Many of us need an excuse to get outdoors and be active and many times that excuse needs to be altruistic.  Sometimes the altruistic motive is all it takes.  Perhaps the opportunity to volunteer to clear a trail on National Trails Day or help with some other kind of project on National Public Lands Day […]

When I was a kid I loved to find unusual things wherever I explored.  I think I found my first fossil near Wyalusing State Park  at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers in the southwest corner of Wisconsin.  It was a rock with many snails and other small water creatures peeking out.  Most interestingly, I found […]

By “recreational foraging” I don’t mean looking around for recreational activities, but rather foraging for food on public lands as a recreational pursuit.  A lot of people wonder what’s the point of walking in the woods to see the scenery, it just seems a waste of time to them.  They need another sort of motivation. […]

The East Coast Greenway Instead of a wilderness trail, how about an urban trail.  Not just a small trail either.  How about one that stretches all the way from Key West, Florida, to Calais, Maine, at the Canadian border – 2,900 miles.  That’s the idea that was born in 1991 and is growing to become the East […]

If climbing hills with your mountain bike doesn’t appeal to you, perhaps riding downhill does.  A sport called “gravity assisted mountain biking”  takes place in remote areas that have trail systems.  Riders first get to a high elevation, often riding in a helicopter or fixed wing plane.  Then they ride down the trail system. These rides […]

After surveying 2000 parents across the United Kingdom, adventure blog Go Ape decided that the current generation of kids should be called the “Closeted Generation” because they are spending too much time indoors in front of a screen.  They found that 22% of parents put their kids in front of a screen “because its easier” even though […]

It’s a simple concept really.  Take a walk in the woods and, if you wish, enhance the experience further by breathing the scents of essential wood oils. This outdoor activity has become a recognized relaxation and stress management technique in Japan over the last thirty years.  There, it goes by the name “shinrin-yoku.”  That translates to “forest bathing” in English. […]

  Orienteering offers explorers two things: Practice using a map and compass.  Orienteers are given a map like the one above and must find their way from one control point to the next, not in a straight line, but along the fastest route.  They must quickly orient their map to magnetic north with their compass […]

The Mission of 21CSC The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men as part of the New Deal. Originally for young men ages 18–23, it was eventually expanded to young men ages 17–28. Since the days of the CCC, […]

Montana has a lot of open and public lands and July is Open Land Month there.  The point is to encourage Montana residents to reaffirm their way of life and get out and enjoy the open country that is so much a part of that life.  The project has a long list of sponsors and partners including: […]