Did you know that outdoor recreations create 6.1 million jobs in America? Isn’t it amazing how outdoor activities help put bread on the table for millions of people?
Outdoor activities are not meant for kids only, adults can also unleash the child in them and have fun. You can always tag along with your pets like dogs or other animals.
Quick question, how often do you engage in outdoor activities? If your answer is “rarely” well it could be because adulting means there’s always something on your plate that needs to be done. If it’s not school, then it’s marriage, kids, or work.
All these take away our physical energy and even end up draining us mentally. That is why it is important to pause and unplug. Yes, it’s extremely important for our bodies.
Outdoor Fun Facts For Kids And Adults
Most people opt to go on a vacation just to unwind. Vacation and outdoor activities are pretty much served on the same plate. They are a unique way of moving away from our daily routines, restoring our focus, and enhancing our creativity. We also get to learn the history of some of the places we go to.
If you happen to be enthusiastic about outdoor activities like we are, we bet you can’t imagine life without activities like mountain climbing, skiing, running, zip line challenge, biking, hiking, and many others.
We have prepared a list of outdoor fun facts and trivia questions that will definitely teach you a thing or two.
Hopefully, we’ll inspire you to engage in outdoor activities more often.
Outdoor fun facts
The Yellowstone Caldera, Yellowstone National Park, is a super volcano that is responsible for three of the world’s six biggest volcano eruptions
Only one state in the country is not lucky enough to currently have either a national park or national monument. It is actually the country’s first state, Delaware
Located 70 miles from Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, Dry Tortugas National Park is a collection of seven tiny islands that can be reached only by boat or plane, making it the country's most remote national park
In August, 2014, authorities at California's Sequoia National Park found a $36-million marijuana-cultivation operation just half a mile from a popular tourist site
National parks and national monuments are sometimes confused. National parks are chosen for their natural beauty, unique geological features, and unusual ecosystems
White Sands National Monument spans more than 176,000 acres of New Mexico desert and contains the largest gypsum dune fields in the world
Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota is the first cave to be named a national park in the world
The National Park of American Samoa is the only National Park Service site south of the equator. It covers 13,500 total acres: 9,500 land acres and 4,000 marine acres, which are mostly coral reefs
Seneca Falls National Park in New York is the location of the First Women’s Rights Conventions, which discussed expanding rights of women in the mid-19th century
Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is the largest volcano on earth both in terms of volume and height above its base. It contains about 19,000 cubic miles of lava and rises more than 50,000 feet above its base, including the portion which is beneath the ocean
The national parks are home and habitat to more than 400 endangered or threatened plant and animal species
There are 25 active glaciers and more than 700 lakes of various sizes inside Glacier National Park
Forty million years of mammalian history is preserved in fossils at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon
Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S. with 26 major glaciers
The national parks include 2,000 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail that stretches from Maine to Georgia, a 37-mile-long barrier island (Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland), and a 184-mile-long canal from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland (C&O Canal National Historical Park)
Bears have not killed a single person in Olympic National Park, but a mountain goat, which is not a native species to the region, killed a man in 2010
National parks are home to a former federal prison, Alcatraz in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, and a leper colony, Molokai Island Hansen's Disease Settlement in Kalaupapa National Historic Site, Hawaii
There are more than 1,630 vascular plant species as well as more than double this number of non-vascular and fungal species in North Cascades National Park
Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt have the most sites named for them: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site (Kentucky), Lincoln Memorial (D.C.), Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial (Indiana), Lincoln Home National Historic Site (Illinois), Theodore Roosevelt Island (D.C.), Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site (New York), Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site (New York), and Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota).
Pinnacles National Park in California was designated on January 10, 2013 and is America's newest national park
The smallest national park unit is part of a part of an acre in downtown Philadelphia, the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota has 344 square miles of navigable waters for boating, canoeing and kayaking
Isle Royale National Park is the only major national park to close entirely for the winter because of the difficultly of travel and hazards of wilderness survival during Michigan's winters
There are two national parks located north of the Arctic Circle: Gates of the Arctic National Park and the Kobuk Valley National Park. Both are obviously in Alaska
About 20,000 people are employed by the National Park Service annually. Those employees are assisted by 246,000 Volunteers-In-Parks (VIPs), who donate about 6.7 million hours annually
There are two national parks located north of the Arctic Circle: Gates of the Arctic National Park and the Kobuk Valley National Park. Both are obviously in Alaska
There are 879 visitor centers in the National Park System
At 1,932 feet deep, Crater Lake National Park in Oregon is the deepest lake in the U.S
National parks contain at least 247 species of threatened or endangered plants and animals, more than 75,000 archeological sites, and nearly 27,000 historic and prehistoric structures
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky has the longest cave system in the world with more than 3,454 mapped miles
The budget for fiscal year 2014 was $2.6 billion. Annual visitor spending in communities within 60 miles of National Park Service sites supports more than 240,000 mostly local jobs and contributes about $27 billion to the U.S. economy
Mesa Verde National Park was the first national park to be recognized for “works of man,” an acknowledgement of the incredible cliff dwellings left behind by the Pueblo Indians
There are over 18,000 miles of trails in the national parks just waiting for you to explore them!
Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, which connects Grand Lake and Estes Park, is the highest continuously paved road in the U.S., and it includes breathtaking views and vistas along its entire 48 miles
Alaska is home to one of the least visited national parks: Kobuk Valley National Park receives just 3,000 visitors per year
Gray wolves are big eaters—but they can go almost two weeks without food
Alaska is home to one of the least visited national parks: Kobuk Valley National Park receives just 3,000 visitors per year
Alligators regrow teeth as they wear down, and can grow 3,000 teeth over their lives
Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida is known for its world-renowned concentration of turtles
Moose are born knowing how to swim
Everglades National Park protects more than 25% of Florida's original everglades (subtropical wetlands)
Female mountain goats are called nannies
The Colorado River and the Green River flow through Utah’s national parks, offering some of the best whitewater rafting anywhere in the country
Mosquitos are attracted to stinky feet
Utah’s five national parks are all within easy driving distance of each other, which means that you can cross off five national parks from your “bucket list” on just one trip
The largest Saguaro cactus was 46 feet tall and 200 years old. It was damaged by wildfire in 2005
Arches National Park is famous for having the largest concentration of stone arches in the world
A foehn wind is a strong, dry wind that runs down the leeward side of a mountain range. It can sublimate off up to a foot of snow per day
California and Alaska each have eight national parks
Elk antlers can grow up to an inch a day
One tablespoon of dirt has more organisms than there are people on earth
You can visit two parks in a day if you visit Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. They are just 10 miles apart in northern Wyoming
Polar bears have black skin. Their fur is actually hollow translucent tubes that only appears white because it reflects light
The parks are also home to the lowest point in the western hemisphere: Badwater Basin in Death Valley, California, is 282 feet below sea level
In the months prior to hibernation, black bears eat up to 20,000 calories a day
Additionally, Denali National Park has the widest range of elevations, from 200 feet in Yentna River to 20,302 feet at the summit of Mount McKinley
Poison ivy isn't actually poisonous. The rash you get after touching it is an allergic reaction; some people aren't allergic and don't get a rash.
Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range of Denali National Park is the highest point in the national parks at 20,302 feet
Porcupines can’t actually throw their quills
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park with more than 9 million guests per year, followed by Grand Canyon National Park, which gets more than 4 million visits per year
The smallest national park is Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, coming in at about 5,500 acres. This was actually the first federally protected piece of land in 1832. It was not named a national park until 1921
Some crevasses on Himalayan glaciers are large enough to swallow helicopters, especially in narrow valleys
Squirrels are one of the leading causes for power outages in the United States
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, is the largest national park, covering 13,000 square miles or 13.2 million acres
Bighorn sheep horns can weigh up to 30 pounds
When a giant sequoia tree fell and blocked a road in Sequoia National Park in California in 1937, the National Park Service simply created a tunnel through the 275-foot by 21-foot tree
Fir needles contain vitamin C, and were once used to prevent scurvy with tea made by sailors
California's Sequoia National Park is home to the largest living single-stem tree in the world, the wonderfully named General Sherman. The tree is approximately 275 feet tall and weighs approximately 1,900 metric tons
Pluto hasn’t made a full orbit around the sun since it was discovered in 1930
Geckos can’t blink. Instead, they clean their eyes with their tongues
National parks are home to life on a big scale: Sequoia trees are some of the world's largest living things, and Alaskan brown bears are some of the world's largest carnivores
About a million people die every year from mosquito bites
Markings on a wolverine's chest and underside are like fingerprints—no two animals have the same pattern
The Grand Canyon, in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, is known as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World
Pineapples take two years to grow
Licking a banana slug will cause your tongue to go numb
One of the hottest temperatures on earth was recorded in 1913 in Death Valley National Park, registering 134 degrees
There was a time when there was no bacteria that would decompose a tree
There are 70,000 different types of soil in the United States
Ribbon Falls in Yosemite is nine times taller than Niagara Falls
Lobsters don’t die of old age
Aspen groves are actually one interconnected organism. The largest organism is an aspen grove in Utah named Pando
Three of the 10 highest waterfalls in the world are located in Yosemite National Park in California
You can fit all of the planets in the Milky way between the Earth and Moon with a little space left over
Owls have tubular, bell-shaped eyes. Their eyeballs are immobile, which is why they can rotate their heads 270 degrees
The second U.S. national park created is no longer a national park. Mackinac National Park in Michigan was established in 1875 and was returned to the state in 1895. It is now one of Michigan's State Parks
It’s unlikely that anyone could die in quicksand
European Starlings, one of the most abundant birds in North America, are an invasive species—they were released in Central Park in 1890 by a man named Eugene Schieffelin, who thought that every bird mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays should be found in New York
Yellowstone National Park (in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana) is the oldest U.S. national park, founded in 1872
There was a time when 4 distinct human species lived at the same time
Sea otters use rocks as tools to break open hard-shelled food, and they often store favorite rocks in a pouch under their armpits
Strange but true – there are 12 times more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way!
