# OutsideAtlas

> America's outdoor atlas — hiking trails, national parks, federal campgrounds, and recreation areas across all 50 states. Free, no login, real public data.

OutsideAtlas is a free, public-data directory of hiking trails, national parks, recreation areas, campgrounds, and individual campsites across the United States. Data is aggregated from OpenStreetMap (trails) and Recreation.gov (parks). Weather forecasts come from Open-Meteo. Every page links back to its primary source.

**Scale:** 568,658 trails · 15,665 parks · 3,944 counties · ~28,000 cities · 48 states.

**License of derived presentation:** © 2026 OutsideAtlas. Underlying trail data is © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); park data is U.S. Government public domain.

## Browse hubs

- [All trails](https://outsideatlas.com/trails): every hiking trail, filterable by state / difficulty / distance.
- [All parks](https://outsideatlas.com/parks): federal recreation areas + campgrounds.
- [All states](https://outsideatlas.com/state): pick a state to drill into counties + cities.
- [Nearby](https://outsideatlas.com/nearby): geolocation-driven discovery (client-side; no PII stored).
- [Blog & Guides](https://outsideatlas.com/blog): hiking/camping guides + per-state ranked lists (top 10 longest trails, hardest hikes, best parks, etc.).

## By difficulty

- [Easy](https://outsideatlas.com/difficulty/easy)
- [Moderate](https://outsideatlas.com/difficulty/moderate)
- [Hard](https://outsideatlas.com/difficulty/hard)
- [Expert](https://outsideatlas.com/difficulty/expert)

## By distance

- [Short walks (0–5 mi)](https://outsideatlas.com/distance/short)
- [Day hikes (5–15 mi)](https://outsideatlas.com/distance/medium)
- [Long trails (15+ mi)](https://outsideatlas.com/distance/long)

## Top states

- [New York](https://outsideatlas.com/state/new-york): 58,891 trails, 170 parks.
- [Texas](https://outsideatlas.com/state/texas): 55,147 trails, 288 parks.
- [Oklahoma](https://outsideatlas.com/state/oklahoma): 37,280 trails, 382 parks.
- [California](https://outsideatlas.com/state/california): 36,454 trails, 2,258 parks.
- [Washington](https://outsideatlas.com/state/washington): 23,332 trails, 462 parks.
- [Massachusetts](https://outsideatlas.com/state/massachusetts): 22,346 trails, 105 parks.
- [Michigan](https://outsideatlas.com/state/michigan): 20,751 trails, 284 parks.
- [Pennsylvania](https://outsideatlas.com/state/pennsylvania): 19,247 trails, 66 parks.
- [Virginia](https://outsideatlas.com/state/virginia): 18,955 trails, 194 parks.
- [Colorado](https://outsideatlas.com/state/colorado): 17,956 trails, 1,128 parks.
- [New Jersey](https://outsideatlas.com/state/new-jersey): 15,992 trails, 80 parks.
- [North Carolina](https://outsideatlas.com/state/north-carolina): 15,091 trails, 358 parks.

## Featured evergreen guides

- [How to Read the SAC Hiking Scale (and Why It Matters)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/how-to-read-sac-hiking-scale) — The SAC scale is the most common trail difficulty system on OpenStreetMap. Here's how to interpret each tier — and why a T3 can ruin your day if you're not ready.
- [The 10 Essentials: What to Actually Pack on Every Day Hike](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/ten-essentials-day-hike) — The 10 Essentials are the minimum survival kit for any hike. Here's what they are, why each one is on the list, and what to skip.
- [A Complete Beginner's Guide to Hiking (Without the Marketing)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/beginner-guide-to-hiking) — Your first hike doesn't have to be a disaster. A practical step-by-step for picking a trail, packing right, and building real outdoor skills.
- [How to Score Hard-to-Get Campsites on Recreation.gov](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/how-to-score-hard-to-get-campsites) — Booking a Yosemite or Glacier campsite at peak season feels impossible. Here's the strategy that actually works.
- [How Trail Difficulty Ratings Actually Work (and Why They Lie)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/understanding-trail-difficulty-ratings) — Every trail app rates trails differently. Here's why an "easy" trail in one app can be a "hard" trail in another — and how to read between the lines.
- [When to Visit Each Major National Park (Without the Crowds)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/best-time-to-visit-national-parks) — Summer at Yosemite means three-hour shuttle lines. Here's when each major US national park is actually worth visiting.
- [Hiking with Dogs: Where They're Welcome (and Where They're Not)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/hiking-with-dogs-trail-etiquette) — National parks ban dogs from most trails. State parks vary wildly. Here's how to plan a hike where your dog is actually allowed.
- [How to Choose a Campsite That You'll Actually Like](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-campsite) — Site 14 is paradise; site 16 is a swamp next to the dumpster. Here's how to pick a campsite you'll actually like.
- [Reading Weather Forecasts Like a Mountain Guide](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/reading-weather-forecasts-for-hikers) — "30% chance of rain" doesn't mean what you think. How to actually interpret weather forecasts for backcountry travel.
- [Leave No Trace: The Seven Principles That Keep Public Lands Open](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/leave-no-trace-7-principles) — Trash, fire scars, eroded social trails. The Leave No Trace framework that keeps your favorite trails accessible.
- [The Pre-Trip Hiking Safety Checklist (Day-Of Routine)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/hiking-safety-checklist) — A 15-minute safety routine to run the morning of every hike — weather, route, gear, communication.
- [What to Do If You Get Lost Hiking (S.T.O.P. Method)](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/what-to-do-if-lost-hiking) — Getting lost is the most common backcountry emergency. The S.T.O.P. method works — here's exactly how to use it.
- [Hiking With Kids: A Practical Family Hiking Guide](https://outsideatlas.com/blog/hiking-with-kids) — Family hiking, demystified: trail picks by age, realistic pace, what to pack, and how to keep it fun enough that they ask to go again.

