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Leave San Francisco behind on a three-day, 30-mile trek that starts just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge
Play hard by day at these nine classic national parks, then ditch the franks 'n' beans by night and live large outside the boundaries
Days into a trip spent with his father and brother in Greenland, author Wells Tower was seized by a tantrum-pitching impulse and the overwhelming desire to punch himself again and again in the face
My wife and I are planning a weeklong trip to Glacier National Park this year, including a three-night backpacking trip. Any ideas for a good 20- to 30-mile trip that will take us into the wilderness and away from the crowds? Jason Elk River, MN
Our picks for the best new trips, gear you'll need in your carry-on, and essential tips, Web sites, gadgets, and more to help you navigate '08 in style.
We asked. You answered. Here, the results of our first-ever Readers’ Choice travel survey.
But you don't have to be. Navigate the increasingly unfriendly skies with our layover-free guide to all things air travel—starting with the most pressing question of all.
Pasquale Scaturro never wanted to be a glorified “tour-bus” driver. For him, leading expeditions, like rafting Ethiopia’s Omo River, is a glorious hobby. He picks a spot on the globe, invites his friends, dons his 19th-century-explorer hat, and relishes being the man in change.
Dear Airlines, So things got tough a few years ago—jet-fuel prices skyrocketed, low-cost carriers put the squeeze on, profits nose-dived. You had to make big changes. We understood, we gave you space. And in spite of what your many, many critics say, you actually got a few things right. Tickets…
My friend and I are very interested in going to watch the Tour of Flanders in Belgium. However, rather than ride along the course, we want to find a tour company to drive us around while we watch the race, hang out with the locals, eat frites, and drink beer. Do you have any suggestions? Thomas Hilal Los Angeles, CA
Their fathers were titans. Their family defined conservation in the West. Now, with two Senate seats up for grabs, cousins Mark and Tom Udall have the chance to bring green leadership to Washington when it's needed most. Can the boys man up the way their dads did a generation ago?
Nobody died when the Explorer sank off Antarctica, but the incident revived a nagging question: Are too many sightseers bobbing around at the bottom of the world?
Cuba has the Caribbean's largest wetlands and earth's happiest lobsters, but is Fortress Fidel really an environmental paradise? PATRICK SYMMES heads south and finds that bold policies combined with bolder incompetence can result in surprising successes—and spectacular brown failures.
I an avid backpacker, but have yet to get into winter hiking. Are there any trails in or around Washington that you would recommend as a good place to get some experience with four-season backpacking? Scott V. Chehalis, Washington
Honest eco-travel no longer requires a passport. These four domestic getaways treat you—and the environment—right.
The Super Bowl is without fail the most anticlimactic sporting event of the year. If you have tickets to the 2008 game, this February 3 in Glendale, Arizona, raise the stakes by arriving a week or two early. Park yourself 15 miles from the University of Phoenix Stadium at Sanctuary…
Here's our problem with safaris: They're billed as authentic, up-close-and-personal wildlife experiences, but by Land Rover–bound definition, some are as canned as any Club Med junket. Closer to the real thing is Kiba Point, a brand-new luxury safari lodge in the heart of Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve. Selous is the…
The annual migration of white geese at Tule Lake, California, is one of the most awesome and dependable wildlife spectacles in the world—a delicate orchestration of men, birds, and habitat.
On the Trail of Antonio Suárez: The slaughter of turtles on a beach in Mexico threatened to wipe out a species. Then the man behind it all made a mistake.
From an eco-friendly lodge near the Great Barrier Reef to a luxe guesthouse on a working sheep ranch, Australia's new outback hideaways are energizing travel in the land Down Under
In January 1969, six boys hiked into California's Sespe wilderness for a camping trip. None came back alive. Thirty-nine years later, Tim Zimmermann examines how one wrong decision in the wild can change the course of history.
