We interrupt your pre-Halloween planning for this very important news flash:

Despite the prevalence of sunshine and unseasonably balmy conditions in many corners of the country, it is, indeed, late October. This means that Mother Nature can kill you with one wave of her magic wand.

High on the side of America’s tallest mountains, there’s wind, rain, ice, and yes, lots of snow. And alas, a number of Americans are learning the hard way that sunshine and mid-fifties in the high country can quickly become a life-and-death situation.

The latest example of this comes from the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. On Thursday, October 23, the Hinsdale County Search and Rescue team received a call that two motorists were stranded high on the side of Engineer Pass. A snowstorm had blown in that afternoon, and despite the weather report calling for a blizzard, the jeepers had continued up the route and gotten stuck in two-foot snow drifts.

For those unfamiliar with Colorado’s geography: Engineer Pass is a gorgeous if extremely rugged ATV route connecting the towns of Ouray and Lake City. Jeepers, overlanders, and pickup truck enthusiasts drive their four-wheel drive vehicles up and over Engineer Pass throughout the summer while completing the so-called Alpine Loop.

This corner of the state is known for the occasional mishap on four wheels. Let’s just say that the tourists keep the local sheriff and towing companies busy throughout the summer.

Anyway, Engineer Pass tops out at 12,800 feet above sea level. This is not the elevation you want to be at when a late-October blizzard rolls through.

Luckily for the motorists, rescuers sprang into action and were able to reach them. They got to the duo—a father and son—at about 10 P.M., and were able to bring both of them to safety. But only after they snapped a few amazing photos of the beleaguered jeep stuck up to its axles in snow.

Look, I get it, it’s still sunny out and we all want to go drive over high mountain passes, and climb high peaks. It’s still worth reminding everyone that the scorching rays and summer vibes this time of year can change at the drop of a hat. Just ask those 20 hikers who were rescued from the flanks of Mount Washington on October 25.

According to the Colorado SAR teams, the jeep drivers on Engineer Pass were from Florida. I’m sure it was plenty warm there.

The post Look at This Jeep Stuck on a Colorado Mountain Pass appeared first on Outside Online.

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As a thru-hiker and medical professional, wound care and bleeding control are two of my first aid priorities on the trail. By the numbers, the most common non-athletic trail injuries are soft-tissue wounds and subsequent infections from inadequate wound care. Proper care requires managing any bleeding, cleaning, and then dressing a wound. Wound care is part of my risk management planning when I prepare for any trip into the backcountry as a recreationalist or a group leader.

I took my first Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course in 2008. Then I worked a variety of healthcare jobs over the next decade, ranging from critical care to primary care and family practice. When I started backpacking in 2017, it became clear that everything I learned from my healthcare career would still be of use in the backcountry.

In 2023, I took the month-long wilderness EMT (WEMT) course in Lander, Wyoming, with NOLS. The added backcountry dimension to my prehospital healthcare education has greatly influenced my preferences for my current first aid kit. In addition to the wound care essentials listed below, I always carry a tourniquet—and encourage all backpackers to learn how to use one.

The Best First-Aid Tips, According to a Wilderness EMT

When I teach Wilderness First Response courses, students often ask what I carry in my pack. Here’s what I recommend.

Personalize Your First Aid Kit

First, I emphasize that everyone’s first aid kit should be personalized, because what works for some may not work for others. I’ve found that the typical retail first-aid kits are generic and don’t quite meet my needs.

Assess Your Risk of Getting a Wound

Next, I run down what I carry through a risk management lens. This means I balance the likelihood of a particular injury or illness with its consequences. It is a complicated formula that includes variables such as the weather forecast or how far I will be from definitive care.

Over time, and after thru-hiking a few long-distance trails, I’ve struck a balance in what experience has taught me are non-negotiables versus what I desire for a baseweight.

Bring Sterile Gauze and an Irrigation Syringe

I always recommend carrying some sterile 4×4 gauze pads and an irrigation syringe. These are lightweight tools and useful to everyone for bleeding control and wound care, regardless of activity or skill level.

For most bleeds, the first step is to apply pressure with a sterile gauze. That same gauze will become your initial dressing for the wound. Sterile gauze helps with infection control. However, if you have to treat bleeding and you do not have sterile gauze, infection risk becomes a secondary concern, and you should apply pressure with whatever is available.

During cleaning, flushing wounds with filtered water using an irrigation syringe is essential to preventing infection. The benefits of an irrigation syringe compared to other syringe sizes are its ability to deliver precise force into a wound, which does most of the work of removing dirt and debris.

What About Antibiotic Ointment?

Antibiotic ointment isn’t very helpful, in my opinion, because it doesn’t actually do much to prevent infection—irrigating the wound does most of that work. To ward off bacteria, change the dressing whenever it becomes really dirty or wet, or at least once a day.

How to Deal with Bloody Wounds

Depending on the type of wound and the amount of blood, you’ll need to treat them differently.

Light Bleeding

Sterile gauze is the go-to for applying pressure when necessary for persistent but manageable bleeds. Though there are different kinds of bleeding, the majority we encounter are minor cuts or capillary bleeds, which tend to ooze or bleed slowly and can be controlled with just direct pressure.

Heavy Bleeding

More aggressive bleeds will require more aggressive interventions. Larger, traumatic bleeds cause a loss of blood volume very quickly and forcefully, and it’s critical to control bleeding as soon as possible.

How to Make a Tourniquet to Stop Heavy Bleeding

Tourniquets are one tool to stop traumatic hemorrhaging in areas outside of the trunk. They work by cutting off the circulation to an extremity above the wound to stop blood flow and prevent blood loss through the wound.

There are multiple ways to create a tourniquet, but I advocate a pre-made strap and windlass system to save time on improvisation.

Because of the risk involved, tourniquets should:

• Only be applied by someone with proper training
• Initiate an immediate evacuation to definitive care

Raquel Sapp, founder of wilderness medicine education provider Backcountry Pulse, recommends the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (COTCC) approved Sam XT tourniquet because “one of the biggest mistakes people make with tourniquets is not applying it tight enough,” she says. “The Sam XT clicks when all of the slack is removed, and you can begin tightening the windlass.”

Even though I’ve been taught how to make an improvised tourniquet, I always opt for a prefabricated tourniquet because the minimal additional weight is worth the speed and effectiveness.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend buying gear or supplies you don’t know how to use, and this article is not meant as a substitute for proper first aid training. Improper tourniquet use could result in loss of a limb or failure to control bleeding adequately.

A Wilderness First Responder course is generally 80 course hours and will include instruction on how to apply a tourniquet. Wilderness First Aid courses are much shorter—16 course hours—and also involve bleeding control and tourniquet use.

Want more Outside health stories? Sign up for the Bodywork newsletter. Ready to push yourself? Enter MapMyRun’s You vs. the Year 2025 running challenge.

The post First-Aid Tips for When You’re on the Trail, According to a Wilderness EMT appeared first on Outside Online.

Base layers for men often don’t get the same sexy headlines, bleeding-edge technological advances, or eye-bulging price points as their outer layers counterparts. But your next-to-skin layer is just as important, arguably more so. The priciest, top-of-the-line Gore-Tex shell won’t do you much good if a soaking wet base layer is chafing your skin and chilling your bones. Picking the best base layers is incredibly nuanced and personal to your location, physical output, and body. We tested 42 new men’s base layers last winter to help you navigate this tough choice.

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The post The 6 Best Base Layers for Men of 2026 appeared first on Outside Online.

Any skier can understand the urge to improve their equipment. Few take matters into their own hands like Jamie Kunka. The avid backcountry skier has effectively found a way to blend his love of snowy escapes with the craft of making his own skis for a living.

The secret? Scotland’s rugged terrain and spirit of self-reliance, which inspires Kunka’s approach to his craft. What was once childhood experiments creating bows and later race skis in college has evolved into Lonely Mountain Skis, Kunka’s cottage business that ships skis across the world. The fine works of art are refined enough to hang on a wall but still perform well in the variable conditions.

“I feel a connection to the craftspeople in Scotland, and hopefully my skis give a nod to those sort of pioneers,” Kunka says, nodding to the nearby distillers at Aberfeldy, who have been crafting whisky in the same Scottish Highland mountains for the last 125 years. “I see parallels throughout the different crafts too. A whisky maker uses different types of wood to bring about different characteristics of the scotch, just as I use a combination of different woods to achieve the perfect harmony in the ski.”

Though he’s endlessly passionate for the woods near his workshop that sustainably yield the timber he harvests, Kunka is just as eager to share the local traditions with others. Watch Kunka enjoy a backcountry hut trip, ski touring in the Colorado Rockies while reveling in the payoff of efforts to produce both Scottish skis and whisky. Then go deeper with Kunka’s tips on building your best backcountry adventure, plus other Masters of Craft. This feature collection profiles one-of-kind visionaries who transform nature’s purest elements with time-honored traditions and cultivated experiences.

How to Build Your Next Backcountry Ski Adventure

To venture safely in the backcountry, every traveler must gear up with the minimum essentials: avalanche beacon, probe, and shovel. Beyond those starting necessities, a few choice gear extras can help you create a memorable day away from the crowds.

Climbing Skins 

You have to climb before you can descend. Skins are precut attachments that stick to the bottom of your skis and glide in one direction but resist gliding in the other, allowing you to climb the hill without sliding backward.

Purpose-Built Pack

That book bag from your school days isn’t going to cut it. A proper backcountry ski backpack will have dedicated internal organization for your required avalanche shovel and probe, as well as a spot for those skins. You’ll want a pack that also accommodates a hydration reservoir and has room for extra layers and snacks.

Versatile Poles 

Similar to downhill ski poles, these lightweight options adjust in length so you can make them longer on flat terrain or shorter on steep climbs. Both options will help you move faster on hard stretches of the tour.

Backcountry Bound

You might not be able to build your own skis, but you can certainly build your own ski trip. Here are three ideal skill-gaining spots for your next backcountry laps.

Mount Washington, New Hampshire 

One of the tallest mountains in the East, Mount Washington is renowned for its hard, technical touring options. Tuckerman Ravine collects snow blowing off the top of Washington and is home to arguably the best backcountry skiing on the East Coast—as long as you can handle the steeps.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 

Within the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park, you’ll find Hidden Valley, a former ski resort that shuttered in the ’90s but has become a go-to spot for backcountry purists thanks to its low-angle terrain and beautiful scenery.

Mount Baker, Washington 

Baker receives the most snow of any location in North America thanks to the storms that roll in from the Pacific and get trapped by the 10,781-foot active volcano, dumping more than 600 inches of powder every year. Several different aspects drop off the mountain, giving skiers and splitboarders a cornucopia of potential runs.

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If Congress doesn’t agree on a short-term spending bill to maintain funding for the federal government by September 30, a shutdown may be on the horizon. And if the U.S. government indeed shuts down, many former national park employees think national parks should, too.

Dozens of former national park superintendents and the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (CPANP) urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in an open letter to “protect our parks and public lands by closing them if a government shutdown occurs.”

