And creates new connections from the details.
Outdoor Rec Special Issue
Designing for access in outdoor spaces doesn’t mean paving pathways
A reckoning with assumptions about who wants to spend time in nature.
How recreation boosts the economy
From travelers to new residents, outdoor enthusiasts make an impact on the West’s bottom lines.
A road trip through New Mexico’s atomic past
As nuclear tourism booms in the Land of Enchantment, histories of violence are packaged, sold and consumed.
The nowhereness of airports
The way air travel has devolved says something awful about humans.
How do we honor New Mexico’s colorful past
… without celebrating colonialism’s violence?
How might humans and wilderness co-exist?
I want my daughter to know the wilderness outside our cabin, and the wildness within each of us.
Death in the alpine
Social media is changing our relationship to risk, with deadly consequences.
Extreme mountain biker group fights for wilderness access
A new law could change the nature of wilderness travel.
In a new home, the OR Show flexes its political muscle
As the outdoor industry ramps up its advocacy, it faces tough questions from Indigenous recreators.
Recreation is redefining the value of Western public lands
Visits to public lands and consumer spending grow, as agency budgets atrophy.
Section hikers offer tips on the Pacific Crest Trail
From Canada to Mexico, a series of books shares the insider knowledge of the trail.
‘Unlikely hikers’ gain traction
Social media is raising the profile of underrepresented outdoor communities.
Your stoke won’t save us
The idea that outdoor recreation leads to meaningful conservation rests on a big ‘if.’
Spring brings more visitors, and awards
HCN receives a James Beard Award, and says hello to one of Paonia’s newest and smallest residents.
The Pacific Crest Trail’s shadow hikers
At the border, migrants and long-distance trekkers hike side by side but worlds apart.
The making of a motorhead
Ex-skiers, ex-climbers, ex-hikers take on long-distance travel with motorbikes.
A network of trails that spans the country
The National Trails System, by the numbers.
Learn the lingo: Trailworker slang
You probably wouldn’t ask a ‘traildog’ to ‘sprinkle your donut.’
Cartographers have been making bad maps for centuries
A new volume of maps shows the evolution of how we understand geography.
