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 16 accessible hideaways.
These ten point-to-point treks pack the payoffs of a thru-hike, but they're hikeable in a week.
Look around, not just at your map.
Cross the Olympic Range on a forgotten explorers' path.
Trek along–and in–the Gila River.
See bears, gorges, and waterfalls on this 77-mile South Carolina hike.
This 39-mile Alaska hike offers big scenery without a bush plane.
Climb high (really!) in the Midwest.
Traverse a seldom-hiked national park.
Tackle Vancouver Island’s wild coast.
Go straight to the top in the Range of Light.
Cross Nevada's loftiest range in 6-7 days.
A 59-mile "long trail" through Pennsylvania.
The all-time best. That's what every hiker wants on a national park trek, and that's what you'll get if you tackle one of these 25 trips.
If less people, more elk has become your mountain mantra, check the Guadalupe Mountains backcountry camping sites and trails and get that so sought after alone time.
Don't go up, go around. Rainier's Wonderland Trail loop offers the marathon hiker two weeks of backpacking bliss.
Zero in on your perfect hike, from thrilling slots to soak-awhile hot springs.
Live longer, take the North Circle Route. Glacier's highcountry views and crisp alpine air are rumored to add years to a backpacker's being.
Beat the crowds by tackling this classic dayhike by moonlight.
The Tanner Trail in the grandest of U.S. canyons is a camping classic.
Who ever said out of sight, out of mind was certainly not referring to the wealth of wildlife that are making some big noise in Thorofare Valley.
Traverse alongside delicate ecosystem, open tundra and hit nine summits on this "grand slam" of cross-country treks.
Smelling the flowers doesn't require slowing down your trek (though you might want to) through the explosion of wildflowers that cover the Great Smoky Mountains each year.
Swap summits for sand scrambling along nearly 18 miles of quiet coastal terrain.
No crowds. No frills. No cakewalk. This hang-on-for-your-life climb is not for the meager-hearted.
No one knows the national parks better than the rangers who patrol them. We polled a bunch of insiders on their favorite national park sights, sounds, and tastes.
You know that the big-name parks draw big-time crowds. But each of those outdoor icons has a lesser-known replacement that offers some of the same classic features and epic scenery–and you get it all to yourself.
From snowblindness to wrong turns, everyday wilderness adventures can turn ugly if you're not prepared for everything.
In every backpacker's life, there comes a time when you stare awestruck at a mountain and wonder, "What's it like to climb that sucker?"