Digital Librarian: a librarian's choice of the best of the Web
Digital Librarian is maintained by Margaret Vail Anderson, a librarian in upstate New York

Outdoors

Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation

- Report by Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 4, 2008. See also: Conservation Science: Do People Still Care About Nature?
Study Finds Today’s Kids Are Choosing TV Over Trees
A Nation of 'Indoorsmen' - NBC Nightly News, February 4, 2008
Videophilia

Acadia National Park - Maine (National Park Service)
Active Traveler Directory - From Outside Magazine
The Adirondack; or, Life in the woods - Full-text of the 1853 work by Joel Tyler Headley from the Making of America Project. Another title in the project is Adventures in the wilderness; or, camp-life in the Adirondacks (1869) by W. H. H. Murray.
Adirondack Mountain Club - Information on Seasonal Outings, Chapter Outings, Outdoor Travel Adventures, Adirondak Loj and Johns Brook Lodge. There's also an online store. The New York State Library holds Adirondack Mountain Club Records, 1922- and provides historical background.
Adirondack Museum - Blue Mountain Lake, New York. With Calendar of Events
Adirondack White Water Rafting - Offers Hudson River Gorge trip, a class IV run through a walled gorge and one of the best rafting experiences in the East. (Other outfitters that offer rafting trips through Hudson River Gorge: Beaver Brook Outfitters, Pocono White Water Rafting, Hudson River Rafting Company, Wild Waters Outdoor Center.) Farwell Forrest describes his trip in A Narrows Escape: Hubris, Nemesis, and the Kindness of Strangers.
Adventure Sports Online - Links to outfitters and tour guides.
Adventurous Traveler Bookstore - Burlington, Vermont.
Airstream - See their new BaseCamp model, an ultra-light multi-purpose tent-trailer hybrid. "This stylish trailer, designed to be both low cost and flexible, was the brainchild of NDA (Nissan Design America) aces Bryan Thompson and Steve Moneypenny, who envisioned a travel vehicle that was a springboard for outdoor adventures rather than a living room on wheels." Airstream expects the price "to remain under $20,000" (list price is actually $22,995.00). Airstream provides photos of the interior, floorplan, specification and pricing. See also Vintage Airstream Podcast, Episode 7, Basecamp, December 8, 2005. Colin Hyde and Rob Baker (50:54). Basecamp is discussed 13 minutes into the podcast. At the end of the podcast, there is an interview with Jini Keasling, Airstream's marketing designer for the BaseCamp trailer. Closest dealer to the Central New York area isDJ RV Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. In addition, see On the Road: Rounding Home Base by Dick Teresi, Forbes Life, April 24, 2006. "The plan, according to Tim Champ, Airstream's director of marketing and brand development, was to maintain the iconic Airstream exterior design while modernizing the functional interior to appeal to the consumer who, design-wise, gravitates toward iPods, Mac laptops and Mini Coopers." Another similar, and cheaper ultra-light trailer is the Tab.
Alpine Club of Canada - With archives of their newsletter, Montage, back to 2000. They have a property in the Adiorndacks - Keene Farm near Keene, New York, "a 105 acre property of meadow and woodland provides both camping facilities and a large cabin that accommodates up to 32 people."
Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles - From the Search Page you can view the full-text of Outing from 1883 to 1899. A sampling of articles: Canoeing on the Upper Delaware by Henry Russell Wray; Athletics at Cornell by G. H. Lohmes; How We Towed Our Way; Or, By Canal Thro' the Empire State, by L. J. Sanderson (July, 1893, No. 4, p. 272-278); Canoeing on the Genesee by Ralph K. Wing (December, 1885, No. 3, p. 308-314); Down The Susquehanna in a Canoe by John Boyle O'Reilly (January, 1885, No. 4, p. 256-267).
American Alpine Club - With links to AAC sections, a list of American Alpine Club Literary Award Winnersand a good collection of climbing links.
American Canoe Association - Has a Water Trails Database, organized by state. There is also a list of Recommended Water Trails.
American Discovery Trail - Coast-to-coast hiking, biking and equestrian trail
American Field Guide - PBS. Locations featured include Maine's Baxter State Park, Hiking in Canyon Sin Nombre, Canoeing the Buffalo National River, Arkansas, and Backcountry Skiing at Scottish Lakes in Central Washington.
American Hiking Society - Volunteer group that builds and maintains trails.
American Kennel Club - The AKC Library an online catalog and a collection of links to online collections relating to hunting.
American Mountain Guides Association - Enables you to find a guide by discipline or location.
American Museum of Fly Fishing - Manchester, Vermont
American Rivers - Organization's mission is to protect and restore America's river systems and to foster a river stewardship ethic.
American Southwest: A Guide to the National Parks and Natural Landscapes of Southwest USA - With excellent guides to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
American Trails - National trails advocacy organization.
American Whitewater Affiliation - With event calendar and links to Rivers and Affiliates.
America's Roof Guide to the Highest Points
Angling Bookstore - Crested Butte, Coloradop
Antique and Classic Boat Society
Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association - With Trail Journals
Appalachian Mountain Club - Official site provides information about its lodging, activities, trails and links to other resources. Provides full-text from selected articles in their membership magazine AMC Outdoors. Appalachia Archives Accident Reports: "This popular feature appears in every issue and reports on hiking accidents in the White Mountains, analyzes each accident, and suggests safety guidelines."
