Planning ahead

Create great experiences hiking, backpacking and pursing other sustainable outdoor recreation by planning ahead. Here’s a primer for picking the best places and being prepared.

Basic preparation

The best wilderness hikes and other adventures onto public lands begin long before you get to the trailhead.

Gear and safety essentials

Outdoor recreation breeds innovation, but not all of it supports conservation-minded, sustainable fun. Here’s how to green your next gear buying trip.

Outdoor ethics

Hiking, backpacking and other outdoor recreation requires more than trail maps and cool gear. It’s also important to bring along a proactive attitude toward conservation, and a thoughtful set of outdoor ethics.

Sustainable recreation

Outdoor recreation can harm our wild places if we don’t minimize the impact of hiking, backpacking and other outdoor fun. By following these sustainability tips, you can protect wild getaways and the natural wonders each hold. 

Wilderness and pets

Wild places offer escapes for the whole family, whether you have two legs or four. But there’s more to hiking with your dogs than simply dropping the tailgate of your pickup and letting them run wild.

  • Dear Representative Gosar:

    On behalf of the National Association of Counties (NACo), I am writing to express our support of the Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act (H.R. 596). This landmark legislation would extend royalties and lease income from solar and wind projects developed on Federal lands to home states and counties.

  • Dear Representative Gosar:

    We are writing to express our support for sharing with states and counties renewable energy royalty revenues from federal lands. The language contained in the Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act (HR 596) which you have introduced in the House would enact such revenue sharing.

  • Outdoor Alliance, a coalition of six national, member-based organizations, including Access Fund, American Canoe Association, American Hiking Society, American Whitewater, International Mountain Bicycling Association, and Winter Wildlands Alliance, represents the interests of the millions of Americans who hike, paddle, climb, mountain bike, and backcountry ski on our nation’s public lands, waters, and snowscapes. Collectively, Outdoor Alliance has members in all fifty states and a network of nearly 1,400 local clubs and advocacy groups across the nation.