Utah
A lightweight tent that can handle 30-mph windstorms...and kids.
Explore spectacular places by air, land, and sea.
Make a late-season hike to an aspen-dense Colorado mesa, spot bears in the Beartooths, explore gypsum dunes, and discover more fall must-hikes.
Whether you want an uncrowded hike in Zion National Park or a five-miler through a gypsum dune field in New Mexico, our scouts have paved the way.
Our favorite high-risk, high-reward adventures in North America.
Our favorite high-risk, high-reward adventures in North America.
Our favorite high-risk, high-reward adventures in North America.
Your region's go-now guide
Our trail scouts' top local hikes
Wind through an isolated gorge with ancient art.
Circle through giant gorges and sleep at a riverfront campsite.
Hit up the park's highlights--slickrock scrambles, mesa-top views, and hoodoo-dotted canyons--on this seven-day trek.
Our field scouts scrambled up airy ledges, trekked to giant arches, and dropped into deep gorges to bring you the best dozen trips in this slickrock paradise.
Yes, all wilderness is sacred. But this mystically beautiful slot canyon is holier than most.
Hike to life-list hot spots without waiting in life-list lines. These under-the-radar trails deliver everything but the crowds.
Yes, all wilderness is sacred. But this mystically beautiful slot canyon is holier than most.
Park your tent in one of these 10 spots, and you'll be happy in the morning. Guaranteed.
Explore wildly sculpted rock.
See a week's worth of terrain on an epic dawn-to-dusk hike.
Tired of the same old weekend loops? Looking to create memories your grandkids will talk about? In this how-and-where guide, we serve up 15 extraordinary escapes that will shatter your expectations of "normal." From adventure moviemaking to canyoneering, we'll take you places you've never been—but will long to visit again soon.
Upgrade your winter fun at these 8 beginner-friendly, expert-ready spots.
This region's top contestant in our Be a Mapper contest reveals his wildlife sighting tips.
This region's top contestant in our Be a Mapper contest reveals his favorite off-the-beaten-path routes through canyon country and mountain refuges.
Bag a stout weekend adventure-and vistas from the big lake to the High Uintas.
Can you ever really have too much of a good thing? Once you've seen the biggest tree, largest glacier, and deepest canyon, nothing else compares.
Watch your step on Utah' Highline Trail. The nonstop views and rampant wildlife are distractingly spectacular. Plus: Gaze away on 9 more elevated hikes.
Discover a private paradise by crossing the park’s convoluted Waterpocket Fold.
Hike Denver's lost wilderness, a twofer of peaks in Idaho, lava tubes in New Mexico, Zion's sneak route, and Bozeman's trout-filled lake.
The only thing better than enjoying the life-list scenery in the country's premier national parks? Getting that same scenery, minus the crowds. Find it in these 10 backcountry hotspots, along with no-hassle permits, choice campsites aplenty, and solitude to match the world-class terrain.
Your favorite parks, weekend getaways, peak ascents, campsites, and more in the Southwest.
Your favorite Southwest hikes—from dayhikes to weekenders to multiday trips.
Explore slots and marvel at arches in Glen Canyon.
Find the best skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and winter camping trips in the U.S.
Explore resurrected sandstone slots.
We've covered 245,591 miles of trails in our 37-year history. Here are our 20 all-time favorite trips, plus—shocking!—20 routes we never covered.
Sluice through towering walls of sandstone in Utah's Zion National Park.
Explore Gushing, Rain-fed waterfalls.
Make the best of fall storms on trails that improve with soggy weather.
The best hikes near Salt Lake City, UT.
The best hikes near Moab, Utah.
The best local hikes in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana.
Meander through a sprawling forest of clones.
Visit the world's largest aspen colony, the Plains' highest skyscraper, and a raptor super-flyaway.
World-class scenery, luxe camping, and easy paddling await your family on the Green River in Canyonlands. Your kids will remember this forever.
Pack an extra memory card for what is, mile-for-mile, the most photogenic hike in the Southwest.
The perfect dozen: Embark on one of these 12 treks, and turn America's most iconic preserves into your own private paradise.
Spot a grizzly, basecamp amid Fourteeners, and relax in secluded hot springs. (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.
Marvel at Mother Nature on these canyon hikes in Utah and North Carolina.
This picturesque Utah hike features natural arches and ancient petroglyphs.
Hike, swim, and scramble in this 16-mile slot canyon route.
Disappear into Yellowstone's forgotten peaks. Bag Colorado's most exciting Fourteener. Hike Utah's unknown long trail Our field editors pick 24 epics for your Rockies life list.
Discover Utah's best-kept secret.
Gaze into the world's most beautiful labyrinth.
Relax in an effervescent bath far from the dayhiking crowds.
Trip through kaleidoscopic color amid high-alpine splendor.
Get big payoffs on an easy hike.
Thru-hike America's highest trail.
See the park's famed glaciers from a high mountain pass.
John Joy goes fist-to-nose with an invasive species.
These three treks to life-list phenomena will take you to Bryce Canyon, Florida gator land, and fall foliage in the Texas desert.
You won't find bottlenecks on these untrammeled peaks.
Get national park-caliber scenery without crowds (or entry fees!) in these dead ringers for Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, and Yosemite.