Appalachian Mountain Club - New York - North Jersey Chapter. Provides information on Where To Rent Canoes & Kayaks in the United States.
Appalachian National Scenic Trail - National Park Service
Appalachian Trail - Kathy Bilton
Appalachian Trail Conference - With a State-by-State Resource Center where you can search for detailed information about the Appalachian Trail in each of the 14 states it travels through.
Arizona Highways
Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE) - An allied organization of the Modern Language Association, the site offers articles and papers on Ecocriticism, a Library of Environmental Writing and an excellent collection of links to related resources.
Atlantic Salmon Federation
Backpacker - With articles, gear reviews and a trails database.
Backpacker Magazine
Barren Lands: J. B. Tyrrell's Expeditions for the Geological Survey of Canada, 1892-1894 - Provides access to over 5,000 images from J.B. Tyrrell's original field notebooks, correspondence, photographs, maps and published reports of the region west of Hudson Bay, in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the area now known as Nunavut. Tyrrell married Mary Edith Carey Tyrell in 1894. Her autobiography, I was there: a book of reminiscences (1938) is available in html or pdf format. The collection can be browsed by title, author, subject and place or by media. For example you can see a alphabetical list of photographs. Locate the first photograph (1100) with the title R. M. Ferguson and J. B. Tyrrell on steps of Government House, Winnipeg, click on All Pages: Photograph. You can view the photograph in five sizes, using the bars at the top left, or view it in pdf ("print-friendly") format. If you select Detailed in the Item Record View, you'll get additional information as well as a link to official report of the expedition, Report on the Doobaunt, Kazan and Ferguson Rivers Another. Clicking Also This Date on the top of the photo, retrieves 12 additional photographs taken on 16 December 1894. (The British Columbia Digital Library provides good list of other online Canadian Texts.)
Best Beaches in the USA - Stephen Leatherman, Laboratory for Coastal Research, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bicycling
Big Wall Climbing Home Page - John Middendorf
Books: Out There: In the Wild in a Wired Age by Ted Kerasote
Boulder Outdoor Survival School
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness - Straddling the Minnesota-Ontario border, BWCAW consists of over one million acres, hundreds of lakes and rivers and 1200 miles of canoe routes. Part of the Superior National Forest. Managed by the USDA Forest Service. Reservation Center is located in Ballston Spa, NY ( 877-550-6777). See Expeditions in the Boundary Waters by Sue Hubbell, New York Times, June 24, 1990.
British Canoe Union
Brunton - Their Wind River Range is one of the best camp stoves with 30,000 BTUs ($462). They also sell portable solar panels. The Solaris 26 ($451) is made for charging laptops.
Bureau of Land Management - U.S. Department of the Interior has links to State Offices.
Cabela's - Hunting, fishing and outdoor gear
Camping-fr: le guide du camping en France - Directory of over 10,000 campgrounds in France.
Campmor - "Gear for camping, backpacking, mountaineering, hiking, trekking, canoeing, kayaking, in-line skating, and bicycling"
Canadian Canoe Association
Canadian Council on Ecological Areas
Canadian Heritage Rivers System
Canoeing

Books
Basic Canoeing - Stackpole Books, 2003. You can search inside this book at Amazon.com
Canoe Saskatchewan - "Trip plans, outfitters, history, geology, archaeology."
Canoe Stories - Written by the people that actually made the trips described in Ontario, Canada.

Canoes - Manufacturers include:
Bearwood Canoe Company - Parry Sound, Ontario
Bell Canoe Works - Princeton, Minnesota
Bending Branches - Canoe and kayak paddles
Bent Tree
Bluewater Canoes - New Liskeard, Ontario
Carrying Place Canoe and Boat Works - Kleinburg, Ontario. "For over 30 years, canoe builder and designer Joe Ziemba has been custom building wooden canoes in cedar canvas and cedar strip epoxy."
Clearwater Design - Picton, Ontario
Clipper Canoes -Abbotsford, British Columbia
Cranberry Creek Canoes -Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Dagger - Easley, South Carolina
Esquif
Feather -Sarasota, Florida. Cedar strip canoes.
Fletcher Canoes - Atikokan, Ontario
Gatz - Köln (Cologne), Germany
GRB Newman Designs - John and Gene Newman, Canton, NY (315-386-1363) - formerly Grasse River Boatworks
Great Canadian Canoe Co. - Sutton, Massachusetts
Grumman - Aluminum canoes
Headwater Wooden Boat Shop - Buckhorn, Ontario
Hellman - Nelson, BC, Canada
Hemlock Canoe Works - Dave Curtis, Hemlock, New York (585-367-3040)
Hornbeck
Hurley
Joe River - Traditional birchbark canoes made in Alcove, Quebec (819-459-2477)
Langford Canoe Co. - Dwight, Ontario. "Canada's oldest and most trusted manufacturer of canoes." They make classic cedar, assymmetrical and symetrical and specialized canoes. (800-337-1006). They provide a helpful Canoe Tutorial. There are several Factory Outlets.
