While Michigan rightfully gets its share of outdoor attention, travelers looking for adventurous outings shouldn’t look past the top of The Mitten. There, in the northwest corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula, the Petoskey Area quietly harbors a surprising amount of outdoor activities linked by a handful of lively gateway communities: Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne City, Boyne Falls, Alanson, Bay Harbor,...

　　It was last fall when I realized that everything had changed. First there were the back-to-back high-country rides where my friends and I were the only ones on mountain bikes without motors. Then there was the eleven-mile climb where a hiker squinted at my crankset, exclaimed, “No battery!” and began to clap. There was the exchange later that day with...

　　I was flummoxed, frustrated, and frantic. 　　It was the spring of 2024, and like millions of Americans, I was searching for a campsite  ahead of Memorial Day Weekend. I opened several dozen web browser windows on my laptop and pinged between websites like Recreation.gov, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a regional RV resort finder, and yes, even Google Maps. If only...

　　On January 4, 2025, President Biden signed the bipartisan EXPLORE Act into U.S. law, ending a year-long panic over a proposed bolting ban in national parks. The new legislation evoked a near–unanimous celebration by the American climbing community. 　　One of the lesser-known changes to the law, however, was Section 125, the Federal Interior Land Media (“FILM”) Act, which the North...

　　Outside Festival Partner Ticket Giveaway Official Rules 　　Promotion Period: 5/5/2025 to 5/23/2025 　　NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. 　　1. ELIGIBILITY: The Outside Festival Partner Ticket Giveaway (the “Promotion”) is open only to residents of the fifty United States and the...

　　Failure is a big topic in the weight lifting world these days. When you’re doing an exercise, do you need to push each set to the point that you literally can’t complete one more rep? Old-school practical wisdom says yes. More recent scientific studies have suggested that training to failure isn’t necessary, and might actually be counterproductive because it takes...

　　For Canadian professional climber Allison Vest, objects of obsession aren’t exclusively found within the realm of rock. She finds them in quiet moments at home between climbing trips, sitting at her sewing machine and losing track of time making her own clothes. Vest climbs in many of her handmade creations: bolero sets, tailored vintage North Face jeans, a gingham button-...

　　The only problem with all the active pursuits you love? You know you can’t do them forever. But what if you could do them longer and maintain a higher level of performance now and for years to come? 　　Enter Eternal. The company is reimagining health care for people who care about staying active, bringing the kind of obsessive, athlete-focused attention...

　　The majority of mindfulness activities are calm and quiet. But sometimes, when you’re too angry, anxious, or stressed, sitting still is the last thing you want to do. 　　“When we’re in fight-or-flight mode, our nervous system wants to do something…it’s wired for movement,” says mindfulness teacher and author Rosie Acosta. Stomping your feet, screaming in the car, punching a pillow,...

　　This is a developing story and will be updated as more details are announced. 　　When Jack Colavita, a high school English teacher in Scottsdale, Arizona, gets out of school at 3 p.m., he typically heads straight for the boulders. 　　Specifically, he drives 65 miles east to Queen Creek Canyon, drags his crashpads out to classic Oak Flat problems such as...

　　With all the expeditions he’s been a part of, all the technology he’s developed, all the discoveries he’s covered, I’m used to Albert Lin being one of the more interesting people in a room—or even the most well-known. But walking down the street in Quito, Ecuador, I didn’t realize he was this famous. 　　We are headed to a coffee shop...

　　We should all be spending more time outside and offline—or, in contemporary terms, touching some grass. The slang phrase emerged (somewhat ironically) on social media in recent years as a means of letting someone know they need to unplug and reconnect with the real world. Now, there’s an app for that. 　　Studies show that time spent in nature can boost...