“As former superintendents of national parks across the country, we write to you with an urgent appeal to protect our parks and public lands by closing them if a government shutdown occurs,” the group wrote in the September 25 letter. “Past shutdowns in which gates remained open with limited staff have hurt our parks: iconic symbols cut down and vandalized, trash piled up, habitats destroyed, and visitor safety jeopardized. If you don’t act now, history is not just doomed to repeat itself, the damage could in fact be much worse.”

Congress determines the National Park Service (NPS) annual budget because the bureau is housed within the Department of the Interior. When Congress fails to pass a budget, shutdowns may occur. During federal closures, government programs and sites considered non-essential to national security or safety—such as those run by the NPS—are at risk of losing both funding and employees.

The federal government has experienced at least 14 shutdowns since 1980, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank. But the government has only shut down twice in the 21st century. The first occurred in 2013, when over 400 national park locations closed. The most recent shutdown, which took place in December 2018, is also the longest in U.S. history, lasting for over 34 days.

In the past, these shutdowns “have hurt our parks,” wrote CPANP in the latter. The advocacy group comprises 4,600 current, former, and retired NPS employees and volunteers.

During the 2018 shutdown, some 80 percent of Park Service employees were furloughed; however, many of the country’s most iconic parks remained open, managed by a bare-bones crew. At the time, Outside reported that there was no one to collect park fees, guide tourists, plow the roads, or clean overflowing pit toilets. Trash was being cleared only by a few volunteer groups in a handful of popular sites.

In advance of a possible shutdown in the fall of 2023, some state governors, including Katie Hobbs of Arizona and Utah’s Spencer Cox, announced they would use state funds to keep national parks open. The 2023 shutdown was averted, however, and it remains unclear whether similar state-led initiatives will keep parks funded and open in a possible 2025 shutdown.

According to the CPANP, keeping national parks open during a government shutdown, particularly in the current context, could lead to worse outcomes than in the past. National parks are already under pressure to remain open amid severe workforce reductions, due to a swathe of budget cuts implemented by the Trump Administration in the spring.

“Sure, we can keep everything open,” an anonymous NPS ranger told Outside in April after a round of cuts earlier this year. “But who wants to recreate in a park with broken down facilities and no maintenance and no search and rescue?”

The CPANP says any attempt to keep parks running during the shutdown would be courting disaster.

“If national parks are to be open to visitors when National Park employees are furloughed, these nascent issues from the summer season are sure to erupt,” the CPANP letter states. “Leaving parks even partially open to the public during a shutdown with minimal—or no—park staffing is reckless and puts both visitors and park resources at risk.”

The post If the Government Shuts Down, Should National Parks, Too? appeared first on Outside Online.

Two people drove themselves to a nearby emergency room after being attacked by a brown bear while hiking along the two-mile Exit Glacier Trail in Seward, Alaska.

According to a news release from Alaska State Troopers, the incident happened on Wednesday, September 24.

Alaska State Troopers say they received a report from a local hospital just after 9 P.M., after the duo was admitted to the emergency room.

“Both individuals had to fight off the bear and sustained non-life-threatening injuries,” wrote Alaska State Troopers.

The incident occurred within the boundaries of Kenai Fjords National Park, renowned for its glaciers and diverse wildlife.

There is no cell service in Kenai Fjords National Park. Following the attack, the two hikers, who reportedly suffered non-life-threatening injuries, were in stable condition.

Officials told Outside that local biologists and Alaska Wildlife Troopers returned to the area the following day to find DNA evidence that could be used to identify the bear, but were unable to find any, Jeff Selinger, management coordinator with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told Outside in an email. Authorities do not know what prompted the attack.

Following the attack, the Kenai Fjords National Park Superintendent and local Alaska State Troopers closed the trail and surrounding areas. It’s unclear when the trails will reopen to the public.

“This incident remains under investigation in collaboration with Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game. There are no further details to share at this time,” wrote the National Park Service in a press statement.

In an interview with the Kenai Peninsula public radio station KDLL, Selinger said that determining the motivation of a bear attack helps to inform how authorities handle a bear if it’s caught.

“One of the big things we try to determine, and you know, it’s not always possible, is whether it was a defensive attack by the bear, for example, a sow protecting cubs, or if it’s a predatory attack, where you know the bear is attacking the person you know looking at them as—to consume them,” he told KDLL.

In a defensive attack, for example, authorities may hang signs to warn people of a potentially violent animal. In some rare instances, the bear may be euthanized.

The Exit Glacier area is home to a network of trails that lead to views of the glacier. Bears and moose frequently inhabit the area surrounding the hiking trails, and wildlife officials remind visitors always to practice bear safety.

“Be bear aware to help avoid surprise bear encounters. Kenai Fjords National Park recommends carrying bear spray and knowing how to use it,” wrote NPS.

The most accessible glacier on the Kenai Peninsula, Exit Glacier is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park where visitors can drive to the trailhead—and only during the summer.

Bears are typically most active in the fall months when they undergo hyperphagia, consuming an enormous amount of calories in preparation for their winter hibernation.

The post Two Hikers Were Attacked by a Brown Bear in an Alaskan National Park appeared first on Outside Online.

Our national park system is gorgeous year round, but some park units are made for fall, thanks to their abundance of hardwood forests. The annual changing of the leaves is like nature’s version of performance art as those hardwoods put on a dazzling show of color before winter sets in. The fact that the performance is fleeting is one of the reasons it’s so spectacular. Summer is gone and winter is coming, but for a brief window in September and October, we get to experience the outdoors with near-perfect temperatures, reduced crowds, and a forest canopy that is ablaze with color.

Here are the top national parks for witnessing mother nature’s last gasp before winter takes hold—and the best fall adventures in each park.

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Shenandoah National Park might be the perfect fall foliage destination. The mountains are covered with hardwood forests, while drastic elevation changes within the park extend the window for finding color from mid September to mid November. The 200,000-acre park is covered with beech, birch and hickory trees that turn yellow, while black gums and maples offer shades of red. And it’s not just the hardwoods that perform during the fall; Virginia Creeper, a vine that covers most of the rock walls inside the park, turns a reddish purple in September. A two-lane road cruises through the heart of the park for 100 miles, giving you fast access to long range views with every overlook. It’s also a great park for late fall adventures, as the season finishes with giant poplars that occupy the stream valleys, and turn yellow in the middle of November.

The Adventure: Hike Upper Hawksbill Trail

Half the fun of visiting Shenandoah is cruising Skyline Drive, a 100-mile two lane road that follows the crest of the mountains through the heart of the park. Overlooks that give broad views of the peaks beyond and the valleys below are situated at regular intervals, so you’ll have plenty of reasons to stop and nab a photo or two. Shenandoah is a hiker’s park, and dozens of trails begin and end on Skyline Drive. There’s no bad hike when it comes to foliage views, but I like the perch on top of Hawksbill Summit, the tallest mountain in the park with a 360-degree view that encompasses the Shenandoah Valley below, Blue Ridge Mountains to the west, and the Piedmont to the east. Start at Upper Hawksbill Trail at milepost 46.5 on Skyline Drive and tackle the 1-mile climb to the top of the 4,049-foot peak.

Where to Stay: Fall weekends are busy and campgrounds and lodges inside the park are booked well in advance, but Lewis Mountain Campground has 30 first come/first serve sites that remain open until December 1. It’s tough to get these sites on a weekend, but if you show up on Thursday, you have a good shot at scoring one ($30 a night).

Acadia National Park, Maine

Acadia National Park is best known for its rugged coastline, where the Atlantic meets the rocky edge of Maine. But when the weather turns crisp, visitors should turn their attention to the interior of the park, where New England hardwoods like oak, maple, and beech offer punches of color to the evergreen forest. According to the National Park Service, mid October is typically peak color inside the park. You can check the state of Maine’s foliage report for weekly updates so you don’t miss the show.

The Adventure: Bike the Carriage Roads

Acadia manages 45 miles of historic carriage roads, which were built in the early 1900s by landowner John D. Rockefeller Jr. on Mount Desert Island. The roads traverse the forest on the interior of the island, crossing streams via 17 stone bridges. The crushed-stone roads aren’t open to vehicles, so you can enjoy a car-free ride as you pedal through history. Target the Tri-Lakes Loop, an 11-mile romp through the heart of Mount Desert that skirts the edges of Eagle Lake, Bubble Lake, and Jordan Lake. The grades are casual and the climbing is minimal, so you can knock it out quickly if you’re in a hurry, but you’ll also have the chance to extend your ride into a full day adventure if you’d like.

Where to Stay: Blackwoods Campground, on the interior side of Mount Desert Island, has wooded sites and is open until October 20 this year. Tent sites are $30 a night. I found open sites throughout September and October, but if you can’t score the nights you’re looking for, the gateway town of Bar Harbor has plenty of camping resorts and hotels.

Gauley River National Recreation Area, West Virginia

The Gauley River National Recreation Area is situated less than an hour from New River National Park, but gets a fraction of the attention. To be fair, the national recreation area protects a rugged gorge without much visitor infrastructure, but what it lacks in visitor centers, it makes up for in beauty. The recreation area is particularly stunning in the fall, when its 25-mile long gorge—which is blanketed by a hardwood forest—is ablaze with color.

The Adventure: Whitewater Rafting

For seven weekends in September and October, recreational releases fill the Gauley, turning a 25-mile stretch of the river through the National Recreation Area into a torrent of high-volume whitewater. Pairing that rare adventure opportunity with the annual kaleidoscope of colors that paint the wall of the Gauley’s gorge, is an absolutely transcendent adventure known as “Gauley Season.” The river drops 668 feet over 25 miles and is known for its big volume waves and drops. It’s divided into two sections, the Upper Gauley being the most intense (rafters have to have some whitewater experience and be at least 16 years old), while the Lower Gauley is a slightly more tame (12 miles of class III-V open to all boaters 12 and up). The ultimate move is to combine the two sections of the Gauley with an overnight camping trip in the middle (all inclusive from $459 per person). 

If you want to experience the Gauley River without the thrill of whitewater, show up any day outside of the release days and bring your fly rod. The Gauley is loaded with trout, smallmouth bass, and walleye, all of which are feeding heavily during the fall.

Where to Stay: Try to score a spot at the Gauley Tailwaters Campground, situated below Summersville Dam. There are only 18 drive in sites, and you’d be pitching a tent in the grass, but it’s as close as you can get to the Upper Gauley put in. (And it’s free!) If you’re looking for something a little more refined, Adventures on the Gorge has cabins and campsites on an expansive campus 30 minutes from the Gauley (from $39 a night).

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Aspens and cottonwoods: that’s what you come to Rocky Mountain National Park to see in the fall. Oh, and the elk, which are busy sparring and bugling as part of their annual mating ritual. Because of the high elevation of the park, the changes to the leaves begin to happen in the middle of September as the aspens and other hardwoods turn gold, yellow, and red. October can be the sweet spot with color still lingering in the lower elevations and crowds thinning all over the park.

The Adventure: Hike Fern Lake Trail

Fern Lake Trail is a 9-mile roundtrip along the Big Thompson River, passing the 60-foot Fern Falls along the way. At the lake, you can see several 11,000 and 12,000-foot peaks on the horizon, including the 12,331-foot Knobtop Mountain. The majority of the trail is forested, so you’ll be treated with a canopy full of cottonwoods, aspens, and willows turning different shades of yellow and orange throughout fall.

