Mary Beth “Mouse” Skylis

Self-rescuing can be a good idea—just make sure the SAR team looking for you knows you're doing it.

Visitation to the park jumped 7 percent over the same period last year, while rescues rose 40 percent.

The 501 “pizza” shelter and Eckville shelter are expected to be demolished between 2026 and 2027 due to an NPS policy that targets “nonconforming infrastructure.” Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club is mounting a last-ditch campaign to stop it.

A herd of cattle reportedly trampled an 85-year-old man as he hiked with his wife and dog.

The AT was rugged and sparsely traveled when Espy hiked it in 1951.

More than half of people in the U.S. recreated outdoors in 2024 according to a new report from the Outdoor Industry Association, with Black and Hispanic participants driving the biggest gains.

Feeding bears can lead to aggression and dangerous encounters between them and humans—and the National Park Service caught visitors in the Smokies doing in three times in one week

The pups were rescued off of Mount Princeton after hiking up with their owner.

The province’s premier ordered restrictions on non-essential activities in wooded areas amidst Canada's second-worst fire season on record.

The discovery of an abandoned camp full of garbage, food, and ditched gear led Badlands to dispatch first responders and issue a stern message.

28-year-old Andrew James McGann was arrested and charged with killing Cristen Amanda and Clinton David Brink while the couple was hiking with their daughters at Devil's Den State Park.

CDT hikers have reported disconcerting run-ins with “Cottonmouth” for years.

A father of three is dead shortly after attempting the 29,032-foot "Everesting" challenge in Wyoming.

Because her injuries prevented her from getting off-trail herself, officials used a high-tech drone to help track her down.

The child was hiking on a popular trail with their family when the mountain lion attacked. 

A video of a crowd of bears purportedly leaving Yellowstone went viral on social media. Now wildlife biologists and park officials are stuck debunking the influencer who posted it.

National park officials euthanized the adult sow after weeks of concerning behavior. 

Authorities dispatched multiple aircraft in an attempt to rescue a hiker from 14,379-foot Mt. Williamson in the Eastern Sierra.

Tex the grizzly already had multiple relocations on his record and a history of breaking into fishing boats and following hikers in British Columbia when he swam to bear-free Texada Island. Now, locals, provincial officials, and First Nations leaders are divided over what to do.

Capitol Peak is widely considered the most serious of Colorado’s highest peaks and has been the site of numerous fatal incidents over the years.

The latest iteration of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could make a continuous hike more difficult for PCT and CDT thru-hikers if it passes.

Parts of Arizona are expecting dangerous heat conditions this week, with Phantom Ranch forecast to experience highs of 114 degrees.

Baxter State Park officials believe Esther Keiderling, one of two hikers found dead near the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in early June, likely slipped and slid into a boulder field in snowy conditions.

Rangers located the bodies of the two hikers in a remote backcountry campsite over the weekend. The cause of death is currently unknown.

Montaña de Oro is one of California’s biggest state parks, but it receives a fraction of Yosemite National Park’s visitation.

For the first time since floods closed it five years ago, the full length of the Chilkoot Trail, which crosses 33 miles from Alaska to British Columbia, is open to hikers. But a closure at the border could stop backpackers from doing the whole thing.

Authorities are investigating after several people came down with symptoms of norovirus, the highly-contagious, sanitizer-resistant stomach bug that's sickened hikers on the Triple Crown in recent years.

Established last year, North Dakota’s Three Affiliated Tribes National Park blends culture with history and geographical beauty—and when it comes to hiking, its caretakers have big plans.

With the Madison Gulf Trail footbridge in New Hampshire's White Mountains unsafe to use, hikers now face a detour that eliminates 4.3 grueling but beloved miles of the AT—and officials will need to decide whether to make an exception to wilderness rules to allow for it to be replaced.

Officials in Aspen recorded nearly twice as many bear encounters as usual this spring. Could it be an early indicator of a busy bear season in the high country?

Park officials had written that the campground would close "indefinitely" for unspecified reasons.

A $2.4 million grant will go towards maintenance, reconstruction, and stewardship across the state.

National Park Service officials temporarily closed two trails at Lake Mead over the weekend after two high-profile rescues there.

After five rescues in winter conditions in less than a month, Mount Rainier officials are reminding hikers and skiers that it's still winter up high.

Dozens of hikers were forced to stay the night along the Kalalau Trail after rain caused flooding in the region.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy—the nonprofit that supports the United States’ most iconic footpath—turns 100 this year. To celebrate, AT thru-hikers Mary Beth "Mouse" Skylis and Grayson Haver Currin pick the 100 best miles of trail, spread out over 19 bite-size sections.

After months of uncertainty, the Trump administration has approved a new pilot reservation system for Yosemite.

With the park left severely shorthanded due to staff cuts, officials have closed the Fiery Furnace hike until further notice.

Despite pleas from park staff and congresspeople, Yosemite’s timed entry system is still in limbo after the Interior Department paused it last month.