Ten perfect summits for your next group hike
A quick guide to the best acres, trails, and views.
Oil and gas development threaten these 65,000 acres. Float the Green River to see what's at stake.
Dupe the daytrippers on this rugged trail to brilliantly colored backcountry cliffs and hoodoos.
From dawn-to-dusk epics in Utah canyons to lazy-picnic blueberry strolls in Maine–plus hikes to peaks, redwoods, hot springs, beaches, and more–here are 100 ways to spend a perfect day on the trail.
First, check out our tips for healthy hiking on steep terrain in the May 2009 issue then, put them to the test on one of our favorite high-angle trails from California to North Carolina.
Locals get to enjoy what out-of-towners dream about–mountain-ringed horizons, alpine lakes, and bluebird skies that make these Rocky Mountain states the pinnacle of outdoor recreation.
Discover the best hike in every state, as voted by BACKPACKER readers. Plus: your essential gear, most desirable tentmate, worst-ever adventure movie, and our picks for the best reader-submitted photos.
Like your life and limbs intact? Then you'd better get skilled before visiting these trails.
Gambling in the slots
Lost in the labyrinth
Trek empty terrain all the way from the Grand Canyon to Zion.
We've got a selection of cozy shelters and trail-side restaurants from Washington to Maine. Check out these hikes in the Rockies, the Northeast, and the Northwest.
To discover the best-kept secrets in Utah's Grand Gulch, you need to start
at the bottom.
Finding total Southwest solitude
Exploring a high, wild corner of the North Cascades
Floating a liquid maze in the Northeast's lake-riddled forests
Rambling a granite redoubt
Ready to dial up the adventure meter? Try out your digital skills–and go places most people can't–on these life-list journeys.
Utah's Range Creek hides the most intact Native American artifacts in the United States. Get there now–while you can still play archaeologist.
Stay dry on spring treks in Minnesota, New Mexico, and more.
When Utahans really wants to disappear, they head to the magnificent canyons of Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Follow correspondent Kevin Fedarko into the remote Utah slot canyon where Ralston famously separated himself from his right forearm.
Joshua Tree, Zion, and the Guadalupe Mountains are three hike-worthy desert destinations.
View redrock cliffs and spires as you float through Stillwater Canyon in Utah's Canyonlands National Park.
If you've always dreamed of descending into the center of the earth, try one of these creekbed hikes.
A pilgrim heads into the canyon where Aron Ralston lost his arm to pin down the meaning of survival.
Hike, bike, and climb in this Utah gem--much more than a skier's paradise
Seven national parks in 7 days--starring a ragtop, Red Bull, and one scary rabbit.
Drought is giving Glen Canyon--and those who love it--a second chance. Here are four spectacular reasons why we should protect this Southwest wilderness by making it America's next national park.
Drought has brought the canyon back. Would national park status keep it that way?
Explore burial effigies, seven-foot petroglyphs, and images etched in lava as you discover the ultimate mix of manmade and natural beauty.
The mosquitoes make it challenging, but the towering sedimentary rock makes it worth it.
This famous slot canyon hike in Utah and Arizona delivers broad views of the Colorado Plateau
Prime time in the Rockies to explore the San Juan Hut System
From paddling Lake Superior to glacier-hopping in Alaska: 6 hair-raising, lung-busting adventures from America's top outfitters
An exclusive guide to five hikes that have been under water for 40 years
Enjoy a slickrock playground of your very own
Don't miss these 200 foot candles carved from sandstone towers.
Some of Arches' best sites come in short hikes.
Receding water levels mean more miles of choice desert hiking and kayaking.
In the Paria River canyon, adventure and breathtaking views await around every narrow bend.
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Utah.
Follow the hummingbirds in the Mt. Naomi Wilderness to the best high-country wildflower show in all of Utah.
You won't find Utah's 725-mile rogue route on any map. But thanks to two passionate Utah hikers, you'll soon be able to search it out with your boots.
Cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, ancient pottery -- Utah's Grand Gulch is thick with history.
Why huff and puff to get to an isolated campsite? Simply grab a paddle, then let the current carry you to a secluded riverside trailhead.
Strap on the skis and glide across wind-sculpted snow into alpine solitude.
Where the shadows on the sandstone offer lessons from the past and there's not a soul to be found.
A bit of nerve opens up the stunning canyonlands made famous by Wile E. Coyote.
The hidden side of a watery Utah playground.
Life in the high desert in autumn is sweeter and more irresistible than any place on Earth.
Wilderness worthy enough to inspire any classical landscape painter.
Never heard of Utah's George Washington Hayduke Route, have you? That's because it's brand new.
Go through the looking glass in Utah's canyon country.
Last time you went looking for a new place to hike, you probably consulted a guidebook. We all do. So why is author Michael Kelsey getting lambasted for giving us what we want?
Think slickrock in July and your throat clenches, your skin shrivels, and parched bones rattle in your subconscious. But in winter, the snow sends the tourists and dry desert demons packing, and the frosted wonderland is all yours.
Deseret Peak Wilderness has everything the popular Wasatch Range does, except the crowds.
Head south to find the quiet side of the King.
Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante is huge, remote, controversial, and one of the finest destinations for backpackers in the Lower 48.
Tackling the High Uintas Wilderness from the east offers big paybacks.
