Stories

Nearly 1,000 young women make up the groundbreaking new class from the BSA.

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

A program called Goat Walkabouts pairs hikers with “healing herds”of retired yoga goats to help treat trauma in the Rockies.

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.

Thomas has thru-hiked more than 20 long trails, including the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails (the Triple Crown). On top of that, she set a fastest known time on the AT for an unsupported woman and has completed dozens of urban thru-hikes as well. Now, she's joining Backpacker as a contributing editor. Here’s some of Thomas’s best advice and insight fed by more than 20,000 trail miles.

Nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us are ready to say goodbye to stay-at-home orders, shoulder our packs, and head out on a multi-month hiking adventure. But with transmission rates still high and vaccination efforts stretching into late summer, should we hold off?

For this 28-year-old Minnesotan, life on a long path is a series of snowy 20-mile days with a borrowed husky. What will life after it look like?

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

That scenic path you’re hiking didn’t spring up out of nowhere. We talked to trail designers to find out what goes into creating a hike.

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.

Rue McKenrick would hike the perimeter of the country to demonstrate our nation’s unity—if only he and the country could hold together long enough for him finish.

BACKPACKER is committing to making a better world for all hikers.

Thousands of people hike the Colorado Trail every year, but India Wood had a bolder idea: Hike a 732-mile diagonal, from corner to corner, straight across the state. It would take dozens of maps to do it—and help from a few new friends.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail with four kids is tough; figuring out how to do it safely and legally in a pandemic year might seem insurmountably so. But for Olen and Danae Netteburg, two physicians who have spent the last decade working in Chad, it was just another challenge.

When they wake up broke, broken, and far from home, how do thru-hikers find the will to go another mile?

Why do we still run our public lands like it’s 1920?

The 72-year-old activist, who passed away last month, used mining claims, scenic flights, hiking trails, and occasionally outright confrontation to protect the Opal Creek Wilderness.

The results of this fall’s election could change the outdoors for a long time. Make a plan and make your voice heard.

In November, Colorado will make history when it lets voters decide whether to reintroduce gray wolves. But the discovery of the state’s first confirmed pack in nearly a century is casting an old debate in a new light.

Being a new parent is hard, but being able to share your favorite thing with your baby makes it a little easier.

Getting back to "real life" after a long hike can be rough. But if you feel low after coming home, you're not alone.

The founder of HBCUs Outside is using gear libraries and hiking meetups to tear down barriers in the outdoor industry.

Go behind the curtains at this down-obsessed outfitter

Is natural beauty always in the eye of the beholder?

With travel plans cancelled due to COVID, one hiker makes the most of staying close to home.

In a remote corner of Montana, backpackers and wildlife advocates clash over the future of a bear population hanging on for dear life.

When companies don't offer plus sizes, that sends a message about who is and isn't welcome in the outdoors.

With races around the country canceled, an unprecedented number of ultrarunners are testing themselves on the trail.

The Western U.S. is rife with forests and deserts that you can't visit. A new law could fix that—if we're willing to fight for it.

After 18 years of backpacking, boating, and skiing, a mother and son confront letting go.

When you’ve stepped onto a long trail, you never really leave it.

As she nears the end of her journey on the Colorado Trail, our writer reflects on some of the people she’s met along the way.

A chance encounter with a group of friends on an annual, women-only backpacking trip leaves our Colorado Trail correspondent reflecting on how her own life changed her attitude towards the trail.

What do hiking the Colorado Trail and childbirth have in common? Sometimes, you just need to trust your body to get you through it.

After a series of mistakes left her dehydrated on the Colorado Trail, our writer learned that making it on a long trail is about more than guts or skill.

Hiking a long path is hard. As Patricia Cameron discovered while getting ready for the Colorado Trail, doing it in the era of COVID-19 adds a whole new level of difficulty to the process.

There are a lot of good reasons to fight racism. Let’s add one more: We can’t protect the climate without ending it.

Yes, apple cores and banana peels are "biodegradable." But tossing them into the woods isn't just gross, it's bad for wildlife too.

After a cross-country road trip, Earl Hunter Jr. made it his business to break down racial lines in the outdoors.

We can do better for the environment.

Supportive social media posts are a start. But as the country protests yet another Black man’s murder, the outdoor industry has to take a stronger position against structural racism.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, hundreds of long-distance hikers paused their trips on the Appalachian Trail and headed home. Now, as states begin the process of reopening, the wisdom of getting back on the path is up for debate.

From favorite shirt to lifelong companion.

Three scientists chronicle life, death, and the last stand of the Grizzly Glacier.

Travel postponed? Live vicariously through these adventurous sagas instead.

Kermode bears, British Columbia's famous white bears, may be in decline as salmon populations drop. What do we lose if one of the world’s most striking animals disappears?

This week, we're paying homage to our favorite backcountry fauna with bear science, safety, and advice. Dive in and get to know the original masters of staying at home.

A globetrotter reflects on a place that stopped him in his tracks.

It’s tough to pick our favorite place in New Zealand, but this stretch of coast is all-time.

Some love affairs aren't meant to last. But that just makes them sweeter.

Sometimes, your search for adventure leads you to your own backyard.

A trekking trip becomes a pilgrimage for one mountain lover.

From childhood trips to sailing voyages, this wave-licked chunk of sandstone has never lost its magic for me.

See the divine written in sand.

Hike the desert or sail the Indian Ocean with these great (but sometimes cringe-inducing) flicks.

With even local trails getting clogged, our editor has some advice for you that he hoped he’d never have to give.

This Appalachian Trail thru-hiker (2010) balances luxe and light on her long-distance jaunts around the East.

This Californian ultralighter knows her way around her home state—and is no stranger to big-name trips across the country.

Get away from it all with this live nature cam.

Goodbye, spring, summer, fall, and winter. Backpackers need new seasons that help us understand what actually matters: daylight.

Akuna's path to the Triple Crown led through battles with PTSD, a failed attempt on the PCT—and a few life-changing friendships.

Whether it's a relationship or a round-the-world trip, sometimes plans fall apart. If you're Reptar, you just pack your bags and roll with it.

She came to the US to hike the best long trails it had to offer. Now, the first known Mexican national to finish the Triple Crown wants to bring the thru-hiking experience back home.

Heading out on one of these hikes? Keep an eye on the forecast.

Be careful of the local fauna on these six spectacular but hazardous hikes.

You'd better not be afraid of heights if you're going to tackle one of these airy trails.

The scenery here is awesome—but it can be deadly, too.

The Outdoor Advocacy Project wants to give every hiker the tools to advocate for the environment—and today, on the last day of the US outdoor industry's biggest trade show, it's hitting the streets.

Thru-hikes are transformative experiences. Here, five long trail alums share the wisdom of those miles.

Online bullying isn’t going to make our public lands better, says writer Morgan Sjogren.

These ten point-to-point treks pack the payoffs of a thru-hike, but they're hikeable in a week.

Nearly a century ago, Peter Parsons made long trail history before there were long trails.

When CDT thru-hiker Cionnaith "Lucky" O'Dubhaigh stopped to resupply in Lake City, Colorado, he was just looking for a short rest. Instead, he stayed and turned his new home into one of the best trail towns in the country.

From a father-daughter journey on the PCT to a man's love affair with a California mountain, these were the stories that moved us this year.

A would-be thru-hiker hit the trail to change her life. She knew about the natural hazards. It was the human threat she never saw coming.