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Survive This! Separation Anxiety
When you’ve lost your way on the trail, stay calm and act quickly. POTENTIAL EMERGENCY: You’re hiking in the wilderness, and three hours into the journey you’ve become hopelessly lost. Then you realize...
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Where to hike in Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas
Take an outsize Texas hike in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Deserts of varying composition cover much of the American Southwest, but I have a special affinity for the desolate, hostile, and lonesome...
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How to start a fire in the rain
How to start a fire in the woods, even when it’s wet. One a bone-dry day or when there’s plenty of dry paper or fire-starter, anyone can make a fire. If the weather deteriorates to a persistent rain,...
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A troop's rainy Mount Rushmore adventure
Long miles, unrelenting rain, and sore ankles—but no whining. Troop 88’s attitude at the Mount Rushmore Pilgrimage was sheer optimism. Steady rain created a rarely seen look for Mount Rushmore: the...
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Pack one of these water purification systems
These water-purification systems will ban nasty bacteria from your bottle. They swim and float in water, undetectable and unseen. They breed and multiply and search for a host. With sinister names,...
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The New Brownsea Boys
How do you teach first-year campers the skills that will get them excited about Scouting? Learn from the staff at this innovative Maryland camp. Kenneth Culp, right, and David Colletti of West Windsor,...
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Merit Badge Clinic: Take a Hike
Few activities seem more Scout-like than hiking. But that doesn’t mean your Scouts will jump at the chance to hit the trail. Compared with sports, video games, and other youth pursuits, hiking strikes...
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Hiking North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Big Sky Country. Where it’s just miles and miles of miles and miles. Those who live in and around this area of western North Dakota know that not a heck of a lot of people call this expanse of badlands...
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Boy Scout 10 essentials: Items every Scout needs in the outdoors
Before you answer the call of the wild, pack these 10 emergency essentials. Prepared. For Life. It’s more than a motto for Scouting; it’s a way to plan and execute each outing, even if it’s just a...
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Explore Michigan's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Why Go: With more than 100 miles of easy to moderate hiking trails, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offers a spectacular environment for backcountry hiking and camping along Lake Superior. Located...
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How to alleviate or, better yet, avoid an encounter with poison ivy
Emergency Situation: You’re day hiking with your troop when suddenly you get the almost irresistible urge to scratch at your ankles. Looking down for the offending swarm of mosquitoes, you notice not a...
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What you need to know about earning the Historic Trails Award
Historic Trails Award honors Scouts, Scouters who bring history to life. SOME OF THE MOST memorable hikes Scouts take explore history, whether that means tracing the steps of Billy Yank and Johnny Reb...
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From switchbacks to backslopes, here’s how to read a trail
Pathways are so familiar that we often barely notice them as the miles roll beneath the soles of our shoes. That’s the way trail builders want it. In fact, one of their goals is to do their work so...
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The Chattooga River Trail: A hiker’s surprise
The Chattooga River in Georgia’s northeast corner is one of the classic whitewater runs in the United States. Less known is the fact that right beside this National Wild and Scenic River, surrounded by...
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On your feet: How to prevent, treat blisters
Blisters are easy to make. Just lace your healthy foot into a boot that is too loose or too tight, and then hike a few miles. Before long, you’ll start to feel a hot spot where the boot is chafing....
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Bike and hike the ‘Grand Old Ditch’
Stretching for more than 180 miles, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, nicknamed the “Grand Old Ditch,” once served as a route for coal, lumber and agricultural products from the Allegheny Mountains to the...
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Fitness: Prepare to Hike
You’ll have a better outing if your body’s not aching. Remember the last time you went hiking without training your body first? OK, perhaps the trauma permanently erased the pain from your memory. So...
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How to bear-proof your campsite
Ask campers what they fear most about the outdoors and they’ll say, “Bears!” Some people are afraid they’ll be eaten alive by a bear; others are worried that one will get their food. These suggestions...
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Explore the wild trails on Isle Royale National Park
For a howling success, make this backpacking trek when the moon is full. ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK is like no other park in the United States. Located in Lake Superior’s northwest corner, the park...
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Hawaii High & Low
On treks from the mountains to the sea to more than 1,700 feet underground, Troop 315 discovers you gotta hang tough when you search for adventure in paradise. Clockwise from top right: assistant...
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