20 Great Backpacking Trips You Can Still Take in 2025

By Michael Lanza

So you didn’t plan months in advance to reserve a permit for backpacking this summer in Glacier, Yosemite, on the Teton Crest Trail, Wonderland Trail, or John Muir Trail or in another popular national park? Or you tried to reserve a permit but failed? Now what? Where can you still go this year?

You’re in luck. This story describes 20 backpacking trips you can still plan and take this year—because most of them don’t require a permit reservation, and in the case of Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountains, and Capitol Reef national parks, where one is required, you can still obtain a backcountry permit for this summer or fall.

Six of these trips are in top-tier national parks, and the others are all multi-day wilderness hikes with national park-caliber scenery. They all possess qualities that make them stand out in personal memory among the countless adventures I’ve enjoyed over the past three-plus decades, including the 10 years I spent as Northwest Editor of Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog.

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Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-books to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.

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If you don’t want to miss your opportunity to get into the wilderness this year, scroll through this list and start the gears turning to make one of these trips happen. You know that you’ll be glad you did.

Each trip described below includes a link to my full story about it, which has my expert tips on planning each one. Those stories and this one, like most stories about trips at The Big Outside, require a paid subscription to read in full.

And I can help you plan any of them. See my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how.

Please share your thoughts on any of these trips in the comments at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.

The High Uintas Wilderness

I can offer no explanation for why it took me so many years of backpacking quite frequently to finally explore northeastern Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness, except perhaps the obvious one: This place remains off the radar of even many experienced backpackers. But go there and you will get a taste of what you’ve been missing and—like me—emerge from it eager to return.

On a six-day, roughly 59-mile loop that provided my family with the sort of trip we desperately needed in July 2020 (you know why), we pulled into the trailhead parking lot to see just two other vehicles parked there. For most of that trip, that degree of loneliness prevailed as we hiked to alpine lakes well above 10,000 feet—camping by one of them and at 11,000 feet in sprawling Painter Basin, our base camp for hiking Utah’s high point, 13,528-foot Kings Peak.

Returning with my 24-year-old son during an unusual window of largely good weather in early October 2024, we backpacked nearly 60 miles, mostly on the Uinta Highline Trail, enjoying great camps, vast lake basins and 12,000-foot alpine passes, brilliant sunsets, coal-black night skies streaked with the glow of the Milky Way, and a degree of remoteness and solitude found only when hiking deep into big wilderness.

With 13,000-foot peaks and over 1,000 mountain lakes, the High Uintas deserve the attention of all serious backpackers. And the High Uintas Wilderness requires no permit reservation.

See my stories “Backpacking—and Sandbagging—Utah’s Uinta Highline Trail” and “Tall and Lonely: Backpacking Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness” and all stories about backpacking in Utah at The Big Outside.

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Sequoia National Park

With some of the highest mountains in the contiguous United States and scores of beautiful backcountry lakes—not to mention consistently sunny days in summer—California’s southern High Sierra unequivocally belongs on any list of top backpacking destinations in America and certainly the best national park backpacking trips.

On a six-day, 40-mile loop hike from the Mineral King area of Sequoia National Park, my family hiked through a quiet, backcountry grove of giant Sequoias, over 10,000-foot and 11,000-foot passes at the foot of 12,000-foot, granite peaks, and camped at two lakes that earned spots on my list of 25 favorite backcountry campsites.

I still consider it one of the most photogenic places I’ve ever hiked.

And while permit quotas for popular trailheads in Sequoia like the High Sierra Trail get booked months in advance, there are still dates available this summer for backpacking that loop as well as other trips in Sequoia.

See my story “Heavy Lifting: Backpacking Sequoia National Park,” about my family’s six-day, 40-mile loop hike there. Want to save time and grab a permit right away? See my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how I can help plan your trip there.

Got an all-time favorite campsite? I have 25 of them.
See “Tent Flap With a View: 25 Favorite Backcountry Campsites.”

The Ruby Crest Trail

Nevada’s not on your list of much-see backpacking destinations? Time to edit your list.

Having eyed the Ruby Crest Trail (lead photo at top of story) for several years, I decided the coronavirus-impacted summer of 2020 seemed like the perfect time to finally explore a trail that requires no permit reservation in a wilderness that sees relatively few backpackers and dayhikers compared to marquis parks and mountain ranges around the West.

