Essays

After a decade in Seattle, I grew tired of the Cascades. After gaining a new perspective, I love them more than ever now.

Backpacking’s changed a lot over the years. Is its heyday behind us, or is it yet to come?

Contrary to popular belief, wilderness is a made-up concept. Here’s why it could be harming our planet.

They offer rides, places to stay, food, and more, and never ask anything in return. But thru-hikers still owe a debt of gratitude to trail angels. Here are some ideas on how to repay it.

After a group of campers left one of the Appalachian Trail's most beautiful sites covered in trash, the Forest Service banned camping there. But did it go too far? One local argues for a course correction.

How hiking with my canine companion gave me a new perspective on adventures.

Can the East's small but rugged mountains unseat the Rockies' biggest peaks?

Our soft-drink warriors both believe this sugary, caffeine-packed soda is the perfect refreshment after exercise or adventure. (Hmm. OK.) They disagree about flavors, and be warned: it might get loud.

Is a hiking resume complete without a long-distance thru-hike?

People keep falling into outdoor latrines while rescuing lost phones. Our editors list the belongings they would fish out of an outdoor crapper—and which ones they’d leave behind.

Backpacking by yourself unlocks a powerful wilderness experience. If you’re scared to solo, you’re on the right track.

Feel like you couldn’t possibly bare skin in the shape you’re in? All the more reason to try.

Some backpackers are just dedicated soloists. But as our writer discovered on her first big group trip, sometimes there's magic to hitting the trail with some new friends.

As someone who’s confronting his own age, I appreciate seeing an older guy hold it down. That’s why I’m cheering for 480 Otis this Fat Bear Week.

Your thru-hike is supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. So why is your mind wandering to literally anywhere else?

Last week my house burned to the ground, and if that’s not bad enough, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder

When a massive flood wrecked the Yellowstone area—and derailed her backpacking plans—Maggie Slepian had to contend with the ways the changing climate is already affecting hiking's most storied spaces.

It's nice to have friends on the trail. But in the end, everyone there is chasing their own dream.

From the Wonderland Trail to the Wave, many of the most spectacular places in the United States are only available to people willing to go through a permit lottery. For Maggie Slepian, it’s just not worth the hassle.

On a hike in New Mexico, an outdoor writer gets a new perspective on a trail and the legacy of the people who made it.

Takeaways from a thoughtful life spent outdoors.

Backpackers often turn their noses up at the Havasu Falls and Horseshoe Bends of the world. But that’s elitist, and it ignores one important fact besides: these places are gorgeous.

Most people who start a long trail won’t finish it. But when you’ve built your identity around perseverance, what does it mean to throw in the towel?

When the memories of combat refused to fade, a former army medic found healing in thru-hiking.

Hiking a long trail is a challenge no matter who you are. But not everyone is equally able to make the compromises it requires.

At a crossroads in her personal life, writer Maggie Slepian decided to go on a thru-hike. But as it turns out, your problems will follow you no matter how many hundreds of miles you go.

After Covid's long-term side effects left her unable to chase the physical adventures she had treasured before, Dani Mortell found herself negotiating a new outdoor experience.

Like many other subcultures, long-distance hiking has its own language.

Hikers need to stop trampling trailside flora in pursuit of “the shot.”

A fatal avalanche near Hoosier Pass, Colorado is a reminder that dangerous slides can occur on gentle terrain

Like a seed pushing through the hard spring soil in search of the sun, so too must you push through adversity to the glorious ultralight of backpacking. 

Sure, snowshoes make hiking in snow easy. But are you the kind of person who takes the easy way out? Yeah, that's what we thought.

Overcrowding is destroying our parks. Timed entry systems can save them.

Through bad weather, injuries, and access issues, I've climbed the same mountain every month for a decade and a half. I hope to do it for as long as I can.

Through two breakups, career changes, and more, the Beaten Path has been a welcome constant—and a yardstick for just how much everything else has shifted.

Take a long hike, and you’ll find yourself falling in with people decades older and younger than you. There’s good reason for that.

A writer with a few FKTs under her belt ponders whether or not speed enhances or detracts from the experience.