For elk viewing, head to the meadows in Upper Beaver Meadows or Moraine Park, where elk are known to gather around dawn and dusk. But stick to the roads and established trails—the meadows are closed to foot traffic during September and October to protect the annual rut. The Kawuneeche Valley, on the west side of the park near Grand Lake, is a great place to see aspens and elk at the same time. The 7-mile Green Mountain Loop passes through forests of lodgepole and quaking aspen as well as the Big Meadow, which draws elk in the morning and late afternoon.

Where to Stay: Camping inside the park gets scarce come fall. Longs Peak Campground and Glacier Basin Campground are both closed for 2025, and Moraine Park Campground and Aspen Glen Campground both close for the season at the end of September. Timber Creek Campground is open until October 6 this year, though. It’s a quieter campground on the west side of the park near Grand Lake with 30 tent-only sites, but you’ll need reservations ($35 a night). Grand Lake Lodge has historic cabins on the edge of the park if you want a roof over your head as the temperature drops (from $137).

The Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee

The Natchez Trace is 444 miles of rolling scenic road through the heart of the South that follows the original trading route established by Native Americans and later adopted by European settlers. It’s particularly stunning in the fall as the hardwood canopy forms a tunnel of color surrounding the sinuous blacktop.

The Adventure: Bike the Natchez Trace

Technically, the road was built for vehicles, and a thru-drive beginning in Nashville, Tennessee and ending at the Mississippi River is certainly a worthy endeavor. But the Natchez Trace also offers a primo opportunity to pedal through that same gorgeous landscape, and the Parkway operates bicycle-only campgrounds and bicycle service stations throughout its corridor. Riding the entire road takes at least a week. The Adventure Cycling Association guides regular trips (from $2499 per person). If you want to tackle a piece of the Parkway, check out the northernmost 60 miles, where you can use Nashville as your basecamp and pedal the hilliest portion of the road past waterfalls and overlooks as you cruise through a deciduous hardwood forest.

Where to Stay: Nashville is loaded with hotel options, and there are two campgrounds within the northernmost stretch of the Parkway. The Tennessee Highway 50 Campground is bicycle only at milepost 408, but the Meriiwether Lewis Campground, at milepost 385, is more scenic as it’s tucked into the forest. Both are first-come first-served and free.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park put on one of the best displays of fall color in the west. The forest surrounding the iconic craggy peaks of the park are scattered with aspens, cottonwoods, and willows, all of which turn different shades of yellow in September and October. You’ll also find splashes of red from the black hawthorn shrubs that grow along streams and wetlands. But the colorful landscape is just part of the show; the park’s wildlife is the most active during this season so it’s a good time to see pronghorn sheep gathering before migrating south for the winter and elk bugling and sparring in the meadows.

The Adventure: The Fall Safari

You’re going to see color if you hit Grand Teton in late September and October—the aspens and cottonwoods are hard to miss. But put in a little effort and you can increase your chances of seeing some spectacular wildlife, too. You can take your chances on your own and head to easy to reach spots like Oxbow Bend, a slow moving section of the Snake River where elk and moose are known to frequent. Or explore the park on a guided tour with naturalists who know exactly where to go to see the big game, and have the best equipment, like binoculars and spotting scopes, that will allow you to see these animals at a safe distance. Jackson Hole Safaris offers half day tours through October (from $170 per person).

Where to Stay: If you want to camp inside the park, Signal Mountain Campground, which has 81 sites near Jackson Lake, is open until October 14. ($55 per night). If you want to stay in town, the Virginian Lodge is a renovated motel with a variety of accommodations, from RV spaces to bunk rooms to suites (RV sites start at $139 a night; rooms start at $344).

Glacier National Park, Montana

Winter comes early to Glacier National Park, but the hardwoods that are peppered throughout the park’s evergreen forests put on one last show in September and October before the snow begins to fall in earnest. Glacier is a particularly good spot to see larch trees, which are common in the western side of the park, and turn gold in the middle of October. Maybe the best part of visiting Glacier in the fall? The crowds have thinned, so you don’t have to worry about timed entries or angling for a parking spot. And while many of the park’s facilities shut down for winter at the end of September, Going-to-the-Sun Road is typically open until the third week of October.

The Adventure: Float the Flathead River

The North Fork of the Flathead River forms the southwestern border of Glacier, and is a fun, family-friendly whitewater rafting experience during the summer months when snowmelt creates bigger rapids. But by fall, the water level has dropped and the river has mellowed, making for a relaxing float where you can take in the fall splendor without worrying about taking an unexpected swim. Glacier Guides runs full-day float trips through September on a remote section of the North Fork that’s surrounded by hardwoods exhaling their last gasp of color (from $152 per person).

The North Fork is also a world-renowned fly fishing destination, famous for its fiesta cutthroat trout. Glacier Anglers runs half day float trips where you’ll stay dry and cast from the boat with Glacier’s peaks as the backdrop (from $550 for two).

Where to Stay: A lot of the park’s facilities shut down at the end of September, but Bowman Lake Campground operates primitive camping until November 1, unless the snow falls heavy and early. It’s a remote campground at the end of a long, dirt road drive with 48 sites tucked into the trees near Bowman Lake. Sites are first come/first serve. ($15 per night).

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee

You can’t talk about national parks and fall foliage without mentioning Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). This 500,000-acre preserve protects one of the most biodiverse forests in the world—a forest that is made up predominantly of hardwoods that turn every shade of the rainbow in fall. The show begins at the end of September at the higher elevations of the park and carries on through the beginning of November in the lower valleys.

The Adventure: Backpack to Big Trees

GSMNP is crowded most weekends throughout the year, but it reaches another level of activity during peak leaf peeping. Fortunately, most of those people stick to the same spots—Cades Cove, Newfound Gap Road, Kuwohi—so it’s easy to find solitude, especially if you’re willing to put in some leg work. Hike the 14-mile Cataloochee Divide Loop and you’ll bag the trifecta of fall splendor inside the park: expansive mountaintop views, the chance to see elk, and massive old growth forests. The backpack combines Hemphill Bald Trail, Caldwell Fork Trail, and Rough Fork Trail trail on the eastern border of the park, far away from the crowds at Gatlinburg, and crosses over Hemphill Bald, a 5,000-foot grassy mountaintop, before dropping deep into the forest where a stand of massive old growth poplars can be found. Elk also frequent the area, so keep an eye out in the morning and before sunset. You can tackle this loop as a full day hike, but it’s best as an overnight trip, which will give you time to cast for trout in Caldwell Fork, a narrow backcountry stream near that forest of poplars.

Where to Stay: The best backcountry campsite on this loop is closed because of damage from Hurricane Helene, but you can pitch your tent at the next best site, backcountry campsite 40, Big Hemlock, at mile 10 of the loop, and still be a quick stroll to Caldwell Fork for fishing. Get a backcountry permit for the campsite ($8) in advance.

 

Graham Averill is Outside magazine’s national parks columnist. He believes that fall is one of nature’s greatest magic shows, especially in the Southern Appalachians where he lives. He recently wrote about the most picture-perfect spots in Yosemite National Park. 

The post The Best National Parks for Fall Foliage Adventures appeared first on Outside Online.

When the Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie first tried to canoe across North America in 1789, he unwittingly followed a river that led him north to the Arctic instead of west to the Pacific. When he tried again (and ultimately succeeded) in 1793, he brought with him a special piece of navigational equipment imported from London: a telescope with enough power to see the moons of Jupiter, which would enable him to calculate his longitude accurately.

On my canoe trip down the Petawawa River in northern Ontario this summer, I did the same. I’d received a press release from a French company called Vaonis about their new Hestia portable smart telescope, which is the size of a hardcover book and uses your smartphone as its brains and viewfinder. Among their boasts: the Hestia enables you to see the moons of Jupiter! I had maps and GPS for navigation, but the idea of channeling Mackenzie by spending my evenings along the river peering into the heavens sounded fun, so I added a Hestia to my pack. Here’s how it went.

How It Works

The Hestia itself is nothing but a bunch of lenses and prisms packed into a rectangular case and weighing 1.87 pounds. There are no moving parts and no electronics. Once you attach your phone to it, you have a telescope with an aperture of 1.2 inches and a field of view of 1.8 degrees. That’s at the very bottom end of what you’d get from an inexpensive backyard telescope, but better than you’d get from the cheap portable monoculars you might buy for birdwatching or hunting. The magnification is 25X, and the price starts at $189 for the basic unit and can go up to $299 if you include accessories like a tripod and solar filter.

What gives the Hestia an edge for portable stargazing is the Gravity app that you download for your phone. Fancy telescopes can take very-long-exposure images because they have a motor that moves along with the stars; the Hestia doesn’t move, but the app takes multiple photos and digitally stacks them on top of each other, giving you exposure times of up to 30 seconds. The app can also analyze the stars in your field of view, figure out where the telescope is pointing, and then guide you towards whatever astronomical feature you’re looking for: planets, star clusters, galaxies, and so on.

When I first got the Hestia, I took it through its paces in a park near my home in Toronto, a city of 3 million with plenty of light pollution. It was underwhelming. There were so few stars in the sky that I had trouble getting six of them—the minimum required for the Gravity app’s star analysis to figure out where I was pointing—in the viewfinder. The poor visibility also made it difficult to focus properly.

I later tried it at a friend’s cottage outside the city, and had somewhat better luck. I still struggled to get the star analysis to work, but I was able to snap a nice picture of the moon:

I also used the included solar filter to take a picture of the sun, sunspots and all. This was less interesting than I expected, but it’s a reminder that the Hestia started as a Kickstarter project aimed at people who wanted to watch the 2024 solar eclipse.

Into the Wild

I figured the Petawawa River, in Algonquin Park, would be the perfect place to try the Hestia in earnest. During our six-day trip, we would be paddling right past the Algonquin Radio Observatory, a facility built in 1959 to observe outer space deep in the wilderness away from pesky cities.

I brought the telescope in its hard carrying case, along with the included tripod. There was some good-natured grumbling from some of my tripmates about the added weight in the portage packs, but it fit in nicely and was rugged enough to withstand rough handling.

It proved useful on our second day, when we were paddling down 2.5-mile-long Radiant Lake. About halfway along, we found a decent beach to camp on. Our maps told us there was one more suitable spot at the end of the lake, about a mile farther on. We wanted to cover more distance, but we didn’t want to risk having to double back if the site was already taken. I got out the Hestia, put it in “scenery” mode, and confirmed that there was indeed a canoe on the distant beach.

The stargazing that night was less successful. The stars were uncountable, but I still couldn’t get the Gravity’s star analysis working. It kept telling me that the scope was unstable. I’ve since realized that extending the tripod to its maximum height of roughly five feet makes it too wobbly, but that didn’t occur to me at the time. So I took some photos of random points in the sky:

It’s a nice photo. You can see some remarkable details, including something at the bottom right that I can almost imagine is Jupiter with a couple of moons. It’s not, though. Jupiter was below the horizon when I took that pic.

