Hiking, climbing, biking, surfing, skiing and exploring the outdoors in and around New York City.
The best outdoor activities in and around New York City.
Birding, if you don’t know but you probably do, is the practice of finding, identifying and watching birds in their natural habitat. The idea of which has never totally appealed to us but whenever we meet someone who’s bird watched before, they are ecstatic about it. Continue reading Sharpen your bird brain: where to go birding in NYC
“I think we should be about there,” someone said as we approached an indistinct corner of Prospect Park. We were a few hours into a navigation class and we were lost.
“Um, I don’t think this is right,” someone else mumbled. We glanced at the map of the park we had plotted our course on beforehand to try to make sense of where we were. Our instructor gave us a few minutes to figure out our error before setting us back on track. We held up our compasses and marched on by following the azimuth we had recorded on our maps when we had planned our route. Continue reading Practice your map and compass skills in the park
This week’s adventure is an essay from contributor and new Sorta Outdoorsy pal Lyndsey Boekenkamp. If you have a Sorta Outdoorsy story you’d like to share, email hi@sortaoutdoorsy.com.
Being a trail runner, I’m always looking for new challenges. Every weekend, I prep my hydration pack, whip up a few PB&Js, jump in my car, and go off in search of dirt, rocks, and freedom. On those days when a quick local jaunt just doesn’t cut it, I lace up my sneakers and head to Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Located in the small town of Cross River, NY about an hour north of NYC by Metro-North, and with more than 40 miles of trails, it’s the perfect place to get lost on purpose. Steeped in lore and local history, the site is the location of several well-known trail races throughout the year, including the infamous Leatherman’s Loop 10K in April, which boasts steep climbs, sweet single track (clear, narrow, well groomed trails), and a whole lot of mud. Continue reading Turn your weekend jog up a notch with a trail run
We were going a little stir crazy a few weeks ago so we convinced a friend to grab his bike and join us on a ride to Coney Island. It was a sunny day but the temps were low. We had to bundle up quite a bit and hustle to make it back before dark (neither of us brought lights and the sun was going down at 4pm back then—we know you won’t make that same mistake). Still, the ride was a great way to explore Brooklyn and spend a few hours outdoors. It will be much more pleasant now that it’s spring and the amount of daylight is more reasonable. Continue reading Bike to Coney Island
Sometimes the best way to deal with the disappointment when you thought spring had sprung but the weatherman is predicting that it will be cold again this weekend is to start planning for summer. It’s with that in mind that we submit to you the following—our picks for Outdoorfest—an annual festival of NYC based outdoor activities. The festival, which is taking place this year from June 10-19, released its initial lineup of events this week and we’re excited to see that some of our favorite outdoor organizations will be hosting trips and workshops throughout the week. Here’s where you’ll find us: Continue reading Outdoorfest 2016: Our picks for the Coachella of outdoor events
Back in November, we scheduled a bunch of snow-sports for our winter editorial calendar. This was the year we were going to try cross country skiing, snowshoeing and maybe even skinning but the balmy temperatures kept us hiking, biking and surfing through the winter months. Still, we’ve made a point to snowboard as much as possible even though the season was late to open and will end in a few weeks.
Continue reading Spring ski: Hit the slopes through April. Here’s how.
We didn’t check the weather last night before we went to bed so we were pretty surprised this morning when we woke up to what looked like at least an inch of snow collected on our fire escape. While we were excited to start planning for our spring adventures, we’re psyched about getting at least one more day of winter. We’ve rounded up our favorite ways to enjoy snow in the city (indoors and out) below. Let us know how you’ll be spending one more snow day.
Continue reading Snow day: Another chance to enjoy the best winter activities in the city
Sometimes it seems like everybody’s family but ours took an annual ski trip, which means that most of our friends grew up going to resorts and know how to navigate them come adulthood. We, on the other hand, feel like a fish out of water every time we visit a new ski slope, and last weekend’s trip to Hunter Mountain was no exception. So to pass the time while we waited in the (wrong) line to rent gear, we made a mental checklist of tips that will hopefully help your first few trips to a new ski hill go off without a hitch. Continue reading A dummy’s guide to ski resorts
We were discussing some of our favorite hikes near the city at Outdoorfest’s Mappy Hour last night which stirred the project manager in us to start creating a list of trails we’d like to explore over the next few weeks. Check out our picks below and let us know what’s on your spring hike to-do list. Continue reading Spring hike checklist: Trails near New York City
We did something recently that was so awesome we can’t believe we hadn’t done it already. What we did was take the A train out almost as far as it goes to Beach 67 early one morning to surf. We were heading to our first surf lesson and as the train rolled past Broad Channel, we looked out at the water and questioned starting such a hobby in the middle of winter. Continue reading Surf: Catch a winter wave in Queens