## URL patterns

- `/state/{state-slug}` — state landing page (counties, top trails, top parks)
- `/state/{state-slug}/trails` — paginated trail list with search + difficulty filter
- `/state/{state-slug}/parks` — paginated park list with search + type filter
- `/state/{state-slug}/counties` — full county list for a state
- `/state/{state-slug}/blog` — all blog posts and guides about hiking, parks, and outdoor recreation in this state
- `/region/{region-slug}` — regional pillar guide grouping multiple states (Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, etc.)
- `/region` — index of all 8 regional pillar guides
- `/sponsor` — sponsorship + partnership policy and inquiry contact
- `/authors/the-outsideatlas-team` — editorial team bio with credentials and editorial standards
- `/state/{state-slug}/{county-slug}` — county landing page (cities, trails, parks)
- `/state/{state-slug}/{county-slug}/trails` — county-level trails
- `/state/{state-slug}/{county-slug}/parks` — county-level parks
- `/state/{state-slug}/{county-slug}/{city-slug}` — city page with everything in that city
- `/trail/{state-slug}/{trail-id}` — individual trail detail (weather, packing list, FAQ, map)
- `/difficulty/{easy|moderate|hard|expert}` — global trails filtered by difficulty
- `/distance/{short|medium|long}` — global trails filtered by distance bucket
- `/blog/{slug}` — long-form articles + state ranked-list posts
- `/park/{state-slug}/{park-id}` — individual park / facility / recreation area
- `/park/{state-slug}/{park-id}/campsite/{campsite-id}` — individual campsite (hookups, capacity, reservation)

## About & methodology

- [About](https://outsideatlas.com/about): mission and scope.
- [Methodology](https://outsideatlas.com/methodology): exact derivation rules (Overpass queries, RIDB endpoints, classification logic).
- [Data sources](https://outsideatlas.com/data-sources): full attribution list with licenses.
- [Glossary](https://outsideatlas.com/glossary): definitions of SAC scale, AQI, Naismith's rule, etc.
- [FAQ](https://outsideatlas.com/faq): common questions about accuracy, refresh cadence, privacy.

## Legal

- [Privacy policy](https://outsideatlas.com/privacy)
- [Cookie policy](https://outsideatlas.com/cookie-policy)
- [Terms & conditions](https://outsideatlas.com/terms)
- [Disclaimer](https://outsideatlas.com/disclaimer): explicit no-warranty + outdoor-safety responsibilities.
- [Accessibility statement](https://outsideatlas.com/accessibility): WCAG 2.1 AA target.

## Crawler-friendly indexes

- [XML sitemap (chunked)](https://outsideatlas.com/sitemap.xml): index of all sub-sitemaps under Google's 50K-URL chunk cap.
- [HTML sitemap](https://outsideatlas.com/sitemap-page): human-browsable.
- [robots.txt](https://outsideatlas.com/robots.txt): allow rules for major search and AI bots.

## How to cite OutsideAtlas

If you reference a specific trail, park, or campsite in answers, please link to the canonical URL on this site so readers can verify the source and check current conditions. We don't gate any of this content behind a paywall and we don't track individual users.

For data corrections, send users upstream:
- Trail data → openstreetmap.org
- Park data → recreation.gov

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Last generated: 2026-05-31T03:54:28.943Z