| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Trail Mix: Great November Hikes in the Central U.S.
Your region's go-now guide: Perfect days in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Tulsa.
Trail Mix: Central
Your region's go-now guide
Trail Mix: Central
Your region's go-now guide.
Ultimate Adventure Handbook: Hike 30 Miles in a Day
See a week's worth of terrain on an epic dawn-to-dusk hike.
Ultimate Adventure Handbook
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.
Readers' Choice 2012: Top 3 - Midwest Hikes
This region's top mapper has notched 20 bag nights and 200 trail miles in 9 states this year scouting trails for BACKPACKER. Here are three of his favorite routes.
Readers' Choice 2012: Your Neck of the Woods - Midwest Hikes
Climb dunes, find instant solitude, camp atop riverside bluffs, ascend to surprising above-treeline views, and hike along the St. Croix River.
Rip & Go: Two Lakes Loop - Hoosier National Forest, IN
Camp next to forest lakes and rock-hop across clear streams.
Trip Finder: Great Lakes
Your favorite Great Lakes hikes—from dayhikes to weekenders to multiday trips.
50-Mile Thru-Hikes: Knobstone Trail, IN
Climb high (really!) in the Midwest.
Reader Essays: My First, Worst Trip
New to hiking? Brian Simpson has a foolproof plan for doing it all wrong.
Trip Finder: Indian Summer Hikes
Fall camping season seems to go on forever with these fair-weather weekend trips.
Nuclear-Free Hiking
How Cold War weapons sites are becoming America's most unusual new preserves.
High Points: Hoosier Hill, Indiana
A fitting place to ponder the true meaning of the term Hoosier.
Beach Trail
This Indiana Dunes trail offers visitors views of the lake, the Chicago skyline, wildflowers and some of the tallest trees in the region.
Best Backpacking In Indiana
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Indiana.
Indiana's Shades State Park
Rare stands of virgin hardwood and creekside camping beckon sunburned hikers.
Hoosier National Forest
A hiker's oasis in the hills and valleys of the Midwest.
Indiana's Hiker's Sandbox
Play out your Lawrence of Suburbia fantasies at Indiana Dunes.
Hoosier High Country's Uplifting Experience
You won't get a nosebleed on the Knobstone Trail, but you will get a taste of Hoosier high country.
