly secured scent-proof containers and remove all the crumbs after eating them.
During the day, it’s wise to keep all your edibles in a supervised area and not leave them unattended for even a minute. Bears can show up at your campsite at any time and devour your food, leaving you starving for the rest of the trip.
Apart from food, other scented items like perfumes, soaps, and lotions can also attract bears to your campsite. So, your go-to is non-scented hygiene items.
5. Clean Up Immediately After Cooking and Eating
After cooking and eating, you may be tempted to relax and do the dishes and packing later. However, this is the worst idea as the food scents can entice bears to your campsite.
Pack all the remaining food and clean the used utensils as soon as you finish cooking and eating. Then, look for any fallen pieces and remove them. Remember, even a bit of macaroni is enough to invite a hungry bear from miles away.
If your camping area lacks a designated dishwashing area, do your dishes outside your camping triangle.
You may think burying your food scraps or garbage is a wise choice, but it’s not. Instead, pack the waste in a scentless garbage bag or dump it in designated bear-proof containers.
If you lack a bear-proof garbage bag and can’t find a waste container nearby, you can dispose of all leftovers and scraps by burning them.
Once you brush your teeth, do not discard the water near your sleeping area. Instead, dig a small hole and dispose of the water. You don’t want to regret anything in the middle of the night.
6. Keep Everything in the Campsite Clean
Before surrendering your sleeping bag, ensure everything in the campsite is clean to keep bears at bay.
If you think that your cooking clothes have any smell, the scent will be over five times stronger to a bear than what you sense. So, the best thing to do is to remove your cooking clothes and wear clean sleeping clothes.
Speaking of clothes, avoid visiting your tents when cooking, as you may bring food aromas to the tents. If this persists throughout the night, bears will probably distract you from sleep or attack the tent.
Keeping your campsite clean will deter bears and other destructive animals, making it easier to prepare breakfast.
It also ensures that you leave the area as you found it or even cleaner, creating a safe environment for other campers.
7. Tend to Your Pets or Keep Them Leashed
Do you love camping with your furry friend? When let free in the forest, pets can run wild, provoking hungry bears.
If a bear is hungry and feels provoked, it can attack and eat your innocent pet. While this is rare, it can still happen.
So, keeping your pet leashed would help prevent it from wandering into the wild. Remember, many temptations can lead your dog to unforeseen circumstances that can harm them in your absence.
You should also bring enough food for your pet and feed them about 100 yards away from your sleeping area. Avoid feeding wild animals, as this can attract others, like bears, to your campground.
FAQs
Q: What Smell Keeps Bears Away?
A: Ammonia and bleach fumes can keep bears away. Since bears have sensitive noses, ammonia or bleach-based cleaners will irritate and keep them away.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can mix ammonia and bleach to make bear spray. A mixture of ammonia and bleach can produce deadly fumes, harming bears and humans.
Bear sprays are effective for self-defense against bears, as they contain a strong scent that repels them. For this method to work, you should keep your bear repellent easily accessible.
Q: What to Do If a Bear is Around Your Tent?
A: If you notice a bear around your tent, the practical thing to do is turn on your lantern or flashlight and yell to let the bear know that you are inside.
Banging loud items, such as pans or blowing an air horn, will also scare a bear away.
When camping in bear country, you should always have bear spray and keep it within reach while sleeping in case of a night attack.
Stand tall if you see a bear approaching your campsite and avoid running away, as this could trigger an attack.
Q: What Can You Do Around Your Campsite to Avoid Attracting Bears?
A: To avoid attracting bears, keep everything in your campsite clean. This includes cleaning your utensils after use and using the bathroom at least 50 meters from your tent.
Another crucial thing to do around your campsite to avoid attracting bears is to pack all your leftovers and garbage.
Storing food away from your tent will also keep bears at bay. You can put it in scent-proof bags and hang them on a tree.
The rule of thumb is to ensure that your tent has no smells that attract bears, from food to hygiene products.
A bear fence is also an effective way to deter bears without harming them. This method works great for areas with aggressive grizzly and polar bears.
Final Thoughts
Camping in bear country and remaining safe throughout your excursion is possible. As long as you stay in your lane and avoid bringing scented items into your tent, bears won’t bother you.
By strategically selecting and setting up your campsite, meticulously managing all food and scented items, maintaining impeccable cleanliness, and exercising caution with pets, you can significantly reduce the risk of bear encounters. Feel free to use the tips in this article to minimize the chances of seeing a bear when camping.
If you encounter a bear, stay calm and ensure your bear spray is within reach for self-defense in case of an attack.