A tiger's skin also has stripes
Female dragonflies play dead to avoid sex
Slow lorises are the only venomous primate
The first carrots grown were purple
Glass is neither a liquid nor a solid
Greenland sharks don't reach puberty until they're 150 years old
Planets have sound
DNA is fireproof
One inch of rain equals 10 to 15 inches of snow
Diamonds and pencils are made of the same material
One of the elephant's closest living relatives weighs 10 pounds
A day on Venus lasts way longer than a day on Earth
The ocean produces up to 85 percent of the Earth's oxygen
The resurrection plant can rise from the dead
Camels' humps are made up of fat, not water
Your tongue is made up of eight muscles
Bamboo is the world's fastest growing plant
Hurricanes release the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs
The Iberian ribbed newt uses its own bones as weapons
Liquids can boil and freeze at the same time
Black holes aren't actually black
Sloths only poop once a week
Your femur is stronger than concrete
Humans eat only 200 types of plants
Happy guinea pigs pop like popcorn
Mars has the solar system's biggest volcano
Women blink more often than men
Caffeine is a natural pesticide
More than 200 viruses can result in a cold
Armadillos are bulletproof
Saturn could float on water
The King's holly plant reproduces by cloning
Dementors exist in nature
You'll grow nearly 600 miles of hair in your lifetime
More male giraffes are gay than straight
Our brains are shrinking
Bats save us billions of dollars a year
The Low's pitcher-plant is a toilet and food source all in one
African buffalo herds make decisions by voting
There's a fungus that bleeds
Goats have accents
Goats have accents
An extinct species of penguins was nearly 7-feet tall!
Cows kill more people than sharks
Heat is the deadliest weather condition
Baby giraffes use their butts as pillows
There are 28 kinds of "corpse flowers."
In space, metal can weld on its own
Owls don't have eyeballs
Acacia trees can warn each other of danger
The outdoor recreation economy grows about 5% every year in the United States
295 people have died on Everest as of 2018, and 1 in 10 summit attempts currently results in the death of a climber.
The longest flight you can take is 18 hours and 45 minutes long, going from Singapore to Newark on Singapore Airlines.
The outdoors makes us better people
The outdoors restores your focus
Being outdoors gives you your daily dose of Vitamin D
The outdoors helps with seasonal affective disorder
The outdoors enhances creativity
The outdoors provides you with free aromatherapy
The outdoors boosts your immune system
Natural sunlight helps mitigate pain
The outdoors is good for your vision
It feels easier to exercise outdoors
Being outdoor boosts your energy
Outdoor recreation employs more people every year than finance, construction, education, and oil and gas industries.
Outdoor recreation provides 6.1 million jobs in America
Outdoor recreation worldwide generates up to $887 billion annually
Outdoor activity could contribute as much as $730 billion to the American economy each year.
Americans spend $524.8 billion on travel and adventure-related trips every year
Every year, Americans spend $120 billion on equipment and gear for outdoor recreation
The most popular outdoor activity in the United States is running, with nearly 58 million Americans participating in the activity every year.
A few of the top 5 most popular outdoor activities are running, skateboarding, camping, biking, and bird watching.
80% of outdoor enthusiasts wish they had more time to spend outside!
In 2018, nearly 60% of Americans enjoyed some sort of outdoor activity. 4% of them tried something new and 5% were returning to outdoor activity after taking a break.
In 2016, almost 70% of Canadians enjoyed some sort of outdoor activity.
