Get Fit for Hiking Season with These 5 Easy Workouts
Use these simple exercises to shake off the rust and reignite your love of hiking.
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Learn How to Use a Compass and Never Get Lost Again
Make sure you never get lost again by mastering the underappreciated art of navigating with a compass and map.
Deal of the Week: An Insulated Jacket Made for Hiking Fast
The Columbia Arctic Crest hybrid jacket mixes a toasty, vest-like core with stretchy, temperature-regulating side panels and arms to create a piece that bleeds just enough heat on cold, high-tempo days.
Robots Are Learning to Hike Your Favorite Trails. Here’s Why.
Researchers say that autonomous machines could help with trail maintenance and assist in search and rescue. But first, they have to learn to navigate the backcountry
These Legendary Ice Caves Just Opened to Hikers for the First Time in 11 Years
Getting to the Apostle Islands ice caves in Wisconsin requires a multi-mile trek over the frozen surface of Lake Superior. This week, a handful of lucky visitors got the chance to see them.
When Trail Romance Goes Wrong: Backpacker Shares Our Wildest Outdoor Love Stories
From a wintertime proposal that ended with someone trapped in a hole to a "murdery" first date on the trail, a lot can go sideways when you go hiking with romance in mind.
Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Banned from Border Wall Under New Rules
Under a new federal policy, hikers will be prohibited from venturing south of the PCT's southern terminus monument, the trail's main organization said this week.
The Best Hiking Search and Rescue Stories
When you're in the wild, sometimes wild things happen. Whether through their own mistakes or simple bad luck, thousands of people end up in trouble on the trail every year—and search and rescue is there to help them.
Is It Ethical To Post About Your Sketchy Hike Online?
Risk management is a big part of hiking, but it's time for us to consider the digital footprint of our experiences before pressing “post.”
These 6 Strategies Will Help You Get Rescued Fast in the Backcountry
Accidents happen to the best-prepared of us. And for the search part of a SAR call to lead to rescue, they need to be able to find you
Searching For a Steal? Check Out Backpacker’s New Deals Finder.
With our new tool, you may never buy retail again.
Wildlife
The Cocaine Bear Trailer Is Wild. The Real Story Is Weirder and Sadder.
Cocaine Bear's first trailer shows a bloodthirsty, intoxicated bruin rampaging through the forest. But how much of the based-on-a-true-story movie is real?
Fitness
The Best Hiking Workouts for Every Fitness Level
Reality check: Hitting the gym is the quickest way to hike farther, easier, faster, and pain-free. Get into a routine—or take yours to the next level—with these smart workouts for three different levels.
The Best Hikes
The Best Hikes in Joshua Tree National Park
Full of rock scrambles, cactus clusters, and desert views for days, Joshua Tree National Park is the southwest at its finest.
Backpacking Skills
Why You Should Use Trekking Poles
Ending too many hikes with sore, wobbly legs? Trekking poles can help you make it that extra mile.
Gear Round-Ups
The Best Hiking and Backpacking Gear of Winter 2026
From blizzard-ready tents to sleeping bags that can handle the coldest nights, this is the gear you can count on this season.
Trail Guides
The Ultimate Guide to Hiking the Zion Narrows
The Narrows at Zion National Park offers an incredible adventure in America's most amazing slot canyons. Here's how to safely explore them.
Survival Skills
How to Remove and Treat Thorns, Splinters, and Other Prick Wounds
Nature can be brutal. Learn how to to deal with wounds from all kinds of thorns, spines, splinters, shards, quills, needles, and anything else that might get under your skin when you’re on the trail.
Classic Destinations
Hike Mauna Kea: The Expert Guide to Hiking Hawaii’s Highest Point
Ready to hike to the highest point in Hawaii? Ascend Mauna Kea's volcanic slopes to a summit high above the clouds. This challenging day hike is among the most spectacular on the planet.
Backpacking Gear
10 Backpacking Gear Tips We Learned the Hard Way
Get the most out of your backpacking equipment with this sage advice.
Long Trails
100 Years Ago, the Appalachian Trail Was One Man’s Dream. Now, It’s Everyone’s.
Benton MacKaye's original proposal for the Appalachian Trail came out 100 years ago. While the trail may have changed, the appeal hasn't.
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Out Alive
Real people who survived the unsurvivable
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Impossible Odds
Two friends, 8,000 trail miles, one year
Featured Story
She Became the First Woman to Complete This 3,600-Mile Thru-Hike—and Brought Thousands Along for the Journey
This September, Jessica "Stitches" Guo finished thru-hiking the Continental Divide and Great Divide Trails in one five-month push, a deep-backcountry journey that saw her spend weeks without seeing a single other person. But with tens of thousands of people following her daily videos, it was a shared experience.
Jessica “Stitches” Guo began her 30th birthday alone, in the woods, walking north towards the Canadian border.
It was the same way she had spent the last few months of her 20s, during which she hiked from the Mexican border through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana along the Continental Divide Trail. This day, however, was different.
At 1:51 p.m. on August 12, Guo reached a clearing in the trees, where stone monuments marked the U.S.-Canada border and the northern terminus of the CDT. She collapsed into tears alongside some concerned tourists. When they learned what she had just done, they applauded and helped her record a video, which would be viewed by more than half a million people on TikTok and Instagram.
For a few minutes, Guo sat, welcoming in her 30s with birthday cake Oreos and taking it all in. Then, she stood and continued into Canada. Her journey was not over. In many ways, she felt as if it were just beginning.
“Up until that point, I was like, ‘There’s a chance that I might not do this.’ I might get there and be too late or I might be too tired, or I might be too bored,” Guo says. “So for me to get there and still be feeling great, I was like, ‘All right, yeah, we can actually start the real hike now.’”
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