Lost in the Woods
Mad River Canoe
Merrimack
Mid-Canada Fiberglass
Mohawk
Navarro
Northwoods
Nova Craft
Oak Orchard
Old Town - Old Town, Maine
Osagian Canoes - Lebanon, Missouri (417-532-7288 or 866-532-3565)
Pasquinel
Placid Boatworks - Lake Placid, New York (518-524-2949)
Radisson/Sportspal
Ranger
Red River Canoe & Paddle - Lorette, Manitoba
Savage River
Scott
Shearwater
Souris River
Stockton
Swift - Gravenhurst, Ontario
Upper Canada Paddle
Vermont
Vermont Canoe & Kayak - (802-496-5889)
Wenonah
Westport
Wood Song.
See also Maine Journeys Canoe, WCHA's Online Builder's Catalogs and Wooden Canoe Directory of Builders & Suppliers.

Canadian Canoe Museum - Peterborough, Ontario (1-877-640-4037)
Canoe New Brunswick - Ken Corbett
Canoe Saskatchewan - Information on portage trails, campsites and waterways one of the world's great wilderness canoe areas.
Casting for Recovery - Fly fishing retreats specifically designed for women who have or have had breast cancer. In New York State these retreats are held annually in Boonville and Claryville. See A Cast for Recovery: Breast Cancer Patients Fish for New Experience by David Figura, Syracuse Post Standard, July 4, 2008. " Last weekend, Ball joined six other women who have or have had breast cancer at the Northlands Bed and Breakfast in Boonville with its 100 acres of majestic property along the Black River. The home, owned by Edie and Don Carbone, is the former summer home of Walter Edmonds, a historical novelist who wrote Drums Along the Mohawk. The Casting for Recovery program's main emphasis is the offering of all-expense-paid, three-day, fly-fishing retreats."
Catboat Association
Center for Land Use Interpretation - "Research organization involved in exploring, examining, and understanding land and landscape issues." They have a Land Use Database (19 February 2002: currently "being serviced").
Che-Mun: Journal of Canadian Wilderness Canoeing - With Archives
Chesapeake Light Craft - Wooden sea kayak plans and kits
Chewonki Foundation - Wiscasset, Maine
Civilian Conservation Corp Camp Papers - CRL database. A search for New York, for example, retrieves the titles and publication dates for 252 Civilian Conservation Corp Camp newspapers including the Crumb Hill News and the Wilderness Collegian published in DeRuyter, New York. The microfilm is available for purchase from the Center for Research Libraries. For further information see Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC] from the National Archives and the Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni Web Site.
Clarke Outdoors - West Cornwall, Connecticut. Housatonic River trips (canoes, rafts, kayaks)
Classic Angler - "For aficionados of classic tackle; those who collect bamboo rods and old fishing tackle..."
Clearwater Hudson River Sloop
Climbing Magazine
Coastal Conservation Association New York (CCA-NY)
Colorado Guide
Colorado Trail Foundation - 500 mile trail stretches from Denver to Durango.
Conservation Fund
Countryside Agency - Has information on system of walking paths (National Trails) in the UK. (See also Ramblers' Association.)
Cross-Country Skiing - Great Outdoor Recreation Pages (GORP) site covers back country, Nordic and telemark, organized by region.
Cruising Club of America - Co-sponsors of the biennial Newport to Bermuda Race.
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia - Conducts the Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and Southern Cross Cup
Cyber Cyclery: Internet Bicycling Hub
DeLorme - Maps
Digital Librarian: Florida - Has sections on Biking, Hiking and Paddling.
East Coast Greenway - "Walkers, cyclists, and other trail advocates have joined forces around an audacious project, a 2,500 mile traffic-free path linking East Coast cities from Maine to Florida."
Eastern Mountain Sports
Escaping to Nature: A Photographic Celebration - Nature photography by Justin W. Moore
Eureka Camping Center - Binghamton, New York, factory outlet sells tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, canoes, kayaks and camping accessories. They have an annual tent sale in March.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 - "Documents the historical formation and cultural foundations of the movement to conserve and protect America's natural heritage, through books, pamphlets, government documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and motion picture footage drawn from the collections of the Library of Congress."
Expedition News - "Monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online and by mail to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts."
Explorers Club - Located in New York, this club was founded in 1904 and "promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space by sponsoring, assisting and encouraging research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences." Although much of the site is available to members only, the following resources are available to all:
Site Index
News of Expeditions
Archived Stories and Flag Reports
Book Reviews
Database of Deceased Members
Expedition Resources
Federation of Fly Fishers
Fjällräven Classic
Fjällräven Polar -
Field & Stream Online
Fine Fishing Magazine - Lou Bignami
Finger Lakes Trail - Central New York
FISA (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron) - International Rowing Federation, also known as World Rowing.
