| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Tune Up: Protect Your Joints and Build Pivot Power
Get ready for spring with 3 joint-specific routines.
Sprained Ankles: Watch Your Step
The latest health news reveals that ankle injuries are more common than you'd think. Here's some beta.
Learn to Patch a Sleeping Pad
Editor in Chief Jon Dorn teaches you how to fix a ripped sleeping pad in this skills video.
Pick the Perfect Pack: Measure Your Torso Length
One of the most critical pieces to finding the ideal backpack is your torso length.
THE ADVENTUROUS LIFE
Food & Nutrition
Taste Test: Best of the Bars
What to grab when you need a boost
Free Food! Trailside Edible Plants
Wild parsnip, burdock, and wild carrot grow throughout North America. Learn when and where they're prime for picking.Health & First Aid
How to Prevent Blisters
Sweaty feet, thick socks, and sturdy boots are a blister cauldron. Learn four easy ways to keep your feel clean, dry, and blister free.Start Smart: Stay Clean and Healthy
4 strategies to feel and smell betterSurvival
Survive This: A Plunge into Raging Whitewater
Learn how to battle your way out of a ranging river with these tips.
How to Survive A Night Without Gear
When a day hike turns into an overnight, learn how to take care of yourself.Fitness
Tune Up: Protect Your Joints and Build Pivot Power
Get ready for spring with 3 joint-specific routines.
Skills Health: Make Time For Exercise
Full schedule? Here's how to work in working out.Navigation
How to Choose a Campsite
A NOLS veteran offers tips on balancing comfort, safety, and Leave No Trace principles.
GPS 201: Using Advanced Navigational Tools
Don't be daunted by a thick owner's manual. Unlocking your unit's advanced navigational tools is easier than you think.General Skills
Next Level: How To Lead A Group
11 ways to become a better leader.
Be a Hiking Ambassador
6 trail-tested tips to guarantee your friend's first trip isn't his last
Taste Test: Best of the Bars
What to grab when you need a boost
Free Food! Trailside Edible Plants
Wild parsnip, burdock, and wild carrot grow throughout North America. Learn when and where they're prime for picking.
Recipes for the Trail: Underground Cuisine
3 tasty, filling trailside finds that could save dinner–even your life.
Trail Food: 3 Edible Nuts
You're lost, hungry, and starting to shiver: Time to play squirrel.
Camp Stove Cooking: Curry in a Hurry
4 easy recipes that will warm your whole body.
Flavor In a Flash: Ultralight Spice Kit
Enhance bland backpacking food with an ultralight spice kit including everything from curry to soy sauce.
Post-Hike Beverages: Hot Trail Toddies
4 steamy drinks to spice up your after-dinner stargazingMenu Maker
Not sure how to eat right on the trail? You're in luck. We've taken the liberty of coming up with the perfect plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—for just about every situation. So break out your inner chef and get cooking. You'll be eating like royalty in no time.Eating Well On the Trail
GORP is great...for a snack. Backpacker offers some pointers on keeping your energy up while on the trail.Reader-Submitted Gorp Recipes
The trail-staple GORP gets a face lift with these reader-submitted recipes
How to Prevent Blisters
Sweaty feet, thick socks, and sturdy boots are a blister cauldron. Learn four easy ways to keep your feel clean, dry, and blister free.Start Smart: Stay Clean and Healthy
4 strategies to feel and smell better
Bug Off: Tips To Keep Away Insects
Tips to beat the most annoying backwoods bitersSnake Bite First-Aid
Learn the steps to take if you're bitten by a poisonous snake.How to Thwart Mosquitoes
Mosquitoe bites can be simply annoying or dangerous depending on where you are. Learn how to fend off their attacks.How to Protect Your Heart While Hiking
Cardiac arrest is the number three killer in the outdoors&ndashlearn how to prevent, recognize, and treat trail-side heart issues.Survive a Mangled Ankle
Help yourself hike out after an ankle injuryLearn Backcountry First Aid
Use this quick guide to determine what type of backcountry first aid training you need.Medicine Man - Sulfur on Sticks
Medicine Man Buck Tilton looks into, ugh, eating match headsMedicine Man - Eau de Mosquito
Medicine Man Buck Tilton looks into bug sprays and bears
Survive This: A Plunge into Raging Whitewater
Learn how to battle your way out of a ranging river with these tips.
How to Survive A Night Without Gear
When a day hike turns into an overnight, learn how to take care of yourself.
Phenomenon: Battle Quicksand With Quick Thinking
Quicksand isn't just in old Westerns, it's also a real backcountry hazard. Learn how to save your life when faced with the slippery stuff.How to Keep Bears Away
Learn your black bears from your brown bears then figure out how to keep them away from your camp.Packing List: Survival Kit
Always be prepared for adversity with these pieces of gear.Calculate Trouble
Time is of the essence in the backcountry. Learn how long it will take an impending thunderstorm or avalanche to find you.18 Sudden Threats: The Right and Wrong Responses
Things happen fast in the wilderness. It's important to learn the right and wrong actions beforehand so you can react accordingly.PANIC!: How to Survive in the Backcountry
There's a backcountry killer on the loose, and it's not hypothermia, grizzly bears, or rockfall. The thing mostly likely to maim you on your next hiking trip is living inside your head.Quiz: Would You Survive?
