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Both tight and lengthened hip flexors could be limiting your mobility and making your hikes miserable. Here’s how to fix it.

From a ball cap that's made for the skin track to a shrunken-down classic board game, this is the gear that elevated our time on the trail this month.

The Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated Pad is a whopping 4 inches thick and still light enough to tote on backcountry trips.

In September, Garmire blazed through the Appalachian Trail in just over 45 days, shaving 4 hours off the trail's eight-year-old self-supported FKT. He breaks down the gear he carried to do it—and reveals what couldn't handle the 2,000-mile trip.

A new hyperlight fabric and innovative suspension system give the Mirage 40 its class-leading specs.

If passed, the Bay Area Ridge Trail would join the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Ice Age Trail, and eight more hikes in the federally-protected system.

Keeping the backcountry clean is a year-round job. Here's how to do it in the fourth season.

Are you a fitful sleeper on the trail? You don't have to be.

Internet donors raised nearly £5,000 for Wasdale Mountain Rescue after the team pleaded online for the hikers it had rescued to settle their hotel tab.

Trail runners that align the heel and toes are all the rage among thru-hikers. But they may not be right for you. Here’s how to decide whether to make the switch.

Backpacker and Outside just launched a text-to-speech feature that makes it easier to stay caught up on the headlines—without spending more time in front of a screen. Here's how to access it.

Got a free afternoon? Or maybe a sabbatical on the horizon? These adventures fit any timeframe.

Our protein-averse editor tries RecPak, a 700-calorie meal replacement shake with 42 grams of protein on a recent hike up Granite Peak in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

We answer readers' top questions about the NPS's new rules for visitors.

Wellness can still include hiking rugged trails. The key is that those trails can also include hot springs or lead you to luxury cabins.

If signed into law, a new bill would strip protections from more than 350 square miles of the Boundary Waters's watershed and clear the way for a Chilean mining company to begin extracting copper and nickel.

The hiker was found dead this week on the “Final 400” section of Mt. Whitney's Mountaineer's Route.

Fourth-season backpacking doesn’t always mean buying new equipment.

Adotec’s Ultralight Bear Locker is simple, durable, and featherweight.

Search teams assisted two separate groups of lost hikers out of Yankee Doodle Canyon in one day, including two showing signs of hypothermia.

Vapor barrier layers—whether purpose-made or improvised from plastic bags—sound like a recipe for sweaty dogs. But in cold weather, they can be a lifesaver.

Over 200 of California's state parks are open for free on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Looking for one to visit? Start with these five.

When it comes to backpacking blades, less is more.

Ever noticed your dreams get trippy when you're backpacking at altitude? You're not alone.

Four hikers are lucky to be alive after spending three nights in an emergency shelter in Golden Ears Provincial Park in British Columbia.

Snow, fog, and low visibility can complicate backcountry travel. Here's how to reach your destination safely even when you can't see.

What3Words gives users a three-word code they can pass to emergency services to help locate them, but some SAR teams still discourage its use.

Utah bustles all summer long, but the off-season brings serenity, crystal-clear skies and fewer crowds to one popular outdoorsy town.

I dayhiked three sections of Turkey’s most beautiful long trail—and found the perfect blend of Mediterranean chill and high-alpine grit.

The beloved cottage tentmaker just remodeled one of its most popular one-person trekking pole designs.

The white shell on Mountain Hardwear's Lamina AF 15 isn't just an aesthetic, it also saves about 80 liters of water per bag.

From making you gassy at altitude to destroying your toenails, a hard hike can affect you in ways you didn’t foresee.

Google recently unveiled its Preferred Sources tool, meaning you now get to choose which news outlets you see first in search results. Here’s how you can put Backpacker at the top of your list.

A five-day journey through national parks and tribal lands brings spectacular adventures and a new empowering approach to activism.

Easterners and Westerners love to debate whose trails are better. But how did such different hiking styles come to be?

The Eagle Creek Trail, along with other hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, suffered extreme damage in last month's storms.

The cellular provider’s Starlink-assisted “T-Satellite” is the most fully-featured satellite service yet.

A bipartisan proposal would provide just over $3 billion to the NPS this year, dodging the White House’s proposed 37 percent reduction to the agency's budget.

The NeoAir XTherm NXT Sleeping Pad offers top-of-the-line warmth in a package and excellent durability in a package that barely cracks a pound.

From rugged cliffs to quiet fishing villages, the East Coast Trail offers 200 miles of coastal trail. Start planning now for your 2026 trek.