Fisheating Creek - One of the best canoeing and kayaking rivers in Florida, described by Jeff Duncan of the National Park Service as a "remote, meandering canoe stream; botanically rich." Lorraine Margeson of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society said "The FECWMA [Fish Eating Creek Wildlife Management Area] contains the luminous and only undisturbed ever, free-running tributary left in the State of Florida and is a hotbed of life and exemplary natural Florida. It has been seen by only a few people, other than locals and part of the goal of this first inaugural count is to change that situation." (Unique Glades/Hendry County bird species, by Nancy Dale, Special to the Glades County Democrat, Sep 27, 2006.) You can rent canoes at Fisheating Creek Resort in Palmdale, a few miles west of Lake Okeechobee, and there's a shuttle that will drop you off seven miles upstream. The Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area "stretches for 40 miles along the course of the only free-flowing tributary to Lake Okeechobee. Framed by bald cypress swamps and hardwood hammocks, Fisheating Creek has long been valued for its scenic quality unmarred by houses and other human intrusions." For various descriptions see Get Outdoors!, an account of their February 2004 trip by Kim and Dennis Gonzalez, Fisheating Creek Delights Visitors' Eyes, Ears and Minds by Tom Palmer, Lakeland Ledger, February 15, 2004, Fisheating Creek by Dan Zinn; Full Moon on Fisheating Creek by Terry Gibson and Fisheating Creek by Niki Butcher. (See photograph taken by Margaret Vail Anderson on January 16, 2006.) And yes, there are alligators. The Florida Memory Project has a Photographic Collection and a search in it for Fisheating Creek finds Francis P. Johnson's October, 1969 photograph: A fisherman makes ready for fishing from the bank of Fisheating Creek: Glades County, Florida. A search in the University of South Florida Libraries Digital Collections for "fisheating creek" retrieves Pioneers in Palmdale, Glades County by Ralph Wadlow as told to Carroll Wadlow, with an introduction by Beryl Bowden which appeared in Tampa Bay History 4/2 (Fall/Winter 1982). The Wadlow family had arrived in Palmdale from the Indiana-Missouri area in 1932, seeking a climate that would improve Mrs. Wadlow's health."The postmaster's son-in-law offered to help us find Grandpa's land so we could set up camp. He led us to a spot so ethereally beautiful that we were speechless. Great live oaks and towering palmettos were interspersed with many exotic trees, shrubs, and plants entirely new to us. Spanish moss festooned the limbs and swung rhythmically in the breeze. The tree trunks were dotted with small, tender, green plants and blossoms. Fish plopped on the surface of the creek and turtles scuttled off of logs at our approach. Rabbits and cat squirrels darted here and there. A great rookery surrounded us with egrets, herons and curlews circling and chattering in every direction. Birds echoed through the trees."
Fishing Online - Fishing resorts in Canada
FlyFishing with Mel Krieger - See also the Mel Krieger International School of Fly Fishing, Redding, California.
Frontier Fishing - New Zealand
Get Outdoors New England - Internet based bulletin board for outdoor activities in the New England area.
Gordon's Guide - Timothy Gordon's directory of adventure travel operators & tours. (You can also purchase Gordon's Guide to Adventure Vacations.)
GORP - Great Outdoor Recreation Pages - Adventure travel, hiking, National Parks, wilderness, gear, books...A rich resource.
Grand Canyon River Running - Leonard Thurman
Great Outdoors - From the Outdoor Life Network and Cox Interactive Media.
Green Mountain Club - Vermont club maintains the Long Trail.
Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run - Silverton, Colorado. For more on ultramarathons see It's Gonna Suck To Be You by Steve Friedman in the July 2001 Outside Magazine, and Leadville Trail 100, Western States 100 and the Vermont 100.
Havlick Snowshoe Company - Mayfield, New York company makes aluminum and wood framed snowshoes.
Highpointers Club - "Share a common interest in attaining the highpoint of each of the 50 states." There's also America's Roof Magazine: Guide to the Highest Places in the U.S. and the World.
Hike Ontario
HikeNet - Kathy and Tom Caggiano provide links to hiking clubs.
Hornbeck Boats - Small, ultra-light Kevlar caonoes built by Pete Hornbeck of Olmstedville, New York.
How to use a compass - Kjetil Kjernsmo
Iditarod - Official site. (See also DogSled.com.)
Industry Report - "For the mountain resort industry."
Interactive Marine Observations - National Weather Service site provides marine observations for weather at buoys and lighthouses in North America, the UK and Japan
International Mountain Bicycling Association - Site includes action alerts, trail news, rules of the trail, programs & activities, member clubs, member dealers and industry supports.
International Rivers Network - "Linking Human Rights and Environmental Protection."
International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
Internet Resources for Outdoor Recreation Research - Yu-Fai Leung, North Carolina State University
Izaak Walton League of America - There is a Complete Listing of State Chapters and Divisions and information on their Save Our Streams program.
Jack London Collection - Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE
Jackson Hole Net Magazine
Jimbo's World - Jim Lawyer's photos of his experiences ice and rock climbing and mountaineering. There are some spectacular shots of New York locations: Salmon River Falls, the Adirondacks, Tinkers Falls, the Shawangunks.
John Burroughs Pages - Biography, images, writings, bibliographies and links to related sites. Hosted by the American Museum of Natural History Library.
John Muir Exhibit - "Life and legacy of John Muir, naturalist, writer, conservationist, and founder of the Sierra Club" (Hosted by the Sierra Club).
John Muir's Yosemite - Excerpts from his daily journal, published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1911, shortly before the entire journal was published under the title My First Summer in the Sierra; Flashbacks, Atlantic Unbound, May 9, 1997.