The Verdict

Back in Toronto, I tried a few more experiments with the telescope. Keeping the tripod at half-height kept it stable, which eliminated one problem. But there was simply too much light in my neighborhood to see enough stars for the star analysis. I managed to get it to work a few times, so that it could start directing me to the specific star cluster I was looking for, but not consistently. It’s tricky to get the focus, exposure, and ISO settings right, especially when there aren’t many stars in the sky.

I’m still intrigued by the idea. The Hestia is capable of seeing Venus’s rings, Jupiter’s moon, and other cool astronomical phenomena that would be totally new to me. Next time I’m outside the city, I’ll set it up again—at half-height—and give it another shot. But even if I master it, I’ll stick to GPS for navigation on my next canoe trip.

The post The Hestia Is a Portable Telescope for Your Next Backcountry Adventure appeared first on Outside Online.

We recently bought a house in a mountain town where we’ve rented for 15 years. It’s the perfect location: within walking distance of trails in one direction, and the old downtown of this former mining town in the other. Since the COVID pandemic, this lazy town has become incredibly popular—and expensive. What our family of three could afford was a 100-year-old fixer-upper, 900 square feet, two bedrooms, one bathroom. Because our town is now hip, all our friends and family want to visit. And we want them to stay with us.

Over the years we often stayed with my brother-in-law’s family. They have a big house, and they always offered us a guest room with its own bathroom. We loved it and were so grateful. When they came to visit, we gave them a room, but one of them slept on the living room couch. Six people used one toilet and shower.

If they were our only guests, I might be more generous. But with all our company, it’s starting to feel like a hotel. So I’ve proposed to my partner that when his brother’s family returns, we house them in the camper that we park behind the house in the alley. It has heat! It doesn’t have a toilet, but they can come into the house if need be.

But my partner thinks that would be rude, and that if we’re going to have guests, we have to house them indoors. But I argue that a hotel or Airbnb in this town costs $200 a night. They should be grateful for what we have to offer! Shouldn’t they? —Location Rich, House Poor

Dear House Poor,

First, let’s breathe deep and count gratitudes. You own a functional house in a great place. You have friends and family that you like well enough to invite into your home. You have a camper! Those facts alone speak of an abundance, even if the shabby home feels like poverty.

Visiting Family Creates an Ethical Conundrum

It’s tempting—just ask your partner—to attempt reciprocating with family. They offer you a suite, you should offer them a suite! And yet the financial reality is likely not equal. You didn’t tell me enough about their home to know if they own a large house (because they are fabulously wealthy), or because the house is in some undesirable place where real estate is cheap. It doesn’t really matter: what matters is that your partner may feel some element of envy or shame while comparing your hovel to their mansion. That’s a strong driver of behavior.

Sundog finds your camper solution both elegant and charming. Your guests have presumably traveled to your mountain town not just to see you, but also to see the mountains. Let them rough it! You may even provide a down-home chamber pot—a five-gallon plastic bucket—should they prefer a more authentic experience. No extra charge for the privacy. Your partner and child will be much more gracious of hosts if they all get to sleep in their own beds.

If your guests prefer luxury, then they can choose one of the pricey accommodations you mention. I understand your partner’s concern that it might be uncouth, but I don’t see anything unethical in offering what you have.

Morality aside, there may be a question of legality. Some cities expressly forbid occupying motor homes in the street and driveway. And for good reason. Setting up a HipCamp in your driveway will violate laws and enrage your neighbors. There’s a big difference between letting your family stay in the Casita versus running a pirate trailer park. Let your conscience be your guide here, and if a crabby neighbor complains, you can address that when it happens.

The last thing I’ll say is that there may be some intra-family dynamics here that aren’t quite at the surface. That may be between you and your partner, or between your partner and his brother. If the camper solution blows up in your face, then you’ll have to confront those tensions more directly, and perhaps come up with a new plan.

Should a Reader Offer a Refund?

Recently Sundog wrote about the ethics of selling used gear that may not last, specifically an old sailboat on an old trailer. Reader LittleTug chimed in with his opinion:

I read your article on should you give back more money to the person who purchased your old boat. No offense but that is ridiculous. Everything works the day before it breaks. I am sure that you did not make it break. If you lied about something other than your opinion on its condition when you sold it (that is fraud) you should not consider giving back one penny. They just want it for free.

If you bought it would you try to get more money back? I would not. He could have had a marine surveyor check it out before he bought it.

Mark Sundeen teaches environmental writing at the University of Montana. Got a question or a response? Send your questions and complaints to sundogsalmanac@hotmail.com

 

The post Our Home Is Tiny. Is It Rude to House My Visiting In-Laws in a Camper? appeared first on Outside Online.

Early this spring, during a fact-finding sprint up a storm-damaged section of the Appalachian Trail (AT), I had a comical epiphany about my backpacking life: Despite hiking 11,000 miles since 2019, or passing a solid quarter of the last six years of my life in a tent, I had only spent two nights ever without my wife, Tina, on trail. They were both disasters.

The first happened in Monson, Maine, the last town on our first northbound thru-hike of the AT. After a few beers at a hostel there, we’d gotten into some petty spat about whether or not I needed to buy new shoes for the remaining 120 miles. She reasonably worried it was too expensive for such a short haul, but I thought my battered trail runners would disintegrate amid the infamous Hundred-Mile Wilderness. I ceded the argument, stormed off solo, and spent a sleepless night in a shelter with a stranger I was convinced was a serial killer. Addled by my proximity to a murder on trail months earlier, I was wrong about him. I had been right, however, about the shoes; they soon split in half, leading to a broken toe.

The second was during the final month of the Continental Divide Trail, when we accidentally took alternate routes around a line of mountains walloped by an early snow. I had half the tent, and so did Tina; we shivered our way through a miserable night separately, until a satellite message reunited us for pizza 36 hours later. I wondered if I might die; I was, at points, convinced she already had. Hiking the country’s longest trails with the person I love has been a privilege and a pleasure. The exceptions have only reinforced that rule.

But the time had come, I reckoned, to test my own mettle, to go backpacking alone and see how few mistakes I might make. For a year, I’d wanted to leave the tin-capped Nevada capitol in Carson City, climb to the Sierra Nevada via a new municipal trail, circumnavigate Lake Tahoe on the famous 170-mile Tahoe Rim Trail, and return to Carson City, for 210 miles total. I wanted to do it in less than a week. I knew the task would require diligent daily pushes, since I’d need to average 30 miles in rather high country every day, and a week of decent summer weather, before the first snow started to fall. Since Tina’s job as a park ranger didn’t end until November began, I knew I needed to walk 12 hours each day with no company other than my own.

Friends often ask me about the tents I love, the virtues of sleeping bags versus quilts, and the best kind of pad for their body. I almost always demur, though, admitting that camping and camping gear are only side effects of the reason I hike: an addiction to physical exhaustion. Pitching a tent, rehydrating dry food, and climbing inside a tube of down are simply the things I must do to do the thing I want to do. Tina is the opposite, though, a total gearhead who will cut a jacket’s tag to save a sliver of a gram and a camping enthusiast who thinks a lot about how and where we pitch our two-person tent. After 11,000 miles of mostly wanting to throw my foam pad onto a patch of dirt and go to sleep, would I even know enough about camping to do it well?

Forgive the pride I felt on that first night, then, when I stood a few feet away from my tiny Gatewood Cape—an ingenious poncho that doubles as a tarp with room for one—and smiled. The pitch atop a cliff was perfect. The sun was sinking low over Tahoe’s California. And after a 28-mile start that was mostly uphill, I knew the breeze cutting through the trees would be like a shot of pure melatonin. Maybe I knew more than I thought I did?

Variations on that feeling came daily. On that second day, I pushed 34 miles, making one last summit with weary legs and driving my stakes into the sand just as the sky smeared to cotton candy. A pair of liminal introverts, Tina and I can often be so invested in our own dynamic on trail that we talk less to other people than maybe we should. I sometimes marvel that we’ve made some of our very best friends in the world on thru-hikes, but I sometimes think that we act as if we’ve reached capacity. That very hot second afternoon, though, I’d started a conversation with a stranger sitting alongside a stream. We swapped numbers before I pressed on. When was the last time I had done that?

On the third day, though, I felt a pang of homesickness, not for my actual house or my cats but for Tina and for the rest of the beloved weirdos that became our “trail family” long ago. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Tahoe Rim overlap for 50 miles, meaning that I’d spend 48 hours on a section I’d already hiked while doing the PCT in 2021. Memories of those happy moments, like teaching a friend named Ezra the basic rules of football, twisted my stomach, reminding me that they weren’t here, that it was just me.

And when I hitched into South Lake Tahoe that afternoon for groceries, I left a pair of Adidas Dunamis sunglasses—after 42 years, the only pair of shades I’ve ever actually liked—in a trail angel’s cupholder. I could imagine Tina spotting them and handing them to me with a smile. An idiot check, where you look behind yourself to make sure you’re not leaving anything, works best if there are two of you. It also helps if one of you is not an idiot.

Aside from losing a second pair of drug-store sunglasses, though, that was the worst thing that happened in 210 miles. Each day as I walked, I’d prepare a mental checklist for camping that night. Look for deadfall before pitching the Gatewood Cape, so as best to avoid being impaled by the top half of a tree. Pull out all of the food I’d tucked into assorted pockets during the day and put it into the bear can, locked and stowed far away from the tent. Set an alarm and stuff the phone in your backpack, so you wake up when it’s time to hike.

I did all of this, and I made it back to Carson City and my hotel room inside a smoky casino in a little more than six days, 16 hours faster than I expected. I had pushed toward the 40-mile mark that final night, sneaking into a reserved but empty National Forest Service campsite long after dark and splitting an hour before dawn, images of the food that awaited me in Carson City dancing in my head. Hiking in the dark, I’d laughed when I thought about Tina, who certainly would have told me that a few tacos in town, or maybe even Domino’s delivery, wasn’t worth this late-night, early-morning effort. After having the tacos, I can say she would have been right. (If you’re in Carson City, though, this is the spot, an actually incredible Indonesian diner in yet another casino.)

Before I left for Nevada, I wondered if a solo thru-hike might change my perception of thru-hikes in general. Long-distance hiking is, to some extent, enduring misery; having some company with whom to share that misery is a cliché for a reason. Would I get overwhelmed by the drudgery of it all, by walking from before sunrise until after sundown without saying a word to another human? Or would I be so into the freedom of it all, the absolute sense that I could do whatever I wanted, that I’d only want to go it alone in the future?

Neither happened. They are two very different activities, depending on different forms of self-reliance and perseverance. I was glad to know I made the right decisions alone, that I pushed my pace enough to make the loop that I have since dubbed the “Carson City Lasso.” Sure, I could do it again. But I also look forward to November, when Tina’s job is over and the American South begins to cool. We’ll head to a new trail and maybe revert to our old ways—me losing things in a stranger’s car and her saying, “Hey, don’t forget that.”

5 Lessons for Backpacking Solo

1. Know Your Kit

When you’re hiking long distances, there is little room for redundancy in your backpack—the lower your kit’s weight, the less strain on your body, the more miles you can comfortably make. But being on trail with someone offers some version of backup, a safety net of supplies should you lose a spoon or tent stake. That resource is obviously gone when you’re alone. The night before I left Carson City, I unpacked my entire bag, methodically considered everything I’d need each day, and went to bed satisfied that it would be on my back come morning.

