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　　Conjure for a moment the feeling of a perfect summer day. The trees are fully leafed out. The western sky is filled with changing light. Your friends and neighbors are gathering on the great green lawn of your town park, where communal tables await. A favorite band is playing while kids run around and their parents take a long moment...

　　Two summers ago, I went shopping for a mountain bike group ride. I’d just moved to the Lake Tahoe area, and everywhere else I’d lived, races and group rides were how I’d made friends. I knew that if I could find a good weekly ride, I would find my new community. 　　The first ride I checked out had only three...

　　What’s your favorite national park? After two decades as a journalist with a specialty in outdoor recreation, that’s the question I am most often asked. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting most of the big ones. I’ve even led trips to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion, and Denali as a professional guide, and, most recently, as a national park expert...

　　When Bre Kanak, an art teacher in northern Wisconsin, was invited to join a nine-day sea expedition to Antarctica, her husband Dan stayed home to watch their snakes and chickens. He felt a bit of FOMO, he admits, but mostly he was excited for her—especially because he got to follow along vicariously. Dan remembers keeping a close eye on Antarctic...

　　Chattanooga is not like other cities. While some towns can boast about being close to the outdoors, adventure is seamlessly woven through the fabric of this city, from the Tennessee River that wraps around downtown to the towering cliffs and lush mountains that rise from the edge of its neighborhoods. 　　“A lot of cities are gateways to the outdoors, but...

　　Dear Sundog, 　　I’m a biologist and land conservationist who has spent the last two decades working with farmers and ranchers to keep their land and way of life intact. I walk their property looking for habitats that might harbor rare plants and threatened wildlife. If the property meets certain ecological criteria, the owner can place the land under “conservation easement,”...

　　Neal Francis makes the kind of music that feels both timeless and intensely personal. Weaving in his own hard-won perspective following addiction and upheaval, the singer, songwriter, and pianist draws on the grooves of New Orleans funk and 70s soul in a solo career that’s earned him a growing national audience and a much-anticipated recent album release, Return to Zero....

　　On February 14, 2025, the National Park Service fired around 1,000 probationary employees in conjunction with a White House effort to reduce the federal workforce. Although a spate of court orders eventually reversed many of the layoffs and reinstated probationary employees to their jobs, roughly five weeks elapsed between the initial firing and eventual rehiring mandate. Those intervening weeks were...

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　　West Virginia’s famed country roads offer an open invitation. Weaving across rugged terrain and through spirited small towns to uncrowded gems and world-class outdoor adventures alike, the roads form a latticework of endless possibilities for road trip itineraries. Five customized Mountain Rides can help connect activities that range from serene paddling tours to thrilling whitewater runs, with pristine biking trails,...

　　From 2021 until 2024, while I was Secretary of the Interior, we worked to forge stability, create jobs in a clean energy economy, conserve more lands and waters for future generations, and secure clean air and water for communities in every corner of the country. 　　We treated everyone with dignity and respect—values that New Mexicans live by. Today, the work...