West
Your region's go-now guide: Explore New York City, hike four states in 24 hours, and perfect days in NC, GA, and NH.
Combine the best of car camping (spacious tents, comfy chairs, frosty margaritas!) and the best of backpacking (deep solitude, outrageous scenery, swimming holes!) with these 17 accessible hideaways.
Our trail scouts' top local hikes
Our trail scouts' top local hikes
Our trail scouts' top local hikes
Explore high points, see astronomical rarity and experience three perfect days, all this summer and all in the west.
Explore the west coast in a whole new way with these five summer hikes.
Don't have time to hike all 1,200 miles of the Pacific Northwest Trail? No worries: Our scout pinpointed the finest two-week stretch.
More than 150 of you entered our contest to become a BACKPACKER field scout. Meet the winners here, starting with Colleen Contrisciane-Lewis, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She earned the all-expenses-paid grand prize: an assignment to hike—and report on—her dream trip. Read about her 85-mile, weeklong transect of Glacier National Park on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.
Iconic scenery bolstered by serious solitude? Get them both on this weeklong traverse.
More than 150 of you entered our contest to become a BACKPACKER field scout. Meet the winners.
See Shenandoah's tallest waterfall, traverse secluded ridgelines, score cliff-top panoramas, swim beneath falls, and walk through wildflowers and oak stands on the Florida Trail.
Circle an upland swamp rich with views, solitude, and wild edibles.
Stand atop The Mountain State's most famous peak.
Your favorite Appalachians hikes—from dayhikes to weekenders to multiday trips.
Your favorite parks, weekend getaways, peak ascents, campsites, and more in the Appalachians.
Find the best skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and winter camping trips in the U.S.
See moose, bag a high-desert peak, and sample a quiet long trail. (Click linked trips for GPS waypoints, photos, and more.)
Our army of reader-reader scouts mapped 59 local hikes from South Carolina to Northern California. See their favorites, then learn how to download tracklogs and waypoints.
See five volcanoes, camp at secluded lakes, and hike through a swarm of butterflies. (Click linked trips for GPS waypoints, photos, and more.)
Colossal trees, sweet swimming holes, and the USA's best picnic spot.
See big water, massive trees, and tiny amphibians.
Celebrate the arrival of summer with an unrivaled circus of color.
Have a picnic on one of the Southeast's biggest balds.
Bag four scenic peaks in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
See wild, historic surprises in the Sunshine State.
See a Great White North south of the Mason-Dixon.
Enjoy unparalleled views from one of the country's finest skyline trails.
A quick guide to the best acres, trails, and views.
A two-day, 17-mile zigzag along blueberry-lined mountain ridges will give you a dose of the 24,000-acre "Crown Jewel of the Monongahela," threatened by oil and gas drilling.
Accessible national forests like the George Washington and Jefferson surround national park gems like Great Smoky and Shenandoah in a southern terrain that varies dramatically from Florida's Everglades to West Virginia's wilderness.
Stay dry on spring treks in Minnesota, New Mexico, and more.
Discover a slice of rare Eastern wild country in West Virginia, where Canadian taiga meets Southern forests.
Watch out for rough weather and serpentine-like roads as you drive up to this highpoint.
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in West Virginia.
Classic eastern mountain scenery along West Virginia's skyline pathway.
Eyeball to beak with impressively taloned hawks in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest.
Birds and deer are your only companions on this stretch of the Allegheny Trail.