2. Have a Project

One of the absolute joys of long-distance backpacking is silence, or an escape from the onslaught of incessant inputs that constitute modern life. If you don’t have cell-phone service for four days, you don’t have access to the world’s chatter for four days. You’ll learn something about yourself, about the way you think, about what you might want to change in your life. But, to be honest, you’ll also get bored, especially if there’s no pal for occasional banter to break up that space. Plan accordingly. Download a band’s entire catalogue. Buy the audiobook version of some tome so long you would never read it. Learn the names of the plants where you’ll be hiking, and become an autodidact expert at spotting them. Just give yourself anything else to do as you walk.

3. Talk to Strangers

Whether you’re walking with your partner or the friends that may form your trail family, you tend to create a little bubble around yourself on long hikes, existing inside a pocket of inside jokes and you-had-to-be-there stories. New folks you encounter can struggle to enter your scene, especially as mileage gets bigger and your focus intensifies. Late in thru-hikes, I’ve totally passed people with little more than a nod. On the first day of this adventure, I noticed my learned propensity and decided to address it, to talk to most everyone I saw. On the second day, I met someone who lives just a few miles away from me in Colorado and loves to climb our backyard mountains, too. We made tentative plans to hang out, and I relearned a simple lesson—slow down enough to say hey.

4. Have a Plan, but Enjoy the Flexibility

If you’re going into the woods by yourself, give someone who is not only responsible but also cares about your well-being a general schedule—when and where you’re going in, when and where you’re coming out, a few important milestones where you might be able to check in. Accidents happen outside, and someone else realizing you’re overdue can actually save your life. But you’re on your own, so you can split the miles up however you’d like. That was my favorite part of this individual outing, knowing that, if I found a campsite I loved 26 miles into the day, I could wake up an hour earlier the next day and make up the difference with 34. It was truly a chance to live that old backpacking adage: hike your own hike.

5. Hike Somewhere New

I love revisiting places, to aim for a deeper understanding than the “I visited, I saw, I moved on” ethic of checklist travel. But I felt the most dreadfully lonely during the 50 miles I’d already hiked with my wife and friends, less able to enjoy the newness of this experience than the nostalgia for the jokes we’d shared years earlier. I longed for their company in a way that pulled me out of the present. The moment I stepped back onto trail I’d never trod, that feeling vanished. So go somewhere without existing emotional attachments, and make new ones.

The post I’ve Hiked 11,000 Miles with My Wife. Here’s What I Learned on My First Solo Trip. appeared first on Outside Online.

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Over the last decade, super shoes like Nike’s Vaporfly have revolutionized distance running. With thick foam and stiff plates, they return enough of the energy produced by the human body to measurably improve performance. Now, a brand better known for comfortable and unassuming boots wants to apply those same merits to your next hike. Can super shoes really make your time outdoors more comfortable? I’ve spent the last two weeks wearing Merrell’s zany new SpeedArc Surge to find out.

If I were to write a description of my ideal hiking footwear, it’d start from the bottom: big, grippy traction lugs, a soft foam outsole, a full-length plate, a supportive mid-sole, a moderate drop of about 8 millimeters, and an upper that prioritizes breathability, all wrapped up in the lightest weight possible. In short, a good pair of trail runners.

The lugs on a great pair of trail runners provide sure grip on loose scree and wet slippery rocks, allowing me to move confidently, no matter the terrain. The soft foam above those lugs should absorb pressure from uneven, pointy rocks—and add a bounce to my step. The plate needs to spread out impact and stabilize the shoe. And the firmer foam between that plate and my foot must support the shape of my feet, helping to spread the load of my weight evenly. The breathable uppers on a well-designed pair of trail runners hold my feet down and protect them from scrapes and pokes, providing the least possible barrier while heat and moisture escape. Each gram saved minimizes the energy each step requires, maximizing the miles I cover.

That description applies to the Merrell SpeedArc—only extrapolated to maximalism. Think of Merrell’s new shoe as a blown-up diagram of your favorite trail runner. You can see each component on the outside, large and clearly delineated.

Describing the three visible layers that make up the sole, Merrell’s design director, Ian Cobb explains, “The top piece adapts to your foot for immediate cushioning, while the bottom layer adapts to the terrain. The plate acts like a strut bar that brings everything together to push you forward.”

One of the innovations in Nike’s original super shoe was in employing something called supercritical foam to boost energy return to new levels. The material is created by infusing a chemical at its supercritical point—where it’s both a fluid and gas—into a polymer to create a foam with a unique micocellular structure. This is all a nerdy way of saying that new technologies are enabling footwear designers to take foams to hitherto impossible levels of performance: they can tailor specific properties, like cushioning or bounciness, with incredible fidelity, all while reducing weight.

The SpeedArc uses supercritical foam too, for both of the exposed layers in the sole. Merrell says its tailored this material to optimize cushion and propulsion, forming it into “coil-like shapes,” designed to work just like springs.

In its lab testing, compared to the brand’s previous hiking shoes, Cobb says this enables the SpeedArc to deliver, “double the energy return.”

It’s these foam “coils”—and the way the two layers of them are mounted to the central nylon plate—that give the SpeedArc its distinct marshmallow sandwich look, as well as its performance. Its also the prominent separation of the two sole halves, both visually and in terms of performance along with the full-length, full-width plate that distinguishes the SpeedArc from other maxi shoes, like those popularized by Hoka.

While less radical in appearance, the SpeedArc’s uppers are just as innovative. Made from a woven polymer reinforced with Kevlar threads (the yellow lines running across the shoe), the material is incredibly open and very resistant to abrasion. That thin body is then secured with a two-dial BOA lace system. BOA has been replacing laces with wires since 2001, but this is the first time I’ve seen footwear equipped with not one, but two of its dials, which allow you to independently adjust tightness over the forefoot and ankle. This works with polymer overlays that wrap the arch to eliminate hotspots. Together with the seamless upper, that maximizes comfort, and allows you to really cinch your foot down onto the SpeedArc’s soles. This detail helps eliminate the movement between shoe and foot that can cause blisters and fosters a feeling of security that helps the shoes feel reassuringly stable on the trail, despite the height created by the foam coils.

Despite the marshmallow appearance, wearing the SpeedArc doesn’t feel squishy or bouncy at all, just stable and comfortable. Walking along a trail in the SpeedArc reminded me of strolling barefoot across a carpeted room. The experience is utterly unremarkable, until you realize you’re walking across an uneven surface as if it, too, was flat carpet.

Without a laboratory (I write this from an austere cabin bordering Glacier National Park), I can’t speak to numbers, but putting some effort into pace on the trail, the shoes do deliver a tangible feeling of propulsion with every stride.

The only negative here comes from the tread. It doesn’t offer as much grip as many of my trail runners. That appears to be true on both loose dirt, slippery rocks, and even bare metal. While stepping on my truck’s rock sliders to climb onto its roof and wipe dust off of its solar panels this morning—a task I perform several times a week—I slipped.

Aside from that, the SpeedArcs have proven comfortable throughout daily tasks, like carrying heavy furniture into a new guest house, hiking the dogs on mountain trails, and mowing the yard. I’ve reached for these shoes over my usual hiking boots for those tasks thanks to their comfort and stability, but that’s created its own problems. Each and every time I pull them on, my wife rolls her eyes. Reviewing Merrell’s website, we can’t decide if black and purple marshmallows might stand out less than black and white, or white and gold ones.

In 2025, if you want to win a marathon, you almost need to wear a super shoe. But hiking for me is an opposite endeavor, one that turns miles into relaxation and enjoyment instead of records and medals. Do you need a super shoe to enjoy your next hike? Absolutely not. But I’ll be wearing these SpeedArcs through the rest of my miles on trails this summer. My wife will just be walking a few paces ahead, wearing subtle looking trail runners, pretending that she doesn’t know me.

Buy Now

The post Merrell’s SpeedArc Surge Is a Super Shoe for Hikers—And It’s Surprisingly Fun to Wear appeared first on Outside Online.

You may have rolled your eyes as a teen when an adult told you to “stand up straight” or “stop hunching your shoulders,” but they had a good point: poor posture can lead to misalignment, muscle and joint pain, decreased range of motion, and limited movement function.

Everyday activities like driving, typing, and hunching over your phone can lead to a shortening and tightening of the muscles in the front of your upper body, like your pectorals, which become overused.

The good news? You can limit some of that damage and strengthen the muscles that keep you upright.

Building your chest muscles, the pectoralis major and minor, not only helps you perform everyday activities like pushing open a heavy door or lifting heavy packages from your front doorstep, but it also improves your shoulder stability and helps you maintain good posture when standing or sitting.

Perform the tri-set below as a circuit (doing one set of each exercise back-to-back with about 90 seconds rest in between) or by doing all three to four sets of each exercise before moving on to the next. Challenge yourself with a heavy weight: when you reach the end of your set, you should feel like you could do just one or two more with good form before reaching failure.

You can also make any of these movements more challenging by slowing down the tempo of the lowering phase or adding a pause at the bottom (for the shoulder taps, you can add a three to five-second pause while one hand is touching the opposite shoulder).

1. Dumbbell Squeeze Press

How to Do It:

• Grab a heavy set of dumbbells and sit on the end of a bench holding the ends of the dumbbells vertically in your hip crease.
• Keeping your feet flat on the floor, lie back and bring the weights to rest horizontally on your chest.
• Squeeze the weights together and press them straight up.
• Pause at the top, then slowly lower the weights back to your chest.
• Keep squeezing the dumbbells together throughout the entire movement.

2. Plank with Shoulder Taps

How to Do It:

• Begin in a high plank position with your arms straight and your wrists stacked directly below your shoulders. You can spread your feet about shoulder-width apart for better stability.
• Your body should make a straight line from your head to your heels. (Keep your head and neck neutral and avoid dropping your head down or craning your neck up.)
• Engage your core, squeeze your glutes, and lift your left hand off the floor. Bend your elbow and reach your hand across your torso to tap your right shoulder.
• Return your left hand to its starting position and do the same movement with your right hand.
• Continue alternating for the entire set.

3. Chest Fly

How to Do It:

• Grab a heavy set of dumbbells and sit on the end of a bench holding the ends of the dumbbells vertically in your hip crease.
• Keeping your feet flat on the floor, lie back and keep the weights close to your chest.
• Press the weights straight up over your chest and keep them close together to get into your starting position.
• Slowly lower the dumbbells out to your sides, keeping a bend in your elbows.
• Once the dumbbells reach chest height, pause, then return to your starting position with your arms straight and the dumbbells above your chest.

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The post 3 Chest Exercises to Help Improve Your Posture appeared first on Outside Online.

What’s the most valuable survival tool that you can bring into the backcountry?

The answer you’ll get from a wilderness expert is likely to be “your intuition” or “your survival experience” or perhaps even “a good knife.”

But after watching 12 seasons of the outdoor reality show Alone, my answer has narrowed on a very specific item: the ferro rod. This small metal cylinder, made from the alloy ferrocerium, produces sparks when struck with steel.

For those unfamiliar with the rules of Alone, contestants are allowed to bring just ten items with them into the backcountry as they live off of the land for as long as possible. They choose their ten items from a master list made up of 60 or so gizmos, tools, and pieces of outdoor gear.

