A reckoning with assumptions about who wants to spend time in nature.
Outdoor Rec Special Issue
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
How recreation boosts the economy
From travelers to new residents, outdoor enthusiasts make an impact on the West’s bottom lines.
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
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.
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
Bears Ears’ only visitor center isn’t run by the feds
With the monument facing stripped-down protections and sky rocketing visitation, a local nonprofit built its own guerrilla visitor center to educate the masses.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Death in the alpine
Social media is changing our relationship to risk, with deadly consequences.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Extreme mountain biker group fights for wilderness access
A new law could change the nature of wilderness travel.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
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.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Recreation is redefining the value of Western public lands
Visits to public lands and consumer spending grow, as agency budgets atrophy.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Section hikers offer tips on the Pacific Crest Trail
From Canada to Mexico, a series of books shares the insider knowledge of the trail.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
‘Unlikely hikers’ gain traction
Social media is raising the profile of underrepresented outdoor communities.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Your stoke won’t save us
The idea that outdoor recreation leads to meaningful conservation rests on a big ‘if.’
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Spring brings more visitors, and awards
HCN receives a James Beard Award, and says hello to one of Paonia’s newest and smallest residents.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
The nowhereness of airports
The way air travel has devolved says something awful about humans.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
How do we honor New Mexico’s colorful past
… without celebrating colonialism’s violence?
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
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.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Cartographers have been making bad maps for centuries
A new volume of maps shows the evolution of how we understand geography.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Meet the woman behind Colorado’s highest trails
How trail designer Loretta McEllhiney protects mountains from people.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Could the lure of trails salvage Alaska’s economy?
A trail along the Trans-Alaska pipeline could be the start of a booming recreation economy.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Why thru-hiking would be a disaster for the Yaak Valley
A long-distance trail would disrupt badly needed grizzly habitat.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
The Pacific Crest Trail’s shadow hikers
At the border, migrants and long-distance trekkers hike side by side but worlds apart.