Backcountry Camping in France: The Law, From Beaches to National Parks

The basic rule: allowed, if whoever uses the land agrees

A meadow above a lake, the sun going down, a 2.2-pound (1 kg) tent in your backpack: it’s the kind of scene that makes you want to book a flight, and it always comes with the same question. The answer starts out pretty well. The principle, set out in France’s planning code (Code de l’urbanisme), fits in one sentence [1]:

In other words: on private land, you need the consent of the owner, or of whoever works the land, like a farmer who rents the meadow. On public land, such as a state-owned forest (forêt domaniale) or land owned by a town, consent comes from whoever manages it, and its rules apply. And never on a road or any other public thoroughfare.

The word “bivouac” doesn’t appear anywhere in this code, which only talks about camping. A bivouac has an official definition only where a set of rules gives it one, as in the national parks: a single night, a minimal setup, a small tent you can’t stand up in, pitched in the evening and taken down in the morning [2]. As for bivouacking without asking anyone, on land whose owner you don’t know: plenty of people do it, but that doesn’t make it a right. The law itself makes the consent of whoever has the use of the land a condition, and the owner can object and ask you to leave [1].

Where camping is banned across France

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The same code lists the places where camping “practiced in isolation” (camping pratiqué isolément), meaning outside a campground, is banned unless the authorities grant an exemption [1]:

• the seashore: all the ground the sea covers and uncovers, as far as the highest tides can reach [3];
• registered and classified sites (sites inscrits and sites classés), plus sites in the process of being classified: landscapes protected under the Code de l’environnement, France’s environmental code;
• classified outstanding heritage sites (sites patrimoniaux remarquables) and the surroundings of historic monuments: where no boundary has been drawn, anything visible from the monument, or visible together with it, within 1,640 feet (500 m) [4];
• the area around drinking water sources: 656 feet (200 m) around the points where water is drawn for public supply.

Then there are protection forestsWoods and forests classified by the national government to protect slopes and soil, for their role around big cities, or for ecological reasons. (forêts de protection), where camping outside the tracks and areas set aside for it is a Class 5 petty offense, with a fine of up to €1,500 [5]. France sorts its petty offenses (contraventions) into five classes, each with its own maximum fine.

A classified site isn’t always easy to spot. The Géoportail de l’urbanisme, a government mapping site in French, shows the local zoning plans published there (plan local d’urbanisme, or PLU) and the land-use restrictions that come with them, including registered and classified sites, which trigger this camping ban [6].

Local rules: towns and public forests

A town’s zoning plan can ban camping outside campgrounds in certain zones. The mayor can also ban it by order (arrêté) when camping threatens public health, safety, or peace and quiet, the landscape, natural habitats, or farming and forestry [1].

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These local bans only apply if they’re posted at the town hall (mairie) and signposted at the usual access points to the areas involved [1]. So that sign at the trailhead or the parking lot entrance isn’t decoration: it’s the local rule. The nationwide bans above apply with or without a sign. Violating a police order (arrêté de police) is a Class 2 petty offense under the Code pénal, France’s criminal code, with a fine of up to €150 [7, 8].

In a state-owned forest, managed by the Office national des forêts (ONF), France’s national forest service, no nationwide regulation covers bivouacking. According to the ONF’s code of conduct for forest visitors, a bivouac “may be authorized” depending on the site, but camping, which lasts several days, may not [9]. So the rules are local. In the forest of Fontainebleau, southeast of Paris, for example, three bivouac areas set up in the state forest, with room for no more than 20 tents, welcome campers, and camping in any other form is still banned everywhere else in the forest [10].

National parks, park by park

A French national park has two zones. The core zoneThe most protected zone of a national park, subject to its own regulations. (cœur), where the park’s regulations apply. And the surrounding areaThe towns around the core that have signed on to the park’s charter; the core’s regulations don’t apply there. (aire d’adhésion), where bivouacking is still allowed unless a town has ruled otherwise, within the general rules above [2]. In the core, camping is banned and bivouacking is regulated, with hours and places specific to each park [2].

In the Écrins, a park order dated June 16, 2026, tightened the rules: a portable gas stove is allowed, but no other burner of any kind and no open fire; no bivouacking within 1,640 feet (500 m) of Lauvitel and Muzelle lakes outside the signposted areas; and no nights in parking lots or on roads or tracks in the core, even in a vehicle [11]. The national parks portal page, last updated in February 2025, doesn’t reflect this yet: when in doubt, the park’s own text is what counts.

The hour’s walk is measured from the nearest road access or from the edge of the core. To estimate it before you head out, our guide to estimating hiking time walks you through the method.

Bivouacking outside the core rules is a Class 3 petty offense, with a fine of up to €450 [14]. Fire is banned there: carrying or lighting a fire, lit cigarettes included, is a Class 5 petty offense, with a fine of up to €1,500 [14]. Park rangers (gardes-moniteurs) have the authority to cite these offenses [2]. Regional nature parks and nature reserves have their own rules too, so check case by case [2].

Fire, the real red line

If you remember just one rule, make it this one. France’s forestry code (Code forestier) bars anyone other than the owner, or an occupant with the owner’s consent, from carrying or lighting a fire in woods and forests, or on any land, wooded or not, within 656 feet (200 m) of them [15]. That’s a Class 4 petty offense, with a fine of up to €750 [16]. Since 2023, smoking has also been banned in woods and forests, and within 656 feet (200 m) of them, during the fire-risk period set by the prefect (préfet), the national government’s representative in each département, an administrative area much like a county [15].

In summer, access to the forests themselves can be restricted. In the Bouches-du-Rhône, the département around Marseille, for example, from June 1 to September 30, access to forested areas is set each day based on weather and drought conditions, and posted around 6 p.m. for the next day [17]. Other wildfire-prone départements publish their own access maps.

Fines, in plain English

Checking your spot before you go

1. Pin down the spot: seashore, classified site, national park core, nature reserve, public forest? The Géoportail de l’urbanisme shows the local zoning plans and the protected sites published there.
2. Read the land manager’s rules: the regulations page for the park, reserve, or forest, and check when it was last updated.
3. Contact the town hall or the tourist office about local orders, especially in summer and on the coast.
4. In summer, in wildfire-prone départements, check the forest access map the evening before.
5. On site, read the signs at access points (interdit means prohibited, feu means fire), and ask the landowner or farmer for permission when you can.

French law is friendlier than you might think if you pack light and leave early. If you light a fire, not so much.

Guillaume Hoarau

Camping, backpacking, bushcraft and hiking

Guillaume Hoarau writes for Outfarer about camping, backpacking, bushcraft, and hiking. A survival-skills buff and a collector of vintage field manuals, he loves clear explanations, lists that actually help and other people’s stories, which he tells well.

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