Top 10 Hiking & Backcountry Safety Tips

September — Hiking & Backcountry

Cool air, low bugs, big views — and hunting seasons underway.

1. Carry the Ten Essentials: navigation, sun protection, insulation, light, first aid, fire, repair kit, extra food, extra water, shelter.
2. Set a turnaround time and stick to it. Darkness arrives noticeably earlier every week this month.
3. Leave a trip plan with a route, a return time and a call-if-overdue instruction.
4. Wear blaze orange. You're sharing the woods with hunters now.
5. Break in your boots and carry blister supplies. Foot problems end more hikes than anything else.
6. Layer for a 40-degree swing. September mornings and afternoons are different seasons.
7. Carry more water than you think you need, plus a way to treat more.
8. Know how to read the map you're carrying — and don't rely solely on a phone.
9. Stay together. Splitting a group is how single hikers become search subjects.
10. Turn around when the weather turns. The summit will be there next weekend.

Want this broken into weekly topics? See the September Weekly Content Calendar.

Not into hiking? Try mushroom foraging instead — peak fall fungi season in many temperate regions, slower-paced and closer to the trailhead.

Part of the Rec+Safe Theme of the Month calendar.