China is the world’s most active country, with an average of 6,189 steps taken per person every day, and Malta is the least active country in the world, with 71.9% of adults sedentary during the day
Canada is half forest and contains 10% of all the forests in the world.
The highest waterfall in Canada is Della Falls in British Columbia, which stands 440m high.
Yosemite is the home of one of the tallest waterfalls in the world, standing 739m high.
The diverse terrain of Yosemite National Park supports more than 400 species of animals.
The highest cliff jump in the world is a terrifying 58.8m high above the Italy-Switzerland border in Cascada del Salto, completed by Laso Schaller in 2015. Schaller dislocated his hip making the jump.
Mount Everest’s summit is nearly at the cruising altitude of a jet.
The summit of Mount Everest gets approximately 4mm higher every year due to geological uplift.
The highest peak in Canada is Mount Logan, which reaches 5959m high.
Denali is the highest peak in the United States and North America, at 6190m above sea level.
Canada has over three million lakes, which is an insane 60% of all the lakes in the world.
14% of the American population goes camping every year
Camping is one of the most popular outdoor activities in the world
The largest camping tent in the world, the Ozark Trail Cabin Tent, sleeps 20 people
Each step you take while running uses 200 different muscles.
The winner of the 1904 Olympic marathon actually drove most of it in a car. Frederick Lorz pulled out of the race after nearly 15.0km because of the sweltering heat. He had his coach drive him to the stadium, but the car broke down just shy of the doors. Lorz walked across the finish line and was crowned the winner, and decided to play along until it was discovered that he didn’t actually run the race.
Runners used to drink champagne before races! In the Victorian Era, runners believed that alcohol enhanced athletic performance.
The world marathon record was run by Kenyan Eluid Kipchoge with a blazing 4:38 mile pace.
Strava logged 240.7 million runs worldwide in 2017, which was a 46.2% increase from the prior year.
Wayne Botha holds the world record for barefoot running. He ran 211.0km in 24 hours without shoes in Auckland, New Zealand.
The world’s longest race is the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, which covers 4989.0km. It actually circles just one block of New York City, which runners circle over and over.
Rainer Predl of Austria spent 7 days on the treadmill, setting a record with 853.5km covered over 168 hours.
Kilimanjaro has been climbed in a wheelchair-twice! South Africa’s Bernard Goosen summited the mountain in 2003 and 2007 in a wheelchair, taking nine and six days, respectively.
For a while, women who climbed K2 were thought to be cursed. The first woman to summit K2 was Wanda Rutkiewicz, who died on her next climb. The next four women to summit K2 either died on their descent or on their next climb. The curse has since been broken, thankfully!
295 people had died on Everest as of 2018, and 1 in 10 summit attempts currently results in the death of a climber.
As of 2018, over 5,200 people had successfully climbed Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.
In 2018, Mount Everest porters had to bring down 14 tons of human excrement from the mountain. That’s a dirty job!
There are 14 different mountains on earth that reach over 8000m above sea level.
Of the 50 states in America, 40 of them have a ski resort.
Snowboarders have to watch out for shoulder and upper arm injuries, which are the most commonly sustained in a fall.
Knee injuries are the most common in skiing, representing around 35% of all injuries sustained from accidents.
Cross-country skiing has been in the Olympics longer than alpine skiing has. Cross-country was added in 1924 and alpine in 1936.
Cross-country skiing is as much as 22,000 years old, dating back to the Paleolithic era.
Stefan Kraft holds the record for the world’s longest ski jump, sailing 253.5m in Vikersund in 2017.
Ivan Origone set a speed record on skis in March 2016 when he clocked 254 km/hr (158.4mph), which is faster than most passenger cars can travel.
Jamie Pierre set a world record for his 78m cliff jump on skis at the Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming.
You could be able to ski on the moon one day! When Harrison Schmitt was on the moon in 1972 as part of the Apollo 17 mission, he noticed that the rim of the Sea of Serenity was mountainous and ideal for skiing.
The word “ski” comes from the ancient Norse word “skíð” which means a split piece of wood.
About a million snurfers were sold in the first year of their development. They were steered using a handheld rope and had no bindings.
Because of that, the first snowboarder (or snurfer, technically) was a girl- Sherman’s daughter.
The first snowboard was called a “snurfer.” Sherman Poppen from Michigan bound two skis together to create the first snowboard for his daughter, and got the name from the idea of surfing on snow.
Travelling can strengthen your immune system by exposing you to new germs, which your body creates new antibodies for.
