Prepare
Bivouac and camping on the GR20
Can you pitch your tent freely on the GR20? No: wild camping is forbidden everywhere in Corsica. But bivouacking is possible — regulated, on the designated areas next to the refuges, and bookable. Here's what's allowed, what isn't, and how to bivouac well.
The essentials
Wild camping banned, bivouac regulated
The rule fits in one line: on the GR20, you don't pitch your tent wherever you like. Bivouacking is only allowed on the designated areas next to the refuges, it must be booked (per person), and a sleeping bag is compulsory. Outside those areas, it's wild camping — forbidden, and fined.
In practice, every bivouac night is at the foot of a staffed refuge, from 16 May to 4 October 2026. You'll find a pitch, water and toilets, sometimes a shop and meals. The booking rules are on the booking page; to choose between bivouac, rented tent and dorm bunk, see tent or refuge?.
Why the rules? The GR20 crosses a busy yet fragile nature park. Concentrating bivouacs on dedicated areas limits erosion, litter and disturbance to wildlife. It's not red tape: it's what keeps the trail beautiful.
Wild camping
Banned everywhere — and the fine that follows
Wild camping — pitching your tent outside the approved bivouac areas — is forbidden along the whole route. The fine quoted by guides is around €135 (more for damage) — treat the figure as indicative, but the ban itself is very real.
Add the fire risk: from 15 June to 30 September, lighting a fire or smoking in the massifs is forbidden, and areas can be closed by decree when the risk is severe. Wild camping, often paired with a badly placed stove, is exactly what these rules aim to prevent — covered on the safety page.
Bivouac areas
Where, and on what conditions
The bivouac areas are next to the Park refuges: you pitch on the designated spot, steps from the staffed refuge. Two conditions:
- A tent: your own, or a rented PNRC tent on site (for two, with mattresses) — see tent or refuge?.
- A booking, compulsory and counted per person: two of you under one tent means two bivouacs to book.
Some areas are especially pleasant — the big grassy flat at l'Onda, or the quiet setting of Paliri among the Bavella needles — but all do the same job: roughly flat ground, with the refuge's water and toilets nearby. The refuge-by-refuge detail is on the refuges page.
Bivouac well
The right reflexes
- Arrive before 7 p.m.: your booked spot is held until then, and you pitch dry, before any evening storm.
- Anticipate the cold: even in summer, nights are cold at altitude (often above 1,500 m). A warm sleeping bag isn't optional.
- Anchor your tent: wind can pick up on exposed areas — solid pegs and taut guylines.
- Leave no trace: carry out all your rubbish, use the refuge toilets, and don't wash directly in the streams.
- Get up early: packing at first light means clearing the high sections before the heat and freeing the area — the spirit of the GR20.
Gear
What to pack
If you bivouac with your own tent, aim for light but tough: a wind-resistant tent, a sleeping bag rated for altitude, an insulating mat, and a way to do without mains power (the refuges are off-grid — see signal & charging). Every gram counts over twelve to sixteen days: the weighed list is on the gear page.