Washington
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Make the most of the warmer months with these weekend itineraries
Sweating your way to a rustic lodge isn’t just a wintertime activity
We've got your all-access pass to summer: 21 DIY and outfitted adventures guaranteed to recharge for less than $500*. Just pick one—or five—and leave your lawnmower behind. *Transportation not included
The key to finding fresh adventure in the national parks? These ten strategies will get you far beyond the camera-toting hordes to where empty peaks, forgotten trails, and lonely rivers await.
What are the best beginner-level mountaineering expeditions across the world that a regular, fit trekker can attempt?–Kuntal, Mumbai India
Navigating the politics of river conservation can be tricky. Here's what's going on now.
In an era of massive oil spills and increasing energy demands, why does river conservation still matter? Because free-flowing water is fun. Because it's good for the national chutzpah. And because, as these four comeback stories illustrate, saving rivers is more profitable than exploiting them.
Five hundred dollars can buy you a lot of things: an iPad, a mediocre bike, a lawn mower—or three days of glorious summertime freedom (transportation excluded). Here are our picks for the best do-it-yourself budget escapes in North America, plus outfitted adventures you can't afford to miss.
An American imprisoned for the murder of his ex-girlfriend in a Nicaraguan surf town finally clears the air—sort of.
Love Acadia, the Tetons, and the Grand Canyon? Wait until you meet their crazy little cousins.
Overlooked mountain ranges, river beer, running album, gear of all time, and 47 other big ideas, accidental winners, and awesome things about the world outside we've come to love over the past 33 years. Introducing our first annual Editors' Choice Awards...
Powder snobs often overlook Vermont's small, friendly skiing, which means more fun for the locals—and you. Here's where to get your Green Mountain State fix this winter.
Hello, I'm looking to make a winter ascent of Mount Rainier. I need an altimeter. I'm not sure if I should get an altimeter watch (like the Casio Pathfinder) or a GPS (Garmin Oregon 400T, Oregon 300, or Dakota 20). I don't have to worry about the battery problem with the watch. Then again, it's nice to have a GPS, but they only get 14 hours of battery life. The Dakota gets 20. In sub-zero temps, I would need to carry everything in my pockets. Any ideas? Brett Highland Lakes, NJ
I want to climb a volcano. And when I say climb I mean hike, I don't want to have to mess with ropes and the like. Any suggestions in North America? Luke H. Austin, TX
Healthy. That's the word we kept coming back to. And we don't mean a fit or skinny population; we're talking about a city's cultural vibrancy, economic well-being, and overall quality of life. Presenting our picks for the 10 best cities in America, from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Plus: Our 10 favorite small towns.
Nothing beats a great live show, especially when you’re enjoying it under the sun or the stars. Presenting the 15 best outdoor music festivals in North America. Because summer is the time to play the field. Sasquatch! Bonnaroo The Roots Picnic Telluride Bluegrass…
There are two choices when confronting the current chaos in the job market: Be afraid. (Useless.) Be bold. (That’s the spirit.) Because moments of turmoil present the biggest opportunities to take a new direction, to find an employer who gets your need for adventure, to finally break free of the cubicle. How We Picked…
Still, traversing the rugged and remote Olympic Peninsula is doable, thanks to inflatable boats called packrafts—and a bit of ingenuity
Your town got you down? We’ve got your escape plan. These 20 stars of America’s 21st-century Renaissance are riding a wave of civic reinvention and fresh ideas.
Play hard by day at these nine classic national parks, then ditch the franks 'n' beans by night and live large outside the boundaries
Wanna live where the action is? The goal: Trails out the back door, a serious Saturday-morning peloton, whitewater just up the road, and neighbors eager to join in. Our source: The best adventure athletes in America, who tell us where they live and why. The result: 20 places where locals work, train, and play hard. Start packing now.
How to see your stomping grounds as a concrete jungle.