My family backpacked a four-day, approximately 36-mile traverse of the Ruby Crest Trail in mid-July, a nice time of year for it, with wildflowers blooming, moderate daytime temperatures and comfortably cool nights, and relatively few bugs at a time of year when you’d see clouds of mosquitoes in many mountain ranges (and there are even fewer bugs as you get into August).

The Ruby Crest Trail goes from a high-desert landscape speckled with granite monoliths to aspen and conifer forests and barren, alpine terrain spotted with stunning mountain lakes. Much of the traverse remains high above treeline, with sweeping views of craggy peaks.

Read my feature story “Backpacking the Ruby Crest Trail—A Diamond in the Rough.”

Get my help planning your Ruby Crest Trail, Sequoia, or High Uintas hike or any trip on this list.
See my Custom Trip Planning page.

Death Hollow Loop

We began this adventure by following the Boulder Mail Trail’s wildly circuitous, up-and-down route over a slickrock plateau of rippling Navajo Sandstone and across steep-walled canyons.

But that was mere prelude to an overlook at the rim of Death Hollow that steals your breath away, where the trail abruptly plunged into that Escalante River tributary.

On the sometimes narrow and constantly surprising descent of Death Hollow, we hiked in cold water ranging from ankle- to thigh-deep—avoiding the even deeper pools—while encountering a succession of challenging obstacles (the poison ivy is crazy) almost as frequently as scenes as pretty as any canyon in the Southwest. Then we ascended the drier upper Escalante River canyon between soaring walls of red, brown, and cream-colored rock painted with desert varnish.

Hit the 22-mile Death Hollow Loop in southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in good weather and safe water levels—it poses challenges to take seriously. And it will blow your mind.

See my story “Backpacking Utah’s Mind-Blowing Death Hollow Loop.”

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Yosemite

Having backpacked numerous trips all over Yosemite, I can say this about one of America’s most iconic national parks: Every hike you take here will be one of the most inspiring you’ve ever taken—and you can spend a lifetime exploring it and never get enough.

Here’s the thing about Yosemite: You can enter the lottery for a wilderness permit up to 24 weeks (168 days) in advance of your trip’s start date and popular trailheads get booked up that far in advance.

But there are plenty of lower-demand trailheads that still have availability for summer dates—especially after Labor Day, an ideal time to hike in Yosemite—and this is Yosemite, so you’re certain to enjoy a beautiful trip anywhere in the park. Plus, 40 percent of wilderness permits are available on a first-come basis at recreation.gov up to seven days in advance.

All of this means you could still get a permit reservation to backpack in Yosemite this year.

See “How to Get a Yosemite or High Sierra Wilderness Permit,” “The 10 Best Backpacking Trips in Yosemite,” my e-books describing three great backpacking trips in the park, and my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how I can help plan your trip there.

Plan your next great backpacking trip in Yosemite and other parks using my expert e-books.

The Grand Canyon

I’ve taken enough multi-day hikes in the Big Ditch—most recently a four-day hike in late March 2025 and a six-day hike in April 2024 where, even at a peak time of year, we experienced probably the most solitude I’ve ever had in the canyon (read my story about that trip)—to understand two fundamental truths about it.

First, nowhere else compares, period—there’s only one Grand Canyon. And second, every trip there deserves five stars, each so scenic and unique that it’s hard to imagine ever getting enough of this place.

Backpackers with the impression that any multi-day hike into the canyon will basically resemble any other learn through returning again and again (as I have) that the differences far outnumber the similarities—from hidden side canyons with oases of greenery and waterfalls plunging from great heights or bursting explosively from a cliff face, to carpets of wildflowers extending as far as you can see and idyllic campsites where you gaze up at an inky sky riddled with stars.

Of course, many other backpackers share that view, so competition for backcountry permits is stiff, especially for the popular Bright Angel and South and North Kaibab trails. But most backpackers apply for permits in the peak months of April, May, and October, while weather remains good often well into November, when competition for permits tapers (a bit).

Reserve an October trip backcountry permit by June 1 and a November permit by July 1.

See “10 Epic Grand Canyon Backpacking Trips You Must Do,” “5 Reasons You Must Backpack in the Grand Canyon,” “How to Get a Permit to Backpack in the Grand Canyon,” and all stories about backpacking in the Grand Canyon at The Big Outside.

Get my expert e-books to “The Best Backpacking Trip in the Grand Canyon,”
and an easier alternative, “The Best First Backpacking Trip in the Grand Canyon.”