Kayaks:
Boreal Design Kayaks
Current Designs Kayaks
Dagger Kayaks
Eddyline Kayaks
Emotion Kayaks
Impex Kayaks
Liquidlogic Kayaks
Necky Kayaks
Ocean Kayak
Perception Kayaks
Pyranha Kayaks
Riot Kayaks
Wave Sport
Wilderness Systems

Kienbusch Angling Collection - Princeton University Library
L.L. Bean
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum - Vergennes, Vermont
Land Trust Alliance
Landmarks of American Nature Writing from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley - "Catalogue of an exhibition of rare books, manuscripts, maps, engravings, and photographs related to the literature of nature written about Western Virginia from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries, on view in the Tracy W. McGregor Room, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, 27 April - 14 July 1997."
League of American Bicyclists
Leave No Trace - "To create a nationally recognized educational system that promotes land stewardship, minimum-impact skills, and wilderness ethics."
LeConte Lodge - Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Accessible by foot or horseback.
Liftopia - Discount lift tickets to ski resorts.
Lightweight Backpacker
Little Lyford Pond Camps - Located one hour east of Greenville, Maine, Little Lyford Pond Camps is a retreat for moose and wildlife watching, hiking, fly-fishing, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and photography. (See Outside Online's Winter Travel Guide 1996 for a short description.) For a taste of camp life in an earlier era, see the Journals of George S. Bliss, of Lynne, Massachusetts who vacationed at Little Lyford 25 times between 1921 and 1946. The journal for the June 1928 trip includes a number of photographs, including Bliss and the other members of his fishing party (page 1a) and Mansfield's car stuck in mud between Dover and Milo (page 2a). "His remarkable journals give the reader a glimpse of life at a Maine wilderness camp from a simpler, bygone era. With extraordinary warmth and humor, Bliss recalls the people he met, the fish he did and didn’t catch, the amazing journey each season to Little Lyford and the bountiful meals over which he waxes almost poetic."
Living Edens - PBS
Long Trail - Vermont (maintained by Ken Roberts)
Louis Agassiz Fuertes and the Harriman Alaska Expedition - "Journal that Louis Agassiz Fuertes kept during the Harriman Alaska Expedition. In the summer of 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman funded a scientific expedition along the Alaskan coast. The expedition, intended initially as a family vacation, gathered an illustrious group of scientists, writers and artists, and combined scientific research with leisure activities such as hunting." (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Libraries.)
Magazines
Backpacker
Explore
National Geographic Adventure
Outside
Lying Lightly On The Land: Building American's National Park Roads and Parkways - Exhibition at the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., June 6, 1997 - January 11, 1998
Maine Boatbuilders Show - Held in Portland every March and features fiberglass and wooden custom boatbuilders. Provides a list of exhibitors, with links to their web sites, if available.
Maine Guide - Travel and vacation information including
MaineOutdoors.com
Maine Wilderness Transformed: Timber, Sporting, and Exploitation of the Moosehead Lake Region - Exhibition at the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine, May 22, 1997 to January 7, 1998.
A Man to Match His Mountain - Salon Magazine's profile of Sir Edmund Hillary (part of their Brilliant Careers series.)
Marine Navigation Home Page - Information of use for marine navigation. Includes Sailing Directions and Bowditch's The American Practical Navigator in PDF format, a marine navigation calculator, and a limited set of Notice to Mariners chart corrections.
Messing About in Boats - With Index and Archive of On-Line Articles. Questions You Wished You Asked by Mark Reveaux is a useful guide to buying or building small boats.
Middle Path Boats - Edinburg, PA. Manufacturers of the 16 foot Skua
Milne Angling Collection - "One of the largest collections of angling literature in the United States. In the 1960s, Helena & Douglas Milne donated their collection of fishing books, periodicals, artwork and ephemera to the University of New Hampshire." Includes a helpful list of Fly Fishing Resources.
La montagne découverte - Bibliothèques municipales de Chambéry. Exhibition (in French) of books on mountaineering from 1561 to 1859.
Mount Everest.net - International team of climbers provide live webcasts from the expedition. Other Everest sites include the BBC's Everest Online, National Geographic's Everest: Measure of a Mountain, Everest News, Mountain Zone, Risk Online, an account from 1996, Outside Magazine's A Look Back at Everest, also about the 1996 expeditions, and Nova's Lost on Everest, the story of the 1924 expedition of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine.
Mount Washington Observatory - "Private, non-profit, membership organization. It was created in 1932 to observe and record the extreme weather conditions of Mount Washington." With a live camera at the summit.
Mountain Guide: Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks - From Parks Canada.
Mountain Zone
Mountaineers - Non-profit outdoor recreation and conservation club with over 15,000 members in the Puget Sound region and beyond
National Audubon Society
National Caves Association - Provides a Cave Directory
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic Adventure - Their Best of Adventure 2007 With links to outfitters in 25 Greatest Adventures in the World. See also Splash Tested: America's Best Swimming Holes Pancho Doll's list of the best 15 Swimming Holes: Arizona: Havasu Falls, Salome Canyon (Tonto National Forest), The Crack (Wet Beaver Wilderness of Coconino National Forest); California: Aztec Falls, Mushroom Hole (Tahoe National Forest), Turtle Island (confluence of Smith River and Buck Creek in Six Rivers National Forest), Yosemite Creek; Maine: Buttermilk Falls, (West Branch of the Pleasant River flowing through the Katahdin Ironworks Jo-Mary Forest); Missouri: Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park (East Fork of the Black River); New York: Blue Ledges (top of the Hudson River Gorge in Adirondack Park); North Carolina: Turtleback Falls (Nantahala National Forest); Utah: Cowboy Sweetheart (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Hite); Vermont: Bingham Falls (West Branch of the Little River in Smugglers Notch State Park); Virginia: St. Marys River (George Washington and Jefferson National Forest); West Virginia: Blue Hole (Big Sandy Creek, right above the Cheat River)
National Outdoor Leadership School - The school's alumni newspaper, The Leader, is published four times a year.
