1+ week, 3+ day ago   (146+ words) Backpacker Magazine Plastic Is Poisoning the Earth—So This Designer Made a Backpacking Kit Without It Synthetic materials have a lot of advantages in the backcountry. They’re easy to waterproof, dry quickly, and are light and durable. But they also…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago   (441+ words) Backpacker Magazine Colorado Fourteener Traffic Dropped to a Record Low in 2025. Here’s What Caused the Slump. Colorado’s Fourteeners saw fewer hikers in 2025 than in any year since record-keeping began in 2015, according to new estimates from the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI)....

1+ mon, 1+ week ago   (386+ words) The U.S. Forest Service is investigating after unidentified hikers spray-painted at least five cairns bright yellow on Colorado’s 14,005-foot Mount of the Holy Cross, the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) said. One possible motivation behind the spray-painting could be a desire to…...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago   (249+ words) Summer hiking is one of the great joys of the season, but sweltering temperatures can make it miserable, even dangerous. Excessive heat is the deadliest natural disaster worldwide, with the World Health Organization estimating that it kills nearly a half-million…...

2+ mon, 4+ day ago   (840+ words) A few days later, a man suspected of murder in Florida descended upon the pair before sunrise, killing them at the shelter. A manhunt ensued and most thru-hikers that year quit the trail. Swift opted to keep going. The motiveless…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago   (663+ words) The research team stands beside their Mt. Elbert trailhead kiosk. Would you be willing to pay to carry your own poop down a mountain? New research suggests that the majority of hikers actually would—and that’s great news for the…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago   (303+ words) Backpacker Magazine I Monetized My Love for Backpacking. It Took Quitting a Thru-Hike to Realize What It Cost Me. Dawn was barely brightening the desert floor when I peeled my sleeping bag from the gaping sores on the insides of…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago   (362+ words) When he founded Backpacker in 1973, Bill Kemsley wanted to give hikers a few new heroes. He couldn’t have imagined that he would become one of them. One morning in 1963, Kemsley was finishing breakfast on the Appalachian Trail when he discovered…...

3+ mon, 3+ week ago   (351+ words) You can tell yourself you hate drama—but you’d probably be lying. Deep down, everybody loves a little gossip, and trail controversy proves an eternal wellspring. While we at Backpacker truly wish that trails would never close and hikers would…...

4+ mon, 1+ day ago   (803+ words) Backpacker Magazine I Thought I Understood How Fast Canyons Flooded–Until I Saw it For Myself From the canyon country of Moab to the arid mountains and valleys of Santa Fe, I’ve spent my entire adult life in one kind…...