Where do ski patrollers go heliskiing? I'm an expert skier looking to pull the trigger on heliskiing this year, probably in BC. I'm willing to pay for a little luxury, but don't want to be surrounded by intermediates who just happen to have the money. Dan G. London, England
Our unscientific but highly authoritative guide to the 20 BEST PARTIES on the planet
On January 17, Hollywood hotshots and thousands of movie fans will invade the Wasatch Front for 11 days of movies and partying at the Sundance Film Festival. Get your cinematic thrills, then ditch the glitz and experience the real star: Park City’s adventure playground.
The government’s latest biotech weapon is a stealthy, sweater-eating spy
Treetop retreats, increasingly popular in the Pacific Northwest and South America, have hit New Zealand. The Hapuku Lodge, a South Island eco-resort near the town of Kaikoura, is drawing raves for its five new tree houses, perched 30 feet off the ground in a native tea tree grove. And while…
I've decided to take a trip to India on my next vacation. What is the one thing I should do while I'm there? Gary F. Dallas, TX
Welcome to the new Bolivia, where former coca grower Evo Morales has made the leaf a symbol of his two-year-old government. Now everybody's growing it, everybody's chewing it, and the war on drugs has taken a very strange turn.
Nine Caribbean playgrounds heavy on the sports—and dead serious about kicking back
Need something (or somebody) flown around Africa without a lot of questions? Can you pay with bricks of cash? Then you want old-school bush pilot Tim Roman, a man with Kurtzian ambitions, a deft touch on jungle runways, and a place on every smart dictator’s speed dial.
What is the best mountain to ski in the early December? What place usually has the most and best snow? Ryan San Luis Obispo, CA
I'm traveling to Oz for six months and need to buy a wheeled bag that converts into a backpack if needed. Can you suggest anything? Lisa Cardiff, Wales
How do I prepare for a climb of Mount Rainier and/or Denali? I have about eight months before my climbing window and I live at sea level.
When British Columbia’s Revelstoke Mountain Resort opens this December, it will offer fresh natural snow—every day. An ambitious transportation trifecta will deliver complete access to an already powder-pounded region (up to 60 feet annually). Dumped last night? Ride the gondola and high-speed lifts. Runs are tracked out? Hop in one…
I just qualified to run in the Boston Marathon. What can I do after the race that'll be fun, but won't kill my already-battered legs? Sean M. Chicago, IL
Since I was a kid, I've been warned that the mighty Mississippi is a deadly stew of swirling eddies—and that swimming across it is oneof the stupidest things a person can do. Naturally, I had to give it a try.
Six weeks, I told my wife. All the way to heaven and then home. Perhaps I would fail in some, or every, way. But one must go oneself to know the truth.
On a cosmic night of baseball Randy Wayne White joins the armada in San Francisco's McCovey Cove to fish for Barry Bond's record-breaking home-run ball
To celebrate Outside’s founding in the boffo year of 1976, we asked a longtime contributor to risk embarrassment by dressing as an outdoorsy dude from that era, then circulating among innocent people to watch their jaws drop. The result was an offbeat gem by one of the magazine’s most versatile and creative voices.
I've never been to Indiana and will be attending a wedding there this fall. How about a little advice on what to do during my stay? Michael S. Phoenix, AZ
New York City-based writer Patrick Symmes and Irish photographer Seamus Murphy scoured the Far East in search of the legendary city of Shambhala for the October 2007 feature story “The Kingdom of the Lotus.” Here, listen to a podcast interview with Symmes and see Murphy’s photo outtakes from the assignment.
Our man Eric Hansen has scoured the globe in the name of misadventure and excitement. Here, read all of Hansen's columns for Outside, listen to audio versions, peruse photos he took while on assignment, and watch a video as our guy shows you how to drink Tequila.
It brought you Gisele, Ronaldo, and samba. But the real Brazil gets even better. Here's your map to the best sin and sand on the planet.
