In a viral PSA, Yosemite National Park urged hikers to knock over rock cairns. Days later, staff at Canyonlands and Arches asked hikers not to. What's a backpacker to do?
Live electric wires and bridge damage are among the hazards that trail crews have found so far—but it’s not all bad news.
Visits to one popular Colorado fourteener have declined by more than half since 2020.
Authorities are trying to determine what caused the deaths of three "mummified" people found in a remote campsite near Gunnison this week.
The death is the third snow-related fatality that local search and rescue has responded to over the past three weeks.
With the Sierra’s record snowpack beginning to melt, swarms of the biting insects are coming out en masse. For hikers, that could be a nuisance.
The Outdoor Industry Association’s annual outdoor participation survey found the United States added 881,000 new hikers in 2022—and that the outdoors are becoming more diverse.
The good news: Glacier Point Road will reopen again to backpackers and other visitors again starting July 1.
Sands, 65, never returned from a hike on Southern California’s Mount Baldy in January
Rangers are urging hikers to follow safety rules after an unleashed dog “provoked” a black bear into fatally attacking a hiker’s leashed dog.
Extremely high water levels in Maine have shut down the famous Kennebec River canoe shuttle—and almost ended one section hiker’s trip permanently.
For hikers around the world, today isn't just the first day of summer: It's Hike Naked Day. Here's what you need to know before joining in the festivities.
Students in the Semester-A-Trail program at Emory and Henry College will spend their spring and summer semesters hiking part or all of the Appalachian Trail—with gear, support, and an on-trail budget included in tuition.
This bear has learned to appreciate the trail no matter the conditions, and we could all stand to learn from them.
In a typical June, a little less than an inch and a half of snow falls on Mt. Washington. This year, the peak has seen more than six times that much—and there are still two weeks to go.
The Benton MacKaye Trail Starts at the AT's southern terminus and runs nearly 300 miles through the hills—and a bipartisan bill is set to name it our next National Scenic Trail.
Dubbed "Doo Colorado Right," the state is hoping its new campaign will deter people from leaving human waste where other hikers end up stepping in it.
With the Woods Creek and San Joaquin bridges out and creeks running too high to safely ford, hikers don't have many good options.
Incredibly, it's not the first time that a baby bison has been euthanized in the park after a visitor tried to "save" it.
This weekend's deaths mark the second double fatality in Buckskin Gulch this spring, and follow a string of rescues caused by wet conditions and flooding.
Despite the NPS’s best efforts, Yellowstone National Park continues to be the world capital of people getting too close to wild animals.
The epic winter of 2022–23 is still with us, with snowmelt causing flooding concerns in some national parks and in others roads and trails are closed for repairs. Here’s what you need to know for your summer trips.
After a snow-delayed start to the season, the North Rim will finally open next week, but services will be limited.
A group of young hikers who went missing near Ojai managed to call for help with Apple's Emergency SOS, which the company introduced with the iPhone 14 last year.
Outdoor officials in New Hampshire are warning hikers to bring traction devices after one person required rescue for a leg injury over the weekend.
Once again, food-seeking bears have forced the closure of part of the AT to overnight stays.
A heat signature in a dense forest led to the discovery of Matthew Read, who went missing in the park over the weekend.
Two humongous male grizzly bears square off in one of the craziest, most mesmerizing battles caught on video
National Park Service officials said they’re still investigating what caused the Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge to burn to the ground just weeks before its planned grand reopening.
Marta Renee Bowen had disappeared from her campsite in Connecticut, leaving behind her gear and cell phone.
Wildlife officers have been unable to locate the mountain lion so far, and are urging hikers in the area to use caution.
Overflowing rivers will close most of Yosemite Valley through at least Wednesday—and the park says more floods could be on the way as California's historic snowpack melts.
Two individuals are facing criminal charges after sheriff’s deputies say they caught the duo traveling the AT with more than 14 pounds of marijuana, magic mushrooms, and LSD.
In a survey measuring employee satisfaction across government workers, NPS staff ranked in the bottom 15%.
In one week, a Colorado search and rescue team had to perform three rescues on the same fourteener. The cause? The spring snowpack pulled off hikers' shoes, leaving them barefoot above treeline.
A group of hikers in England got so ill from taking mushrooms that a search and rescue team had to retrieve them. And they're not the first psychedelic enthusiasts to have a trip go wrong on the trail.
Heavy snow and trail damage have delayed the opening of the Grand Canyon's North Rim until June 2, effectively canceling the spring rim-to-rim season and blocking Arizona Trail thru-hikers from reaching their destination.
