The Best of Backyard Urban Adventures

There's a common misconception in the world of outdoor adventure that in order to be legit, you have to be extreme, hardcore, and incredibly intense. And whatever sport suits your fancy, you should be doing it as far out in the backcountry as possible to be a “true” outdoorsperson. Outdoor media is overly saturated with images of athletes with rippling muscles set against the backdrop of a beautiful, but impossibly remote, landscape.

While we certainly love those remote destinations and believe wholeheartedly on recreating on public lands and other outdoor spaces, we also think that a love of outdoor adventure and nature can exist on a smaller scale.

So this week, we’re celebrating urban adventures and challenging the idea that outdoor adventure happens away from cities and populated places.

You may already have a knack for seeing in a single blade of grass the same wonder that you find in an impressive mountain landscape, but if you haven’t tried this before, give it a shot. Challenge yourself to look differently at your local parks, sidewalks, even city streets.

In addition to opening yourself up to a whole new category of outdoor adventure in the urban environment, you will also find that these experiences are logistically easier to accomplish, make for great microadventures, and make for great opportunities to practice those backcountry skills or stay in shape.

This week, challenge the notion that a more epic adventure is a better adventure, and note that everyone gets outside in different ways. Everything from a picnic in your local park to a walk down the sidewalk to hike to an urban overlook can be an adventure. Certain individuals may come to those experiences with different skills, abilities, and conceptions about nature and outdoor adventure, but that doesn't mean they have more or less of a right to be there.