We sent our wayward columnist to row a boat in Cinque Terre and all we got was this lousy letter
Escape from New York (and nine other big cities) with these 40 fast adventures
How can I physically challenge myself in Ecuador and still see a lot?
In his September Out of Bounds column, "The Italian Job" columnist Eric Hansen tries to convince us that he did not waste our money on a trip to Italy, where, as near as we can tell, he just downed Chianti and gelato. Hansen reads his story, talks in a podcast interview, and shares his photos here.
Resort towns no more—move here before the masses do.
As you may have heard, they ski in Iran. As you may not have heard, the terrain is pretty sweet, there are dudes bouncing on the chairlifts, and The hills are alive with happy women in flowing robes. Can we make peace with this place Immediately?
Go farther faster, stay out all day, and don't carry a thing (except your credit card) on these five perfect, three-day hiking and biking adventures
It took hundreds of years and the heavy-heeled stomping of thousands of trekkers. Now some 30,000 miles of trails high in the Swiss Alps are finally packed down, buffed out, and ready for their true calling: downhill mountain biking. This August, the first North American outfitter to guide armor-clad cyclists…
My friends and I are interested in learning how to whitewater kayak. Can you recommend a good two- or three-day course in California or Oregon? Thomas H. Los Angeles, CA
Take one desert island, insert one strapping lad, and see how long he survives. That's the recipe for our half-starved, sunburnt castaway, who lived to tell the tale.
If you're still not convinced you've found paradise after reading, "Yes, Real People Live Here" in the August, 2007 issue of Outside, you're in luck. We've profiled a slew of the best towns in the U.S. Here, dive into the archives for more places to hang your hat, kayak, surfboard, or crampons.
For the August 2007 feature story, “Powder Keg” we sent Josh Dean and Alex Tehrani to lay some tracks at the highest ski area in Iran. Here, flip through some of Tehrani’s outtakes from their epic, see more images from his previous assignment for Outside, and read an interview with the…
Sometimes one culture just isn’t enough. Steeping yourself in the South of France is great, but drop in to an Asian-themed resort on a French island and you’ll leave feeling like a true global denizen. Here are three hotels that import their home country’s ethos. Banyan Tree…
Try summiting one of Southeast Alaska’s 16,000-foot peaks and you’ll run into a few potholesliterally. Thousands of pits (or moulins), up to 300 feet deep, scar 3.2 million glaciated acres of WrangellSt. Elias National Park and Preserve, and more and more visitors are trading in a summit bid to rappel…
Discover the pleasure and pain of pro-caliber climbs with these U.S. mountain monsters
My husband and I have two weeks at the end of our year-long stay in Germany before returning home to the U.S. and would like to do an extended backpacking trip in the Alps. Do you have any suggested routes? Eileen K. Germany
A Playboy bunny, massage tents, martinis, bootleg movies, high altitude golf. As correspondent Kevin Fedarko reports in the July 2007 feature story, "High Times" the scene at Everest Base Camp ain't what you'd expect. Here, listen to an audio version of the story and hear an interview with Fedarko.
Colorado River guide Michael Ghiglieri publishes irresistible books about the weird, wicked things that kill people in national parks. With a bestselling Grand Canyon necrology behind him and a new one on Yosemite coming out this spring, he talks to KEVIN FEDARKO about accidents, suicides, and murders—and why forensic gawking can actually
At some point after puberty and before mortgage payments, that summer ritual our parents used to make us do became something we couldn't do without. And the rules have changed. Cars are faster, highways are better, and there's cool stuff—really cool stuff that doesn't involve buffets or Dollywood—just about everywhere. Stop sitting on those vacation d
In the June 2007 feature story The Boomtown, the Gringo, the Girl, and Her Murder” Tony DSouza reports on the murder trial of American ex-pat Eric Volz in Nicaragua. On March 26, 2007, after months of research and nearly two weeks of attempting to get access to Volz, Supreme Court…