52 Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation engaged in out of doors, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environmental they are being carried out in. These activities can include fishing, hunting, backpacking, and horseback riding — and can be completed individually or collectively. Outdoor recreation is a broad concept that encompasses a varying range of activities and landscapes.

BASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend safely to the ground. "BASE" is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span, and earth (cliff). Participants exit from a fixed object such as a cliff, and after an optional freefall delay, deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is wingsuit BASE jumping.

Birdwatching, or birding, is a form of wildlife observation in which the observation of birds is a recreational activity or citizen science. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, by listening for bird sounds, or by watching public webcams.

Bungee jumping, also spelt bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a bridge across a deep ravine, or on a natural geographic feature such as a cliff. It is also possible to jump from a type of aircraft that has the ability to hover above the ground, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter. The thrill comes from the free-falling and the rebound. When the person jumps, the cord stretches and the jumper flies upwards again as the cord recoils, and continues to oscillate up and down until all the kinetic energy is dissipated.

In North America, a campfire story is a form of oral storytelling performed around an open fire at night, typically in the wilderness, largely connected with the telling of stories having supernatural motifs or elements of urban legend. Whereas the activity is not incomparable to, nor mutually exclusive from, indigenous practices they should not be confused with each other in a contemporary context.

An outdoor cinema consists of a digital or analog movie projector, scaffolded construction or inflatable movie screen, and sound system.

Cliff jumping is jumping off a cliff as a form of sport. When done without equipment, it may be also known as tombstoning. It forms part of the sport of coastal exploration or "coasteering". When performed with a parachute, it is known as BASE jumping. The world record for cliff jumping is currently held by Laso Schaller, with a jump of 58.8 m (193 ft).

The Czech Hiking Markers Standard is an international system of hiking markers for tourist trails, used in more countries than any competing standard. The signs and markers can be used in both wilderness and cities.

Czech Tourist Club, known also as Czech Hiking Club was created in 1888. With over 40.000 members, it is a large organisation responsible for maintaining the dense Czech Hiking Markers System.

Tramping is a movement incorporating woodcraft, hiking/backpacking/camping and scouting, with a characteristic flavour of and styled on American culture, especially the Wild West. The latter is particularly noticeable in the tramping song, a song and musical style associated with tramping.

Dalby Forest is a forest located on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England. It is maintained by the UK Forestry Commission. Dalby Forest, along with Langdale Forest and Cropton Forest, forms part of the North Riding Forest Park, found within the North York Moors National Park.

Exposure is a climbing and hiking term. Sections of a hiking path or climbing route are described as "exposed" if there is a high risk of injury in the event of a fall because of the steepness of the terrain. If such routes are negotiated without any protection, a false step can result in a serious fall. The negotiation of such routes can cause fear of falling because of the potential danger.

Fastpacking is a marriage of trail running and ultralight backpacking: "hiking the ups, jogging the flats, and running the downs," depending on the gradient, because of the weight carried. Participants carry a light pack with essential supplies, including a sleeping bag and tent, or similar form of shelter, if mountain huts or other accommodation is not available. The weight carried will vary but fastpackers aim at no more than 15 pounds (6.8 kg) and some achieve less than 10 pounds (4.5 kg). This activity may be undertaken either unsupported, self-supported, or supported. "Unsupported fastpackers make no use of outside assistance along the route", while self-supported fastpackers will leave caches of supplies along the intended route.

An floodlit trail is an electrically illuminated trail, often completely or partly in a forest.

Fruit picking or fruit harvesting is a seasonal activity that occurs during harvest time in areas with fruit growing wild or being farmed in orchards.

A garden pond is a water feature constructed in a garden or designed landscape, normally for aesthetic purposes, to provide wildlife habitat, or for swimming.

Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Typically the pilot is in a harness suspended from the airframe, and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.

Outdoor recreation, such as hiking, camping, canoeing, cycling, or skiing, entails risks, even if participants do not recklessly place themselves in harm's way. In some circumstances, such as being in remote locations or in extreme weather conditions, even a minor accident may create a dangerous situation that requires survival skills. However, with correct precautions, even fairly adventurous outdoor recreation can be enjoyable and safe.

To have a head for heights means that one has no acrophobia, an irrational fear of heights, and is not particularly prone to fear of falling or suffering from vertigo, the spinning sensation that can be triggered, for example, by looking down from a high place.

The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail stretching 1,200 miles (1,900 km) in the state of Wisconsin in the United States. The trail is administered by the National Park Service, and is constructed and maintained by private and public agencies including the Ice Age Trail Alliance, a non-profit and member-volunteer based organization with local chapters.