There’s more than one way to take in the adventure and splendor of America’s national parks. So we’re serving up a prize package of SECRET TRIPS—locals’ no-tell favorites, from Acadia to Yellowstone to wildest Alaska—along with a roundup of DREAM TOWNS nearby, the places to eat, drink, and dance after…
Combine your next visit to a national park with a bonus raid on a great state park or national forest—and get twice the escape
Today's topic: We rank the Top 40 schools where you can hit the books AND the backcountry. Your assignment: Rappel off that ivory tower and take our cram course on America's most adrenaline-friendly colleges. You'll come for your B.A. (Bachelor of ϳԹ) and want to stay for life.
1. Havasu Falls, Supai, Arizona Hike two miles to this perfect turquoise pool, with year-round 72-degree water, in Havasu Canyon. All About H2O The wet stuff is always there for us—it grows our food, puts splash and spirit in our adventure, and (by the way) keeps us alive.
Are the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients packed into everything you chug and chew the real secret to becoming a finely tuned sports superstar? Turn the page.
Cut your alpinism chops on North America's best routes.
Who says you can't take your children mountaineering? The trick is to choose the right summit—then watch as they amaze themselves by scaling it. These five peaks, in order from easiest to hardest, are handpicked to bring out your kid's inner Messner.
He's got a three-week Greyhound Discovery Pass, a map of mom-and-pop ski hills, and a yen to see the west from the vantage of a pungent window seat. From Utah's Beaver Mountain to Idaho's Bogus Basin, our telemark-toting reporter logs 5,000 miles in search of the answer to the immortal question: where's the fresh?
Gold-medal gorgeous: end of day on the coast of Olympic National Park Q: We are traveling to Olympic National Park in July. We have two small children, ages three and four. Do you think the coastal hikes are realistic? Do we need reservations? — John Perdaems,…
WARNING: If you are pregnant, or have kids of any age, read on. This report contains information guaranteed to provide you with the premier places to rest you head. Then rip it in the great outdoors with your wee ones. Access and Resources 888-502-9612 www.cheatmountainclub.com Ten…
How To Get Off the Beaten Trail (or River, or Mountain) With These 43 Soon-To-Be-Classic National Park ϳԹ
32 YEARS AGO this summer, my pal, the crime novelist Jim Crumley, his overeducated farmer friend from Arkansas, Harold McDuffy, and yours truly hiked six miles to Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park. For someone who had spent most of his life in the desert country of southeastern Oregon, this…
Warm, windswept, unfettered, ever-changing—North America's four great desert regions hide untold possibilities for classic winter adventure. They may be scorching and sere, with prickly dangers over every horizon, but if you know where to go—and how to explore wisely—you'll find these 500,000 square miles of desolation downright hospitable.
North American resorts have expanded boundaries, opened gates, and liberated skiers to revel in ungroomed wildness. Our guide to the great stuff you won't find on the trail map.
Want instant access to the Big Outdoors—trails, rivers, wild shores, just minutes from home—without compromising your livelihood? Then check out these ten towns on the verge of paradise, where you don't have to ditch it all to have it all.
Want some sound business advice? Go climb a mountain. Hey, it's what all the savvy capitalists are doing these days.
Scoring big with your kids; unforgettable days in America's premier national playgrounds.
Eight friends. Four volcanoes. Nine days. A primer on self-guided ski mountaineering.
ϳԹ's guide to the coolest trips and the world's top new adventure travel spots.
It’s not easy to add up all the ways in which Lance Armstrong has earned the title of American hero. Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong First he was the fiery phenom, a brilliant athlete on the brink of greatness. Then he showed us the vulnerable, terrified, but always…
THE STARTING POINT: What follows are six elemental landscapes—forest, desert, inland waterfront, prairie, mountain, and coast—featuring 18 blissfully unsullied locales, from Alaska to Florida, Arizona to Maine. Clear into the next state: The view from North Carolina, near the town of Tyron, into South Carolina. THE COST: Our survey…