backpacking

Galadriel—we’ve got notes

For comfort and storage space, this shelter is hard to beat

A portable three-person tent for deep backcountry adventures

A beginner friendly backpacking pack with everything you need—and nothing you don’t

Stay more present on the trail with the features on the latest watch from Garmin.

These must-haves for hiking and backpacking season can make or break your trip.

The loop around Lake Tahoe is a classic adventure—and one of the best moderate long trails in the world. Tackle it with our guide.

For more than 100 years, our national parks have provided life-list experiences, adventures, and stop-in-your-tracks views. But not all parks—or hikes—are equal. So what’s a trekker to do? Start with these 25 trips, the new classics of the system. Consider them the merit badges of a very well-traveled backpacker.

California’s rolling hills and desert heat will eagerly invite you to cool off in isolated swimming holes.

Hike to the best views in the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

This hiking and camping trip is filled with water falls that gush over into a valley 200 feet below and a 2,000 foot sentinal panoramic view.

Climb through a rejuvenating burn zone and a cinder cone-strewn hillside at the front end of this 32-mile stretch on the JMT

Escape the city's bustle by leaving the mainland. This 10.4-mile loop explores the crowd-free hills and beautiful gardens of Santa Catalina Island.

Bag a rugged fourteener on this 20.8-mile lasso loop linking shady evergreens and long sunny scrambles to a beautiful peak high above the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness.

With views at every turn, this 22.8-mile, 3-day Trinity Alps route visits soaring spires of bleached granite and a basin full of shimmering lakes.

Take the Metro to this 4.8-mile loop, then soak up sunny ocean views from the foothills of Will Rogers State Park.

This 10-mile trek down the East Fork of the San Gabriel River ends at the 120-foot-high Bridge to Nowhere, a popular bungee jumping destination.

Climb over the picturesque north face of Mount Wilson, the site of a historic observatory, on this 11-mile loop in L.A.'s San Gabriel Mountains.

Explore the ruins of historic taverns and watch clouds roll over two 8,000-foot San Gabriel peaks on this 14-mile out-and-back in the Cucumonga Wilderness.

Follow alpine streams through verdant valleys on this overnight trek from Crested Butte to the base of West Maroon Pass and Hasley Basin in Colorado's fourth largest wilderness area.

This 17-mile out-and-back in the Trinity Alps features pristine mountain lakes, stunning views and an easy, off-trail scramble.

Take two weeks to hike through superlative Sierra Nevada country on a 165-mile circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe. Ranging in elevation from 6,240 feet to 10,338 feet, the TRT spans two states (California and Nevada), six counties, one state park, three National Forests, and three Wilderness areas.

Escape into the Bay Area’s backcountry on this weekend excursion through the scrub-brushed hillsides and pine-dotted meadows of Henry W. Coe State Park.

Climb without crowds to the state's top mountain view.

Don't waste winter: Tackle this cross-country canyon trek in the Lower 48's largest national park.

Hike across forested hills to gape at ocean vistas just one hour north of San Francisco.

You could do it in a day, but don't rush this one.