High Points: Mt. Elbert, Colorado
Come enjoy this high peak's playground
Trips
Trips
Your dream backpacking trips are waiting for you. Find and explore new hiking trails and backpacking routes across the country with advice, adventure travel stories, topo maps, photography, and more from the experts at Backpacker.
Your dream backpacking trips are waiting for you. Find and explore new hiking trails and backpacking routes across the country with advice, adventure travel stories, topo maps, photography, and more from the experts at Backpacker.
High Points: Black Mountain, Kentucky
Look closely for the path to this high point.
High Points: Cheaha Mountain, Alabama
Go from the path of racecars to the path of a high point.
High Points: Brasstown Bald, Georgia
Come visit this Cherokee named place of fresh green.
High Points: Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina
A high point that provides an alluring combination of scenery, storms, and access.
High Points: Driskill Mountain, Louisiana
The mile-long walk invites contemplation like few other high point approaches.
Backpack, Paddle, and Camp the Great Lakes
Backpack Lake Huron's shores, kayak the St. Lawrence Islands, and camp along Lake Superior
High Points: Britton Hill, Florida
A humble high point in a low-lying state
High Points: Woodall Mountain, Mississippi
America's bloodiest high point
High Points: Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina
It's all about the journey.
High Points: Guadalupe Peak, Texas
This peak lives up to its reputation.
High Points: Black Mesa, Oklahoma
Welcome to this delightfully weird world of extremes.
High Points: Clingmans Dome, Tennessee
A downright goofy dome marks this highpoint.
Death Valley Adventure Guide
Lose the sun-baked stereotype and bring thoughts of shady canyons and breezy passes.
Want to Climb a Tree?
Here are tons of tree-climbing resources to get you started.
The Village: Tioga State Forest, Pennsylvania
Visit this scary state forest and let your imagination run wild.
High Points: Hawkeye Point, Iowa
The view is high on soy and corn and low on drama.
High Points: Mt. Sunflower, Kansas
Something's happening in this spot where nothing happened.
High Points: Mt. Arvon, Michigan
The view is nothing to write home about, but this newly crowned high point deserves a visit.
High Points: Eagle Mountain, Minnesota
Find this high point in the largest national forest outside of Alaska.
High Points: Timms Hill, Wisconsin
This old logging camp and woolly mammoth marching ground provides incredible views.
High Points: Campbell Hill, Ohio
Time it just right to get to the top of this one.
High Points: Charles Mound, Illinois
Access is limited, but well worth the view.
High Points: Hoosier Hill, Indiana
A fitting place to ponder the true meaning of the term Hoosier.
Shenandoah Adventure Guide
Here's your chance to uncover secret paths in this popular park.
High Points: Harney Peak, South Dakota
Traveling to this point will leave you at a loss for words.
High Points: Panorama Point, Nebraska
There's not a bad napping spot anywhere.
High Points: White Butte, North Dakota
If you loathe traffic, the commute to White Butte is pure ecstasy.
Expedition Tips: Canadian Rockies
Helpful tips for scrambling Canada's Rocky Mountain parks
An Overnight Success?
Need a crash course in backpacking? Join our newbie and his brooding teenager as they fend off mountain lions, overzealous retail clerks, and other beginner hazards.
