Trips

Explore classic views in the Coronado National Forest

Clear-running creeks, longleaf pines and wildlife in Florida's outback

Flowing water means a lighter load and an easier time exploring

A seldom-visited peak on the Continental Divide Trail

Scrambling this 6,471-foot mountain is a trip, even mid-winter

Spend New Year's in the Big Ditch, where fishing, camping, and hiking await

Explore wild canyons just an hour from Las Vegas

A meandering river and towering cliffs make this the perfect early winter spot

Only in 400,000 acres of wet backcountry will you find the oldest bird

Explore the past on Otero Mesa

This famous slot canyon hike in Utah and Arizona delivers broad views of the Colorado Plateau

This canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains offers an endless cluster of colors mixed together with some famous geology

Mellow temperatures, low water and autumn colors make for a perfect time in the Smokies

A hike with an otherworldly desert, a striking escarpment, and hot springs

Vibrant colors and a ridge walk you'll never forget

Blazing foliage and broad Lake Superior views

Celebrating wilderness protection where the idea began: the Gila Wilderness

Wildlife aplenty at Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary

Conquer the East's hardest dayhike

Prime time in the Rockies to explore the San Juan Hut System

Autumn solitude on a well-watered, 10,000-foot plateau

Memorable panoramas of Glacier National Park's high peaks

Take a stunning ridge walk in this glacier-clad wilderness park

A glacial sculpture of incredible symmetry in northern Canada

An Arctic wildlife extravaganza

A backpacker's go light heaven: thru-hiking California's High Sierra

Delve into the Shoshone National Forest on the North Fork Trail

From paddling Lake Superior to glacier-hopping in Alaska: 6 hair-raising, lung-busting adventures from America's top outfitters

Allow the plants to color the landscape as you make your way along the trail.

A long hike to the highpoint where weather and black flies could pose a challenge.

True highpointers will find this peak.

You'll find numerous surprises as you explore the lakes, rivers and forests of this highpoint.

An exclusive guide to five hikes that have been under water for 40 years

A night in Yosemite's most famous hotel

Camping in Death Valley might give you the hottest day of your life.

Explore a glacier-covered forest near the Canadian Rockies' highest peak

This gorgeous alpine lake hike sports huge glacier views just an hour outside of Vancouver.

Deep in the heart of the forbidden Tibetan kingdom, a long-awaited adventure inherited from the author's father takes an unexpected twist.

Learn the weird science behind our addiction to waterfalls, and the location of the best trails in North America.

Deep in Wyoming's Wind River Range, an accident with a sliding boulder makes a hiker confront his life, his fate, and his faith in God.

Do you have what it takes to climb Alaska's Denali? Find out with our mountaineer's guide.

Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania

Mount Kenya offers classic climbing to all backpackers

Planning to climb Mexico's famous volcano Iztaccíhuatl? Start with our online guide.

Try this ultra-scenic route if you attempt North America's third highest peak.

Yoho National Park, British Columbia

Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Jasper National Park, Alberta

Dolomites, Italy

The short but stunning Mahoosuc Range has major-league attractions, like the toughest mile on the Appalachian Trail and conditions that discourage the faint of heart.

Rather than simply stare at the Great Wall, a determined hiker decided to get a different perspective.

When you hike the world's highest peaks in search of the legendary snow leopard, be prepared for the unexpected.

The Annapurna Circuit is your path to the rooftop of the world.

Let rivers and ridgelines be your compass as you hike in the shadow of Alaska's Mt. McKinley.

Follow this BACKPACKER reader's tip to get the most out of your candles on the trail.

Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Texas.

The Land of 10,000 Lakes has just as many beautiful trails to explore. Here are our three favorites, from anything to an overnighter to a thru-hike.

Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Massachusetts.

Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Virginia.

Do you ever have the urge to step off the edge and fly like a bird?

Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Vermont.

Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in New Jersey.

Hike a rugged, historically rich trail for 21 miles along a nearly deserted island off British Columbia's coast.

Camping with kids can plant a wild seed in them that will grow as they do-but only if you get them Out There.

When you're deep in the wilds, a bedraggled stranger wandering into camp triggers a moral dilemma: Offer him dinner or run for the hills?

How many miles of trail or acres of wilderness will we sacrifice for a tank of gas? Here's a look at eight threatened wildernesses and what you can do to stop the drilling.

When bushwacking a trail, go high altitude and stay there.

For 30 years, some wide-eyed dreamers have been chiseling a 745-mile route through the Canadian Rockies. The result is a labor of love set to become one of North America's most magnificent long trails.

A double lung transplant slows, but doesn't stop, Pacific Crest Trail hiker Dennis Coffey.

We know the strength that courses through flesh and bone when standing at a trailhead, ready to set out and practice our primitive art.

Just because it's flat and treeless doesn't mean it's easy hiking.

"With some eagerness, and some anxiety, and some misgiving, we enter the canyon below?." -John Wesley Powell, August 13, 1869

Can you tackle our readers' favorite long trail? Test your hiking mettle against the Continental Divide Trail.

Everything you'd want in a long trail.

Compared with the rough-and-tumble Chilkoot Trail, the Senate is a walk in the park for Ione Christensen.

In the 20 years since the passage of the Alaska Lands Act, nothing has changed in many of the state's wild places. And that's reason to celebrate.

Some well-meaning, leave-no-trace horsepackers are trying to rein in their environmentally uncouth brethren. The question is: can they change practices and attitudes that date back to the wild west days?

Robert Taylor wants African-Americans to know "there's something great out there."

The Appalachian Trail community lost a prominent supporter, volunteer, hiker, and maintainer.

Five troubled teens and three well-meaning volunteers head into the Colorado mountains, hoping the wilds will help heal the youngsters. But in the end, it's hard to tell whose lives were forever shaped by the experience, the youths or the adults.