Every season, survivalists choose familiar items: a bow and collection of arrows, fishing line and hooks, saws, axes, plastic tarps, etc. The show publishes which items each survivalist chooses on its cast profiles page.

The ferro fire striker is, by my count, the second most-popular item that survivalists opts for, behind only the sleeping bag. And after watching the most recent episode of Alone Africa, I was again reminded why.

Another Survivalist Goes Home

(Spoilers Ahead!) During the seventh episode, which aired on July 31 and was titled “Echoes of Emptiness,” we finally saw Baha, the affable 50-year-old Kyrgyzstani-Canadian, tap out, departing the show after 18 days in the wild. His abandonment left just three contestants remaining: Nathan, Kelsey, and Katie.

One of Alone Africa’s biggest personalities, Baha lasted much longer than I predicted he would after I watched the first episode. In the season’s opener, Baha made a few curious decisions that placed him behind the eight ball. He decided to abandon his initial camping spot in favor of one two miles away. He decided to walk to the new spot during the heat of the afternoon, under the baking sun. And he chose to complete this trek despite not having any potable water.

When Baha reached his destination, he revealed another setback: he’d chosen not to bring a ferro rod into the Great Karoo desert, opting instead to rely on his skills with a bow-drill for creating fire.

It took Baha almost two days to successfully use this friction-based method to make an ember, which allowed him to finally boil drinking water.

Baha was just the sixth participant across Alone’s 11 traditional seasons (season 5 had survivalists work in two-person teams) to disregard the ferro rod. Nathan Donnelly (season 6), Matt Corradino and Colter Barnes (both season 8), Luke Olsen (season 10), and Jake Messinger (season 11) all left ferro rods at home.

What do all of these six have in common? All of them tapped out.

Overconfidence Leads to a Bad Decision

On Alone, having access to reliable fire is simply too important to ignore. Sure, some survivalists are talented with a bow and drill. But this method requires too much physical energy to complete, and is far less reliable than a ferro rod. During Alone seasons set in cold and wet locales, kindling eventually gets soaked by rain, rendering even the best friction setup useless.

Even in Alone Africa, the desert monsoons came in and drenched everything.

So, how do you maintain fire when everything is damp? Like the other six who tried Alone without a ferro rod, Baha had to find a way to keep his fire going ’round the clock. And at some point, this meant staying up all night to stoke the flames.

Time and again Alone, has shown that, in a survival situation, rest is almost as valuable as food. After working long days in the cold, survivalists need their recovery. And once Baha started staying up all night, his mood dropped, and his will to continue evaporated. No sleep = no mojo.

We’ve seen the ferro rod make and break participants in previous seasons. In season 1, Joe Robinet barely lasted 24 hours after he lost his ferro rod on the beach. In season 7, Shawn Helton also bailed after losing his.

During season 6, Nathan—arguably the heartiest survivalist that season—lasted a full 72 days in the wilderness despite not bringing a ferro rod. He instead allowed his fire to burn all day and night, sacrificing his sleep and recovery to that end. But eventually, the flames dried out the tree bows of his shelter. During the night his makeshift house caught fire, and he barely escaped with his life.

So, will Baha’s abandonment make the ferro rod a must-have for future participants? I have my doubts. One Alone alumnus told me that belief in one’s bow-drill skills is a common mindset with Alone cast members. Some of these people have a little too much faith in this skill.

And so long as overconfidence remains part of the human condition, some portion of Alone survivalists will continue to leave the ferro rod at home.

The post On ‘Alone’ Africa, This Survival Tool Takes Center Stage appeared first on Outside Online.

There’s nothing quite like it. Not the spa cold plunge. Not the chlorinated pool. Not even the ocean I lived beside for nearly a decade. I’m talking about a true alpine lake dunk—the kind that leaves your skin tingling, your breath caught in your chest, and your mind somehow quieter.

I got my coldwater start at Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Since then, I’ve dipped into Trillium Lake near Mount Hood, launched into June Lake in the Eastern Sierra, and once hurled myself into the lake beneath the glacier on Mount Timpanogos, where I genuinely wondered if I might die of hypothermia. Worth it. Every time.

Now that I live in Salt Lake City, alpine lakes feel like a seasonal treasure I have to earn (though I did kick off 2025 with a frozen river dip in the Wasatch, ice chunks and all). As an unapologetic winter person, I actually think I might need them. Summer Sierra is sluggish, sweaty, and prone to dramatic sighs. It’s safe to say I’ve deserved to be told—at least once or twice—to go jump in a lake. Honestly? That’s great advice.

My best friend Jill and I call our ritual a “dope dip”—short for dopamine dip. We dunk three times, saying a gratitude with each submersion. Sometimes the only things I can think of are “this view,” “this person,” and “my still-attached toes.” At other times, I’m able to take it slow, to really observe my environment and my body within it. Those are the best plunges.

Afterward, I’m calmer. Clearer. Less of a grouch, more of a human. It’s no exaggeration: I am a better person after I’ve jumped in an alpine lake—if only because I’ve shocked the bad attitude right out of me.

Craving your own dope dip moment? Here are some of the best swimming holes in U.S. national parks to get you started. Want to know why cold water works such magic on your nervous system? This 30-day plunge challenge explains the science behind it.

The post I’m a Better Person After I Jump Into an Alpine Lake appeared first on Outside Online.

Those summer trail runs getting a bit too hot? I logged a ten-miler last week in Alabama, where I live, and it was so muggy I may have performed better if I’d been on a treadmill inside of a sauna.

This time of year, the thought of competing in a cool, underground race has its appeal.

That’s the idea proposed by BecomingX, a learning and development company co-founded by adventurer Bear Grylls. The organization, in partnership with the International Council for Mining and Metals, is hosting the world’s deepest marathon in the tunnels of a Swedish zinc mine called Garpenberg.

The marathon will be held on October 26, approximately 4,300 feet below the Earth’s surface. Sixty runners will don climbing helmets, safety glasses, hi-vis clothes, and headlamps as they take laps around a sprawling mine tunnel, all in complete silence and darkness. In addition to setting a Guinness World Record, the events’ organizers hope to raise at least $1 million for two charities: canine charity Wild at Heart and the BecomingX Foundation, which, according to its website, “helps disadvantaged students in underserved communities across Africa.”

“We’re incredibly proud to host this historic event at our Garpenberg mine,” said Mikael Staffas, President and CEO of Boliden, the company that owns the mine, in a press release on July 18. “As one of the safest and most technologically advanced mines in the world, it’s the perfect setting to show that mining can be both cutting-edge and purpose-driven. We look forward to welcoming the intrepid runners and shining a light on an industry that’s critical to a sustainable future.”

Garpenberg is one of the most productive mines in Sweden, and the source of around one percent of the entire world’s zinc concentrate. Annually, the mine extracts nearly 4 million tons of ores containing zinc, silver, lead, gold, and copper. Historical records show mining has been conducted on the site since at least 350 B.C.E.

Underground marathons have been around for quite a while. From 2002 to 2014, a marathon called the Untertage Sparkassen was held in a German salt mine, 1,640 feet below sea level. And last December, some 100 runners ran laps around a World War II-era bunker in the United Kingdom, in the country’s first underground marathon.

Other runners have covered long distances at far greater depths, though not as part of an official event. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the deepest underground half-marathon distance was run at a staggering depth of 11,676 feet, by Ecuadorian Millán Ludeña inside of a mine in South Africa in 2017.

The Garpenberg race technically isn’t open to the public. The 60 runners are already confirmed, and all will be what the event’s released called “representatives from the mining and metals industry and civil society,” hailing from at least 17 different countries. According to the event’s website, “the majority will not have run a marathon before.” However, organizers at BecomingX say that if any registered runners cancel, a few slots may open up. The catch? You have to raise $30,000 in charity sponsorship to enter to help get them to their $1 million goal.

Even if you can drum up the cash and secure a slot, you’ll have other challenges to overcome. Organizers estimate that, depending on the weather above ground, temperatures inside the mine will range from 75 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. There are also possible health risks when running underground, primarily due to the reduced ventilation, and a subsequent buildup of pollutants like particulate matter in the air, which can be hard on the lungs. A 2020 study in the journal Frontiers in Public Health notes that underground spaces, in general, are prone to “decreased oxygen concentrations and increased carbon dioxide concentrations, elevated humidity and temperature, increased toxic particle concentrations, and accumulation of radioactive radon.”

I’ll take my chances running in the sauna!

The post Bear Grylls’ Company Will Host the World’s Deepest Marathon appeared first on Outside Online.

It’s early on a Tuesday morning in mid-March, and Isabella Calidonna is ready to run. She’s got a hydration pack wrapped around her back and a smile on her face while standing next to the Baroque Four Rivers Fountain in the heart of Rome, Italy. This centerpiece of the famed Navona Piazza, she tells me, is among more than 2,000 fountains in the city designed by the masterful Italian sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini more than 400 years ago.

Calidonna is the founder of ArcheoRunning, a Rome-based running tour company, and she’s leading me on an easy 5-kilometer run that will zigzag through the city’s maze-like alleys. They’re paved with black basalt, referred to as sampietrini in Italian.

The iconic cobblestones date back to the 16th century, when they were first used to cover Saint Peter’s Square in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the iconic Italian High Renaissance church in Vatican City. These are the kind of details that Calidonna, who has a Ph.D. in art history and also studied archeology, easily shares mid-stride.

“I work in great beauty,” she says, chuckling. “Rome is very special—full of beauty that has been layered over centuries, from the medieval period to the Renaissance. You can see all that history here.”

Save for local shop owners preparing to open, at 7 A.M. Rome is unusually hushed and absent of tourists, an ideal moment to run through Italy’s most populous city of nearly three million.

“It’s a very particular experience,” Calidonna says of Rome’s pre-breakfast hour ambiance.

From the honeyed rays of sunlight that drench the city’s historic facades, to the quiet and crowdless streets, Calidonna describes this interval of the day as sacred and magical, insisting that it’s worth a wake-up call to encounter this tamer face of the city.

A Run-Tour of the Best of Rome

Calidonna, a six-time marathon finisher, no longer trains to race long distances. But she remains an avid runner. She started coaching in 2016 and logs roughly 20 miles per week as the owner of ArcheoRunning, which she founded in 2019. After constantly encountering tourists studying maps mid-run, Calidonna thought it was a prime opportunity to offer a guided running experience while also bridging her love for art, history, and archeology in her beloved adopted home.

“My running tours are for everyone,” Calidonna says. She adds that she accommodates all paces for the 13 running tours she offers. The company also features seven walking tours.

“I don’t use maps. I am the map!” -Isabella Calidonna, founder of ArcheoRunning 

“The Best of Rome” tour is among her most popular. As part of the experience, she brings runners to iconic public squares and famed spots, like the Spanish Steps—the longest and widest staircase in Europe built in the 1720s. The tour also traverses architectural masterpieces, like the Pantheon. The ancient temple, dedicated to the 12 gods of the Roman religion, is one of the best-preserved Roman monuments in the world. A visit to the renowned Baroque Trevi Fountain—dubbed the world’s wishing well, attracting between 10,000 and 12,000 tourists daily—is another highlight of the rendezvous.