Float the Colorado River through Topock Gorge
Paddle through a timeless Mojave Desert landscape in Arizona
Whale-watching and Hiking on Maui
See Hawaii's humpbacks in late winter
Paddle Florida's Wilderness Waterway
Canoe the wildlife-filled waters of Everglades National Park
Hike Arizona's Atascosa Lookout
Explore classic views in the Coronado National Forest
Arizona's Eagletail Mountain Wilderness
Springtime in the Sonoran Desert
Hike Death Valley's Cottowood and Marble canyons
Flowing water means a lighter load and an easier time exploring
Hike New Mexico's Big Hatchet Peak
A seldom-visited peak on the Continental Divide Trail
Hike Nevada's Moapa Peak
Scrambling this 6,471-foot mountain is a trip, even mid-winter
Camping at the Grand Canyon
Spend New Year's in the Big Ditch, where fishing, camping, and hiking await
Hiking at Lake Mead
Explore wild canyons just an hour from Las Vegas
Backpack the Florida Trail's Alaqua Section
Clear-running creeks, longleaf pines and wildlife in Florida's outback
Paddle Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp
Only in 400,000 acres of wet backcountry will you find the oldest bird
Hike New Mexico's Alamo Mountain
Explore the past on Otero Mesa
Hike Buckskin Gulch
This famous slot canyon hike in Utah and Arizona delivers broad views of the Colorado Plateau
Hike Texas's McKittrick Canyon
This canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains offers an endless cluster of colors mixed together with some famous geology
Fall Hiking at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Mellow temperatures, low water and autumn colors make for a perfect time in the Smokies
Backpack Oregon's Alvord playa
A hike with an otherworldly desert, a striking escarpment, and hot springs
Fall Hiking in New Hampshire's Baldface Range
Vibrant colors and a ridge walk you'll never forget
Fall Hiking on Minnesota's Superior Trail
Blazing foliage and broad Lake Superior views
Hike Arkansas's Buffalo River Trail
A meandering river and towering cliffs make this the perfect early winter spot
Backpack Nevada's Table Mountain Wilderness
Autumn solitude on a well-watered, 10,000-foot plateau
Backpack Alberta's Carthew Summit
Memorable panoramas of Glacier National Park's high peaks
Hike to Copper Mountain Fire Lookout in the North Cascades
Take a stunning ridge walk in this glacier-clad wilderness park
Explore Nunavut's Auyuittuq National Park
A glacial sculpture of incredible symmetry in northern Canada
Paddle the Yukon's Ivvavik National Park
An Arctic wildlife extravaganza
Summer Hiking on the John Muir Trail
A backpacker's go light heaven: thru-hiking California's High Sierra
Explore Wyoming's Cirque of the Towers
Delve into the Shoshone National Forest on the North Fork Trail
Backpack New Mexico's Gila Wilderness
Celebrating wilderness protection where the idea began: the Gila Wilderness
Backpack Alaska's Round Island
Wildlife aplenty at Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary
Hike New York's Great Range of the Adirondacks
Conquer the East's hardest dayhike
Mountain Bike from Telluride to Moab
Prime time in the Rockies to explore the San Juan Hut System
Guide's Choice: Hiking, Biking, Paddling, and Sledding Adventures
From paddling Lake Superior to glacier-hopping in Alaska: 6 hair-raising, lung-busting adventures from America's top outfitters
High Points: Mt. Rogers, Virginia
Allow the plants to color the landscape as you make your way along the trail.
High Points: Mt. Marcy, New York
A long hike to the highpoint where weather and black flies could pose a challenge.
High Points: Ebright Azimuth, Delaware
True highpointers will find this peak.
High Points: High Point, New Jersey
You'll find numerous surprises as you explore the lakes, rivers and forests of this highpoint.
Glen Canyon Adventure Guide
An exclusive guide to five hikes that have been under water for 40 years
Luxury Gone Wild At Ahwahnee
A night in Yosemite's most famous hotel
California; Death Valley National Park
Camping in Death Valley might give you the hottest day of your life.
British Columbia, Mt. Robson
Explore a glacier-covered forest near the Canadian Rockies' highest peak
Bonus Dayhike: British Columbia's Garibaldi Lake
This gorgeous alpine lake hike sports huge glacier views just an hour outside of Vancouver.
Dreams Of Tibet: Exploring Lost Himalayan Mountains And Cultures
Deep in the heart of the forbidden Tibetan kingdom, a long-awaited adventure inherited from the author's father takes an unexpected twist.
I Cried Out Aloud For You
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.
Best Waterfall Hikes
Learn the weird science behind our addiction to waterfalls, and the location of the best trails in North America.
Climbing Alaska's 'Great One': Denali National Park
Do you have what it takes to climb Alaska's Denali? Find out with our mountaineer's guide.
Climbing Denali: The West Buttress Route
Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Climbing Jasper National Park: Mount Sarbach
Jasper National Park, Alberta
Hiking Italy's Via delle Bocchette
Dolomites, Italy
Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania
Climbing Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya offers classic climbing to all backpackers