Activity Overviews

Learn about the types of activities we offer, their difficulty ratings, and prerequisites for participating.

Our goal is to get you outside exploring new places and finding new challenges. Trips like hiking, backpacking, and naturalist activities are less technical and open to everyone. Trips that are more technical - like climbing, backcountry skiing, and sea kayaking - often have skill prerequisites to ensure everyone is safe and has the skills needed to successfully participate in the activity.

Most of our activities are free of charge after membership. Trip participants are required to make sure they have the correct parking pass for the area they are visiting. Not sure which parking pass is needed? Check the Land Manager listed on the trip and consult our Parking Passes & Wilderness Restrictions page.

The Mountaineers encourages carpooling for all our activities and courses. Often, leaders will list park and rides en route to the trip to facilitate carpooling. Once you register for an activity, you can also reach out to other participants on the trip via email to coordinate rides. To learn more, visit our Good Carpooling Practices page.

You may see some trips listed with a Leaders Permission prerequisite. Learn more about when and why leaders require Leader's Permission for their trips.

Click on the activity type you'd like to explore to find brief overviews of our primary offerings and what skills are required.