#light-hiking

#light-hiking

Barefoot trails exist around the world, inviting people to get closer to nature through sounds and sensations. Feeling cool mud squish between toes, stepping on pine needles and exploring meditation caves transforms a routine walk into an immersive experience.

Canada's national sport, ice hockey, is a major attraction, with seven NHL teams representing cities across the country. Experiencing a live hockey game in historic rinks is highly recommended.

Moving around in nature tends to correlate with lower levels of stress. You're not only moving around, but you're listening; you're noticing signs of birds, you're enhancing your cognitive flexibility.

Freedom came with more decisions than I was used to making. Every day required dozens of small choices: routes, weather, how far was too far, when a short trip became too much.

"I was thinking this guy is crazy and I hope nothing happens to him. I'm not sure what was going through his mind to be honest, because the last thing you would think about is somebody would actually walk toward a bear."

"New York isn't real. This is real," says Jon Krogh, emphasizing the contrast between urban life and the rawness of nature in Greenland. He believes that city life is a fantasy, where people work for money that doesn't exist outside their imaginations. The experience at Nomad Greenland aims to reconnect visitors with the reality of the natural world.

"At his peak, Dean Potter was a figure similar to Alex Honnold-the leading free-soloist in the game. But he was also a much more enigmatic and eccentric character than Honnold. It is also true that Potter remains one of the all-time great culture heroes of American rock-climbing."

Breckenridge will host its first-ever Wildflower Week from July 2 to July 12, celebrating the arrival of colorful blooms in the mountain meadows. The event will include a farmer's market, live music, and kids' crafts, along with wildflower hikes led by naturalists and floral cocktail classes.

The Surselva region is best known for its wintertime skiing and snowboarding opportunities, but there's a wealth of things to do throughout the year, including hiking, swimming, and biking.

The Theth-Valbonë trail in Albania connects two breathtaking national parks via a scenic mountain pass, suitable for all kinds of hikers.

Isle Royale National Park is in an isolated stretch of Lake Superior, reachable via a multi-hour ferry ride or seaplane from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Minnesota. The journey to get here keeps many travelers away.

Antarctica, covering about 5.4 million square miles, is nearly twice the size of Europe and is predominantly covered in ice, which contains most of the world's fresh water.

Driving the Avenue of the Giants is a unique and beautiful experience. As it winds through Humboldt-Redwoods State Park, you will encounter many spectacular groves of redwoods and hiking trail options.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which stretches 1.25 million acres across the Arizona-Utah border, allows visitors to explore striking desert terrain with fewer logistical hurdles and crowds.

The early morning sun is bursting around the dark corners of High Dodd and Sleet Fell, sending a flush of light across the golden bracken and on to the hammered silver of the lake.

The horses were in full view across the resort boundaries, even getting pretty close to the lifts, captivating skiers with their unexpected presence.

"The glacier itself has since 1996 melted continuously. Today the glacier is 300 meters (1,000 feet) from the original lift entrance, and there is now a large lake between the glacier and the original entrance. You would need a boat to access it in summer."

For 2025, there was good news and bad news: overall, these areas were visited 323 million times over the course of the year. That's the good news; the bad news is that this figure was down ever so slightly - specifically, 2.7% - from a record-setting 2024.

Longer days, blooming flowers, and increasing temperatures make spring the perfect time for an escape to one of the 63 major US national parks. After traveling solo to all of them, there are a few I think are especially worth seeing between the months of March and June.

AllTrails, a hiking app with trail maps and reviews, dug into insights from their 90 million-plus members and team of trail experts to spotlight lesser-known places where the trail alone is worth planning a trip around. Their guide, Travel-Worthy Trails for 2026, spotlights eight unexpected destinations around the world where the trail is the destination.