Stories

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.

On Sunday night, British hiker Josh Perry decimated the trail’s long-standing self-supported records after chasing Timothy Olson’s 2021 time

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

Too many rocks? Not enough people? Illustrator Amber Share says bring it on.

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

Empowerment self defense classes focused on the outdoors are teaching women to feel safe in the wilderness.

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.

Paralyzed in a cycling accident, endurance athlete Jared Fenstermacher begins an Appalachian Trail comeback quest rolling, stepping, scooting, being carried, and crawling—but never giving up.

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

When hiking becomes cool, it loses something sacred.

It's been six months since the first NPS director in five years stepped into office facing $22 billion in deferred maintenance. This is what he's accomplished so far—and what's still coming.

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.

Each year, more families seem to earn attention by taking to long trails with small children. What are their motivations, and is it bad for the kids?

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.

A hike in the author's native Washington state gives perspective on half a millennium of persecution, and a home worth fighting for.

Deaf people look for community on the trail, just like all backpackers. But some hearing hikers don’t know how—or don’t care enough—to bridge the gap.

Kathryn Miles’s new book, ‘Trailed,’ investigates the killings of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans in Shenandoah National Park 25 years ago—and asks difficult questions about safety in nature

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.

An affidavit filed as part of an ongoing lawsuit has revealed that the treasure was apparently found in Yellowstone—and park officials are fighting to keep the exact location a secret

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?

Watch as the Moon family talks about raising their daughter on the road

Watch as the Moon family sets out on a camping adventure in the all-new Toyota Tundra

A group of dedicated trail lovers are working to protect America’s favorite wilderness footpath from the hordes of people who walk it each year

Several hikes share a confession, and we're here to dole out penance—and advice.

We may not have iPhones or Tinder, but bears have plenty of ways of letting each other know what's up.

Looking for a furry friend? A tame bear is definitely not it.

Wasp spray: great for wasps, not so great for bears.

At age 8, I went to a junior ranger camp that did everything wrong. Ten years later, the lessons they taught me paid off.

Someone on the plane told me I could die in my new home of Kodiak, Alaska, home to one of the world's largest bear subspecies. Instead, I adapted.

These gaping glacier cracks are dramatic—and deadly. Here's how they form, plus three safe places to see crevasses up close.

Is quicksand as big of a threat as Hollywood tells us it is? Zion's chief park ranger gave us the truth (and tips on escaping quicksand...just in case).

Though microbursts are rare and usually fairly short-lived, these vertical hurricanes can cause extensive damage.

Hike into the epicenter of a cataclysmic explosion in New Mexico's Valles Caldera.

The science behind the sky's natural fireworks display–and how to see it.

To see how animals stay cool in a hot climate, just look up.

From the northern lights to glacial crevasses, science meets spectacle in these fascinating features.

From the world-famous Old Faithful to Iceland's original Geysir, geysers have a way of captivating people's imaginations with their geothermal torrents. Here's everything you ever wanted to know about the science and safety of them.

Watch the new documentary from Athletic Brewing Company that chronicles Hardrath’s record-breaking feat

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

When it started pouring, good rain gear and a great sense of humor brought this trip to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

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

Across the country, hard-to-nab spots are sitting vacant. How do we make sure these coveted spaces aren’t going to waste?

As he hiked through this UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jake Maynard found that the people who made the canyon home challenged his American idea of "wilderness".

True tales from the front lines—and behind the scenes—of America's national parks.

Why go high? Because going down is so much fun.

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.

Need a break from the world? Sit back and catch the aurora borealis live from Churchill, Manitoba.

“The world and how it interacts with me changed the day I came out as trans”

What happens when you feed 2,000 actual hikers' trail names into a neural network? We'll let you see for yourself.

This volcano hike was supposed to be once-in-a-lifetime. But the struggle almost outweighed the reward.

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.

A hiker starts experiencing coughing fits and chest pain on the trail. Is it just the aftereffects of a long day, or something more serious?

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

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

Will a shock from a taser stop a bear from attacking you? Unsurprisingly, someone has tried it.

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. 

Goats are the perfect pack animals: agile, compliant, and low-impact beasts of burden. Right?

A nighttime fly fishing adventure goes awry.

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.

The John Muir Trail was my dream hike—until a bout of food poisoning turned it into a nightmare.

From blueberry picking in New York and New Hampshire to pure solitude in New Hampshire and Maine, moose sitings in Vermont, and peaks in New York, these the hikes feature the best of the Northeast.

Our top stories of the year covered how much hiking has changed—and how much it hasn't.

Benton MacKaye's original proposal for the Appalachian Trail came out 100 years ago. While the trail may have changed, the appeal hasn't.

Five-time Iditarod winner Dallas Seavey dishes on staying warm, well-fueled, and sane in extreme climates.

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.

I tallied the waste I created for a month of my thru-hike. It was embarrassing. Now I know how to begin fixing it.

Animals can't talk. But Ed Newcomer can. As an elite U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service detective, he goes undercover to protect threatened raptors, bears, even butterflies—and bring poachers and smugglers to court. Inside the agency's latest covert operation.

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