Feel the urge to drop trou more when the temperatures on the trail dip below freezing? It could be cold diuresis.

From desert season to high-alpine prime time, these anchor trips—and the skills and mini-missions behind them—will shape your 2026 hiking adventures.

The encounter is the state’s first fatal cougar incident since at least 1999.

From refusing to use inflatable sleeping pads to packing enough just-in-case gear for our whole group, here are the things Backpacker's editors don't plan to change in 2026 even if we should.

Stories of adventure, danger, and change from America's most vaunted long trails.

A fire lookout with a heavenly view, a a reunion with the desert landscape that changed us, and more.

The fatality occurred in the notorious Devil's Backbone area of Mt. Baldy. The recovery mission is still underway.

Ultralight microspikes? Check. Dehydrated drunken noodles? Yes please.

Over six tumultuous years at the head of the ATC, Sandi Marra contended with Covid-19, a natural gas pipeline, and two Trump administrations. She talks about what she learned and what she missed.

Cuboid syndrome can plague hikers. Here's how to recognize, treat, and prevent it.

From bringing back the hiking boot to declaring war on Recreation.gov, these are the most thought-provoking opinions our writers and editors shared this year.

To heck with Quitter's Day: These bite-size resolutions are simple to keep and are guaranteed to upgrade your hiking experience.

These were the most-read trips articles we published in 2025, from an essay on backcountry loneliness to a guide to our editor's recent hike.

Layers, tents, meals: We asked our editors to pick their personal favorite backpacking gear of December and the year as a whole.

Want to start 2026 on the right foot? There's no better way to do it than to kick off the year with a hike.

We added a little STEM to Backpacker’s field-testing this year.

Discover the stories our readers loved most this year.

Made the butt of jokes and relegated to the discount aisle post-holiday, fruitcake may be the most disrespected confection of the Christmas season. But backpackers in the know understand this treat’s true power.

Muscular imbalances are a common cause of joint pain—and we all have them. Here’s how to ferret out weak muscles and strengthen them before hiking season.

From 10,000-mile hikes to the battle over public lands, here are the highlights we'll be thinking about long after the year turns over.

In Snohomish County, discover an adventure paradise in every season

In 2025, three hikers will complete the rare Border-to-Border Calendar-Year Triple Crown. And they aren't stopping there.

Even the most experienced hikers can fall victim to a “reach the top at all costs” mentality in the mountains. But when conditions change, summit fever can be deadly.

After receiving a call about a trio of struggling hikers on Mt. Monadnock, rescuers found two people who had fallen into a brook—one of them intoxicated—and one who was trying to help.

We taste-tested Stowaway Gourmet’s new 2026 offerings, from an andouille-loaded jambalaya to a parfait that finally gets dehydrated yogurt right.

Some are dark. Some are thought-provoking. Some are just bizarre. These are the most-read hiking news stories Backpacker published this year.

Fifty years of investment has brought massive transformation along the Appalachian Trail—and fueled tensions between some businesses and volunteers. Can they learn to coexist?

Check out Adam Roy's author page.

Just 13.6 percent of hikers are using bear canister while nearly a third sleep with their food, The Trek's annual Appalachian Trail survey found.

Nothing's as good as the real thing, but if you're stuck inside this winter, these treadmill workouts will keep you trail-fit all the same.

When Phoenix firefighters realized they wouldn't be able to reach a trapped hiker until the morning, they used a drone to drop supplies on the mountaintop where he was stuck—a first for the department.

Since Continental Divide Trail's official designation in 1978, it hasn't had an official continuous footpath. This act wants to change that.

From discount trail runners to gadgets, these are some of our favorite gifts you still have time to get.

Marmot's durable Tungsten tents are workhorses suitable for any level of hiker, and it's not too late to grab one by Christmas.

Yes, a knife is one of the Ten Essentials. But when it comes to picking a blade, you need far less than many hikers think.

Although authorities haven't formally identified the deceased, the Inyo County Sheriff's Office said that the clothing on the body appears to match what they believe 21-year-old hiker Joseph Brambila was wearing when he disappeared.

Winter hiking doesn't have to be uncomfortable. Not entirely, anyway. For less than $20, these accessories can help make it almost cozy.

Where we live, temps are dropping fast. Skip the cold-season slog and chase warm trails and long days below the equator.

Whether you're headed to the Pacific Crest or the Florida Trail, long trail alumni have something to teach you. Here, backpacker writers share their best thru-hiking wisdom from a collective 11,000 miles of walking.

Yes, you need to eat differently on winter hikes than on summer ones—but the best foods might not always be what you think.