#recreational-trails

#recreational-trails

"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.

The Thompson Elk is downtown Portland's talisman, and a hopeful sign for the future after years of post-pandemic struggle.

"There's so much more to Burnsville than meets the eye. We've got live theater, a planetarium and observatory, a history museum, and one of the largest populations of working artists in the country. When I say there's literally something for everyone here, I'm serious."

"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."

Having the ability to ski all the way home after a day on the mountain is a rare and incredibly opportunity. Knowing you can ski right to your front or back door makes a ski trip all that much better.

Thick grey-green mud squidges through my toes as I step into the icy, irresistible water. I'm on the descent from the Britannia Hut at the foot of the Allalinhorn in the Valais canton of the Swiss Alps.

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.

"Stretches of the float feel quite secluded and peaceful, while others pass parks and restaurants. I like the connection-it's always good to be reminded of the wild in the urban."

Three Falls State Park is centered around three waterfalls, including the 128-foot Frontenac Falls, which cascades down through a wooded gorge before meeting the lake.

"For the first time, we can truly see how popular and meaningful the Appalachian Trail and its landscape are to millions of people," says Cinda Waldbuesser, president and CEO of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, in an official March 2026 statement.

The body is a shifting landscape transformed by surfaces and sensations. Each look captures a different tactile world: the heat of blood, the cool weight of metal, the yielding drift of water. The result is a sculptural study of how the elements carve, shield, and release the self. The materials we embody become the emotions we carry, and the body becomes a materialised exhibition of our emotions, from the pulse of Blood to the discipline of Metal to the surrender of Water.

Jornet's well-publicized States of Elevation project in 2025 was a feat in human endurance, mountain running, and planning. Starting on September 3, he linked 72 of the 14ers in the contiguous U.S in a human-powered fashion - on foot and bike - with a support crew following him and helping with logistics. He started with the 14,259-foot Longs Peak in Colorado, then went on to California and north to Washington, finishing on the 14,410-foot Mount Rainier.

On day five of an eight-day, 500-mile mountain bike race in Africa, Piers Constable found himself sprawled in the dirt for the second time. First he'd crashed on his left side, then on his right, until he was, in his own words, "muddied and bloodied," staring at a bike that was very much broken. He remembered a feed station a couple miles away and realized he had two choices: quit or run. He picked up the bike and ran.

The idea that hiking trails are a tool for conservation is based on a simple premise: people protect what they know. That requires making conservation areas accessible. There's no point telling people you only protect what you know, if you don't give them the tools to know. The trail is this tool. People who hike, people who camp, these people often become defenders of the environment.

Leading the pack is the Blackhead Range Traverse via Kaaterskill Falls in Haines Falls, with a near-perfect 94.14 score. The two-tiered waterfall, tucked into the eastern Catskill Mountains, has long been a favorite for painters and hikers. Now cyclists are getting in on the action. In fact, Kaaterskill routes appear four times in the top ten, as the dramatic cascade regularly stops riders in their tracks.

A sudden weather change, a mechanical, a missed turn, or a momentary lapse in judgment can all turn a "quick ride" into a surprisingly long day. The good news? While some of those problems are big, the solutions are often small. A last-second weather check. An extra granola bar. A quick link and a zip tie that's been living in the bottom of your bag for the last five years. Little things can often be the difference between a perfect ride and a problem ride.

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.