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In the dead of winter, the desire to get outside can be tempered by sub-zero temperatures and the lure of a cozy couch. But there’s no better cure for stoking your adrenaline and getting after it—…

Summer is prime time for hitting the trails and the waterways of America’s gorgeous backcountry. Which also means it’s prime time for running into the critters, large and small, for whom that ba…

For many of us, some of our fondest memories of growing up come from camping with our families. You just have to smile when you recall the fun of jumping into a cool lake on a hot summer day, ch…

After getting home from spending time in the great outdoors, whether it’s a day hike or weeklong camping trip, the last thing anyone feels like doing is cleaning their gear. All too often, exhau…

A chemiluminescent spark flashes through my neurons, jolting me awake from my shallow slumber. Cold air pierces my lungs as I shoot up and simultaneously slam my forehead into the icy shelf just i…

If you’re among the outdoors enthusiasts who brave the chill for winter camping, you know how appealing the “off-season” backcountry can be. In addition to bigger helpings of solitude, spectacular…

Everyone knows about packing out your trash, or what to do when nature calls in the wilderness. These are number one and number two (literally) in the leave-no-trace playbook for those of us who…

By no means an exhaustive list, here are 11 hikes across the country that simply have to be on your radar. From the rolling mountains of the southeast, to the jagged peaks of the west, to the ca…

Tim Smith runs the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School, in Ashland, Maine. He’s been a registered Master Maine Guide since 2002 and leads guide-training, outdoor-living, and survival courses in the rem…

If you're new to backpacking and you've done a short trip or two, you might be eager to try a more challenging hike. Maybe you want to do a longer trip and backpack for a week or longer.…

Hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail, which begins on Georgia’s Springer Mountain and runs all the way north to Mount Katahdin in Maine, is certainly a hardcore adventure. But making it through…

Whether you’re hiking in the mountains, the desert, or anywhere in between, preparation for the natural elements is a big part of planning any outdoor trip. Exposure on a hike can mean many diff…

Size isn’t everything in a mountain. Neither is topographic prominence, or isolation, or vertical rise, or geologic age, or symmetry, or wildness.The best mountains, of course, are those that get…

Winter doesn’t mean the camping season is over. With proper gear and planning, savvy outdoor lovers can immerse themselves in nature year-round—and savor the solitude and serenity of a winter l…

After a few days in the great outdoors, the last thing you want to do when you finally get home is tackle the task of cleaning your gear—we get it. But, as any outdoor enthusiast knows, gear is pr…

From maintaining a positive mindset to knowing how to start a fire without matches, survival experts share their go-to advice for making the best of any bad situation in the wildImagine for a moment…

A loud bugling throws my eyes open. I’m curled up in the back of my car, zipped tight into my sleeping bag. The windows have frosted over a little bit in the cold. The night before, I’d sped so…

Taking a year to backpack abroad after college is an idea that just about every young person toys with at one point or another. After all, riding trains to places with unpronounceable names, tasting…