Finishing a 2,000-mile hike is tough. But for many thru-hikers, coming back to the “real world” afterward is even tougher.

The Ten Essentials could save your life on a hike. Craig calls coffee his “lifesaver,” and honestly, it was funnier the first time.

In the wilderness, it isn't cheap, paracord-wrapped hatchets and trenching tools that we need to survive. It's each other.

In the wilderness, it isn't cheap, paracord-wrapped hatchets and trenching tools that we need to survive. It's each other.

Join us on a trek in Nepal, and let’s show how hiking and helping go hand in hand.

Cairns—navigational aids made out of piled or stacked rocks—get a lot of hate nowadays. That's not justified.

Check out James Dziezynski's author page.

If you're thinking of bringing a firearm on a long trail, there are a few things you need to be aware of first.

Surviving in the wilderness is easier than you think. How easy is it? I made up these survival strategies off the top of my head. Take that, “experts”!

Campfires used to be a ubiquitous part of the outdoors; thanks to wildfire risk, they’re getting rarer and rarer. Could we see the day where they’re a thing of the past?

From unleashed dogs to unsecured food, it's time to change the culture around bear conservation.

With tents getting lighter and lighter, do tarps still have a place in hikers’ packs? We say: sure, maybe? Whatever.

For one hiker, nature is the best place to confront her past and consider her future.

It doesn’t matter how beautiful the scenery is, or how lucky you are to be out there: Hike for long enough, and you’ll have bad days. And guess what? There’s nothing wrong with that.

After a two decade deadlock, now is the time to take a stand around plane and helicopter tourism.

There's nothing wrong with a leisurely hike. But when hikers sneer at people who choose to go fast, they prove that they don't get it.

Is your motivation running dry? Try one of these strategies to recharge it.

Our writer sought meditation on Africa’s tallest peak. What she found was something even more meaningful: fun.

Long-distance hikers face a short window to finish their treks. Climate change could close it even further.

Hiking is about living in the moment, not speed.

Featherweight gear takes a lot of the pain out of carrying a load. But when it breaks in the middle of a long hike, it puts that pain right back in again.

I quit hiking when I was a teenager. Years later, an unfinished pact with my dad brought me back.

Foul-weather backcountry days have an allure all their own.

With information about “secret” trails and campsites all over the internet, finding a balance between conserving the wilderness and welcoming people to it has never been more important—or more challenging.

In one of America’s least visited national parks, I find my authentic self.

In the 1970s, crews finished carving a tribute to the Confederacy into Stone Mountain. Fifty years later, it's time to scrape it off.

Hiking is for everyone—but as Kara Richardson Whitely, a.k.a. Mama Kubwa, discovered, not everyone has gotten the memo.

As a small-town newspaper reporter, I’ve had a front-row seat to what happens when people’s and bears’ paths cross.

Jobs, trips, moves: Every time I tried to hit the trail with my dad, life got in the way. Then something happened that made me realize just how much time I had wasted.

Once you leave the trailhead, your safety is in your own hands.

Every woman who hikes has been the target of mansplaining—and Backpacker editors are no exception.

There are more hikers on the trail than ever—and that means more wear and tear. It's up to all of us to help fix it.

Look up, be prepared, and don’t forget the snacks.

For almost a decade, I avoided camping alone. Now, I wish I had tried it sooner.

It’s the adventure of a lifetime, but what can it teach you about staying at home? Guide Charlotte Austin shares her hard-won lessons.

I grew up hiking in the White Mountains. But I never fully appreciated them until I moved away.

When it comes to remembering my best trips, smells do something that photos never could.

If you think of these natural treasure troves as the B-list of the national park system, you’re missing out.

A recent court decision struck down permit requirements for commercial filming and photography in the national parks. One land manager considers just how bad it could get.

Backpackers have a habit of glorifying the big adventures. But the little ones can be just as sweet.

It’s time to extend the same respect we have for the land to all the people who use it.

Hiking isn’t all gorgeous sunsets and glowing campfires, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at Instagram. And for people just getting into backpacking, that matters.