Outdoor recreation - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity is leisure pursuits engaged in outside, especially in (but not limited to) natural or semi-natural settings out of town. Examples include adventure racing

Adventure racing

Adventure racing is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering and/or navigation , cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills...

, backpacking

Backpacking (wilderness)

Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...

, bicycling, camping

Camping

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...

, canoeing

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

, caving

Caving

Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...

, fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

, hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

, horseback riding, hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

, kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

, mountaineering

Mountaineering

Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

, mushing

Mushing

Mushing is a general term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs, and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on dry land...

, photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, adventure park

Adventure park

While a ropes course is often a challenging outdoor personal development and team-building activity, an Adventure Park or “European-Style” Adventure Park has a more recreational purpose....

, rock climbing

Rock climbing

Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

, running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

, sailing

Sailing

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

, skiing

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

, and surfing

Surfing

Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

. Outdoor recreation may also refer to a team sport

Team sport

A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...

game or practice held in an outdoor setting.

The two primary purposes for outdoor recreation are beneficial use and pleasurable appreciation.

Beneficial use is related to the physical and social rewards which goal-directed activities instills in individuals or groups. Some outdoor goal-directed activities are: backpacking

Backpacking (wilderness)

Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...

, canoeing

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

, canyoning

Canyoning

Canyoning is traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling, and/or swimming....

, caving

Caving

Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...

, climbing

Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

, hiking

Hiking

, hill walking, hunting

Hunting

, kayaking

Kayaking

, and rafting

Rafting

Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...

. Arguably broader groupings of goal-directed outdoor activities would include water sports, snow sports

Winter sport

A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...

, and Horseback riding

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

. Goal-directed outdoor activities are predominately physical, though they may also be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually rewarding. The outdoors as a physical or social setting may meet the needs of physical health, self-sufficiency, risk-taking, the building of social ties (including teambuilding), and the needs of achievement (such as practicing, enhancing and challenging skills, testing stamina and endurance, and seeking adventure or excitement). The outdoors can be an environment in which people "show what they can do".

Pleasurable appreciation encourages experiences of being "let in on natures show". Enhancement of inner perceptual and/or spiritual life may be experienced through outdoor activities and outdoor-related activities such as nature study, aesthetic contemplation, meditation, painting, photography, archeological or historical research, and indigenous culture among others. These activities may also be physically rewarding.

Many people in modern civilizations believe that the value of nature is found only in its "utilitarian value" (beneficial use). They would discount the inner perceptual and/or spiritual benefits of the "intrinsic value of nature" that may be experienced during pleasurable appreciation.

Outdoor activities may also be pursued for the purposes of finding peace

Peace

Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

in nature

Nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...

, enjoying life, and relaxing. They are alternatives to expensive forms of tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

. Outdoor activities are also frequently used as a medium in education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

and teambuilding.

Types of outdoor recreational activities

Note: For activities that fall under several categories of this table, check out the section on this page titled See Also.

Mountain Activities	Forest Activities	Beach & Sea Activities	Fresh Water Activities	Aero Activities	Desert Activities	Family Activities	Cultural & Historical Activities
Trek Trek Trek or trekking is a long journey undertaken on foot in areas where common means of transport is generally not available. Trekking is not mountaineering; it is days of walking along with adventure.-Etymology:... king	Wildlife safari Safari A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...	Snorkeling Snorkeling Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...	Angling Angling Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...	Gliding Gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...	Camel safari Safari A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...	Amusement park Amusement park thumb\|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...	Indigenous culture Traditional knowledge Traditional knowledge , indigenous knowledge , traditional environmental knowledge and local knowledge generally refer to the long-standing traditions and practices of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge also encompasses the wisdom, knowledge, and teachings...
Rock climbing Rock climbing Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...	Camping Camping Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...	Scuba diving Scuba diving Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....	Canoeing Canoeing Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....	Ballooning Hot air ballooning Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet , the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view...	Desert Jeep safari Safari A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...	Safari park Safari park A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial tourist attraction where visitors can drive in their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals...	Museum Museum A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
Mountain biking Mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...	Birdwatching Birdwatching Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...	Parasailing Parasailing Parasailing, also known as parascending, or "parakiting" is a recreational kiting activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle while attached to a specially designed canopy wing that reminds one of a parachute, known as a parasail wing...	Whitewater rafting Rafting Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...				Metal Detecting Metal detector A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...
Motorbike expedition	Elephant safari Safari A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...	Boat fishing Recreational boat fishing Recreational fishermen usually fish either from a boat or from a shoreline or river bank. When fishing from a boat, or fishing vessel, pretty much any fishing technique can be used, from nets to fish traps, but some form of angling is by far the most common...	Water sports				Benchmarking (geolocating) Benchmarking (geolocating) Benchmarking is an activity in which individuals or teams of participants go out and find benchmarks . They typically then log their finds online...
Skiing Skiing Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....	Tree climbing Tree climbing Tree climbing is a recreational or functional activity consisting of ascending and moving around in the crown of trees.Use of a rope, helmet, and harness are the minimum requirements to ensure the safety of the climber. Other equipment can also be used depending on the experience and skill of the...	Windsurfing Windsurfing Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...	Sea Kayaking
Snowboarding Snowboarding Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...	Adventure Park Adventure park While a ropes course is often a challenging outdoor personal development and team-building activity, an Adventure Park or “European-Style” Adventure Park has a more recreational purpose....	Water sports
Ice climbing Ice climbing Ice climbing, as the term indicates, is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water. For the purposes of...
Canyoning Canyoning Canyoning is traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling, and/or swimming....

Trekking

Trek

Trek or trekking is a long journey undertaken on foot in areas where common means of transport is generally not available. Trekking is not mountaineering; it is days of walking along with adventure.-Etymology:...

king is all about enjoying a great walking holiday. Treks can be day hikes, overnight or extended hikes. An example of a day trek is hiking during the day and returning at night to a lodge for a hot meal and a comfortable bed. Trekking can be more enjoyable when undertaken while being generally physically fit. Physical preparation for for trekking includes cycling, swimming, jogging and long walks.

Rock climbing

is the sport of scaling rocks, using special equipment. Learn the right way to use your climbing equipment because poor use can prove very risky. Climbing calls for mental and physical strength, flexibility, agility and endurance. To help climbers practise, climbing walls have been erected in indoor and outdoor facilities worldwide. A novice to the sport would need the help of an instructor and a few training classes to learn the ropes.

Mountain biking

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...

is all about steering a mountain cycle over rocky tracks and around boulder-strewn paths. To tackle the trails, the requirements are physical strength, stamina and a strong mountain cycle. Mountain bikes or ATBs (all-terrain bikes) feature a frame and fork that are rugged. Their frames are often built of aluminium so they are lightweight and stiff, making them efficient to ride.

Canyoning

Canyoning is traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling, and/or swimming....

is an activity which involves climbing, descending, jumping and trekking through canyons. The sport originates from caving

Caving

Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...

and involves both caving and climbing

Climbing

techniques.

External links

Outdoor Industry Association
Outdoor Industry Association
is the trade association for companies in the active outdoor recreation business. OIA provides trade services for over 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers in the outdoor industry, primarily in the United States....
Go Get Adventure activity resource
Outdoor Activities UK

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Types of outdoor recreational activities

Trekking

Rock climbing

Mountain biking

Canyoning

See also

Outdoor recreation in various ecosystems

External links