Nature
Archive
‘Our Great National Parks’ overly idealizes U.S. conservation efforts and gives a mealymouthed call to climate action
Next to having a little time to themselves, these are their top wish-list items
Take your gardening indoors with houseplants. Use these tips to place them in proper sunlight, water them correctly, and feed them so they survive and thrive.
A relationship with plants built on love, care, and respect is at the heart of bringing the outdoors inside
The best way to catch aurora borealis in all its lit-up beauty: go to the darkest places on earth, at just the right time, and hope for the best
You need more natural silence in your life. Find it in these parks.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio turned a canalway into a 90-mile trail perfect for hiking and biking, and our 63 Parks columnist highly recommends a ride
Indiana Dunes National Park is an adventure gem for urban midwesterners all year long, but particularly in summer, when Lake Michigan almost appears tropical
I took my dream job in a foreign place. I'm worried about leaving my local woods behind and connecting with a new landscape overseas. Help?
Set far from dramatic mountain peaks, the movie stays true to a gentler side of the state
Joey Santore is a tattooed ex-punk who is self-taught in the sciences. Which might explain why he’s getting so many people to care about plants.
Joey Santore’s YouTube channel, Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t, crosses citizen science with vigilante environmentalism
How boredom and booze created an outlaw sport best left alone
Some might be surprised to hear that one of our nation's most visited parks is in Ohio, but a single trip will be enough to convince you otherwise. Bridal-veil waterfalls, a spectacular river, and more than 125 miles of trails are merely supporting characters to this Midwest playground's main act: a conservation success story.
Science shows that spending time outdoors can help with all kinds of serious ailments. So why not a broken heart?
After her 25-year marriage ended in divorce, the ϳԹ contributing editor turned to science—and a river trip—to navigate through the darkness. Register here for our Zoom book discussion on March 9.
Freezing to death. Heatstroke. The excruciatingly painful sting of a box jellyfish, which can kill a person in under a minute. After writing the classic 1997 story “Frozen Alive,” Peter Stark became an expert on what it feels like to die in the wild. We asked him why people are so interested in reading about it—and about his own close calls.
ϳԹ’s ethics guru on how to be both a responsible pet owner and an environmental steward
It’s February, which means you’d better start reserving campsites for August now. We have a few tips for you.
In his new book ‘Wayward: Stories and Photographs,’ Chris Burkard takes readers behind the camera on his quest for meaningful experiences
When travel resumed in early 2021, Americans in droves headed south of the border, with most opting for popular tourist meccas. But why follow the masses when you can explore wild corners of the country few others visit? We rounded up 18 ways to do just that—and to support local economies while you’re at it.
A site with images that date back 8,000 years was spray-painted with racist slurs and symbols, among other graffiti
Reeling from her husband’s request to divorce after 25 years of marriage and two kids, Florence Williams was experiencing debilitating grief. An accomplished reporter, she decided to explore the science of heartache to see if she could find a cure. In this excerpt from her new book, ‘Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey,’ she heads out for a 120-mile solo paddle on Utah’s Green River, with a too heavy portable toilet and a shattered heart.
Cap off a day on the trail with a soak in a steamy mineral pool. We found the best from Alaska to North Carolina.
The Twitter famous saurologist and cofounder of Black AF in STEM is helping to build a more inclusive scientific community—and spotting some very sneaky lizards along the way
All over America’s ancient eastern mountains, there’s an organism that lives underground, tethered to tree roots, waiting to be hunted. It’s among the world’s rarest and most expensive foods, and it grows in a wide range of conditions. But there’s only one guy in the country who really knows how to find it. Rowan Jacobsen joins him in the search for the Appalachian truffle.
While getting his PhD in English, Logan Scherer developed an intense friendship with a male grad student that lasted for years, through his friend’s engagement and marriage to a woman. Scherer struggled to make sense of it, until he lost himself in a group of spinster nature writers from the late 19th century who eschewed marriage to live alone or with other women during a time when the language of queerness didn’t exist.
Yes, things are very bad, but there are some glimmers of hope for making meaningful progress
What makes a queer person choose to live in an outdoorsy hot spot instead of an urban gayborhood?
The actor’s nature show, now streaming on Disney+, offers a welcome update to a familiar format
The podcast ‘FOGO’ captures a comedian’s quest to discover what she’s been missing in the outdoors
When Maggie Shipstead set out to report on women-only expedition travel, she was driven by a desire to learn new skills in a low-bro-factor environment. But six days exploring Alaska with the state’s first woman-owned adventure outfitter turned out to be regenerative in ways she didn’t expect.
In the UST film ‘This Is My Story: Tony Galbreath II,’ Galbreath shares what it’s like being a Black man in a managerial role in the outdoor industry today
What started as a Instagram account has boomed into a community of Muslim hikers taking on trails around the world
Florida’s Ocala National Forest is the oldest national forest in the eastern United States. This stunning footage will convince you to visit.
