Stories

Feeling people-shy? Follow Wisconsin's wolves to this lonely section of the Ice Age Trail.

Sniff the rhododendrons and enjoy hiking the Valley Rim Trail in North Carolina's Valley River Mountains.

For years, hikers have dreamed of trekking in Baca Ranch's untouched, wildlife-thick backcountry. You'll soon get your chance.

If overpowering stillness is your thing, try the old-growth forests in Oregon's Bull of the Woods Wilderness.

They may look sweet and innocent, but blooming plants are the floral world's version of a hot 'n' steamy orgy.

Follow the hummingbirds in the Mt. Naomi Wilderness to the best high-country wildflower show in all of Utah.

Our guide to spotting wolves on Michigan's Isle Royale.

Seven places where you can walk through a whole new landscape, plus opportunities to help rebuild charred trails.

Years and even decades after a forest fire, the healed land tells amazing tales about the benefits of flame.

Washington's Elwha Trail is a rain-forest classic: green, primeval, spongy soft, and wonderfully wet.

Hike into the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness and you'll enjoy Colorado's best summer school.

It's the easiest hiking on Earth, and you get to sleep with buffalo, listen to coyotes sing, and bask in quiet so deep you can hear the grasslands growing. Welcome to the prairie.

Everything you need to know about hiking in the high country, from talus hopping to finding the right gear to dealing with wind and glaciers.

In Virginia, a miracle occurs and hikers get some new wilderness, thanks to The Priest.

Follow these tips when hiking in burned country.

In an ancient cycle older than man, the fires that torched the West in summer 2000 are causing a dramatic and stunning rebirth of the once-charred landscape.

You won't find Utah's 725-mile rogue route on any map. But thanks to two passionate Utah hikers, you'll soon be able to search it out with your boots.

Albuquerque's backyard wilderness lets hikers perform a disappearing trick.

In Point Reyes National Seashore, you'll find peace and quiet in the heart of California's earthquake zone.

There's a fascinating world of fur and claws underfoot. Here's how to tell who's down there.

If you're a backpacking purist, Tennessee's new Cumberland Trail was made for you.

Easily said and done, when you have a constant reminder at bedtime.

Lines at backcountry outhouses. Hikers competing for tent sites. Is there any solitude left in New Hampshire's White Mountains? Lots of it, if you know where to go.

Sometimes, despite all the commitments and obligations, you know what you have to do.

You'd better like your own company, because that's all you'll have in Oregon's Badlands Wilderness Study Area.

Arizona's Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness is so incredible, you'll want to tell the whole world.

Meet Jamie and Joe, who need help with everything from planning to packing to eating well. Enter our team of experts, with a few simple tricks designed to turn them-and you!-into well-oiled backpacking machines.

If you're a fan of waterfalls, then Arkansas's Richland Creek Wilderness is your dream trip.

A 5,200-year-old artifact provides insight into early man's walking habits.

When venturing into country "untrammeled by man," we can thank Marshall's unlimited efforts to preserve it.

You may have the Ozarks' wildlife-rich Ridge Runner Trail to yourself, but that doesn't mean you're alone.

A whale of a Minnesota trail beside a Great Lake.

It's the longest stretch of virgin coastline left in the Lower 48. But that's just one of many reasons to hike it.

The famed peaks of the Appalachian chain entice some 2,500 people to attempt the thru-hike each year.

Mind-bending views, close-up wildlife encounters.

If any long trail is likely to induce a headache, it's the Colorado Trail.

Forgot your toothbrush? You can still practice good hygiene.

The condors know all about Chumash Wilderness, but luckily, the masses in Los Angeles don't.

This magnificent trail travels through three California parks while showcasing the natural wonders Muir worked to preserve.

Cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, ancient pottery -- Utah's Grand Gulch is thick with history.

The little-known Ouachita Trail ranked third among the long trails for solitude.

Take along your plant guidebooks for this flora-filled treasure.

The challenge of Vermont's Long Trail will cure what ails you.

Carved limestone cliffs add even more to love on Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail.

A good pile of animal scat speaks volumes about your backwoods neighbors, if you know what to look for.

In the 1800s, cowboys didn't think much of the Grand Canyon's Parashant National Monument. Luckily, times and attitudes have changed.

For Deep South scenery, try Alabama's Conecuh Trail, where the gopher frogs and armadillos outnumber the people.

The best trips are littered with mistakes, frustration, and, if a river called the "Little Misery" runs through it, boot-sucking mud.

Where the words "wild" and "life" take on new meaning

What's good for elk is good for backpackers on Michigan's High Country Pathway.

When summer ends, crowd-free hiking begins in Colorado's Indian Peaks.

New research suggests that bear bells don't work, and colorful tents and clothing may attract bruins.

If land has a personality, then Vermont's 270-mile Long Trail is one moody, unpredictable way to hike through New England.

The greatest backpacking parks in the United States, chosen for their scenery.

Glacier National Park possesses scenery that'll suck the breath out of your lungs, quiet so intense you'll wonder if your ears still work, and enough wildlife to make a zookeeper drool with envy.

The best way to honor a wilderness-minded senator is to hike the Jackson Wilderness.

When leaves turn the colors on a painter's palette, head to the Adirondack's High Peaks Wilderness.

When you have park visitors asking such questions as, "The animals aren't really wild, are they?" you have a recipe for disaster.

Follow Jesse James's footprints to a land of shady valleys and cool, clear lakes.

History is carved in stone in this wild and scenic southern river corridor in North Carolina and Georgia.

Sure, you can summit Mt. Rainier, but the real treasure isn't on top. It's the Wonderland Trail down below.

Is the legendary jackalope the most endangered species in the Lower 48 or just an old cowboy tale that refuses to die?

The French-Canadian trappers are long gone, but the grizzlies and waterfalls remain in this alpine nirvana.

Out of mistakes, miscues, and unexpected turns in the trail, we find the perfect trip.

If you think the last truly wild, unexplored land is in Canada or Alaska, you haven't been to Wyoming's Absaroka range.

Washington's gentle "forgotten mountains" -- The Kettle River Range -- are ignored by those in a hurry to reach the Cascades.

Its bite is more than painful -- it could be deadly.

Chambers Lakes are too cold for swimming, but a great place to watch 'bergs drift by.

Are you antsy? Need to get away? Try New York's Tongue Range.

Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest is just what the hiker ordered.

Some people head to Wyoming to summit the Tetons. But outdoor legend Paul Petzoldt had a better idea: Create a route for foot travelers along the spine of the great range.

Even when you're trapped in the nation's most crowded metropolis, backwoods relief is only a short hike down a Long Path.

In a strange way, music and wilderness go hand in hand.

Rare stands of virgin hardwood and creekside camping beckon sunburned hikers.

Montana and Wyoming's incredibly wild and beautiful Absaroka needs your help.

Here's what little we've learned about the mysterious Jackalope.

On the hoof, antlers and horns are a regal sight. Once discarded, they speak volumes about the former owner.

Horns or antlers?

A quick guide to antler spotting in the wild.

Porpoises escort you to a rugged island where buffalo really do roam.