One of ArcheoRunning’s more atypical experiences includes taking runners southeast to the city’s “green lungs” to log miles on one of the oldest Roman consular roads. Calidonna describes the area as an open-air museum, where six of the ancient Roman aqueducts—used to transport fresh water for baths, fountains, and drinking to highly populated areas—are preserved. Dating back to 312 B.C.E. and built over a period of roughly 500 years, the Roman aqueduct systems are widely considered to be a masterful and advanced display of engineering.

Beat the Crowds Off the Beaten Path

On this Tuesday morning, I joined Calidonna for ArcheoRunning’s “Hidden Rome” running tour to visit a few of the lesser-known spots in the city. Our first stopping point is the ruins of the Stadium of Domitian, which is located beneath Piazza Navona. A rendered image of the stadium illustrates a horseshoe-shaped arena, which was formerly used for wrestling, foot races, and pentathlons. The space could accommodate 30,000 spectators (still significantly smaller than the better-known Colosseum, which could hold up to 80,000 people, while the Circus Maximus, the largest chariot stadium in ancient Rome, could fill more than 150,000).

I follow Calidonna to Via Coronari, an ancient Roman road in the heart of the city. Formerly referred to as Via Recta, the street was used by pilgrims on the journey to Saint Peter’s Basilica, she explains. These days, it’s full of renovated apartments sandwiched between art galleries and is also a place to hunt for antiques.

As we head to the Ponte district, Calidonna pauses and points at an inconspicuous arcaded lane, Vicolo San Trifone. This, she says, is one of the most distinct streets in the city—the narrowest in Rome, a fact that is often lost on tourists and locals alike. We move on to one of Rome’s oldest markets, Campo de’ Fiori, careful to steer clear of vendors meticulously arranging baskets of fruits and vegetables and buckets of fresh flowers. After we quickly pass by, we continue to a medieval courtyard of Ivy-wrapped ochre houses located through Arco degli Acetari. In the past, the area was used by vinegar makers before it was transformed into accommodations.

As we continue still off the beaten tourist track, Calidonna shepherds me to Passetto del Biscione, a tunnel with a stunning blue frescoed ceiling of cherubs and festoons. In 1796, the passage was reportedly the site of a miracle: an image of the Virgin Mary was allegedly seen moving her eyes, attracting pious Christians from around the city. The passage also served as a corridor to the Theater of Pompey, Rome’s first theater that was dedicated to Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar’s rival.

By the time we reach our second-to-last stop, I can’t help but gaze in awe inside the courtyard of the Palazzo della Sapienza. Here, Calidonna shows me the oldest university in Rome, and the largest in Europe, founded in the 13th century by Pope Boniface VIII. The building, designed by 17th-century architectural genius Francesco Borromini, is a Baroque masterpiece.

As we wrap up the run, Calidonna leads me to the back of the Pantheon. It’s certainly not a hidden gem. Rather, it’s one of the most popular architecture sites in the center of Rome—and the world. This, however, leads to our final stop, the ruins of the Baths of Agrippa. It’s the formerly private bath complex of Agrippa, the Roman general and son-in-law of Augustus, the first emperor of ancient Rome.

I’m still absorbing Calidonna’s granular details as we finish running and arrive at Caffè Sant Eustachio, the oldest coffee roasting company in Rome. The cafe uses water from an ancient aqueduct to make its coffee, like the Americano I sip as I gaze outside, noticing how much Rome has come to life, and it’s only 8 A.M.

A morning with ArcheoRunning feels like stepping into another world, one that serves as an amuse-bouche of the city’s culture, history, and traditions. I’m already ruminating on my return to the Eternal City.

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This article was first published by RUN.

The post When in Rome, Do as the Runners Do appeared first on Outside Online.

It’s ultrarunning season, and people around the world are stepping out to do the impossible. Fifty miles feels like a lot, but hey why not double it? These mammoths of mileage have unlocked a new level of human potential, but as heroic as their achievements may be, there is still so much mystery when it comes to going the distance.

After careful consideration, we’ve put together six questions that we want to ask an ultramarathoner but have been too afraid to pursue. Hey folks, there are just some things we need to know.

1. Do You Have Toenails?

Long runs over uneven, rocky trail comes with its share of foot issues, but few sacrifices are greater than those poor keratin creatures attached to your precious foot fingers. Give us the in-shoe scoop: How many of those bad boys do you lose every race and how quick do they grow back? For many ultramarathoners, this seems to be par for the racecourse, but is there a way to strengthen your nails for another round? Anyone out there taking them out for good?

2. What’s Your Nip Game?

Maximum mileage spells a whole lot of extra friction in those exposed places. For most racers, nipples bear the brunt of it, channeling chafage on a level us normal mile loggers can’t fully grasp. So how do you prepare for this inevitable rub fest? Are we talking bandages, tape, Vaseline, or something even burlier? When it comes to nipple chafing, are some shirts better than others? How about no shirts? We feel for your chesticles, we really do.

3. Where Does Your Mind Wander?

You’ve got 100 miles (or more) ahead of you—that’s a lot of think time. What are you thinking about? Do you keep it reigned in or let it roam? Counting steps seems like a miserable endeavor, so are there other ways to pass that time instead of one foot in front of the other? It also seems like some prime time for developing a few really hot takes or solving some of the world’s pressing problems. Give it to us. We need answers!

4. Poo in the Shoe

We’ve all seen the photos: that trickle of not-so-mysterious brown snaking down your leg at mile 75. Poop happens, especially over 100 miles of body-jostling, calorie-evaporating singletrack. So, what goes down when that tummy starts to rumble? Do you have a poo plan? What’s the strategy when the time is now and your next aid station is miles away? Are there any unwritten rules for in-race relief?

5. Your Best Kept Vest Secret

There are only so many power gels in the world; what’s an item that makes your running vest unique? Are you bringing trails snacks for your furry mountain friends? A little extra Bag Balm for the undercarriage? Crystals for energetic intervention? We’re all built a little different, but what’s the secret pocket treasure that gives you a leg up?

6. Do You Ever Fall Asleep Running?

Serious question! The combination of fatigue, meditation, and sheer time on the trail makes for one heck of a backcountry lullaby. Do you ever just…nod off while running? When things get a little sleepy, what are the best ways to keep your race on track? We’re aware of the hallucinations and tears, but sometimes being tired goes even further. Are the sleepy scaries ever too much?

The post 6 Questions You’ve Been Afraid to Ask an Ultramarathoner appeared first on Outside Online.

This year, there have been some nice trends in the best outdoor Bluetooth speakers: “True stereo,” which lets you pair two speakers at once and play the left channel in one and the right in the other, is available in more and more models. While it may be a clever way of selling you two speakers instead of one, it makes the experience more like sitting in front of your home hi-fi system. Meanwhile, battery life keeps on improving across the board, and it’s kind of stunning how water-resistant these devices have become: All of the speakers below have an ingress rating of at least IP57, which means they can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. If you’ve ever combined a swimming hole and a large dog in the same outing, you know why this matters. All of which makes the new speakers highlighted here some of the best ever for your adventures. Here are reviews of seven of our current favorite outdoor Bluetooth speakers, depending on your needs and budget.

Update July 2025: We’ve tested and selected new Bluetooth speakers in two of our seven categories, including a new best all-around pick of the Brane X, and updated prices and availability for all.

At a Glance

• Best Overall: Brane X ($499)
• Best Value: Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2 ($100)
• Most Portable: Ultimate Ears Miniroll ($80)
• Most Rugged: Turtlebox Gen 3 ($399)
• Best for Audiophiles: Bose SoundLink Max ($399)
• Best for Parties: Treblab HD-Max ($160)
• Best for Travel: Marshall Emberton III ($180)
• How to Choose
• How We Test
• Meet Our Lead Tester

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Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker Overall

Brane X

$499 at Amazon $499 at Brane Audio

Pros and Cons
⊕ More bass than you’ll believe possible
⊕ Wi-Fi connectivity
⊗ Makes funny noises on startup
⊗ Touch controls are overly sensitive

It’s rare that a product has so much crossover appeal that it’s nearly impossible to categorize—labels be damned. The Brane X is an ingenious piece of technology that transitions neatly from a bookshelf-style speaker for your desktop to a backyard DJ boom box to a travel companion for a remote lakeshore, where, as one tester said, it produces bass that can “scare away the bears.” This versatility and its surprising power are what led our testers to name it the best outdoor Bluetooth speaker we tested.

The reason this 7.7-pound unit has such outsize power is magnets. Specifically, it’s the first Bluetooth speaker with a subwoofer, which relies on a Repel-Attract Driver (RAD), a patented technology that employs specially designed magnets that cancel internal air pressure and allow it to produce deeper bass than was previously possible.

In practice, the results are impressive: Played at lower volumes, it produces fine detail that is as good as anything that comes out of a Bose product. But when you pump up the volume, you can hear bass notes that reach lower into the audio spectrum. It’s safe to say nothing we’ve seen at this size (under ten inches wide) has been able to create such a rumble way down deep in your belly.

The Brane X can connect with your home Wi-Fi, eliminating the problem of your Bluetooth speaker glitching out during a party because you stepped outside to fetch ice. This feature also makes streaming music over a subscription service or using the built-in Alexa voice assistant easier and more reliable.

And yes, despite its urban looks, the Brane X can withstand water, dust, and a fair bit of rough handling: Its IP57 rating means it can survive in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. A 12-hour battery life is respectable, given its power. And the Brane app makes it easy to set up and equalize, for less bass, more bass, or more more more bass. Listening to jazz with a double bass, one user said, “you can hear all the subtle squeaks of the player’s fingers on the strings.”

If there’s a drawback to a speaker this good, it would only be that it makes the windows rattle. Said one tester: “It makes other portable speakers seem like toys.”

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Best Value

Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2

$100 at Amazon $100 at Fender

Pros and Cons
⊕ Sound fills the room
⊕ Long battery life
⊗ Controls not all in same place

The German audio engineers at Teuful got together with the American guitar and amp brand Fender to make this thing of beauty. The sleekly designed Rockster Go 2 is smaller than a hardcover airport novel, at eight by four inches, but it pumps out some of the best, bassiest sound in this size range. Much like Bose’s SoundLink Flex—whose latest version weighs in at 1.3 pounds and costs $149—the 1.6-pound Rockster Go 2 amazed us with its “straight-ahead sound quality and musical vividness,” as one tester put it. It goes one step further than Bose with a button that engages what’s called Dynamore virtual stereo sound, an impressive, non-gimmicky feature that seems to magically move the music to the corners of the room. The speaker is unidirectional, but the Dynamore feature does a lot to make it sound good from the front or the back.

The Rockster Go 2 is supposed to last for up to a whopping 28 hours in Eco Mode (which reduces the bass), though you’ll probably get more like the 15 hours it promises in regular mode at medium volume. Quick charging, however, gets you out the door faster if you forgot to plug it in the night before. A short carry strap enables easier toting, and GoPro users will appreciate the quarter-inch threading on the base, which is compatible with camera mounts. Although its range is only 30 feet, one reviewer remarked that “with a design that’s worthy of residing on your bookcase plus its rugged build, this may be the ideal indoor/outdoor speaker in the midsize range.”