A manta ray night dive is a scuba diving excursion to view manta rays.

Mineral spas are spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine.

The Jeep Safari is an annual event hosted by the Red Rock 4-Wheelers off-road club, where 4-wheelers come to challenge the rough terrain of the backcountry in the Moab, Utah area. Although its title does say it's a festival of Jeeps, a few take on the trails in 4x4 trucks. The Easter Weekend safari lasts for nine days, going through Easter Sunday.

MyOutdoorTV.com is an internet television channel that provides streaming TV shows and product demonstrations to hunters, shooting sports enthusiasts, anglers, campers, boaters, and hikers. It is the largest online video network catering to outdoor programming.

There are 40 protected areas in the United States designated as national recreation areas (NRA). They are established by an act of the United States Congress to preserve enhanced recreational opportunities in places with significant natural and scenic resources. National recreation areas emphasize a variety of activities for visitors, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing, swimming, biking, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing, in areas that include multiple-use management including both conservation and limited utilization of natural resources. They have diverse features and contexts, being established around reservoirs, in urban areas, and within forests. Due to their size, diversity of activities, and proximity to population centers, NRAs are among the most visited units of the National Park System, with six among the thirty most visited sites.

A Nerf war is an activity involving Nerf Blasters or other foam-firing toy weapons. Nerf wars can be a wide range of games, from informal shootouts in offices and basements to well-organized outdoor battles with high-powered modified blasters. Since foam-firing guns are relatively safe and cheap, Nerf wars can include participants and battlefields otherwise unsuitable for airsoft and paintball.

Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding a vehicle on unsurfaced roads or tracks, made of materials such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, grass, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicles to competitions with customized vehicles and professional drivers. Off-roaders have been met with criticism for the environmental damage caused by their vehicles. There have also been extensive debates over the role of government in regulating the sport, including a Supreme Court case brought against the Bureau of Land Management.

Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points. Originally a training exercise in land navigation for military officers, orienteering has developed many variations. Among these, the oldest and the most popular is foot orienteering. For the purposes of this article, foot orienteering serves as a point of departure for discussion of all other variations, but almost any sport that involves racing against a clock and requires navigation with a map is a type of orienteering.

Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners, called tracers or traceurs, aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, plyometrics, rolling, quadrupedal movement (crawling) and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation. Parkour's development from military training gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art.

A pergola is an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The origin of the word is the Late Latin pergula, referring to a projecting eave. As a type of gazebo, it may also be an extension of a building or serve as protection for an open terrace or a link between pavilions. They are different from green tunnels, with a green tunnel being a type of road under a canopy of trees.

A picnic table is a table with benches, designed for impromptu outdoor dining. The term is often specifically associated with rectangular tables having an A-frame structure. Such tables may be referred to as "picnic tables" even when used exclusively indoors.

A playground, playpark, or play area is a place specifically designed to enable children to play there. It is typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some target other age groups or people with disabilities. A playground might exclude children below a certain age.

Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a part of the experience.

A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions.

Right of way is "the legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another", or "a path or thoroughfare subject to such a right". A similar right of access also exists on land held by a government, lands that are typically called public land, state land, or Crown land. When one person owns a piece of land that is bordered on all sides by lands owned by others, an easement may exist, or be created so as to initiate a right of way through the bordering land.

Rugged Maniac is an annual obstacle course race, otherwise known as a mud run, hosted in multiple cities across the United States and Canada. Participants run a 5 kilometer course with obstacles ranging from muddy water slides, crawling through tunnels, jumping over logs set on fire, and scaling large, curved walls. Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is an investment partner with Rugged Maniac, after their appearance on season 5 of the hit ABC reality show Shark Tank.

Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving where the diver uses a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba), which is completely independent of surface supply, to breathe underwater. Scuba divers carry their own source of breathing gas, usually compressed air, allowing them greater independence and freedom of movement than surface-supplied divers, and longer underwater endurance than breath-hold divers. Although the use of compressed air is common, a mixture of air and oxygen called enriched air or nitrox has become popular due to its benefit of reduced nitrogen intake during long or repetitive dives. Open circuit scuba systems discharge the breathing gas into the environment as it is exhaled, and consist of one or more diving cylinders containing breathing gas at high pressure which is supplied to the diver through a regulator. They may include additional cylinders for range extension, decompression gas or emergency breathing gas. Closed-circuit or semi-closed circuit rebreather scuba systems allow recycling of exhaled gases. The volume of gas used is reduced compared to that of open circuit, so a smaller cylinder or cylinders may be used for an equivalent dive duration. Rebreathers extend the time spent underwater compared to open circuit for the same gas consumption; they produce fewer bubbles and less noise than open circuit scuba which makes them attractive to covert military divers to avoid detection, scientific divers to avoid disturbing marine animals, and media divers to avoid bubble interference.

