SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/outdoors-bear-canister-rule

Backpacking overnight in Yosemite's wilderness, how must you store your food?

In a bear canister. Hanging food in a tree is no longer legal there.

Start playing free

  1. Hang it high in a tree
  2. Seal it in a bag inside your tent
  3. In a bear-resistant canister ✔

Why: Yosemite requires bear canisters for overnight hikers throughout its wilderness. Hanging food from trees is no longer legal there, and food never goes in your tent. Canisters are the proven way to keep human food from bears.

Huh, didn't know that: At Yosemite campsites and most trailhead parking areas, metal food lockers do the job instead.

The dad joke
Why don't bears wear shoes? They'd still have bear feet!
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: In a bear-resistant canister. Yosemite requires bear canisters for overnight hikers throughout its wilderness. Hanging food from trees is no longer legal there, and food never goes in your tent. Canisters are the proven way to keep human food from bears.

  1. Yosemite National Park: Bears www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm
    Bear resistant food containers ("bear canisters") are required for overnight hikers throughout the wilderness (counterbalance food hangs are no longer legal).
    Checked 2026-10-11.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

Outdoors & CampingUnder Bitterroot National Forest's order, how high and how far from a tree must hanging food be?Outdoors & CampingYou're lost on a hiking trail. What do you do?Outdoors & CampingA thunderstorm chases you away from the campfire. When is it safe to go back out?

That's stuff everyone should know.