Ivy Le’s wildy funny take on adventure entertainment might just shift the conversation on who belongs in the outdoors
The forest is a sight to behold when the vibrant foliage is on full display
On the complicated experience of seeing Japanese wellness practices exoticized in the West
Our guru weighs in on the ethics of defacing a man-made blight
The grandeur of the Great Salt Lake stopped Brigham Young in his tracks and inspired John Muir to jump in for a swim. Yet now it’s in danger of disappearing, sucked dry by agriculture, climate change, and suburban lawns. Many Utahns would just as soon pave it, but as Bill Gifford learned during a yearlong exploration, there’s beauty and natural splendor here that deserves to live on.
The acclaimed author’s latest release is the October pick for the ϳԹ Book Club. We spoke with him about the book, climate anxiety, and the father-son relationship
What a witches’ year taught me about our relationship to wild places
Pursue your favorite activities with color-coded trails in Gaia GPS’s U.S. Forest Service roads and trails layer
Patagonia recently updated the Willard Bascom classic ‘Waves and Beaches’
Dreaming of where to tri next? These picturesque races offer a reason to gawk at the surroundings of the world’s most scenic triathlons while you swim, bike, and run.
The actor, woodworker, and dedicated outdoorsman offers up choice lessons for making a deeper connection with the world beyond your door
The state of the steelhead in the Columbia and Snake River watersheds is dire. A Pacific Northwest steelhead angler grapples with how best to honor the people, places, and resources that she loves.
Surfing in Baja. Summit-to-sea skiing in Alaska. Hiking in Death Valley. There’s no shortage of epic adventures to be had in winter. We’ve rounded up our favorite trips to make sure you get your fill of thrills.
Our culture columnist recommends six of the most interesting newsletters out there—from thru-hiking dispatches to Neko Case’s reflections on nature
Honest-to-God advice on how to enjoy nature, from an actor-comedian-author-canoe-builder who grew up on a farm and takes rock stars rafting
For Indie singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop and British rapper Testament, the natural world is an endless source of creative inspiration
On an expedition to track lemurs in Madagascar, wildlife ecologist Rae Wynn-Grant found her confidence and her voice
Through the moving story of a widowed astrobiologist and his unusual son, ‘Bewilderment’ addresses our apathy in the face of environmental disaster
For philosopher John Kaag, a trek in the Alps during his youth was the beginning of a long and winding journey
Intrepid author Mary Roach shares tales of thieving bears, murderous possums, and mugging monkeys from her new book, ‘Fuzz’
Oregon voters have opened the door to treating mental illness with substances like ketamine and psilocybin. In a peek at the future, our seeker attends a backwoods retreat where patients get help from a powerful combination of drugs and the outdoors.
Stories are about how human connections are made and kept in the outdoors, and how they’re evolving now—when community has never been more important or more at risk
A new app called NatureQuant harnesses the latest research to track and rate your time outside. Next up: determining how much you need.
Picking daisies with the Craighead bros
After a terrible diagnosis forced me to slow down, I learned how to relate differently to the wild—and myself.
Many Canadians think old-growth forests are protected from logging. Turns out, Indigenous people and a scrappy band of activists called the Rainforest Flying Squad are all that stands between Vancouver Island’s last old growth and logging companies.
After an American Army captain came home traumatized from the war, he lost his ability to love. It took the wilderness to reopen his heart.
“I would contend that stupid behavior is sometimes the proper response to stupid laws”
The singer-songwriter’s latest album shows that getting away from it all isn’t easy—especially when you’re a pop superstar
The pandemic forced schools to teach outside. Many teachers, parents, and kids want to keep it that way.
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report made clear this week, we’re going to need to give up some of the things we love if we don’t want much more taken away
Leaf peeping in New England. Surfing California’s coast. Cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage (yes, Alaska, in fall). We scoured the world to find the absolute best destinations to satisfy your autumn wanderlust—especially this year, when we all have a little cabin fever.
Leaf peeping in Colorado. Surfing the Azores. Cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage—yes, Alaska, in fall. We scoured the world to find epic adventures and stunning destinations to satisfy your autumn wanderlust, especially this year, when we all have a little cabin fever.
Kyle Dickman had spent his life chasing adventure. But after nearly dying from a snake bite, he saw menacing risks everywhere he went.
It takes patience and some trial and error to make new trail buddies
Grizzly and black bears have killed five people in North America over the last five months. Is this cause for concern?
Because sometimes, you just want to get away from it all
No two waterfalls are exactly alike, but these will always capture our imagination
Whether you’re stuck in the city or counting down the days to a summer road trip, we have a few expert-approved tips for exploring nearby nature
Public lands have become more trodden and restrictive, but the pandemic-era craziness might not last
After her prestigious corporate job nearly destroyed her, Melinda Spooner found her path forward by getting way, way out there
History tells us why skiing—and the outdoors in general—lacks diversity. Thanks to the work of dedicated groups, this is slowly changing.
Despite warnings, rules, and common sense, tourists in Yellowstone keep approaching bears and bison.