Travel Outside Locally with the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge

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What is the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge?

Want to get outside in nature every day for a month? Then join the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge! The activities provided on the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge Calendar are prompts to increase your awareness of the natural world as you venture out. They provide motivation to walk out the door even when you are busy or the weather isn’t perfect.

Do you want to get recharged in your daily life? Try a visit to a local outdoor space. There is tons of research on the health benefits of nature and time outdoors.  Taking your Vitamin N(ature) every day has tremendous physical, emotional, and spiritual value.

To join the Outdoor Challenge, click below and sign up. You will get the free calendar to hang up to check off the activities. Plus you’ll get additional tips in my newsletter about adventuring outdoors. No worries about spam and you can unsubscribe any time.

Activities on the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge

Let me explain the nature prompts from the calendar here in a bit more detail.

1. Stand in a grove of trees and look up to see the tops.

Look up to see the wildlife of the canopy. Did you know there are some birds who live mainly in the treetops? Negative Spaces is a fun activity to do when the leaves are off the branches. Look at the bare tree branches and focus on the sky spaces between and around them rather than the tree. Changes your way of seeing a bit, doesn’t it?

2. Find signs of wildlife.

Look for tracks of wildlife, animal droppings, and eggshells to see who has been to an area before you. Water sources are great places to find tracks. Burrows, wildlife paths, and fur or feathers left behind are also signs. . Look for a whitetail deer browse line at the edge of a forest. Deer have eaten the foliage to one consistent height.

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3. Listen to bird calls. Imagine what they are saying.

Birds have a variety of songs and calls for different purposes. Melodic songs attract mates. Short calls mark territory or warn of danger. Birds also check in with each other while foraging. Their calls keep them from getting separated. Woodpeckers announce their presence by drumming on a tree. Birds in flight like geese or starlings talk to each other in the air. Can you translate bird language? Give it a try!

4. Crush a plant leaf. Describe the smell.

My favorite plant leaves to crush and smell are wintergreen and sweet fern.

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A ripped wintergreen leaf smells like a Lifesaver. Plus, the red berries are edible. I call them Nature’s Tic Tac and eat them as a refreshing trail snack. The sweet fern is not a fern but a bush. It’s common in New England forest edges. The spicy smell reminds me of a visit to a candle store. What smells can you find in crushed plant leaves?

5. Find a rock. Observe what it’s made of.

Rocks are composed of different minerals depending on how they were formed. Whether we know anything about geology it’s interesting to see the particles in the rock. I like the shiny crystals in quartz. Or the smoothness of sandstone.

6. Dip fingers or toes in a river or lake.

Be like a kid again. Let the mud squish through your toes while wading in a lake. Splash water from a stream like no one is watching. Relive the mud puddles of your youth.

7. Find as many leaf shapes as possible on a walk

Words used to describe leaf shapes…lobbed, compound, linear, elliptical, toothed, alternate, opposite, oh, my. And don’t forget the evergreen needles! Make a leaf collage from the leaves you collect.

8. Look at the cloud types. Guess the weather that’s coming.

High cirrus clouds, also called mare’s tails, are great weather forecasters. These wispy bits of white are ice crystals high in the sky indicating a front is coming in. Usually that means that within 6-36 hours, there will be precipitation. See if you can find them in the sky and be your own weather channel.

9. Research wild edibles. Try to find one.

Foraging for wild edibles is a fun way to connect to nature. Always be sure you have positively identified the wild food before eating it. I have several blog posts on foraging and cooking wild edibles. My spring wild edibles article introduces some of my favorites. Plus these posts on fiddleheads and ramps or wild garlic will help you identify and cook these all-stars of the wild edible world. My go-to guidebook for foraging is the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants.

10. Go on a hike longer than usual.

This is a chance to carve out a little more time in your day to do a special hike. Maybe it’s a peak you have been wanting to climb. Or a trail that begs you to go further on. Or perhaps you will find a sweet AirBnB somewhere to have a whole hiking weekend. Treat yourself to a more extended time in the outdoors and enjoy the rewards.

11. Go on a night hike.

Ever go on a full moon hike? The silvery sheen from the moon gives enough light to walk without a headlamp. In fact, turning off your light lets your eyes adjust to the darkness so that you can make out more sights than just those illuminated by the single beam of your flashlight. Try it!

12. Walk on a fallen log while hiking.

Here’s another spontaneous kid thing to do. Plus, walking on a balance beam of a fallen tree sharpens your confidence in your balance. Therefore, when you encounter tree bridges across streams on hikes you will feel prepared to stride confidently across them.

13. Look at a wildflower to guess how it’s pollinated.

Did you know that 1 out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of pollinators? Birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, and bees are pollinators. So is the wind. The goldenrod flower is our single most valuable perennial plant for pollinators. Plus, goldenrod flowers can be made into a tea with many healing properties.

14. Look for plants growing wild in urban areas.

Nature exists in unexpected places. Do we need a remote wilderness area to be able to experience it? I think not. Finding natural beauty in a city defines the idea of biodiversity. Some city residents have worked to build urban wilderness areas.

15. Find a mushroom, fungus, or lichen.

When there is a fungus among us, I’m lichen that. Puns aside, fungi are important forest decomposers. Lichens are a partnership between fungi and algae. Like mushrooms, all have significant economic and health benefits. And they are beautiful.