Planes have round windows for a reason! Sharp corners create structural weak points, causing windows to crack more easily. Round windows don’t have these weak spots, making them more likely to stay intact.
The safest place to sit on a plane is actually near the back, in economy class.
Introverted people are more likely to choose mountain locations for a holiday, and extroverts are more likely to holiday on the beach.
Introverted people are more likely to choose mountain locations for a holiday, and extroverts are more likely to holiday on the beach.
There are normally 61,000 people in the air over the United States at any given time.
Jet lag is more debilitating if you travel from west to east, losing hours along the way.
France is the most-visited country in the world, with over 82 million international travellers coming to visit each year. The United States and Spain are numbers two and three on the list of the top destinations, respectively. Each has about 75 million visitors each year.
The average person living in the United Kingdom has visited 10 countries. The average German has visited 8, the average French individual 5, but only 29% of Americans have ever travelled abroad.
In 2017, Eric Barone broke a record by cycling 268 km/hr (141 mph) on a mountain bike.
The longest mountain bike race in the world stretches over 4345.0km from Canada to Mexico.
The largest mountain bike race in the world happens each year in Norway, hosting up to 15,000 participants each year to ride 86m.
Mountain biking became an Olympic sport in 1996.
The first people to use mountain bikes were likely the Buffalo Soldiers in the 1890s.
On average, an individual can lose around 13 lbs (5.8 kilos) in the first year of cycling to work.
Cycling is the most profitable sports goods category in the world, worth about $51 billion each year.
Keeping a bike in riding shape costs twenty times less than maintaining and driving a car each year.
There are two times as many bicycles in the world than there are cars.
China has more bicycles than any country in the work, with over half a billion within its borders.
The longest tandem bicycle seated a whopping 35 people, and it was over 20m long.
Christoph Strasser of Austria completed the fastest cross-USA bike ride in just 7 days, 15 hours and 56 minutes. He rode from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland.
The most common climbing injury is referred to as “climber’s finger.” It happens when finger tendons are damaged by overuse.
The largest cam ever developed is the Black Diamond #21 Camelot.
There are over 14 different kinds of recognized rock climbing. These include bouldering, top rope climbing, ice climbing, and free climbing, just to name a few.
Rock climbing will debut as an Olympic sport in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Will Levendoski set a one-day climbing record in May 2011 when he climbed 8879m in 24 hours.
Czech climber Libor Hroza set the world record for climbing speed, ascending a 15m speed course in just 5.73 seconds!
Climbing can actually make your hands bigger!
Children can benefit from climbing- it improves motor skills, coordination, and balance. Climbing can also foster social relationships.
A research study showed that climbing is about as beneficial to your cardiovascular system as running at a pace of 8-11 minutes per mile.
Rock climbing can burn up to 900 calories per hour.
The tallest artificial climbing wall is at BaseCamp Climbing in Reno, Nevada. The Wall tops out at 51.56m tall, boasting a climbable surface of 49.85m.
The first artificial climbing wall, Shurman Rock, is believed to have been built in Seattle in 1939.
One of the most famous natural rock climbs in the world is considered to be the 914m El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Several different climbing documentaries and films have focused on the wall.
The most technically difficult rock climb in the world is Silence in Hanshelleren Cave of Flatanger, Norway. It has a proposed rating of 9c.
Now, there are over 400 indoor climbing walls in the UK alone.
Rock climbing first became a sport in the late 1880s in England.
It’s scientifically proven that hiking can make you happier! Research has shown that hiking can positively combat symptoms of stress and anxiety. As Gregory A. Miller, PhD, President of the American Hiking Society says, “Being in nature is ingrained in our DNA, and we sometimes forget that.”
In May 1996, Italian Hans Kammerlander completed the fastest-ever ascent of Mount Everest. He climbed the northern side, going from base camp to the summit in a mere 16 hours and 45 minutes.
The biggest hiking boot in the world is 7.14m long, 2.50m wide, and 4.20m tall.
The Appalachian Trail is visited by 2 million people every year.
In 2013, 35 million Americans went hiking. This was up from 30 million in 2006.
The longest pedestrian bridge in North America is 305m long. The bridge is located in Trail, British Columbia, suspended between two 30m towers. The bridge is part of the Great Trail.
If you hiked 30.0km per day, hiking the entire Great Trail would take over two years. From St. John’s to Victoria, you’d be hiking for two years, two months, and one week. Now that’s a trip!
The longest trail in the world, the Great Trail, crosses an incredible 14913.0km from one coast of Canada to the other.
Ontario has over 80000.0km of trails.
There are over 278000.0km of official trails in all of Canada.
