Backcountry at a glance
- Frontcountry
- Drive-in campgrounds, car camping
- Overnight permit
- Often required
- Grand Canyon requires one outside developed campgrounds
- Designated Wilderness
- No mechanical transport
- Wilderness Act of 1964, with limited exceptions
What is the difference between backcountry and frontcountry?
Whether you can drive to it. The National Park Service describes most camping in parks as frontcountry camping, where visitors drive to an established campground, and calls it car camping. Backcountry is everything past that: trails, remote campsites and water routes you reach under your own power.
The difference shows up in what you are responsible for. Nothing is waiting for you out there, so shelter, water treatment and a plan for waste all travel with you, and the Park Service asks backcountry visitors to follow Leave No Trace principles to protect the plants and animals that live there.
Do you need a permit for the backcountry?
For overnight trips in many national parks, yes. Grand Canyon National Park is a clear example: it requires a backcountry permit for overnight camping outside its developed campgrounds, and states that day hikes, including hikes at night, do not need one.
Rules are set park by park and forest by forest, so check the land manager's own page before a trip. The Park Service's general advice for backcountry camping is to find out ahead of time about any permits and park regulations that apply.
Is backcountry the same as Wilderness?
No. Backcountry is a description; Wilderness, with a capital W, is a legal designation. The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines it as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, of at least 5,000 acres or large enough to protect, and bars motor vehicles, motorized equipment and other mechanical transport inside it, with limited exceptions.
Plenty of backcountry is not designated Wilderness, and the difference matters mostly for what you can bring. A mountain bike that is allowed on one backcountry trail can be prohibited once the same trail enters a Wilderness area.
What this means when you're choosing
- Whether your trip needs a permit, and how far ahead the land manager releases them
- A way to call for help where there is no cell coverage, such as a satellite messenger
- Water treatment, since backcountry sources are untreated
- The food storage rule for that area, which can require a specific bear canister
The common mistake
Assuming a GPS watch or phone can call for help
A watch or phone that shows your position cannot send an SOS where there is no cell signal. If you want to be able to summon help from the backcountry, that takes a satellite messenger, a personal locator beacon or a phone with built-in satellite SOS.
Common questions
What counts as backcountry camping?
Camping away from developed, drive-in campgrounds, at a site you reach on foot or by water. The National Park Service's examples include backpacking, water trips on rafts, canoes or boats, and climbing.
Do you need a permit to day hike in the backcountry?
It depends on the park. Grand Canyon, for example, requires a backcountry permit for overnight camping outside its developed campgrounds but not for day hikes. Check the specific park or forest before you go.
Where this is defined
- Frontcountry Camping (car camping), National Park Service
- Backcountry Camping, National Park Service
- Backcountry Permit, National Park Service, Grand Canyon National Park
- The Wilderness Act, Wilderness Connect