Southwest Backpacking

Highlights

• This is an outdoor leadership course designed for age 18 years and older
• Enjoy traveling through the Gila National Forest
• Develop solid backcountry living and traveling skills
• Enjoy most stunning wilderness areas, developing leadership skills

What's this trip about?

This course will give you the opportunity to develop solid backcountry living and traveling skills. You’ll begin with the basics—camping, cooking, map reading, stove use, and Leave No Trace techniques—skills that are the foundation for going on backpacking trips of your own. This course will challenge you with long hiking days, off-trail travel, and the opportunity to lead your peers in the backcountry. You’ll be traveling through the Gila National Forest, which is home to the United States’ first official wilderness area. The Gila is known for an unusual diversity of plants and animals and significant human history that dates back thousands of years to the time of the cliff-dwelling Mogollon civilization. During your trip you’ll have the opportunity to visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. There will also be opportunities to learn and practice the basic NOLS leadership curriculum. By the end of your course, you’ll have the fundamental backpacking skills to start exploring the wilderness on your own and take your friends and family with you.

Accommodation