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Staring in April, we asked you to use a certain hashtag to nominate towns for the wild-card segment of our Best Towns 2015 contest. You did, and kept going—as of right now, there are over 7000 images with the hashtag #BestTowns2015. In no particular order, these are 50 of our favorites.
Use this interactive map to create a road trip through every burg from this year's contest
Even if these 12 towns didn’t make it to the Best Towns 2015 contest, they still stood out above the dozens of other wild-card entries.
You don't have to live in a mountain town to pursue a life of adventure. Presenting the life-changing strategies urban dwellers can adopt to play harder.
With two 1970’s VW camper vans filled with supplies and pro mountain bike riders, Camilla Rutherford set out for two weeks of shredding and shooting the world’s most beautiful playground.
The best part about camping out of your car? No experience is required.
The untouched sections of forest, orca whales, salmon runs, and curling waves inspired Jeremy Koreski's latest project, This is Nowhere, a collection of photographs in which he reminds us that beauty exists in places we can’t easily see or access, and that it’s worth saving.
Sarah Murphy and Stefaan duPont's amazing photos of how others take shelter in their respective landscapes.
Make your throwback Thursday dreams come true. Stay at an Airstream hotel.
Summer in Marquette, Michigan means nearly 16 hours of daylight on Lake Superior’s southern shoreline. That means there’s plenty of time to explore over 100 miles of carefully crafted mountain bike trails in the area.
The finest places to cast depend on your goals. Look no further than these great fly-fishing rivers.
The new school of hostels makes it easier to turn fly-through cities into sleepover destinations
Most adventure photographers have an enviable travel schedule, and San Francisco–based Emily Polar is no exception.
The best part of a summer surf road trip? The real riding begins after you park the car.
Drive These 10 Open Roads Whether you have a day or a week, we’ve got the ten best stretches of highway to bolster your soul. Read more. Whether you have a day or a week, we've got the ten best stretches of highway to bolster your soul.
16 Simple Weekend Getaways No matter which metropolis you’re fleeing this summer, we’ve got you covered. Read more. No matter which metropolis you're fleeing this summer, we've got you covered. Read more. (Kiliii Fish/Aurora) A Trip for Every Weekend This Summer There are 14 weekends between Memorial…
Bushwhacking, pack rafts, and a historic float down one of the world's most beautiful wildernesses.
Escape the Crowds Get a jump on the tour busses. Explore our favorite hidden corners, empty spaces, and wild places in ten iconic National Parks. Read more. Get a jump on the tour busses. Explore our favorite hidden corners, empty spaces, and wild places in ten iconic National…
Why Road Trips Are the Greatest Things Ever The great American road trip is resurgent. Hallelujah. Read more. The great American road trip is resurgent. Hallelujah. Read more. (Ewan Burns) 8 Adventure Vehicle Mistakes We tackled these easy-to-make newbie flubs so you don’t have to. Read…
From $6-a-night secrets to splurge-worthy resorts (and a few free urban oases), here’s where to escape the grind in a hammock.
Your First Car Camping Kit Here at Outside, we often write about the newest—and priciest—outdoor gear. But when it comes to car camping, you don’t have to shell out the big bucks to build a solid kit. Read more. Here at Outside, we often write about the newest—and…
Nothing more than a zipper and some mesh separate you from the dreamy, maritime air if you set up camp on these seven beaches
From coast to coast and in between, check out these stunning 100-mile bike rides
Rent a small apartment and you’ll end up with some big adventures
Beat the crowds and head for fresh climbing, mountain-biking, and chill-out spots within easy driving distance of eight burgs
The province has it all, from wildlife and rainforests to bike parks and wild rivers
The Peak is a short film from Christian Mülhauser about the Matterhorn, Switzerland’s most famous mountain. Mülhauser took three trips and 25,000 photos to make this film.
The world just feels larger there—the country, the rivers, the meals, and, most importantly, the fish.
Throw away those beer cans and put down your textbooks. It’s time to learn a lesson from the open road.
Women who want to learn how to surf are often dismissed by instructors. Not so at these surf-centric escapes.
From movable workspaces to permanent homes, every page of this coffee table book holds inspiration to simplify, get creative, and channel your inner nomad.
We tackled these easy-to-make newbie flubs so you don’t have to
Photographer Jimmy Chin and Outside's Grayson Schaffer on what will surely become a rite of passage for future generations: the Instagram road trip.
Can’t fit two to five months into your schedule to hike the PCT? No worries. These monthlong thru-hikes are just as good.
The Important Places, a collaborative film from Forest Woodward and Gnarly Bay, takes us to some of the world’s most beautiful locations. It also teaches us it’s the people we travel with, more than the destinations themselves, that really matters.