Note: The Rockster line includes two other, larger sizes: the $180 Rockster Cross and the monster $480 Rockster Air 2.

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Most Portable

Ultimate Ears Miniroll

$80 at Ultimate Ears $72 at Amazon

Pros and Cons
⊕ Very compact
⊕ Impressive sound for its size
⊕ Bungee strap is useful
⊗ Can get only so loud

Over the past decade, the “mini speaker” category has been relentlessly trying to reach a level of sonic quality that sounds so much better than your laptop speaker that it warrants a purchase. With the Miniroll, we may have achieved the singularity. At less than 10 ounces and a fits-in-your-hand five-inch diameter, this grab-and-go disc produced some moments of startling loudness for its size. Physics wouldn’t allow it to be in the same acoustic class as the others in this test, but testers were impressed by what it can do.

Think of the places it can go: With its eminently handy built-in rubber strap, the Miniroll can bungee right over your bike handlebars, onto your belt loop, or—a habit I’ve acquired solely on account of this portable Bluetooth speaker—over the shower curtain rod, so I can keep clean while keeping up with the news. As secure as the strap is, a bouncy bike ride might eventually dislodge it, but with its sturdy build, we wouldn’t be too concerned about damage—and its crazy-long range of 131 feet means you won’t lose connection when you turn around to retrieve it. A PartyUp feature lets you pair multiple Minirolls together for more power or a stereo effect.

Anyone debating whether to pack a speaker for an overseas flight or strap it to a backpack for playing podcasts on a hike can be confident that the Miniroll, with its “road-friendly size and shape,” is well worth the consideration.

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Most Rugged

Turtlebox Gen 3

$430 at Turtlebox $430 at Scheels

Pros and Cons
⊕ Extremely tough
⊕ Easy to tote
⊕ Smooth sound
⊗ Not cheap

Like Pelican and Otter, Turtlebox thinks in terms of durability that will see you through any terrain on earth, if not other planets. Case in point: The company claims that they were able to park a six-ton monster truck on this speaker, to no ill effect. Encased in super-hard plastic and completely waterproof (even floatable), the Gen 2 has quickly garnered a following among fishermen and watersports enthusiasts for more than being tough. The 120-decibel speaker is “both incredibly loud and impressively refined,” one tester observed. Indeed, our team was hard-pressed to find many differences in audio quality between the Turtlebox 2 and the other top scorers in this year’s test. The unit plays for 25 hours at lower volumes and about six hours at max volume, such as what you’d need for a big party.

During LCD Soundsystem’s “Tribulations,” the bass tones flowed smooth as silk and distortion-free, thanks to the 6-by-9-inch woofer, and, to our surprise, the high and midrange sounds also came across with great clarity. With five color options and an ideal form factor—a lunchbox-size 9.5-pound boombox with a hard nylon handle coated in rubber, plus rubber bumpers on the undercarriage—the Turtlebox Gen 2 gets just about everything right, and its fairly high price tag is less scary when you consider its durability.

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Best for Audiophiles

Bose SoundLink Max

$399 at Bose $399 at Amazon

Pros and Cons
⊕ Very rich, loud sound
⊕ Long battery life
⊕ Easy to pair
⊗ Needs 5-volt charger; standard USB-C is slow

For those who were wowed by Bose’s 1.3-pound SoundLink Flex (our 2022 Editor’s Choice winner), this larger and far more powerful 4.9-pound edition of the SoundLink will be true love. It punches above its weight, with rich bass and perfect balance in the higher registers. While the addition of a rubber-coated rope handle is both convenient and cute, the sticking-to-basics features from this classic brand made it a bit less fun than other party-ready units in this test. Where Bose beats them, though, is with more subtle orchestral and ambient tracks. Max Richter’s The New Four Seasons came through with a dynamism and presence that was a notch above.

Battery life is 20 hours, range is a passable 30 feet, and Bose’s app is more versatile than those that accompany most speakers, with EQ settings to suit your tastes and listening environment. IP67 water and dust resistance means it’s fine being dropped in the pool for up to 30 minutes. The SoundLink Max does cost a lot for its size, but for those among us who like to just sit and focus on great music, it may be the most ideal—and ideally sized—portable Bluetooth speaker to date.

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Best for Parties

Treblab HD-Max

$135 at Amazon $160 at Treblab

Pros and Cons
⊕ Loud volume when wanted
⊕ Great value
⊗ One-dimensional sound
⊗ Confusing LED modes

If you’re looking for a speaker to churn out volume in a big crowd for a fair price, the HD-Max delivers. The sound is not as detailed or three-dimensional as the others in this guide, but that matters less when it’s about a crowd and, as the evening wears on, they’re getting down and boogying. Treblab’s newest offering has the power to fill a sizable outdoor space, and if you want to go a notch higher, a bass-boosting feature adds even more thump. “It makes you feel like dancing,” said one reviewer.

Two other fiesta-friendly novelties are a pair of multicolor lights on either end that can be turned off and on, and a bottle opener on the removable carry strap. It’ll get 20 hours of play time if you keep it at 10 percent volume, but at 100 percent it’s certified for only 6.5 hours—still, enough to get you through the night, or, if not, you can always plug it in. (And the power goes both ways: If your phone is running out of juice, the HD-Max can charge it.) One thing that could use improvement: It’s hard to tell when you’re in indoor, outdoor, or bass mode; they’re indicated by a clunky system that involves deciphering a series of blinking LED lights.

These are small trade-offs when you consider that the HD-Max is a tough-built five-pound, foot-wide boom box that retails for $200—but can be found for 30 percent less than that. Others in its class, like Ultimate Ears’ Hyperboom, usually set you back $350 or $400. When the fun is over and it’s back-to-work time, the speaker has a built-in mic that performs well for conference calls, with an average range of 33 feet. One tester praised the HD-Max for its “combination of sound quality, volume, and portability.”

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Best for Travel

Marshall Emberton III

$180 at Marshall $180 at Amazon

Pros and Cons
⊕ Solid, compact, travel-friendly build
⊕ Room-filling sound
⊗ No bass/treble controls on unit

Don’t let the throwback looks of the Emberton III fool you: This technology is far from basic. Marshall’s newest travel Bluetooth speaker has better, more robust sound than its predecessors while adding some new features like Bluetooth LE—a more efficient form of Bluetooth that sucks less energy—and Auracast, an incoming technology that will soon have you wirelessly linking several of your speakers and headphones at once, making a connected life more seamless.

The Emberton III is that one piece of gear you’ll wish you’d packed for your family reunion on the lake this summer. You’ll realize this when you go to play home movies on your tablet with its anemic speaker. You’ll hardly notice the Emberton III in your luggage, at a little over six inches from end to end and only 1.5 pounds—three percent of your checked-bag limit. But you’ll notice it when you fire it up, because, in the words of one tester, “this little thing cranks!”

As with other Marshall speakers, the Emberton III achieves a deceptively dynamic sound quality through “True Stereophonic” multi-directional technology, which replicates the experience of being on a soundstage by moving different tones to different areas of the speaker. One tester noticed the “rich bass notes—not much thump, but clean and clear.” And the well-rounded sound is just as good from the back side as the front.

A whopping 32-hour battery life makes it even more travel-friendly, and a 20-minute quick charge provides six more hours of battery life. The range (thanks to the Bluetooth LE addition) is an excellent 100 feet. And an IP67 rating lets you drop it in the drink (up to three feet deep) with no repercussions (although no testers reported trying this).

One tester summed up his report, “I love the retro looks and small package. It makes a cool statement on the shelf but is small enough you can slip it into your pocket on the way out the door.”

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How to Choose the Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker

When shopping for a new outdoor Bluetooth speaker, your first move is to check its IP (ingress protection) rating to get an idea of how much water and dust resistance it offers; these are typically reliable. Next, think about how much you’ll be carrying it around—between house and backyard, say, or moving from campsite to campsite—and whether you’ll be on foot (carrying a pack or duffel, or not) or on wheels. Then consider what makes sense in terms of weight and dimensions. As a general rule, the heavier a speaker is, the more volume you’ll get out of it, but playing it loud isn’t always a necessity—some of you will be entertaining large groups, but others will just be setting it up for mellow creekside cocktail-hour listening with your partner.

If you’re someone who moves around a lot, a portable Bluetooth speaker with long battery life might also make a difference. These days most new models will play for a good 10 hours or more even at high volume, but some are longer-lasting than others, as detailed in the models reviewed here. Finally, more and more models offer “true stereo” linking, where two or more speakers can be paired to play at once but in stereo; this makes smaller models with this option a little more attractive than before, because if you later decide to invest more, you can give your soundscape an appreciable boost.

Finally, don’t assume that if one of the speakers in this list doesn’t sound great to you, it’s your fault. Different folks have different tastes, and some types of music sound better—or worse—on certain speakers. If you make a purchase and are feeling lukewarm afterwards, keep an eye on your return window and don’t feel guilty if you have to exchange it.

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How We Tested Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers

• Hours of Testing: 419
• Test Environments: Hiking, pool parties, stand-up paddleboarding, yardwork, movie watching, car camping, making dinner, conference calls
• Highest Elevation: 10,152 feet, Leadville, Colorado
• Lowest Elevation: 5 feet underwater in Lake Pleasant, Arizona
• Most Listened-To Tracks: Bon Iver: “Dijon,” Charli xcx featuring BB Tricks: “Club Classics,” Childish Gambino: “Lithonia,” Drugdealer and Kim Bollinger: “Pictures of You,” Flock of Dimes: “Day One,” Fontaines D.C.: “Favourite,” J Dilla: “Workinonit,” Kenya Grace: “Strangers,” The Hold Steady: “Stuck Between Stations,” Magdalena Bay: “Image,” Prince: “Electric Chair,” Puentes: “Amor y Unidad,” Kathleen Smith: “I Can See for Miles,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: “Challengers”

The first thing we do with any Bluetooth speakers is attempt to pair them with our phones without consulting the user manual: The quicker, more intuitive, and easier the sync, the more points scored. Then we put them through hours of testing doing the kinds of things Outside readers do—soaking in remote hot springs, inviting friends over for outdoor dance parties, playing audiobooks while riding a bike, etc.

Our team turns in reports on each product tested, providing a score of 1 to 10 for five different measures: sound quality, pairing and connectivity, fit and comfort, rain and drop protection, and user friendliness. Scores are averaged, with more weight given to sound quality and (knowing our audience) how well they stand up to the elements. Note: Battery life estimates in these reviews are based on manufacturer specs; it’s difficult to confirm those numbers, given the time involved and variances among user habits (different volumes, different uses, different functions enabled). Actual results may be 10 to 20 percent lower, judging from averages experienced in general testing.

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Meet Our Lead Tester

Will Palmer has been testing gear for 21 years for Outside, where he was managing editor and copy chief for nine years. Based in Santa Fe, he has been a runner since 1984, and while the mile counts have decreased over the years, he’s kept motivated to head out the door on the hottest, coldest, and wettest days by the opportunity to test the best new products—and to commune with the junipers and piñons.

The post The 7 Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers of 2025 appeared first on Outside Online.