16. Hug a tree and get to know it.

A game I’ve played with all ages is called Hug a Tree. One person is blindfolded and a partner leads them to a tree in a forest with lots of trees. The blindfolded person gets to know the tree by touch. Then the partner leads them away using a new route designed to confuse them. The person then takes their blindfold off and tries to find the same tree again. It’s a great awareness game!

17. Watch a bird to see its color, shape, and behavior.

Let’s face it–birds are just amazing. Hear the “old Sam Peabody, Peabody” of a White-Throated Sparrow. Watch a raft of ducks dabble in the reeds. See the brilliant red of a cardinal flash in the bushes. It’s no wonder bird watching is such a popular pastime.

Outdoor Pro Tip: To really enjoy the beauty of birds, get yourself a good pair of binoculars and a trusty bird book. You don’t have to spend a fortune when starting out. I recommend Celestron binoculars. They have incredible optics at a reasonable price. I use my Celestron Outland 10×42 binocs for bird feeder and window birdwatching. For the field, I take along my Celestron Nature binoculars. My recommended bird book is the Peterson Guide to Birds of North America. This classic guidebook, continually updated, has accompanied me for 50-plus years.

18. Do a hike twice and look for different natural sights.

Hike along a trail on way and look for wildlife, then when you return focus on plant life or geology. Or do the same hike in different seasons and notice the changes. Your favorite hiking area can come alive with new intentions each time you hike there.

19. Find an insect and guess how it is useful.

This is a hard one because often we think of insects outside as pests. Ok, I’m going to try to give some redeeming value to the dreaded tick. Ticks are a critical food source for many reptiles, birds, and amphibians. Wild turkeys love ticks. They also eliminate weaker wildlife to control the population. However, humans and ticks don’t mesh well so make sure you take precautions when outside in tick country.

20. Feel the wind and figure out the direction.

Paying attention to the wind direction when you are out for the day will help you predict the weather. A change in wind direction usually means a change in weather. When the wind is in the process of shifting, it slows down. Think about “the calm before the storm.” Remember that wind is named for the direction it comes from. A south wind comes from the south and blows to the north.

21. Hike off-trail.

Get off the beaten path. Take the route less traveled. Off-trail hiking can be a true adventure. The fear of getting lost may prevent your off-trail adventures so follow these tips to stay found. Start with an easy out and back hike through a more open environment. Pick a prominent landmark like a river or a valley to keep you oriented. Likewise, follow a game trail and then trace it back. For instance, an off-trail route between two established trails is a fine adventure. Bring a map or take a photo if there is a trail map at the trailhead.

22. Go biking, paddling, running, or gardening outside.

Mix up your 30 Day Outdoor Challenge with new outdoor activities. For ideas of places to paddle in New England visit my posts on paddling in Western Massachusetts or sea kayaking on the coast of Maine. Or try out a local rail trail for a pleasant bike ride.

23. Find a new place to hike.

A brand new trail is a grand adventure. Use the All Trails app to find new trails in your area. You’ll find some great recommendations about local trails plus recent conditions of the trail.

24. Bring art supplies outside. Make an artistic piece.

Even if you aren’t an artist, the outdoors might bring out your creative side. When I started taking a sketch book and watercolor pencils with me on outdoor adventures, I started to see nature with so much more depth than I did with writing or photography. I really need to “see” a lake shore in order put it on paper.

25. Walk with a friend outside in silence.

Walking meditation is a great way to be mindful of the nuances of nature. After a time in silence, share reflections about what you saw. A dog is a wonderful walking friend but getting your dog to share what he saw is always a little ruff. (Groan)

26. Find a seed or cone of a plant.

Did you know that a conifer has female and male cones? The woody female cones produce seeds that hide under the scales of the cone until released. The more herbaceous male cone produces pollen to fertilize the pine tree cones.

What kinds of seeds or cones are your favorites?

27. Hike to a high point to admire the view.

Who doesn’t love a bird’s eye view of the landscape? Here are some of my favorite viewpoints in Western Massachusetts and Vermont.

28. Write about your experience while outside.

Outdoor journaling is a wonderful way to capture the rapture of the outdoors. Get an all-weather journal that tucks into your daypack so you are ready to write when the urge strikes. Not only can you sing in the rain, but you can also write in the rain!

29. Go outside when the weather isn’t perfect.

There’s a saying in the outdoors that there is no bad weather, just bad clothes. Therefore, if you want to go outside in less than perfect weather, you will need to dress WISE. Hop over to this post to learn about WISE dress. Get your layers on and head outdoors.

30. Find as many types of tree bark as you can.

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Tree bark is used to identify species of trees once the leaves have fallen. A fascinating book to understand tree bark is Bark, A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast. Even without knowing the tree’s name, admiring the shaggy, or peeling, or ridges or plates of bark on a tree can make a hike in the woods more interesting.

Wrap Up of the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge

Doing the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge with family or friends can give you the motivation to go outside every day for a month. The activities on the free calendar can be replaced with other adventures or done twice. Feel free to change, add new ones, or repeat favorites. The idea is to get outdoors consistently.

Share photos of your outdoor time or comments on the Outdoor
Adventure Sampler Facebook page. Post a photo of your completed
sheet on the Facebook page too! Use the hashtag #30dayoutdoorchallenge

Let’s support each other to finish the 30 Day Outdoor Challenge.

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