Before you bemoan the melting mountain snow, know that many ski resorts are just as good in the heat as they are in the cold
Hold the chlorine and take a dip with a view (sans children doing cannonballs)
British Columbia's natural beauty knows no boundaries. It's a place where ancient rainforests and massive mountain ranges force you to slow down and marvel at your own existence. Where wildlife thrives, rivers run free and exhilaration is all around you. …
Thanks in part to advances in wing technology, a few pioneering paragliders are smashing the limits by completing long-distance flights that were once thought impossible. Last spring, high-fliers Will Gadd and Gavin McClurg pulled off one of the most ambitious trips ever attempted: 385 miles down the jagged, frozen, potentially deadly spine of the Canadian Rockies.
You aren’t a diehard unless you vacation like one. These over-the-top trips put you and your wheels to work in some of the most stunning places on earth.
The silver is gone, but the town is experiencing an adventure-fueled boom
After decades of decline, Leadville is experiencing a renaissance. The iconic Leadville 100 mountain bike race and ultramarathon have put the high-country town back on the map. Think fishing and mountaineering, but also plenty of bike shops and saloons.
Filmmaker Nate Gunn visited Iceland recently and came away with this beautiful short. Created for Power Practical, the film follows his adventure throughout Iceland’s incredible landscapes, and features an excerpt from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Vagabond.
Endurance athletes, thrill seekers, and the yoga set have all fallen for stand-up paddleboarding. Find your perfect match.
Home of the Tour de France and the bicycle, the continent is best explored on two wheels
Think you live in the best town in America? Prove it by entering your town in our Best Towns tournament. All you need is an Instagram account.
Can an asteroid-impact zone or the shores of a lava lake be beautiful? Absolutely.
Showering outside is one of life’s small pleasures. Discovering there’s one adjoining your hotel room is an enormous joy.
Glaciers, crevasses and mountain bikes? Episode 3 of Mind the Gap: The Making of unReal takes us to an unlikely destination: the Pemberton Ice Cap in B.C.'s backcountry. Cam McCaul, James Doerfling and Graham Agassiz put their bike handling skills to the test as…
From mountain biking and climbing to swimming and kiteboarding, there’s a lifetime of adventure in the Lone Star State
Hang Son Doong, located in Vietnam, is the world's largest cave. Filmmaker and photographer Ryan Deboodt recently took cameras and a drone with him into the cave, to capture what the otherworldly landscape is like from the air and ground. More of Deboodt's work can be…
Polar Night is a short film that tells the story of the people who live and work in a remote Norwegian town 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, as they wait to see the sun for the first time in over two months. Filmmaker…
Even if you’re more likely to scoff at a spa than be found in one, you’ll still be in awe of these relaxing retreats.
Lift tickets for $20, hot dogs for $1.50, and no snow-making machines. Quebec’s Mont Chilly is one you don't want to miss.
Finish the season at one of these lower-key hills
Stop using that beat-up suitcase—and pack your new luggage with these foolproof essentials
If loud, cramped, and impersonal beach bars aren’t your thing, then turn your attention to these low-key drinking establishments where the owners will probably greet you and views are as top-shelf as the cocktails.
Even more of the most adventurous landscapes, lodges, and outfitters on earth
Don't plan any vacations before reading this year's Best of Travel winners.
Because you can have it all. Bring your favorite traveling companion to the slopes and everyone will be happy.
Vancouver is an incredible city, nestled in between mountains and the sea. Many residents choose to explore the city by bicycle, and Thomas Eleizegui, a local rider and owner of Musette Cafe, loves one particular ride called Cypress Mountain – a 10.5 kilometer climb that gives the…
Seeing Europe's famed countryside just got a lot easier.
The aerial cinema experts at Teton Gravity Research release the first ultra HD footage of the Himalayas shot from above 20,000 feet with the GSS C520 system, the most advanced gyro-stabilized camera system in the world. Filmed from a helicopter with a crew flying…
Thirty years after it was officially decommissioned comes Bicycle Route 66—the first all encompassing cycling map of the iconic byway. So finally, you can ditch the car and explore the most historic road in the U.S. on two wheels.
For the latest film from More Than Just Parks, the crew spent 15 days covering over 200 miles in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Known for its immense boulder piles, colorful cactus fields, endless desert expanses, unusual Joshua trees, and epic climbing routes, the park…
Relaxing on the Greek islands is easy. Finding a unique outdoor adventure? Much trickier. So take it from someone who has lived there and stop the guessing.
Tow this ultralight camping trailer with a motorcycle.
We knew the Balkans were beautiful, but this is really something. Filmmaker Amir Kulagic shot this stunning timelapse of some of Bosnia’s most popular mountains, lakes and waterfalls in 4K, and the country never looked better. …
The Ebola virus has devastated a tiny corner of West Africa, but the entire continent is feeling the fallout
Gas is cheap and flying is not. The dollar is strong, so tourists will be flocking to Europe—leaving domestic destinations blissfully uncrowded. The result: stay local and the country will be yours.
If you love sleeping under the sky, you should try it in the coziest way possible—within the snug confines of a plush outdoor bed.
Bring your creature comforts wherever the road takes you.