If you鈥檙e like a lot of us, you鈥檙e looking for adventures closer to home this summer. But while your bucket-list family vacation may have to wait, that doesn鈥檛 mean there isn鈥檛 plenty of outdoor fun to be had. With a little creativity and the right mindset, an afternoon at the local park or an overnight on a nearby river can be just as memorable and awesome as the most epic trek through a national park. Even better, the positive effects of that experience will still be just as good for you. If there鈥檚 one thing every kind of expert agrees with, it鈥檚 that immersing yourself in the natural world has significant and wide-ranging health benefits, which we all need now more than ever. Here are 15 ways you can get outside, whether you have a few hours or a few days. Use these ideas exactly or change them to fit your situation. But whatever you do, get outside as often as you can.
Activity Window: Couple of Hours
Forage for fruit: Summer is the season of ripe wild fruit鈥攁nd it鈥檚 all over the place. Many cities plant fruit-bearing trees like serviceberries in their parks, while wild blackberries tend to gather around streams.聽 has a user-generated map of urban harvests, as well as聽 so you can take that knowledge on the go.
Meet the backyard birds: Hummingbirds, woodpeckers, owls鈥here are more than 10,000 species of birds and hundreds of them likely pass through your yard.聽 from recycled materials, set up a birdbath, and counting the different birds you can see and hear from a hammock with the help of.
Cook on an open fire: That backyard fire pit is for more than just roasting s鈥檓ores. Steak and eggs, roasted veggies, pan-fried trout鈥ou can cook just about anything on an open fire. Pick one night a week to cook dinner outside on an open flame and make it an event for the whole family. And yes, s鈥檓ores should be the dessert.
Learn the constellations: Find the darkest sky close to your house (check out the聽 for a list of dark-sky parks), spread a blanket, and look up. The聽 uses augmented reality to guide you through the constellations鈥攋ust point your phone at the sky to reveal constellations, planets, even deep-sky objects like other galaxies and star clusters.
Build a stick fort: This is a classic. Head into your backyard or your favorite local trail and let your kids construct a large tepee with branches they find lying in the woods. Use the base of a tree for structural support, layering large sticks against it and filling in the gaps with smaller sticks. Or follow the lead of L.L.Bean ambassador and gold-medal-winning cross-country skier , and simply find new places to hang up your hammock. 鈥淏eing open to possibility and being creative carries you forward, and that is so important in times when you can feel stuck,鈥 says Randall, who鈥檚 having fun thinking of new ways to get outside with her four-year-old son this summer.
Activity Window: Full Day
Get into letterboxing: Take your standard hike and add treasure hunting and an art project and you have letterboxing. People all over the world hide plastic boxes in the wild filled with unique stamps, then leave clues that lead to those boxes on聽. Find the boxes hidden in and around your town and make a day out of collecting stamps in a notebook.
Hit every park in your town鈥n a bike: Yes, you鈥檝e been to most of these parks before, but linking them together turns familiar terrain into a new adventure. Bring a Frisbee for open fields, a kite for hills, hiking boots for trails, and some fishing gear for ponds. And don鈥檛 shy away from familiar haunts. 鈥淩evisiting a favorite trail or spot over and over can be really calming and centering,鈥 says L.L.Bean ambassador Madison Bowman, who with her family last year visiting every national park in a quest she called The American Field Trip. 鈥淚t can also highlight seasonal changes and help us come to know the animals, plants, and hidden wonders of a place.鈥
Volunteer at a trail restoration day: Local trail clubs are still busy keeping trails free of brush and clear of mud.聽 maintains a list of hiking organizations that perform trail work, and聽 keeps a similar list for mountain-bike clubs. (Both also have great information on how to hike and bike responsibly during the pandemic.) Find the club that helps maintain your local trails and pitch in with repainting blazes, moving rocks, or beating back briars.
Stage lawn-game Olympics: Horseshoes, Spikeball, cornhole, bocce鈥 Set up across your yard, or take a few to a local park, and have the family compete for bragging rights. Don鈥檛 have lawn games on hand? All you need are a couple of spoons and two eggs for a classic egg race.
Host an outdoor movie night: Rent a projector, throw up a sheet, and invite a couple of neighbors for an outdoor movie night. Keep it safe: every household brings its own snacks and chairs and places them in family clusters several feet apart. Need an idea for a movie? Check out聽this list of the best outdoor films for inspiration.
Activity Window: Weekend
Overnight on a local river: An overnight canoe trip is the slow, throwback adventure that could cure your COVID anxiety.聽 keeps a list of water trails by state, many of which have camping facilities you can reserve. Find a mellow stretch, borrow a boat from a friend, and don鈥檛 forget the fishing rods.
Camp really close to home: is wonderful, but think just beyond your fence and look for campsites close to your house.聽聽is a wonderful resource for private land that鈥檚 open for camping reservations and often limited to one family at a time, so you don鈥檛 have to worry about social distancing. This is also the summer of dispersed camping, when you can often find a legal, undeveloped campsite on public land. The Bureau of Land Management controls almost 250 million acres, most of which is open to dispersed camping.
Learn how to fish: and you鈥檒l look at the rivers, streams, and lakes that surround your town with fresh eyes. Fishing guides can show you the ropes while minding our current health restrictions, or you can start at a local trout pond where success is almost guaranteed. Then test your new skills in the wild by casting in a lake or river near your home.
Create a state-park triathlon: Get out the atlas and find the state parks that are closest to your home. Ideally you鈥檒l find one with mountain-bike trails, another with hiking trails, and one with a lake or river you can swim or paddle. Map out your attack and spend a couple of days exploring each park by boot, bike, and boat in turn. 鈥淭he variety will keep the adventure fresh,鈥 says professional mountain biker and L.L.Bean ambassador , who likes to spend her time off the bike hiking, paddling, and skiing. 鈥淚 need to mix it up, but any day spent outside with friends and family is a great day.鈥
Go on a local safari: What beasts lurk in your woods? There are 457 different species of mammals living in North America. Use the聽 to your local fauna to learn what lives in your region, then spend a weekend 鈥渉unting鈥 big and little game, like white-tailed deer and beavers, throughout your neighborhood and nearby parks. Create a list of target species and try to take pictures of the animals you see, even if they鈥檙e not on the list. Pack coffee and breakfast the night before and leave your house early in the morning for your best chance at elusive animals like foxes.
At , we design products that make it easier for families of all kinds to spend time outside together. For more than 100 years, we've recognized the benefits of getting outdoors and sharing the fresh air 鈥 because the only thing better than being outside is being outside together. #Bean国产吃瓜黑料r