After Hurricane Helene wrecked a bridge that allowed hikers to cross the Nolichucky River in Tennessee, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and a local guiding company arranged a ferry service to help hikers cross safely.

When two hikers took a long tumble off the Tahquitz Mountain Trail, it was the beginning of an epic ordeal for them and their rescuers.

In a new lawsuit filed alongside three other nonprofits, the environmental group claims that DOGE violated the Constitution by directing the NPS, Forest Service, and other federal agencies to fire thousands of employees—and that America's public lands are already feeling the strain.

On top of a mountain in Virginia along the Appalachian Trail, a shelter logbook contains some of hikers' deepest, darkest secrets.

With less than 30,000 cases a year in the U.S., rhabdomyolysis is not a common ailment—but for some boundary-pushing hikers, it can be life-threatening.

After a Chinese-based tech company released robotic exoskeletons last month, hikers got the chance to test them on a hike up the steep Mt. Tai.

A California couple suffered injuries on Sunday while attempting to hike the Sacred Falls Trail, which has been closed for 26 years.

The Northern Colorado Trail stretches 292 miles from Estes Park to Glenwood Springs.

The Haiku Stairs have been illegal to climb since the 1980s, but that hasn't stopped thousands of hikers from venturing there.

Two hikers may be stuck with the SAR bill after a winter hike went wrong in the White Mountains.

Nonprofit will pay $1,000 for information leading to the vandal or vandals' arrest.

Northbound thru-hikers will have to backtrack to Harts Pass after Canada stops issuing permits allowing hikers to enter at the northern terminus.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s thru-hike registrations are down by nearly 30% compared to this time last year—and a look at last season reveals a potential reason why.

A leak released chlorine, used for water treatment at the park, forcing park authorities to close several trails.

A pair of hikers took separate slides down the side of Hollyburn Mountain earlier this week, resulting in an ankle injury and a suspected leg fracture.

After four decades of running outdoor adventure trips and educational courses, REI is eliminating more than 400 jobs to focus on its core retail business, the company’s CEO said on Wednesday.

At 1,454 miles long, the Buckeye Trail is a grand tour of Ohio—and the government is considering adding it to the National Trails System.

State officials say they're worried about bison passing on disease to cattle outside the park—but wildlife managers say it's never happened before.

Trail conditions on Mount Charleston’s South Loop Trail have led to a number of falls and serious injuries from hikers who Las Vegas police described as unprepared.

A solo hiker was wandering around Summersville Lake when he became trapped in thick mud.

Deep in the arctic tundra, our writer gets a lesson in what it means to go truly off-grid.

AT thru-hikers today are more likely to finish the trail and less likely to get their food stolen by a bear—and more than ever before are coming from outside of the United States.

Two months after Hurricane Helene, miles of storm-impacted trail, including a stretch of the Appalachian Trail, have begun welcoming hikers back. Others remain closed until further notice.

A pair of Massachusetts hikers were prepared for winter conditions in the Whites until they fell into Lincoln Brook, while a local took a fatal fall despite wearing microspikes.

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy just purchased a parcel of land to permanently protect a small region south of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. 

In a park where black bear sightings were rare, Zion visitors saw more bears in 2024, specifically between May and June.

When Vanderloop set out to thru-hike the AT, she had no idea she was on her way to becoming the oldest woman on record to complete the feat.

After Hurricane Helene, large swathes of North Carolina and Tennessee’s Appalachian Trail were left devastated. Some hikers are looking to these southern routes as alternatives—and their volunteers and managers say they can handle the new visitors.

After the storm wiped out buildings and canceled fall hiking season, some hostels and guides are searching for a way forward.

On Sunday morning, a park ranger responding to a distress call on Namakan Lake fell into the water and vanished.

Some of the AT’s most famous towns and their residents bore the worst of Helene’s damage. Hikers who were on trail discuss the moment that the storm struck—and locals contemplate the long recovery ahead.

Park officials are warning hikers to be wary of bears during their fall "feeding frenzy" after a grizzly injured a man on the Highline Trail

For years, tensions have run high between AT thru-hikers and rangers in Baxter State Park. One hiker wonders, could moving the terminus solve the problem?

A suspected Norovirus outbreak is the likely culprit of the incidents that closed the Kalalau Trail.

Yosemite Valley is one of the most popular outdoor destinations in the country. Hike in peace on these trails just a short drive away from the park's crowds.

Colorado Fourteeners Initiative points to closures, population growth patterns, and aging baby boomers as possible reasons behind trend.

From flash flooding to excessive heat, some experts say climate-fed weather patterns may be contributing to deaths in one of America’s most popular national parks.

Walking from terminus to terminus is a thru-hiker’s dream, but what about when circumstances—or a really cool side trail—lead you on a detour?

The $100 million gift from the Lilly Endowment could fund infrastructure and education projects.

The Canadian woman was found safe after spending four days lost in the Colorado Mountains.

Hundreds of PCT hikers face last-minute reroutes as wildfires close in on the critical resupply town, which is only accessible by boat, foot, or plane.