The end was coming for Roany, a strong and beautiful horse who’d been at the center of Pam Houston’s life for 25 years. What she wanted for him was simple: a peaceful exit, lifted by the touch of human hands.

Nadia Iris Mercado grew up in nature but not in the traditional-summits, red-rocks, and deep-canyons kind of nature

But do remember that it can be a powerful mental-health tool and go beyond the whitewashed Instagram posts to focus on improving access to the outdoors for those who need it most

The risks and rewards of being (literally and figuratively) out in the wilderness

In this installment, More Than Just Parks features the Flathead Valley and its endless recreational opportunities

'Phenomenal Noumenal Wonderful' is a four-year project designed to highlight the beautiful landscapes of the Pacific Northwest

A fascinating data analysis of the 381 painting the beloved artist did for his TV show will have you looking at him in a whole new light

Poet Helen Mort knows that a walk on the trail is the key to creative influence in her writing

'Element' documents the relationship between water and land through the lens of filmmaker Vadim Sherbakov

'Rock Paper Fish' takes viewers to southeast Alaska, where life is inseparable from the age-old rhythms of the Chilkat River

When it comes to spending time outside, the best app is usually no app. But there are a few notable exceptions.

America’s grandest public lands have a big role to play in our health

Nature’s healing power may be in its ability to blow our minds

A grassroots movement of physicians are prescribing time outdoors as the best possible cure for a growing list of ailments. Can they really convince big health care that free medicine is the way of the future?

A bill introduced to Congress on May 1 could make outdoor recreation an official treatment option for veterans suffering from mental-health disorders. It's a huge opportunity for vets—and our public lands.

Spending time in nature is increasingly considered legitimate medicine, and doctors and insurance carriers are treating it as such. But how exactly can we expect this movement to play out—and affect our wallets and gear purchases—in the future?   

A growing number of insurance carriers are encouraging us via cold, hard cash to get after it in nature

If you're going to be outside, get yourself a good weather-radar app and learn how to use it

After a massive fire, one man tried to replant the forests of his childhood. After more than half a decade, he realized he was fighting a losing battle against climate change. We all are.

Thanks to savvy marketing, science, and luck, blueberries helped usher in a new era of health food obsession

This year, governments and guiding companies are promising to do more to keep the mountain clean, but the question of what to do with the dead bodies is becoming more urgent

The writer and climate activist talks about his new book 'Falter' and how the human race got itself into such a big mess

Kicking off spring film-festival season, these shorts and features explore the Grand Canyon, skate culture, and the nature of sufferfests

Vanlife might seem like the most eco-friendly living option, but in reality, my gas-guzzler is hurting the environment more than I would in a small, nonmobile home

Plus, should you take someone else's spot in a race if you know you won't finish?

How a father-son trip to Yosemite conquered my fear of hiking, bears, and falling off chairlifts

In his latest book, he unpacks our ineffectiveness in the face of climate change and connects the dots on what the future might be like

To kick off National Park Week, the park service is waiving all entrance fees on April 20

The new book 'Down from the Mountain' explores the fine line bears walk between the wilderness and suburbia

No one has done more to sound the alarm about climate change than Bill McKibben. We asked him: is there any hope at all?

Raynelle Rino, the founder of Rino Consulting Solutions, taps into the therapeutic effects of nature, specifically for people of color who work emotionally taxing jobs

Yogis are flocking to plein air classes everywhere from the African bush to downtown Austin rooftops

He sold his first photograph at 14 and has been making pictures ever since

In his new animated feature, Chris Butler adds a contemporary twist to an old-fashioned tale

Eric Hanson examines the relationship between unrelenting cold and the euphoric feelings of camping in winter

Yep, Costco. Here are six cut-rate trips you can take thanks to the bulk superstore.

As outdoor-recreation tourism booms, these places have been forced to find innovative (and sometimes desperate) ways of adapting to and curbing the steady stream of tourists each season

Outpost wants to disrupt the outdoor gear trade show business. Our writer descended on its California festival last fall to check out the felt hat–wearing, Bulleit bourbon–sipping crowd and to find out whether the buzzy experience is anything more than an Instagram-ready fad.

