Backpacking

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Credit: Rich Brame
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Learn more about backpacking

On a backpacking expedition, you’ll learn to travel the wilderness with all of your gear on your back. You’ll learn skills like packing and carrying a backpack, navigating on and off trail in a small team, and how to make your way through different types of terrain. Depending on your course, you might encounter challenges from river crossings and snowfields to deserts and thick forests.

NOLS backpacking courses

Students backpack around a lake ringed by towering mountains in the Wind River Range.

Wind River Wilderness Find new challenges on the ...

Wind River Wilderness

Find new challenges on the original NOLS course Head to the wilderness to grow as a leader. On this course, you’ll spend a month in the Wind River Range finding new experiences and places to ...
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Student tents high up in the Himalayan wilderness beneath a brilliant rainbow.

Himalaya Backpacking Discover your leadership style while ...

Himalaya Backpacking

Discover your leadership style while exploring the Himalaya Immerse yourself in a unique landscape and culture while exploring the soaring mountains of the Himalaya. Make your way through India’s Kumaon and Eastern Garhwal regions on ...
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Students standing on a green grassy hill in Alaska - while out backpacking - and looking off to snow capped mountains in the distance.

Alaska Backpacking - Prime Find adventure in the Talkeetna ...

Alaska Backpacking - Prime

Find adventure in the Talkeetna Mountains Explore glaciated mountains and lush valleys in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Build community with a small group of adults ages 23 and up as you hike across ...
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Students backpacking through the desert landscape of Saguaro National Park.

Southwest Backpacking - Prime Prepare yourself for hiking in ...

Southwest Backpacking - Prime

Prepare yourself for hiking in the extraordinary Southwest.
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Two female students backpacking by a body of water in the Alaskan Wilderness with rolling hills in the distance.

Women's Alaska Backpacking - Prime Explore the rugged wilderness of ...

Women's Alaska Backpacking - Prime

Explore the rugged wilderness of Alaska on this course designed for motivated adults. Satisfy your thrill for adventure in the sweeping ranges of the Alaskan wilderness. On the way, learn to live in near 24-hour ...
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A student hikes into a sweeping valley ringed with jagged peaks while backpacking in the Yukon.

Yukon Backpacking Roam through the Yukon’s expansive ...

Yukon Backpacking

Roam through the Yukon’s expansive and trail-less wilderness of forest and mountains. This is the perfect training ground for mastering camping and traveling skills as well as for developing leadership skills and teamwork. You’ll explore ...
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Two students overlooking a valley filled with braided river channels while hiking across the tundra of The Brooks Range in Alaska.

Brooks Range Backpacking - Prime North of the Arctic Circle ...

Brooks Range Backpacking - Prime

North of the Arctic Circle and aptly dubbed Land of the Midnight Sun, much of the landscape in the Brooks Range lies above tree line and elevations range from sea level to over 9,000 feet. ...
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Students silhouetted against the sky while backpacking on a rocky ridge in the Pacific Northwest.

Pacific Northwest Backpacking Challenge yourself to explore this ...

Pacific Northwest Backpacking

Challenge yourself to explore this incredible environment and grow as a leader.
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Students backpacking through a meadow of the Absaroka Mountain Range.

Absaroka Backpacking Absaroka Backpacking

Absaroka Backpacking

Absaroka Backpacking
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Watch and learn about NOLS backpacking skills

Backpacking with NOLS

The days begin early when you light your stove, cook and enjoy breakfast, and then organize and pack your pack. You're usually hiking by mid-morning. Lunch on the trail might be bread you baked the day before, or a trail mix of nuts and dried fruits. You may stop for a short class on natural history, or to learn how to cross a river, travel through boulders or snow, or move over a high pass. When you arrive at your new camp location, you'll first spend time choosing a Leave No Trace site, organizing camp, then preparing and enjoying dinner. If the day was long, a short evening meeting may wrap up the day. If the hike was short, there may be a class or discussion.

Backpacking Media from students and instructors

Students smile in front of giraffes while backpacking through Tanzania.
Student tents high up in the Himalayan wilderness beneath a brilliant rainbow.
Student looking off into the distance while backpacking in Baja California, Mexico.
Silhouetted students backpacking along scree with snowy mountains and blinding sun in the distance.
Students hiking uphill through tall grass on New Zealand's South Island.
A student flipping some buttery, crispy, chewy cinnamon rolls on the last morning of backpacking in the Chugach Range.
A student on a hill looks off at a lake in the distance while backpacking in Scandinavia.
Students work with an instructor to determine their location on a map.
Students trek up the side of a mountain with the scenic Wrangell Mountains providing an epic backdrop.
Students backpacking uphill through a snow dusted landscape in Arizona's Coronado National Forest.
Two silhouetted students in the mountains of Patagonia practice route-finding while looking out at craggy snow-crusted peaks.

Backpacking Tips

HOW TO PACK YOUR BACKPACK

POSTED BY: MOLLY HERBER ON 5/23/18 7:01 AM

Pack packing isn’t something you often think about as a skill until you’re actually packing up for the first time. And it isn’t just a practical need to get everything inside your pack: The way you pack your backpack can make the actual weight you’re carrying seem lighter, or can make you feel like you have an elephant hanging off of each shoulder.

  Read More on the NOLS Blog

Student demonstrating great pack packing skills in a vast Patagonia mountain range

Start your journey backpacking with NOLS

Credit: Ella de Bruijn