Nature
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At twice the size of Texas, Alaska isn't easy to boil down into a "best of" list. The fact is, just about every cranny of this behemoth state can be labeled with a superlative: the wildest, the most vast, the most breathtaking. Even though any intrepid family can land in Anchorage, rent a car, start driving, and come upon wildlife and characters that guarantee
Of course they do—they get to trek with camels. But you can, too! We’ve got the COOLEST TRIPS, TOP TEN TRENDS, EXPERT ADVICE, AND BEST NEW PLACES TO GET LOST IN 2003. So what are you waiting for? Giddyup! Star…
As the political controversy over the future of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reignites, a journey across ANWR's disputed territory explores the realities of a place where wildlife, native traditions, and the search for oil converge in fateful proximity
The world's best tracker of new primate species shares secrets for finding fuzzy little guys in the woods
Where to Surf, Hike, Dive, Fish, Shop, Eat, Drink, Dance, Sleep, and Kick Back
Sierra palms on the slopes of the Caribbean National Forest Q: I’m heading to Puerto Rico soon and want to learn more about the bioluminescent bays/lagoons there. Can I visit any of them from San Juan in one night? Or would it require a sleepover nearby? I…
Dreams of Bengal tigers and visions of imminent extinction led Peter Matthiessen to a predator's last stronghold in the jungles of India. It was a place, the author discovered, where not seeing is believing.
TALL LATTE BEFORE WORK, double espresso in the afternoon, short cappuccino after dinner—it's the only way to tolerate Seattle's gray days. But when the clouds break and the Cascades, the Olympics, and Puget Sound appear, you know where you need to be. Grab a quadruple shot and get going.
Yoho National Park Mountain Hut Trip Canada’s Rockies Just another brick… China’s Great Wall MINIMUM AGE: All ages welcome DESCRIPTION: Who better to introduce kids to backpacking than a naturalist who was a teacher for 27 years? The owner of Back of Beyond, Bud Ettiger, puts his expertise…
The tumultuous, rolling waters off british columbia's haida gwaii lead to eerie totems of the past
Is a great beach more than a gazillion grains of sand mixed with sun and water? You bet. Here, the 15 best for families.
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…
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…
How To Get Off the Beaten Trail (or River, or Mountain) With These 43 Soon-To-Be-Classic National Park Adventure
Fifty-five parks, 70 all-new experiences, and nothing but long summer days ahead. Here’s how to CLIMB. KAYAK, HIKE, FLY-FISH, MOUNTAIN BIKE, or just wander far from the maddening crowds in every national park in the United States. You’ve got 61 million acres of wilderness heaven at your disposal. What are…
Hop on (HUH?), rev up (WHAT?!), and take a trip (I can't HEAR YOU!) deep into the hillbilly heart of West Virginia, where gas-huffin' ATV motorheads churn through the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area—a private preserve devoted to the joys and sorrows of four-wheeling. (ARRRRGHHH!)
Ten lodges where you can take it all in, and then launch an expedition out the back door
Exploring the back of beyond in Bolivia's Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado
We’ve learned a lot in a quarter-century of roaming the planet. This month, to kick off Outside‘s silver anniversary, we’ve chosen 25 bold, epic, soul-nourishing experiences that every true adventurer must seek out—from the relatively plush and classic to the cutting-edge and hard-core. All that’s left for you is the…
Family outing: mom and the kids head downstream Q: I’m looking to take 30 to 40 people to Alaska for a two-week fishing/fun adventure starting in mid-June, 2002. The group will consist of some experienced Alaska fishermen, some city folks, and kids of all ages. Are there…
The scientists were clinging to the side of the ice they’d been standing on, 50 feet above the waterline. In a few seconds, the berg had gone over on top of them.
Thirteen otherwise courageous writers reveal their deepest, darkest fears in our homage to the creepy, crawly, menacing world of phobias. Prepare to squirm.
The strangest stuff litters the flood-sloshed banks of the Mississippi River and her tributaries: tires by the hundred, refrigerators, automobiles, messages in a bottle, urine in a bottle, and (yikes!) the occasional ice chest containing a severed horse head. When the going gets gross, the man to call is Chad Pregracke, a crusading voyager in the war against trash.
What's that smell? It's a teeming avian sanctuary—and a sump of troubled waters. It's a mess that we created—and a puzzle we can't solve. It's California's Salton Sea, a hypersaline lake that kills the very life it shelters.
An ardent defender of wilderness reflected on the solace of the mountains and nature in difficult times. He wrote this after 9/11, but the sentiment applies now, too, as we watch the world changing around us.
The Intrepid Travels and Incredible Tales of Col. John Blashford-Snell, Explorer
Cigar-smoking santos, icy Belikin, crumbling pyramids, freshly spun tortillas, slithering vipers, and everlasting love
Welcome to Bigfoot's winter hideaway, where unclimbed mountains, roaring whitewater, and a new luxury eco-lodge await you
And deliver us pronto to these 44 island Edens—if they were any more perfect we'd be in heaven
Let the motorized leaf peepers have their New England. It'll keep them far away from ours.