In a new study, mountain hiking had similar psychological and stress-reducing benefits whether or not there were signs of human habitation

With 50 countries and more than a decade of travel under her belt, Liz Carlson, AKA the Young Adventuress, knows a thing or two about the best locales for a trip abroad

An excerpt from Ben and Penny Hewitt’s new book, 'The Young Adventurer’s Guide to (Almost) Everything,' reveals how your family can add a little buzz to your snacks

The new National Geographic series, narrated by Bear Grylls, doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh reality that critters face in the far reaches of the world

Everyone is recommending the stuff on Twitter, so we looked into the research to see if the hype is backed by science

The wall won’t just separate two nations, it will sever the connection between a community and its native flora and fauna

His new book, 'Horizon,' is the crowning achievement of a writer whose eyes never stray from the long view

Feeling the need to get out into the sunshine for as long as humanly possible after the winter? If it’s still too cold, here are some books about other people doing that.

In its ongoing series with the U.S. Forest Service, More Than Just Parks is profiling iconic landscapes from America’s national forests

Violinist-pianist duo Anastasia Allison and Rose Freeman hike into the wilderness and often play for no audience other than nature

The Selby Folsom is wildly useful and beautiful to boot

The organization’s equity pledge ignored the work of Teresa Baker and many others striving to make the outdoor industry more inclusive. So we asked a dozen of them how to move forward.

Peter Heller’s latest novel puts two college friends in a canoe on Canada's Maskwa River, paddling toward a struggle against nature and other humans

The Venture Out Project is doing more than just teaching outdoor skills. It's creating a community.

The acclaimed author answers questions about his book ‘How to Change Your Mind’ and explains the emerging science behind the misunderstood drugs

A playlist that both parents and children can enjoy.

After a mental-health breakdown, Mexia grew obsessed with plants in her fifties and became one of the early 20th century’s great botanical collectors

A compromise over Utah public land reveals how one of the biggest conservation acts in years got through the Senate this week

Few mountain-bike destinations seem as ambitious as North Korea, but the country is home to myriad steep mountains and hiking trails that are perfect for exploring

A cabal of old-school riders in New England is fighting to keep their singletrack the way they like it: illegal and empty

We would like to stay on the ranch with the beloved author forever

When outdoor athletes launched the first energy bars more than 30 years ago, no one could have predicted it would revolutionize the way Americans eat. A look inside the hottest—and strangest—category in natural foods.

The latest film from Patagonia and filmmaker Jordan Manley, ‘Treeline’ explores an integral part of the skiing landscape—trees

‘Grizzly Country’ profiles Doug Peacock as he reflects on his time protecting the Yellowstone grizzlies.

The Kurdish region of Iraq is home to spectacular peaks, wild rivers, and fiercely hospitable people, and it could be the Middle East’s next big adventure tourism destination. But there’s one small catch: it’s still dangerous as hell.

When your backcountry partner was your romantic one, a breakup can totally alter your relationship to the outdoors—but don't let it

Photographer Ian Tuttle visited Death Valley last week and asked tourists and locals about how they see the desert park faring a month into the government shutdown

A new study prompted misguided reports suggesting that digital technology is just fine for kids. It isn’t.

In Red Desert, Wyoming, wildlife-biology student Anna Ortega​​​​​​​ is studying mule deer after their 150-mile migration

Plus, a new protocol will make it more difficult for other parks to close during the shutdown

From mountain bikers in California to snowmobilers in Montana, renegade adventurers see the shutdown as a chance to get away with anything. They need to stop.

Current guidelines for sun exposure are unhealthy and unscientific, controversial new research suggests—and quite possibly even racist. How did we get it so wrong?

This summer at the southern terminus of the PCT, photographer Ian Tuttle asked a bunch of thru-hikers why they were hiking. Months later and 2,591 miles to the north, he found some of them again and asked what they’d learned about themselves. Turns out, six months in the wilderness is a pretty good crash course in philosophy.

After four months at sea, wunderkind inventor Boyan Slat's $360 million system is being towed back to port without having collected any plastic debris

That "organic litter" you just threw? It'll still be around in a year.

Is it too much to ask for a little serenity, people?

After weeks of speculation, President Trump announces the end of Zinke's time as Secretary of the Department of the Interior

Inside the most destructive fire in American history—and why the West's cities and towns will keep on burning

Justin Alexander went searching for higher meaning. No one expected the quest to end in a search for his body.

Stressed? Overworked? Need a vacation? Put away your phone and go outside with no schedule or plan.

How creating a "simplified permit system" could decrease the public's input in the land of many uses

You don’t really need more gear. You need knowledge and inspiration.