The USFS is deciding on a new management plan for the 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail, and it wants your input.
One of the world’s largest Joshua tree forests is now federally protected
Jeffrey Johnson received two years probation, must pay restitution and fines, and will serve a two-year ban from the Buffalo National River.
Heavy rains in the western U.S. caused a deluge that killed two hikers and forced the rescue of 10 others.
If a new bipartisan bill passes, the desert rock formations and forests of Chiricahua National Monument could become America's newest national park.
Parts of California have received double their average snowfall this season—and that’s a big deal for anyone planning a thru-hike on the PCT.
After state legislators voted down a bill that would have blocked hikers from suing private landowners over injuries, the owner of two of Colorado’s most popular summits says he’ll close the trail to the top.
National park visitation continued its overall climb toward pre-pandemic levels in 2022, but not every park saw visitor numbers increase.
With California in the midst of one of its snowiest winters on record, a local search and rescue group is urging early-season thru-hikers not to risk crossing the San Jacinto Mountains.
The daffodil flats of Linville Gorge are beautiful—but hikers trying to reach them are getting lost and injured on the rugged trails there, local search and rescue groups say.
Think you can’t get bitten by a tick in the winter? As one surprise discovery this month shows, they’re waking up—and biting—earlier and earlier.
Nearly 50 years after a rancher abandoned a herd of cattle in the Gila National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will attempt to "lethally remove" the animals' descendants.
Philip Powers argued that the wildfire he set in 2018 was necessary to save his life. But a court found that he was so unprepared, he created his own emergency.
A new agreement between the federal government and the New Mexico State Land Office will make it easier for hikers to travel the southernmost section of the CDT.
A double helicopter rescue on Telescope Peak and a lost hiker on Wildrose illustrate that winter can be as hazardous as summer in this legendarily broiling park.
During 2019’s superbloom, visitors to Walker Canyon near Lake Elsinore behaved so badly that city officials decided to completely shut down hiking trails rather than risk a repeat.
Data of Sasquatch sightings in a new preprint finds a strong correlation with bear population density
With record low temperatures, unbelievably strong winds, and unusual weather patterns likely to drop the stratosphere to the level of the summit, it's a bad weekend to climb Mt. Washington.
With trail use booming, burying your toilet paper just doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s time to get over the ick and start carrying it out, says our writer—or ditch it altogether.
The national park has announced it will bring back its ticketing program for Old Rag this year.
The government reinstated Obama-era protections near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Hikers who had their trips canceled by Covid closures will get first crack at a new date—though others may be able to score a cancellation.
Why people keep running into trouble on the highest peak in Los Angeles County
But there’s still hope it will reopen sooner.
With the snowpack double the average so far, thru-hikers could face tougher travel in the mountains and more dangerous river crossings this year.
A raging rain and wind storm is hitting Northern California hard. The state has closed regional, state, and national parks, with partial closings of 37 others, while Yosemite braces for a blizzard.
James Alan Cattley was reported missing on December 12, but may have disappeared months earlier.
A pair of hikers had to spend the night on a mountain when their rescue helicopter wasn't able to return for them.
Senate Bill 168 gave SAR volunteers legal immunity and—hopefully—the money they need to keep hikers, climbers, and paddlers safe.
This bruin’s journey across four states is a reminder that hikers and campers should be extra careful with food and trash
An experienced 59-year-old hiker and Mount Washington Cog Railway engineer passed away after tumbling from a cliff in the White Mountains.
A Bentonville, Arkansas man who led a 31-person hike along the Buffalo National River where one participant died will face sentencing in March.
Wolves in Colorado should benefit both humans and the ecosystem, but can they survive the culture war?
Twenty Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians is the first Native group to ink an agreement with the park.
An injured hiker got a lucky break when two campers heard him screaming for help. As it turned out, he had been waiting for a while.
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?
One visitor died and another required medical attention after attempting to tackle a popular trail in unusually cold conditions.
The increase is part of a larger program of fee hikes aimed at covering costs as visitors soar.
Indian Garden will be known as Havasupai Gardens following a government decision.
National Park Service doesn't suspect foul play in the death of Il Hun Ro.
The park is giving up on its 3-year-old timed entry program, but says it's still committed to finding ways to keep visitor numbers manageable.
Nick “Chezwick” Gagnon became the fastest person to circumnavigate the enormous route, which takes in sections of five major thru-hikes
Seven years after the Trump administration ordered an end to it, the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service announced they would once again investigate bringing grizzlies back to the mountains of north-central Washington.