Public Lands

If you’re hoping to swap your office cubicle for a campfire this summer, we’ve got you covered.

Water issues across national parks have been wreaking havoc on visitor experiences, and continue to shut down facilities at some of the United States’ most coveted public lands.

Sam Forstag has spent years as a smokejumper, soaring out of low-altitude planes, fighting wildfires across the entire West Coast. Now, he’s taking on Ryan Zinke in a bid for the Republican’s congressional seat.

Signs referencing slavery, climate change, and Native American history have been removed from at least 17 national park sites in six states.

Yosemite, Glacier, and other NPS sites are ditching timed-entry programs and reservation systems, raising fears that summer crowds may overwhelm some popular destinations.

As temperatures plunge and ice coats parts of the Southeastern United States, the National Park Service has closed visitor centers, caves, and scenic drives from Kentucky to Washington, D.C. Here is the full list of closures.

When we deny even symbolic gestures of inclusion, we risk minimizing and ultimately erasing their significance, writes contributor James Edward Mills

Mariah Reading was a national park ranger whose job was cut during the mass layoffs of 2025. Now, she’s fighting to save public lands one piece of trash at a time.

According to an internal directive, National Park Service employees at some of the nation’s most popular parks are now instructed to ask visitors questions about their citizenship status.

One spring in particular showed traces of several pharmaceuticals, including an antibiotic, an antifungal, an anticonvulsant, an antidepressant, and a diabetic drug. Such contaminants could pose a threat to the canyon’s already fragile ecosystem.

At an age when most people are in retirement, the civil rights activist returned to work at 85 to serve as a park ranger in California. For the following 15 years, she continued in the service of public lands, giving historical talks and tours.

If passed, the Utah Republicans’ proposal would have rescinded legislation that protects and maintains the boundaries of national parks as federal lands. Yet Senator Mike Lee told Outside, “selling national parks was never on the table.”

Record rainfall, flooding, and landslides have collapsed major highways, triggered mass evacuations, and left national park gateway communities in Washington and Montana in a state of crisis. Here’s what we know.

A 20-acre acquisition connects this desert national park to a nearby preserve, creating a vital wildlife corridor in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.

An anonymous band of off-duty park rangers has risen up to defend America’s public lands from budget cuts, firings, and political neglect.

Cost of living in California near Yosemite National Park is notoriously high. Even so, federal officials are slashing wage rates for blue-collar workers, sparking outrage from the local union.

Our articles editor plans to start a conversation about politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table—specifically, the devastating cuts to the NPS and the attacks on public lands

Shannon ‘SJ’ Joslin was terminated from their position at Yosemite National Park in August for flying a trans pride flag on El Capitan

The 47-year-old Utah woman was sentenced to one year of probation and a hefty payment of fines and restitution

As the federal government reopens, a new survey shows that most Americans oppose the NPS staff cuts, removal of signs and placards inside parks, and the proposed $1 billion budget reduction to the NPS

A visitor found graffiti and toilet paper on a popular trail near one of the park’s iconic geologic formations

We spoke to labor experts and multiple NPS rangers about the push to unionize, and whether it can protect Park Service jobs from the federal government’s cutbacks

Authorities published a detailed account of the recent apprehension of an illegal flyer in the California park. The news comes on the heels of a scathing press release about illegal jumps from El Capitan.

For Heather Lapre, feeding park employees isn’t just a charitable act—it’s a personal one. Her husband was also furloughed during the federal government shutdown. October 28 marked the first skipped payday for National Park Service employees, like her partner, who were furloughed

Outside and RE:PUBLIC reporters went deep inside three iconic national parks to see how America’s public lands are holding up under pressure

How a long weekend in the park revealed the uncertain future of America's public lands

Here's what happens when the dedicated employees of Rocky Mountain National Park start to break down

Outside’s national parks columnist braved America’s busiest national park before a coalition of local governments and nonprofits had to chip in to keep the gates open

The Interior Department’s latest cuts, which total 2,000, target the NPS, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Division, and United States Geological Survey, among other agencies

When Congress grinds to a halt, keeping parks open without rangers isn’t an act of freedom—it’s an invitation to chaos

That’s what a group of former National Park Service employees is urging in light of a looming federal shutdown

One day, hundreds of parks, countless ways to give back: here’s how to celebrate National Public Lands Day

The “Save Our Signs” project is attempting to archive as many signs as possible before they are removed, and hopes park visitors will contribute

RE:PUBLIC will bring investigative, nonpartisan coverage to the nation’s 660 million acres of public land

Elected officials condemned the actions of the Department of Homeland Security to detain two firefighters battling the Bear Gulch blaze

The attempt to sell millions of acres of Forest Service land united Republicans and Democrats. Advocates took valuable lessons from the battle.

