Trips

Think hut-to-hut hikes only exist in the mountains of Europe? These four trails in the states will prove you wrong.

If you're not doing fourth-season hiking, you're missing out on low-to-no crowds and completely transformed vistas from the season before.

A longtime backpacker discovers a whole new way to explore the Canadian Rockies.

You’ve heard of long-distance hiking’s Big Three, but North America has more amazing thru-hikes to discover. Find a new challenge—and a new perspective on the backcountry—on these incredible lesser-known trails.

Craving an escape, but don't want the commitment required to complete a months-long thru-hike? Try these fourteen-day-long adventures.

Australia’s Northern Territory is a must-visit destination for outdoor adventure—enter this trip giveaway to experience it for yourself

Ready to hike to the highest point in Hawaii? Ascend Mauna Kea's volcanic slopes to a summit high above the clouds. This challenging day hike is among the most spectacular on the planet.

Because willing to hike with you for 14 sweaty, stinky hours (and still have a good time) is the biggest green flag of them all.

A searching mother, a headless gunslinger, a mysterious light to show you the way: these national parks are home to hair-raising tales

California's Channel Islands are a wonderland of biodiversity just an hour or two from Los Angeles.

The annular eclipse is in the morning, so how else should you spend the rest of the day? By hiking, obviously.

Hike a long trail without spending a night in a tent or lean-to? It may sound silly. But a veteran thru-hiker says it’s more than doable—if you know where to look.

These week-long backpacking trips are the perfect length to squeeze into a vacation.

Find adventure out your own back door. Here are 10 urban hiking trails—each under 2 miles—worth exploring.

On a winter thru-hike of the Ozark Highlands Trail, Jeff Garmire contended with snowstorms, swam a river, and bushwhacked paths overgrown with bramble—and discovered the rugged heart of one of America’s lesser-known long trails.

Three locals are adamant that Germany’s mountains, coastlines, and forests are an outdoor adventurer’s paradise. Spoiler: They’re right.

Last year, Yosemite hosted 3.7 million visitors, with 75 percent between May and October. Don't fight crowds when you can have the same views minutes away.

Our national forests are brilliant, underappreciated, and uncrowded compared to most national parks. Here’s the intel on where to hike in these stunning landscapes.

If you think the Midwest is flat and boring, you'll think again after taking these trails for a spin.

With an abundant coastline, green initiatives guiding change on both peninsulas, and trail-filled forests that cover more than half the state, Michigan is made for eco-minded travelers

Only a lucky few can win the permit lottery, but anyone can hike these alternate trails that give you a similar experience. 

Let your senses guide you to your next Maine adventure. Here's where to plan your escape.

Deepen your connection to nature by cowboy camping: spending the night outdoors without a tent. Here's where to give it a try.

If hot weather, hydrothermal pools, and alpine hideaways are your vibe, you’ll love hiking near Redding, California.

From Chamonix to New Zealand, this expert hiker reveals the most beautiful hut-to-hut hikes on the planet

Plymouth Gin is all about keeping our oceans clean and the martinis dirty

During the day, the trails are the main event in these six destinations. But at night? It's the star-filled skies.

An end-to-end trek of the AT takes a lot of time—but anyone with a free weekend or a few vacation days can experience the highlights. We asked longtime thru-hiker Liz “Snorkel” Thomas to pick her favorites hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

By many sources' reckoning, Mt. Fuji is the most-climbed mountain in the world. See why by hiking it for yourself.

What are the best hikes on the PCT that you can do in a weekend? We asked triple crowner and Backpacker thru-hiking columnist Liz “Snorkel Thomas.

Since its peak in the early 20th century, the Salton Sea has suffered from increasing salinity, fish die-offs, and general neglect. But on a pair of kayak camping trips, one paddler found surprising beauty there

Hike, splash, paddle and stargaze your way to warm-weather bliss on these trips.

With both "eastern-style" and "western-style" mountains, Oklahoma is a little-known hiker paradise.

Find bigger adventures (and smaller crowds) in America’s most under-the-radar national forest

This short shuttle hike explores the southernmost section of the Benton MacKaye Trail, which links the Georgia backcountry to the northern reaches of the Great Smoky Mountains.

With high snow levels making travel on the PCT unusually difficult, many Americans have canceled or postponed their thru-hikes. Not so for the trail's global hikers, who have mostly stuck it out.

The Green Mountain State delivers when it comes to year-round outdoor recreation and adventures with a uniquely Vermont spin

Enough of Type 2 Fun. These six hikes give you that just-left-the-spa peaceful feeling.

Don't be fooled: The Heartland has plenty of steeps to get your heart pumping.

Got a few days off, a pair of healthy feet, and a pain threshold higher than Dean Karnazes? You can (possibly) blaze the length of America's Most Beautiful Trail

Montezuma Valley Market was a beloved stop for PCT hikers until a blaze—and a dreadful diagnosis—threw it into limbo.

Bask in the spray of these cascades at the end of a long day's hike.

From dense, moss-draped rainforest to misty, cliff-guarded beaches, the Oregon Coast Trail is 425 miles of pure Pacific beauty with a complicated story behind it.

You only have a few weeks left until summer arrives. Better make them count.

You can hike one trail for the rest of your life. Which would you choose?

With heavy snow making mountain travel more difficult and hazardous than usual, a growing number of hikers are taking a less traditional approach to the PCT.

Club Med’s first four-season resort in Canada just might be the summer vacation your family needs

Dreaming of a long, long walk up the spine of the West Coast with a few good friends? Here's what you need to know.

It’s not just fashion that has changed since the 1970s.

Hike farther, faster, and pain-free with these training tips and exercise.

All trails have changed quite a bit in the past 5 decades. Here are the trails that changed the most.

This International Dark Sky Park has some of the best astral views in the country. Here's where to find them.

Think you need to head deep into the wild to have an outdoor adventure? Think again. Explore urban nature in these six cities, each home to outdoor community organizations, diverse history and culture, and wildlife.

Discover a paradise where nature, art, and history come together on Florida’s Gulf Coast

In or on the water, get a closer look at Florida’s marine ecosystem

Hit the trails and float the rivers in Ocala and Marion County

Located off the coast of the Everglades, the Sandfly Island Loop is an intro to sea kayaking that even beginners can do.

Want a national park to visit while the weather is yucky everywhere else? This is your place. Download this playlist for maximum vibes.

Explore mossy gorge trails, ancient sandstone caves, and morel-filled forests in this unexpected hiking paradise.

Washington's Hoh Rainforest is one of the few remaining landscapes in the world that's free of human noise—if you don't count the Navy jets tearing above it, that is. Hiker and veteran Chris Marvin goes on a pilgrimage in search of silence.

This is the best way to view the North Cascades.

While California’s storms were devastating in many parts of the state, they blew epic snow and adventure opportunities into the park. Waterfall viewings are off the charts, there are fewer crowds, and conditions are primo for backcountry exploring.

These ten routes will show you that nature never stops bustling, no matter how much snow is on the trail.

How one hiking photographer got the perfect shot in Florida's Gulf Islands.

New year, new adventures: Add these long trails and dayhikes to your 2023 bucket list.

For new year trail inspiration, we turned to some of the most adventurous hikers we know.

From a section of the Oregon Coast Trail to an Alaskan backcountry adventure, these were our editors' favorite trails this year.

As the sun transitions to “solar maximum” in the next three years, it is prime time to spot the aurora borealis—even in the lower 48 states. Here’s where, when, and how to catch the show in our national parks.

On a rafting trip down the Kongakut River, a photographer experiences a landscape that's as spectacular as it is endangered.