Adirondack Backpacking Adventure

Find new challenges in the Adirondacks

Join a group of your peers and start exploring the wilderness. On this course, you’ll dive into learning leadership and outdoor skills as you backpack through the hills and lakes of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, one of the oldest protected lands in the country. Climb high rocky peaks and cross chilly creeks. Learn about local ecology as you wander through ancient hardwood forests. Cook your dinner on a camp stove with a group of new friends, and fall asleep in your tent ready to take on the next day. Even if you’ve never been camping before, this course is a great way to learn more about the outdoors and yourself.

Leadership skills will be a key part of this course. You and your group will learn how to be leaders as you meet fresh challenges, and you’ll use your new skills every day. Making a decision about where to camp teaches you about good judgment, while resolving an argument teaches you about communication. These experiences will help you figure out what your leadership style is and how you support your group. At the end of this course, you’ll walk away with real experiences that will help you be a leader at school, at home, and for the rest of your life.

Information for Parents: The NOLS Difference

At 14-15, a teen’s brain is in a critical rewiring phase— where experiences now become traits later. While camps keep teens comfortable, a NOLS course gives them tools to navigate an uncertain world. Standing beneath the 13,000-foot peaks of the Wind River Range forces a healthy humility—teaching them that the world is big, beautiful, and not revolving around them. We teach through natural consequences: if the tent isn’t set up right, they get wet. No nagging, just feedback that builds responsibility and judgment. This is an investment in the adult you want to send into the world.