Spend your life on the trail, and one thing’s for sure: You’ll come away with plenty of hiking stories. From survival stories to personal essays to stories to adventure tales from the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail, this is where you’ll find backpacker’s favorite yarns.
Spend your life on the trail, and one thing’s for sure: You’ll come away with plenty of hiking stories. From survival stories to personal essays to stories to adventure tales from the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail, this is where you’ll find backpacker’s favorite yarns.
You won't waste a minute with our only-the-highlights hiking and climbing guide to the West's archetypal range. From the loftiest summits to the loneliest cross-country routes, this seven-day sampler visits every type of Tetons treasure-and then some.
Check out The Backpacker Editors's author page.
Spectacular lake views, granite-edged trails, and surprising solitude will make you want to go in circles on the Tahoe Rim Trail.
Shhh! Find silent shores in this isolated Boundary Waters hideaway
After nearly two centuries of ecological havoc wreaked by invasive species, the gem of Channel Islands National Park is becoming a paradise again. ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Watch a video and see two photo galleries from the island.
Learn where to bag peaks, visit hidden cold water lakes, and trek through the eroded wonder of Badlands National Park in our Black Hills primer.
Of all the North American bird species, few stand out more than this trio of flyers. Their vivid plumage makes them some of the easiest springtime wildlife to spot.
New legislation could make the volcanic monument a national park. But is that a good thing?
Learn the difference between elk, white-tails, and mule deer.
How Cold War weapons sites are becoming America's most unusual new preserves.
With a thousand islands and countless passages, this little-visited treasure is a watery maze. Here's the way in–and out.
Only an hour from Seattle, this Cascades gem offers killer Rainier views.
Trek the best spring blooms from the Ozarks to the Olympics with these two, three, and four day treks.
Looking to catch and eat the big one? Try paddling Arkansas' Little Red River.
No, not the famously wind-whipped peaks in New Hampshire. Explore some of the country's lesser-known Whites with these accessible spring summits in Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska.
Check out the steepest trail, the best swimming hole, and the wildest vista in America's most popular national park.
Utah's Range Creek hides the most intact Native American artifacts in the United States. Get there now–while you can still play archaeologist.
Check out these top shots from readers like you.
Forget all the rules about freezing or making yourself big. When faced with these angry beasts run for cover.
Dive into the Channels Islands with exclusive on-the-scene video, photos, and trip reports.
View photographer Michael Darter's outtakes from his trip to Santa Cruz island for the July Adventures story "Return of the Natives" (Photos by Michael Darter, www.michaeldarter.com)
Are these hidden containers harmless, or do they flout low-impact ethics?
Unlike their cougar and wolf cousins, these cats and dogs are (often) easier to spot.
Scientists hike deep into California's wild high country to probe for answers.
Traverse Guadalupe Mountains National Park to the state's airiest perch.
Discover a slice of rare Eastern wild country in West Virginia, where Canadian taiga meets Southern forests.
Avoid the crowds in Maine's Acadia National Park by skipping getting a jump on the season and hiking the park in the Spring. Stephen King country never looked so good.
Want to hike where the most predators exist? Pack your courage and follow these directions.
Want to boost your backcountry karma? Here are three places to hike–and give back.
Think the Dakotas are just endless prairie? Get ready for climbing, backpacking, and biking of the highest order.
Looking to catch baby animals taking their first step? You can't go wrong with these picks.
Here's longtime ranger Jim Wheeler's plan for an eye-popping adventure among the ancients.
There's a science to why we love waterfalls: When water crashes earthward, it releases negatively charged ions that--you can't make this stuff up--some researchers think can reduce anxiety. Spring is when cascades' spigots open full bore, so head off on these three beguiling treks for a dose of nature's backcountry Rx.
Invent your own hike, and go where no one (well, almost no one) has gone before.
Badlands, peaks, wildflowers: Catch the best of the California desert with this trio of hikes.
The most exotic hike in the United States is smack in the middle of the country: Welcome to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Associate editor Shannon Davis's photo diary of his hiking and paddling trip to Santa Cruz Island.
For these three fitness gurus staying fit is a job requirement.
In honor of Earth Day, we bring you the first industry-wide survey on which gear manufacturers are positively impacting the environment, plus much more.
Check out Dimity McDowell, Illustrations by Supercorn's author page.
Check out Dimity McDowell, Illustrations by Supercorn's author page.
Check out Dimity McDowell, Illustrations by Supercorn's author page.
Everyone loves national parks - but are they being loved to death? Join a star-studded roundtable to explore the fate of this embattled American institution.
Many people think exploring this 91,440-acre desert park is all about dodging the tall, spiny cacti that earned the place its name. But Southern Arizona Hiking Club guide Steve Singkofer knows better. His favorite 20.3-mile route - including a 4,500-foot climb - reaches overlooks of Tucson and far beyond.
Glaciers sculpt mountains, dredge valleys, and remain an unending source of fascination for hikers.
When Utahans really wants to disappear, they head to the magnificent canyons of Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Visitors to Montana's Glacier National Park can visit on the cheap or pay an arm and a leg -- but each way has its unique charms.
When you're trekking into a backcountry bowl, avalanches are almost always a threat. Learn how to protect yourself when the worst happens.
When a scramble turns to a nightmare learn how to help yourself.
The Lower 48's most glaciated region is losing its ice at an astonishing rate.
A big-picture biologist unearths threats to songbirds, salamanders, and a peak-loving furball.
More potent poison ivy is on the way, plus fast-growing weeds that will change the face of Eastern forests.
Pine beetles are felling more trees than wildfires and the timber industry combined.
As the earth warms, here's how higher temps will affect our forests.
Find these hard-to-spot beauties on your next journey
A for and against look at heli-hiking
Stay sanitary, and for your travel companion's sake, pack what's on this list.
On the trail and in camp, beat the cold with these tips.
Beat the itchy stuff with creams or homeopathic measures.
Here are the seven guidelines to Leave No Trace
The trail-staple GORP gets a face lift with these reader-submitted recipes
A successful hike often starts with a bit of research.
Hit the wilderness in search of beasts big and small.
By foot, kayak, or on top of a Boulder, North Georgia has plenty of outside activities.
Hike, paddle, or ride in America's favorite steel town.
Idaho's capital offers hiking, kayaking, and climbing close to downtown
Try this 30-mile lollipop loop that is almost entirely above 9,000 feet.
A rarely-attempted traverse reveals the Navajo Nation's vast red-rock wilderness.
These hares love the snow and cold and they're designed to use the elements to their advantage
Looking to get more than scenic views out of your hikes? The U.S. Forest Service's Passport in Time program turns trekkers into weekend archaeologists.
Head to Hawaii for three of the tallest
If you've always dreamed of descending into the center of the earth, try one of these creekbed hikes.
Traverse the Yukon Territory's Tombstone Range, sea kayak Baja, trek Torres del Paine, Patagnoia–all in 2008. Plus, monthly adventures closer to home.
Try a stunning new hike–or two thrilling classics–in the Colorado Rockies' top spot for big backpacking adventures.
Keen on birds, peak bagging, or wildflowers? Here's how to join hikers who share your passions.
Rangers despise him. The law is after him. Yet in chopping down trees in an overgrown national park, Bob Garrison has become a hero to some hikers.
Inside Idaho's Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, humans and wolves learn to co-exist.
Welcome to Yosemite, iconic American landscape, hikers' paradise, and all-you-can-eat home of the wiliest bruins on earth.
The wooly bear caterpillar, wild leek, and yew have "magical" qualities, but live in your backyard.
Museum curator Glenn Crosby tracks down Ansel Adams' famous shot