National Park Foundation - Official national, nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. Allows you to Buy a National Parks Pass Online.
National Parks - Chicago Tribune travel writer Robert Cross chronicles his journey through 25 national parks in this award-winning series.
National Parks and Conservation Association
National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA)
National Wilderness Preservation System - With a list of All of the 644 wilderness areas and a clickable map. A rich resource, particularly for western states (see Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah).
Nationwide Rivers Inventory - National Park Service
Nature Conservancy
Nautica On Line - International yachting magazine
Nautical Mind - Marine booksellers and chart agents.
New Hampshire Boat Museum - Wolfeboro Falls
New York Hiking Trails - Ron Sears
New York - New Jersey Trail Conference
New York State Important Bird Areas - Aububon Society site allows you to locate important bird habitats by Region or from a Name.
Noah's Marine Supplies - They sell plans, kits and materials for Cedar Strip Canoes and kayaks.
North American Native Fishes Association
North Country National Scenic Trail - "Links outstanding scenic, natural, recreational, historic, and cultural areas in seven of our northern States--New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota." See also North Country Trail Association. The 3,200 mile trail will frun from Crown Point on Lake Champlain to Lake Sakakawea in western North Dakota where it will connect with the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail which goes to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon.
Northern Forest Canoe Trail - 740-mile watertrail through New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire and Maine.
NPR's Radio Expeditions - Co-production of NPR and the National Geographic Society. With archives. The May 10-11, 2001 program was on Remembering the Everest Disaster.
Online Yacht Club
Open Space Institute
Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show - Held annually
Orvis Online - "Total fly fishing resource"
Outdoor Action Program - Princeton University
Outdoor Adventure River Specialists (OARS)
Outdoor Canada Online - Best Salmon Destinations
Outdoor Life
Outward Bound Canada
Outward Bound USA
Outside Online - Provides access to full-text articles in current issue, recent back issues and back issues to February 1995. Other highlights include Ghosts of Everest, an "exclusive excerpt from the forthcoming book by the men who led the quest to solve the mystery of George Mallory's disappearance" from the October 1999 issue, Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer's account of the disastrous Mt. Everest expedition from the September 1996 issue and Summit Journal 1996. Terminal Ice by Ian Frazier in the October 2002 issue was nominated for the 2003 National Magazine Award.
Pacific Crest Trail - 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada. Includes the John Muir Trail 211 miles long running from Yosemite Valley to Mt Whitney, in California and passing through 3 National Parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia.
Pack Lite Foods - Foods for camping and backpacking.
Paddler Magazine Online - With Paddlers of the Century and a Buyer's Guide in the January/February 2000 issue.
PaddlingNet - Canoeing and kayaking information. Highlight: Tamia Nelson and Farwell Forrest's column In the Same Boat.
Parks Canada | Parcs Canada
ParkNet: the National Park Service Place on the Web
Patagonia - "Environmentally conscious" outdoor clothing
Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Massachusetts. Witn an exhibition on the Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition.
Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia - "Descriptions, data, web links, photos, relief maps, interactive summit logs and many other features covering hundreds of mountain peaks and ranges."
Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources - Has information on National & State Forest Hiking Trails
Performance Bicycle
Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy - "Preserving and Promoting Community Trails in Western Pennsylvania."
RAGBRAI - Official home page of the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) held in July.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - "Nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching America's communities and countryside by creating a nationwide network of public trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors."
Reclaiming the Everglades
Recreation.GOV: Recreational Opportunities on Federal Lands - "Offers information from all of the federal land management agencies and allows you to search for recreation sites by State, by agency, or by recreational activity."
Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation - Offers a collection of Educational Resources.
Redwood National and State Parks - California. The 3 mile Tall Trees Trail has some of world's tallest trees.
River Odysseys West - Rafting and raft-supported hiking adventures in Idaho, Oregon and Montana.
River that Flows Uphill: A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain - Full-text of W. H. Calvin's river diary (Sierra Club Books 1987) describing a two-week whitewater trip through the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Rivers & Trails and Conservation Assistance - National Park Service program has "collaborated with over 1,000 local groups to work on 700 conservation projects in all 50 states.
Robert Winkler - Nature Writing - Collection of essays on birds and other wildlife in New England's "suburban wilderness"
Rock & Ice Magazine
Roper's Knots - Ed Prins, of Delft, the Netherlands, gives instructions on how to tie knots.
Runner's World Magazine
Sailing Around the World - Story of sailboat Out of Bounds and her crew during a 936 day journey around the world that was completed on May 26, 1999.
Sailing World - From Cruising World and Sailing World magazines.