The wilderness can be deadly if you don't know what you're doing. Take our test to rate your survival IQ—and learn a few skills that might save your hide.How to Survive Getting Lost In a Whiteout
Don't forge ahead when faced with whiteout conditions.
Tune Up: Protect Your Joints and Build Pivot Power
Get ready for spring with 3 joint-specific routines.
Skills Health: Make Time For Exercise
Full schedule? Here's how to work in working out.
Stretches for Hikers
Recover from high-mileage days with these before-and-after stretches.
Smash Your Fitness Barriers With Heart-Rate Training
Become a better hiker. Build speed, endurance, and strength all through heart-rate training.
Motivate With a Fitness Challenge
Whether it's a "Birthday Challenge" or a peak that needs climbing, choosing a specific fitness challenge will help you stay motivated to get out more.
Find a Hiking Partner
Keen on birds, peak bagging, or wildflowers? Here's how to join hikers who share your passions.Sprained Ankles: Watch Your Step
The latest health news reveals that ankle injuries are more common than you'd think. Here's some beta.Leave No Trace Principles
On the trail and at the campsite, there's plenty you can do to leave nature...natural.Four-Week Fitness Plan
Before you hit the trail, try thses exercises to build leg strength and stamina.
How to Choose a Campsite
A NOLS veteran offers tips on balancing comfort, safety, and Leave No Trace principles.
GPS 201: Using Advanced Navigational Tools
Don't be daunted by a thick owner's manual. Unlocking your unit's advanced navigational tools is easier than you think.Reading Topo Maps: Understanding Map Symbols and Colors
Dotted, dashed, and curvy. Red, blue, and brown. All these colors and styles criss-cross a topo map. Learn what they mean.Learn How to Stay On Course
By understanding your terrain, knowing your pace, and reading the map regularly you can stay on course wherever you are.Understanding Your Compass
If you don't know what triangulation is, read this article.Reading Topo Maps: Understanding Contour Lines
Topo maps just look like a children's drawing if you don't know what contour lines are.How to Protect Your Map From the Elements
While you're cozy in your waterproof jacket, your map has to face the rain, or snow, or mud, alone. Learn how to protect this precious piece of paper.How to Align Your Compass
Learn how to orient your map with a few basic compass skillsGPS Basics
What's GPS, how does it work, and will it help you?Offshore GPS: How to Navigate in the Water
New tools for water navigation: Strap one to your thwart, and you'll never paddle in circles again.
Next Level: How To Lead A Group
11 ways to become a better leader.
Be a Hiking Ambassador
6 trail-tested tips to guarantee your friend's first trip isn't his last
33 Top Tips From Trail Pros
Here's how Aron Ralston, Ed Viesturs, Les Stroud, and others get out and back again–and how you can, too.
Learn How to Use an Ice Axe
Master these skills to make your axe a tool—not a toy.
Preserving Ancient Artifacts
Looking to get more than scenic views out of your hikes? The U.S. Forest Service's Passport in Time program turns trekkers into weekend archaeologists.
Pack Fast, Pack Right
Organization and preparation will make your next overnight or day-hike packing session easy. Below, the Backpacker editors showcase their mistakes for your benefit.
Make Your Sleeping Bag Warmer
8 easy ways to fortify your sleeping bag
How to Digitally Capture Your Wilderness Adventures
Be a YouTube Star: Learn how to shoot, edit, and post your next wilderness adventure.
Plan the Perfect Trip
Smart ways to foolproof your next hike.
Bug Off: Tips To Keep Away Insects
Tips to beat the most annoying backwoods biters
Tools & Experts
Gear Chick
Pose your burning gear question to Kristin Hostetter and she'll drop some knowledge on how to fix, mend, improve, and more.
Read the Latest
Backpacking 101
Trip-planning tips, gear lists, safety advice, and other essential wisdom every hiker ought to know.
Get Started
Peak Fitness Blog
Our fitness pro riffs on the latest trends and challenges of staying fit everyday.
Read the Latest
Medicine Man
Our wilderness medicine guru talks first-aid, health, and emergency management.
Get Schooled
Survival Blog
Go deep into the backcountry with Rocky Mountain Editor Steve Howe and get an unfiltered dose of all things survival.
Are you tough enough?
Gear Checklists
Make sure you remember everything for your next outdoor adventure by use the same checklists that Backpacker editors have used for years.
Get Packing
MASTER YOUR OUTDOOR EXPERTISE WITH OUR TIPS
Learn How to Hang a Bear Bag
...by watching our many mistakes.
Learn to Patch a Sleeping Pad
Editor in Chief Jon Dorn teaches you how to fix a ripped sleeping pad in this skills video.
Pick the Perfect Pack: Measure Your Torso Length
One of the most critical pieces to finding the ideal backpack is your torso length.
Find the Outdoor Equipment You Need
TIP 29: Waterproof Maps
Carry your folded map in a zipper-lock freezer bag or plastic map case. Or treat it with Map Life or Nikwax Map Proof to make the paper more durable.
Backpacking 101
Trip-planning tips, gear lists, safety advice, and other essential wisdom every hiker should know.Backpacker's Ultimate Fix-It Guide
Learn how to make your gear last forever with our guide to the 55 most
common repairs and maintenance musts.
Sleeping Bag Center
Our guide to sleeping bags fit for all occasions and sleep tips guaranteed
to give you a good night's rest. 
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