Amid dramatic cuts to the U.S. Forest Service, nonprofit groups have had to supply the chainsaws, shovels, and manpower to clear America’s hiking trails

The effigy was emblazoned with the words “Make America Wait Again,” and it toured the park on Saturday, July 12

The executive decision also requires all NPS sites to grant American residents preferential treatment in permit lotteries

The newest version of the GOP plan to sell off public land includes 1.2 million acres of BLM territory. Outdoor recreationists would pay the price.

The author of the proposal says the plan will generate millions for the beleaguered National Park System, which faces steep budget cuts in 2026

The plan to sell millions of acres of Forest Service and BLM land just encountered a major hurdle. The plan's author says he still wants to auction off some areas.

Signs are popping up at NPS sites asking visitors to report any instances of rangers speaking negatively about America. Critics say it’s an attempt to whitewash U.S. history.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate added a mandate to the budget bill to sell enormous swaths of public land managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management

More Perfect Union, a nonprofit advocating for workers‘ rights, has put up 300 billboards calling out the staffing cuts to national parks

Five questions with the Colorado senator about the ongoing battle to protect public lands and the federal agencies that manage them

Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, who helped launch the Public Lands Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, disagrees with plans to sell off federal land

An executive order triggers the finish-line fight for this historic Phoenix climbing area

Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland believes that elected officials at the state level should use their power to protect the country’s public lands from drilling and development

The White House has ordered the Bureau of Land Management to rescind the Public Lands Rule, which allowed the agency to lease lands specifically for conservation and restoration

Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum recently ordered National Park sites to remain fully open. Proponents say it will speed up hiring, but critics worry it will increase danger.

A nonprofit is tallying up how many NPS employees have been let go from each park. A key asset has been social media posts from terminated employees.

Biden gets a lot of credit as a public lands and outdoor rec champion for passing the EXPLORE Act, conserving more land than any president in recent history, and empowering Indigenous partners. But should he?

The EXPLORE Act aims to address the housing crisis in gateway communities, increase outdoor access for veterans, kids, and marginalized groups, develop more long-distance bike trails, and about a dozen other issues

Navigating the ethics when resort-town absentee landlords crack down on law-breaking locals

After years of waiting for other people to care for my favorite trails, I finally bought a foldable saw and took care of it myself

Shaun White has been the face of snowboarding for two decades. So what’s he doing in retirement?

At Boyce Bouldering Park, you don’t need a pricey membership or an exhaustive gear list to send—all it takes is grit and a pair of sneakers

The North Dakota governor has promoted outdoor recreation in his state. Opponents worry about his connection to the oil and gas industry.

The state has a bounty of BLM land with ample outdoor recreation opportunities. But if the state’s attorney general has his way, Utah would wrest back control of millions of those acres.

Petting bison, cooking food in geysers. Ride along with our writer on a wild trip to our nation’s most iconic national park at the height of tourist season to see all the bad behavior.

A reader and their partner recently squared off over the $10 cancellation fees on campground reservations

San Gabriel Mountains and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monuments in California will now include land sacred to local Indigenous people, increase equitable outdoor access in Los Angeles, and protect habitat for endangered species

From supported campgrounds to dispersed areas with stellar stargazing, we found the best places to sleep outside in the Rocky Mountains

A new Public Lands Rule will mandate a focus on landscape health, conservation, and recreation

Outside's ethics columnist faces a dilemma in his own life

Throughout the lower 48, recreational bush pilots are using their nimble planes and social media influence to spread the word about bold frontiers in flight: touching down on remote federal lands, flocking to little-used runways in designated wilderness, and drag racing one another for pure sport. Their capstone event each season, the High Sierra Fly-In, never fails to deliver hair-raising thrills.

To celebrate National Public Lands Day on September 23, the secretary of the interior reminds readers why protecting public lands is so important

Over eight million acres of public lands are gridlocked by private property. When a group of hunters jumped from one plot of federal land to another, they ignited a debate around just how much a landowner can control.

As extreme temperatures blaze across the nation, parks are taking extra measures to keep visitors safe

When a court struck down the public’s right to wild camp in Dartmoor National Park in January, hikers lost the only place in England where they could dispersed camp without getting the owner’s permission first. Now, an appeals court has given it back to them.

It’s becoming harder to find a slice of nature all to yourself. But there are plenty of secluded sweet spots around the country if you know where to look. From national monuments and lakeshores to forests and scenic waterways, here are some stunning, uncrowded wildlands that are definitely worth exploring.

We talked to one of America’s best young writers about race and culture. The subject was an essay that helped fundamentally change our understanding of the challenges that historically marginalized people face in the outdoors.

No commands, rules, or directives here. Just a gentle nudge towards something truly lovely.

A recent survey of employee satisfaction returned abysmal scores for the NPS

And what about charging people to climb that mountain? Outside’s ethics guru weighs in.