Salt Water Sportsman
San Juan Hut System - Telluride to Moab
Sandra J. Hildreth - Artist specializing in rural and wilderness landscapes in watercolor and oil, primarily of New York State. Hildreth is also an art teacher at the Madrid-Waddington Central School in Madrid, New York, and an Adjunct Professor at St. Lawrence University in Canton. Among her Most Recent Works is Bakers Clearing, North Woods Club, an oil painting based on a "visit to the North Woods Club, near Minerva, NY, where Winslow Homer spent many of his summers. This same view was painted by Eliphalet Terry, the artist who brought Homer to Bakers Farm in 1859." Other works include Oil Paintings, Rural Landscapes (1997), Wilderness Series (1997), More Wilderness Paintings (1998), Mandala Paintings, Watercolor Paintings, More Watercolors and Adirondack Landscape Paintings. In 1997 Hildreth received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to pursue her interest in the painters of the Hudson River School. There is an upcoming exhibition of Hildreth's works, The Adirondack Wilderness: Places of Enlightenment. Works by Sandra Hildreth, at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, December 1-22, 2000.
Science of Cycling - San Francisco Exploratorium
Sea Kayaker Magazine - Provides access to selected articles and reviews from past issues.
Sierra Club - Provides searchable archives of their Action listserv, archives of the Planet Newsletter, access to selected features from Sierra Magazine and its back issues, (including the March/April 1999 Adventure Travel issue) and information on outings.
Sierra Designs
Sierra Wilderness - "Information source for the Sierra Nevada Back Country."
Skin Diver Magazine - With searchable archive
SkiNet
SnowSource - Weather resource for skiers
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance - The entire text of Wilderness on the Edge, their definitive description of the Citizen's Wilderness Proposal (House bill H.R. 1500), published in 1989, is available online with a Table of Contents.
Specialized - Mountain bikes
Species in Parks: Flora and Fauna Database Online Query System - Databases of vascular plant and vertebrate animal species reported to occur within lands managed by the U.S. National Park Service.
Sportfishing and Aquatic Resources Education Program (SAREP) - Cornell Cooperative Extension program provides Selected Fishes of New York State with color images, description and distribution maps.
StreamNet - "Cooperative venture of the Pacific Northwest's fish and wildlife agencies and tribes. We provide data and data services in support of the region's Fish and Wildlife Program and other efforts to preserve and restore the region's aquatic resources."
SurfLine OnLine: Worldwide Surf Reports
Surfrider Foundation USA - "Dedicated to the protection, preservation and restoration of the world's oceans, waves and beaches."
Tenth Mountain Division Hut Association - Colorado backcountry huts for skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers, cyclists, and hikers.
Tenzing Norgay Adventures
Thomas & Thomas Rodmaker - Fly rods. There's also J. Ryall Fly Reels.
Tom Brown's Tracker School - Asbury, New Jersey, school emphasizes nature, tracking, wilderness survival and the teaching of Stalking Wolf.
TopoZone: Web's Topographic Map - "Every USGS 1:100,000, 1:25,000, and1:24,000 scale map for the entire United States."
Trailplace - "Interactive website for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers." Sponsored by the Center for Appalachian Trail Studies, the site has maps, Thru-Hiker Journals and a collection of Hiking & Gear Links. (Some material at the site is available to members only.)
Trans Canada Trail
Trenton Falls - Spectacular series of waterfalls on the West Canada Creek located 14 miles north of Utica, New York near the towns of Barneveld and Remsen. This was a major tourist attraction in the 19th century but is now largely unknown. "After being closed for nearly 100 years, approximately one mile of scenic trails allow the public to visit the site. The stone dust and wood mulch trails lead visitors to stunning views of the gorge and its waterfalls. Interpretive panels provide information on hydropower, geology and history. In the mid-1800s the site featured an exclusive resort hotel and was a "must see" destination between the East Coast and Niagara Falls. In October 2004, more than 4,000 visitors flocked to the site for its inaugural weekends." (This is from a Brascan Power Press Release.) In 2005 Brascan Power opened the Falls to the public on October 1st & 2nd and October 8th & 9th. The Town Of Trenton provides Directions to Trenton Falls.
Early travel books describing Trenton Falls include Trenton Falls, picturesque and descriptive (1851) by N. Parker Willis, A description of Trenton Falls, Oneida county, N.Y. (1844) by John Sherman, and Descriptive guide to the Adirondacks, (land of the thousand lakes) and to Saratoga Springs; Schroon Lake; Lakes Luzerne, George, and Champlain; the Ausable Chasm; the Thousand Islands; Massena Springs; and Trenton Falls (1894) by Edwin R. Wallace, all from the Cornell University Library New York State Historical Literature Collection. It also is of great interest to geologists. See Geologic Overviw of the Trenton Group at West Canada Creek, New York - Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. See also Trenton Falls Scenic Trails and Trenton Falls, Chapter 13, Mohawk: Discovering the Valley of the Crystals by M. Paul Keesler. Trenton Falls, Picturesque and Descriptive. Nearby are two lovely roads to explore: Dover Road and Military Road. See Town of Russia - Roads which provides the following information "The best known of the first roads was State/Military Road that was built across the hills, originally called the State Road when it was surveyed in 1806 and then opened to travel in 1808. After leaving Albany to Johnstown, it followed a course through the Town of Oppenheim to Dolgeville and then turned northwesterly through the settlements of Salisbury, Salisbury Corners, Norway, Cold Brook, Russia, Boon's Bridge on the West Canada Creek near Prospect, and then northward to Remsen and Boonville, and eventually to Sackett's Harbor. It is the oldest road in the Town, running from southeast to northeast across the Town. During the War of 1812 this road was used to supply the fort at Oswego on Lake Ontario. Troops were marched over it and chains were carried north to close the St. Lawrence River to the British. In the early 1900's the section in Herkimer County was named Military Road."