A snow cave is a shelter constructed in snow by certain animals in the wild, human mountain climbers, winter recreational enthusiasts, and winter survivalists. It has thermal properties similar to an igloo and is particularly effective at providing protection from wind as well as low temperatures. A properly made snow cave can be 0 °C or warmer inside, even when outside temperatures are −40 °C.

A splash pad or spray pool is a recreation area, often in a public park, for water play that has little or no standing water. This is said to eliminate the need for lifeguards or other supervision, as there is little risk of drowning.

Sure-footedness refers to the ability, especially when hiking or mountain climbing, to negotiate difficult or rough terrain safely. Such situations place demands on a person's coordination and reserves of strength as well as requiring sufficient appreciation of the terrain. A person who is sure-footed is thus unlikely to slip or stumble.

Taghazout is a small fishing village 19 km (12 mi) north of the city of Agadir in southwestern Morocco. The inhabitants are mostly of Berber origin. Fishing, tourism, and the production of Argan oil being the main source of income. In recent years, tourism has been increasing in importance to the local economy.

Tilgate Lake is the biggest of three lakes at Tilgate Park, and remains a popular water activity centre and tourist attraction in Crawley, West Sussex.Tilgate Lake has a wide variety of outdoor activities open to the general public, such as archery, canoeing, fishing, kayaking, mountain biking, raft building, rowing, running, sailing, standup paddleboarding, Open water swimming, team building, navigational challenges, tree climbing and zip trekking.

A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada.

Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail.

Train surfing is the act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram or another rail transport. In a number of countries, the term train hopping is used synonymously with freight hopping, which means riding on the outside of a freight train, while train surfing can be practiced on any type of train. This type of travelling can be dangerous and even life-threatening, because there is a risk of death or serious injury from falling off a moving train, electrocution from power supply, colliding with railway infrastructure while riding outside off structure gauge on the side or on the roof of a train, or unsuccessful attempts to jump on a moving train or off it. Today, the practice is forbidden by statutes on many railroads in the world. Despite this, it is still practiced, especially on those railroads where the trains are overcrowded.

An urban beach is an artificially-created environment in an urban setting which simulates a public beachfront, through the use of sand, beach umbrellas, and seating elements. Urban beaches are designed to surprise and delight city residents, workers, and visitors by inserting a beach atmosphere into an urban area that would otherwise be typical cityscape.

In various urban activities, a vault is any type of movement that involves overcoming an obstacle by jumping, leaping, climbing or diving over an obstacle while using their feet, hands or not touching it at all. Although parkour doesn't involve the idea of set movements, traceurs use similar ways of moving to quickly and efficiently pass over obstacles.

Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultivated and unenclosed land has opened up since the enactment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. In Scotland the ancient tradition of universal access to land was formally codified under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. In Northern Ireland however, there are few rights of way, or other access to land.

WildPlay Element Parks is a Canadian-owned chain of outdoor recreation parks located across British Columbia, Ontario and New York. It is based on Vancouver Island. WildPlay's first park was opened south of Nanaimo, British Columbia in March 2006 where the company operates North America's first legal, purpose-made bungee jumping bridge. The bridge stands 150 feet (46 m) above the Nanaimo River; over 260,000 people have jumped since the site opened in 1990. The Nanaimo location hosts naked bungee jumping once a year as a fundraiser. Besides bungee jumping, WildPlay parks are made up of treetop activities involving high-ropes and obstacle climbing, swinging, and ziplining. WildPlay is located in Victoria, Maple Ridge, Nanaimo, Kelowna, British Columbia, Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Jones Beach State Park in New York.

Wingsuit flying is the sport of flying through the air using a wingsuit which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, creates a surface area with fabric between the legs and under the arms. Wingsuits are sometimes referred to as "birdman suits", "squirrel suits", and "bat suits".

Zorbing is the recreation or sport of rolling downhill inside an orb, typically made of transparent plastic. Zorbing is generally performed on a gentle slope but can also be done on a level surface, permitting more rider control. In the absence of hills, some operators have constructed inflatable, wooden, or metal ramps. Due to the buoyant nature of the orbs, Zorbing can also be carried out on water, provided the orb is inflated properly and sealed once the rider is inside. "Water walking" using such orbs has become popular in theme parks across the UK.