In the seas off South Africa's Dyer Island, shark mania and risk adventure have combined with a vengeance. For a few bucks, one of a gang of ill-qualified, ill-equipped dive operators will drop you into the most dangerous water on earth. Problem is, no one's promising to get you safely back.
Pacific Mexico is a thatch roof overhead, fresh snapper daily, and 660 miles of nada between timeshares.
The Costa Rica of legend still exists. But you have to crash through breakers and fight off pigs to find it.
An adventurer's guide to animal migrations—the greatest shows on earth
Q: I’m traveling to Ireland with a friend next week who wants to spend some time on the Aran Islands. Is there anything to do there besides stare at the ocean (hiking? biking?)? Trail trimmings: a winding stonewall in the Aran Islands — Alex Cohen, San…
It's a long line from the old salt to the swarms at Waikiki. So real Hawaiians head for the far sides of paradise.
In any state, there are attractions that everyone’s heard of, that every guidebook touts, that every visitor has to see. Then there are the places the locals haunt, where the crowds are sparse and the mentions in Let’s Go are glancing. In Alaska, these places are the state parks, 3.2…
Scoring big with your kids; unforgettable days in America's premier national playgrounds.
Eight great resorts on four islands with activities for all. Be there. Aloha.
Escape the monkey house and take your brood to where the wild things really are. Our kid-endorsed guide to sneezing lizards, daffy otters, and bellowing moose. (Sorry, no dinosaurs.) Koalas in Kangaroo Island Though the koala is right up there in the race for…
Q: We’re headed to St. Lucia and we love to hike and snorkel. What weight clothing would you suggest? Would you recommend a guide or can you do the hikes yourself? We want to do all 29 miles of the hiking trails, and the more rugged and adventurous the better.
The Bush administration has a plan to manage the nation's open spaces. But will America buy it?
Q: Where can I find good beach camping in Georgia other than Cumberland Island? — Chris Greenawalt, Bethlehem, PA Adventure Advisor: A: There’s no other place on the Georgia coastline with Cumberland’s perfect mix of eco-protection and…
Close encounters of the bear-human kind are skyrocketing, though actual attacks remain few and far between. Hopefully, new outreach education efforts will keep things that way.
Ted Turner and his son Beau aren’t your typical green crusaders—the kid is a hook-and-bullet guy, and dad is hatching plans to sell buffalo burgers as theme food. But together they control 1.8 million acres of prime U.S. ranchland, where they’re unloading a fortune to revive endangered species, revolutionize grazing, and (don’t tell the neig
Damned with us and damned without us, the Galápagos continue to attract hordes of nature-loving visitors. But whether you're drawn by the majesty of Darwin's discoveries or mesmerized by the brutal spectacle of survival, remember this: Evolution happens.
In these fragile, frigid ecosystems, the phrase tread lightly takes on a whole new meaning
Outside's guide to the coolest trips and the world's top new adventure travel spots.
Deep in the seething, fecund Amazon jungle, a seeker finds wisdom, beauty, exciting new recipes, and inexhaustible armadas of biting insects. O Sting, where is they death?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. camps in the Arctic and asks why big oil can't keep its hands off America's largest patch of wilderness
Using cutting-edge techniques, three young mavericks set out to tackle one of the hardest routes in the Himalayas
Who is Barry Clausen and why has his two-bit cloak-and-dagger act made so many radical environmentalists, FBI agents, animal rights activists, and conservative ideologues furious?
IPO sluts, "lifestyle" vintners, and eco-radicals bearing lawsuits. Eroding hillsides, glassy-winged sharpshooters, and an imperiled river with dying steelhead. Napa Valley has them all, and each lends its own bouquet of New Economy hilarity, nose-out-of-joint agrarian rage, and NIMBY intolerance to wine country's unique, full-bodied blend of environmental poli
Floating through class V whitewater and grizzly country in the shadow of Mount McKinley
Is it ever too late to become the caring parent you thought you could be? To find out, one man went in search of his adopted manatee—only to discover the many injustices that humankind has heaped upon these hapless marine mammals. And when Junior is fat, slow, and endangered, family values are nothing more than an easy way to break your heart.
Surrounded by a staggering array of hazardous waste, toxic emissions, chemical pollutants, and lethal military experimentation, the Goshute tribe of Utah decided to do the logical thing and offer up its reservation as a dump for 40,000 metric tons of highly radioactive nuclear fuel. The neighbors are very upset.
A noisy controversy roils the quest to catch the big one
So is adventure racing pure competition, or just a grueling way to grab TV ratings?
Carl and Lowell Skoog are blazing virgin trails in the backcountry's wild white yonder
Does wilderness therapy help troubled kids? After a gang of teenagers staged a violent mutiny in the badlands of Utah, we joined the search for answers.
A crash course in old-growth tree climbing (it's tree hugging's rambunctious younger sibling). Wanna come out and have some deep fun?