The Wind River Range

Besides the High Sierra, there may be no mountain range in the country with as much sprawling wilderness or as many towering, jagged peaks and lovely alpine lakes and tarns as Wyoming’s Wind River Range—at the least, you will lose count of the lakes you regret not camping beside.

But unlike many popular areas of the High Sierra, in much of the Winds, you just might hike past more lakes than other people—if you’re willing to put in a little extra effort to walk a bit deeper into the backcountry—and advance backcountry permit reservations are not needed.

I’ve explored throughout the Winds on several trips over more than three decades.

On one 41-mile loop, two friends and I hiked past a constellation of beautiful lakes, enjoyed a camp near lakes at over 10,000 feet in Titcomb Basin—where granite peaks rise to over 13,000 feet—and took a spicy off-trail route over a 12,000-foot pass.

On long stretches of a lonely, 43-mile loop in a less-visited area of the Winds, we enjoyed one of the best backcountry campsites I’ve ever had, crossed four high passes, and walked one stunning trail after another past numerous alpine lakes, including two of the prettiest backcountry lakes I’ve hiked past without camping at.

I’ve walked through the famous Cirque of the Towers multiple times, including a 27-mile, east-west dayhike across the Winds and a 96-mile, south-north traverse of the Wind River High Route. But most recently, a friend and I hiked across the Cirque to cap off a four-day loop from Big Sandy that crosses four passes and features camps by beautiful lakes—a route I consider the best multi-day hike in the Winds.

Start exploring the Winds and you may never want to stop. In fact, I’m already scheming my next trip there.

See “The 10 Best Backpacking Trips in the Wind River Range,” “The Best Backpacking Trip in the Wind River Range? Yup,” and all stories about backpacking in the Wind River Range at The Big Outside.

After the Wind River Range, hike the other nine of “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips.”

Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness

At a mere 19,410 acres, the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness, in southeast Arizona, may look like a featherweight when lined up beside places like Yosemite, the Wind River Range, and Aravaipa’s much more-famous neighbor to the north, the Grand Canyon.

But when it comes to scenery, Aravaipa punches above its weight, as four friends and I discovered when we backpacked into it for two nights, setting up a base camp and dayhiking to explore this lush green, 12-mile-long defile.

Aravaipa Creek flows strongly year-round, creating an unusual Southwest oasis of tall cottonwood, sycamore, ash, and willow trees in the hyper-arid Sonoran Desert, the greenery contrasting against redrock walls that rise up to 600 feet tall. On the upper canyon walls and rims, saguaro cacti abound.

With easy, nearly flat hiking often in the shallow river, no water scarcity typical of Southwest desert backpacking trips, abundant shade, the low elevation and southern Arizona climate, Aravaipa offers a relatively casual and beautiful adventure in spring and fall—with fall turning the foliage red and gold.

See my story “Backpacking the Desert Oasis of Aravaipa Canyon.”

Hike all of the “12 Best Backpacking Trips in the Southwest.”

 

The Sawtooth Mountains

Since moving to Idaho more than 25 years ago, I’ve gotten to know the Sawtooths quite well, and every time I explore a new corner of that range, I think it may be the most beautiful spot I’ve seen there yet. That’s the impact the Sawtooths have on you.

The Sawtooths remind me in many ways of the High Sierra and the Wind River Range, for their jagged peaks and abundance of stunning alpine lakes. But the Sawtooths aren’t as busy as the Sierra, nor as high as either of those two mountain ranges, which translates to less altitude-related challenges and often calmer weather patterns—not to mention avoiding the highly competitive permit systems throughout the High Sierra that often require making a reservation months in advance: In the Sawtooths, like most national forests, you need no permit reservation.

The prime backpacking season in the Sawtooths begins around mid-July and often extends well into September. Having hiked much of the trail system and many off-trail routes and climbed several peaks, I’ve helped many readers plan unforgettable trips there.

See “5 Reasons You Must Backpack Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains,” “The Best Hikes and Backpacking Trips in Idaho’s Sawtooths,” and my e-book “The Best Backpacking Trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.”

I’ve helped many readers plan unforgettable backpacking trips in the Sawtooths and elsewhere.
Want my help with yours? Click here now.

See this menu of all stories offering expert backpacking tips at The Big Outside.

Find ideas and inspiration in the All Trips List and all stories about national park trips and family adventures at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my stories “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be,” “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

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