Trout Unlimited
Trust for Public Land - View by region or by state.
Trustees of Reservations - Organization formed to "preserve, for public use and enjoyment, landscapes of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts and to protect special places across the state." With database describing 80 reservations across Massachusetts.
Ultramarathon World - David Blaikie
United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures - Collaboration between the Library of Congress and the National Library of Brazil (Fundação Biblioteca Nacional). Some of the titles in the collection:
Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Theodore Roosevelt with illustrations from photographs by Kermit Roosevelt and other members of the expedition, New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1914. Known as the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition (1913-1914). Appendix B: The Outfit for Travelling in the South American Wilderness, pp. 353-369. Index, pp. 373-383. Other full-text titles in the collection:
The Amazon and Madeira rivers; sketches and descriptions from the note-book of an explorer by Franz Keller, engineer, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott and co., 1875.
Journal of a voyage to Brazil, and residence there, during part of the years 1821, 1822, 1823 by Maria Graham, London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green [etc.], 1824.
U.S. Boat Shows
U.S. Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety - See also their Navigation Center.
U.S. Geological Survey in New York - With Near-Real-Time Surface-Water Data
US Sailing
USDA Forest Service - Provides a site index, a list of databases, information on National Forests (with links to National Forests by State) and a number of other topics.
U.S. National Forest Campgrounds - Fred and Suzi Dow
U.S. Orienteering Foundation - There's also an International Orienteering Foundation and Trail Orienteering maintained by Anne Braggins.
United States Power Squadrons - " Non profit, educational organization dedicated to making boating safer and more enjoyable by teaching classes in seamanship, navigation and related subjects."
Vermont Paddlers Club - The archive for their newsletter, Bow & Stern, goes back to June 1975!
Views from the Top - Online hiking and climbing magazine.
Vendée Globe - 26,000 mile around-the-world non-stop solo yacht race from Les Sables d'Olonne, France, and back.
Vermont Bicycle Tours - Worldwide bicycling vacations
Viking Voyage 1000 - W. Hodding Carter and his crew attempt a re-enactment of Leif Ericsson's historic voyage from Greenland to the southern Canadian coast.
Virgin Land: The American West As Symbol and Myth - Hypertext version of Henry Nash Smith's 1950 book made available by Ian Finseth, University of Virginia American Studies department.
Virtual Flyshop
Walter Drake - This links goes directly to a description of an ice tray that makes cylindrical ice cubes that fit nicely in water bottles. (2 trays for $5.49)
Where They're Biting - Licensed NYS fishing guide Anthony Ritter's guide for the Times Herald-Record, Middletown, New York.
White Mountains Info Server - David Metsky's site has a collection of Links.
Wilderness Emergencies - An on-line medical reference by eMedicine Online.
Wilderness Learning Center - Survival school in the Adirondacks (Chateaugay) run by Marty Simon and John Gibbons, grandson of Euell Gibbons.
Wildernet: American environment and American culture - "A webspace created by members of the Fall, 1995 Yale American Studies Seminar, "Wilderness and the American Imagination, Thomas Thurston, Instructor". Site provides environmental writing by John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Theodore Roosevelt, Terry Tempest Williams and Frederick Winslow Taylor.
Winter Trails - Winter Trails Day in January 7, 2006
Wooden Boat Magazine

Wooden Canoe Heritage Association - Located in Tamworth, New Hampshire (603-323-8992), WCHA is a "non-profit membership organization devoted to preserving, studying, building, restoring and using wood canoes, and to disseminating information about canoeing heritage throughout the world."
Research Resources
The Old Town Canoe Company Build Record Archive Project - Joint Project of the WCHA and Old Town Canoe Company to scan build records of the Old Town Canoe Company, the Carleton Canoe Company and the Kennebec Company. "Build records consist of several hundred thousand paper cards with hand written notes about how and when a canoe was built. They contain: specific construction details about each canoe; the dates when each stage of production was completed; the name and address of the original purchaser; and other related information."
Canoe Literature - From the 19th and 20th centuries.
Forum
Directory of Builders & Suppliers
Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Assembly - Annual four day event with "workshops, demonstrations and hands-on building seminars guided by master professionals". Hundreds of antique canoes are on display.
Building and Restoration Resources
Canoe Plans - List of available plans
Online video -Ten minute video about the organization produced by Michael Cavanaugh.
Wooden Canoe Journal.
Online Store

Woods and waters; or, The Saranacs and Racket - Full-text of the 1860 book by Alfred Billings Street from the Making of America Project
Woods Canada - Outdoor goods
WWW Bicycle Lane - Bryn Dole

Outdoors

Canoeing