The 15 Best Independent Outdoor Magazines to Subscribe To

Author Photographer
  • Tanner Bowden & Graham Hiemstra

Independent magazines for those dreaming of vast landscapes, pushing boundaries, and a gentler way of being outdoors


Published: 07-03-2025

About the author

Tanner Bowden
Tanner Bowden
Tanner Bowden is a Vermont-based writer, editor, photographer, former wilderness educator, and Field Mag Editor-at-Large. He also contributes to the likes of GQ, Men's Journal, Gear Patrol, Outside.

Don't listen to them, print isn't dead! (And neither is film!) In fact, the world of independent print media is arguably bigger than it's been in decades, with dozens of new and resuscitated titles popping up, especially in the outdoor world. As longtime lovers of analog pursuits, we've been paying close attention to this resurgence of premium print—and to celebrate a decade of digital publishing we've joined the ranks with our very own Field Mag print magazine (more on that below). In 2025, the path to success in print is through niche focus and high-end printing. Make something people want to not only spend their hard-earned dollars on, but keep around on their coffee table, too.

These intrepid few publishers know what the tech companies and financiers don't; that enthusiasm and passion exist among hikers, campers, climbers, surfers, skiers, and gearheads—enough to support real storytelling in quarterly, biannual, and annual installments. Within each of these publications' pages you'll find good old fashioned ink-on-paper text, bold imagery, and sound design.

The antidote to doom scrolling, these independent outdoor magazines deliver value through deeper connection to all things outside. If this is what you're after, consider purchasing a copy or subscribing to one (or more) of the following indy mags, selected by the Field Mag community for excellence in content and design.

[Check out our guide to Japanese outdoor magazines, too.


15 Best Outdoor Magazines of 2025

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Field Mag Print

Subject Matter: General Outdoors
Founding Year: 2015 / 2025
Frequency: Biannual
Magazine Price: $35
Notable Contributors: Alex Strohl, Selema Masekela, Brian Chorski, Mikey February, L. Renee Blount, Ellen Eberhardt

Okay okay, yes it's a little much to put our very own magazine first in this list, but I do with pure intentions and genuine excitement to share this beautiful book made for fellow lovers of good design and the great outdoors. With 38 contributors from the around world, inspiring stories of adventure, photo essays and actionable photo tips (from world renowned photographer's I might add), interviews with designers and culture-shifting athletes, and so much more. The inaugural issue is 208 pages, printed in the USA in a portable 6.5" x 9" format designed specifically to meet you where you are—traveling, at the gym or crag, on the subway or plane, or your couch. I think you're going to like it.

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Summit Journal

Subject Matter: Climbing & Alpinism
Founding Year: 1955 / 2023
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $60

Summit was a classic climbing rag for decades before it ceased printing in 1996. Thankfully as of 2023, it's back in biannual form thanks to editor Michael Levy. The new version is large-format and archival quality, and full of stories from and of climbing's most intrepid.

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Adventure Journal

Subject Matter: General Outdoors
Founding Year: 2008
Frequency: Quarterly
Subscription Fee: $60

Adventure Journal launched its quarterly print edition in 2016 and since then has been a go-to for outdoors lovers tired of the typical print format. The coverage is broad—skiing, camping, surfing, mountain biking; it's all here—and its roster of contributors includes heavy hitters like Terry Tempest Williams and Chris Burkard.

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Sidetracked

Subject Matter: Adventure
Founding Year: 2011
Frequency: Three issues per year
Subscription Fee: $42

Epic is the best word to describe Sidetracked, a UK-based publication that puts out a coffee table-worthy magazine book three times a year. Expect photos from the farthest reaches of the globe, and stories that range from documenting an Antarctic sailing trip to portraying the way of life of South Korea's diving women.

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Mountain Gazette

Subject Matter: Mountain Culture
Founding Year: 1966 / 2000 / 2020
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $70

Relaunched for the third time, this storied publication is alive and well in the hands of veteran journalist Mike Rogge. The large format (11x17"!) biannual print magazine celebrates all visions of outdoor life and storytelling. Past coverage included a piece on skinny dipping in alpine lakes and fighting wildfires in the American West.

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Trails

Subject Matter: Backpacking, hiking, running
Founding Year: 2023
Frequency: Quarterly
Subscription Fee: $70

Founded from the ashes of Backpacker magazine, Trails continues the documentation of backcountry adventure in North America. Its photo-filled pages bring tales from the trail—think trip reports, trail beta, recipes, features, and outhouse reviews—to armchairs everywhere.

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Daybreak Magazine

Subject Matter: Outdoors & Creativity
Founding Year: 2020
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $35/issue

Publishing at the intersection of the creative and outdoor realms, Daybreak's pages are filled with photographs and stories highlighting musicians, painters, musicians, designers, and adventurers who operate closely with nature. In a past interview, Daybreak founder Tommy Moore told Field Mag, "The general idea behind it all is trying to take the gritty content of your standard adventure magazine and then juxtapose [it with] the airiness and simplicity of the museum-grade art book."

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Beside

Subject Matter: Nature & Culture
Founding Year: 2016
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $40

Beside is a Canadian publication that covers the space where nature and humans meet. It's not all hardcore adventures outside, it's living sustainably and thinking about our place on Earth. The publication also operates a micro-hotel called Beside Habitat in a forest outside Montreal.

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Les Others

Subject Matter: General Outdoors, Travel
Founding Year: 2012
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: €50

Printed in France, each issue of this biannual magazine touches on a different theme surrounding and celebrating the outdoors. The team operates out of Paris and aims to highlight the intersection of the outdoor industry with creativity and design as well as other surprising themes . With unique and beautiful photography this is definitely one for the coffee table, even if you haven't brushed up on your French in a while.

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Hard Pack

Subject Matter: Skiing
Founding Year: 2023
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $25/issue

Hard Pack exists on the edge of skiing, covering the sport from angles that old-school ski magazines (many of which are no longer in print) can't. Experimental photography, fashion, design are open terrain in each issue of the twice-yearly book.

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The Surfer's Journal

Subject Matter: Surfing
Founding Year: 1992
Frequency: Bi-monthly
Subscription Fee: $84

Founded in '92, The Surfer's Journal is almost "tradtional" media. Almost—it's two-decade run is still going because the publication is wholly devoted to the quality of the words and photos it publishes six times a year. SJ is reader-supported with minimal ads from a core group of sponsors, leaving each issue clean of clutter.

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Emocean

Subject Matter: Surfing
Founding Year: 2023
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $22.50/issue

In the past, the face of surfing tended to be the blond California boy, but that's chaning. Emocean is a publication that aims to show diversity in surfing focusing on BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women in the surf industry. Through creativity and storytelling, Emocean paints a broader picture of what surfing means to different people.

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TECHUNTER

Subject Matter: Techwear & Outdoor Fashion
Founding Year: 2015
Frequency: Annual

Gearheads, this one's for you. TECHUNTER is all about exploring the edges of outdoor gear and apparel at the intersection of fashion and function. Started in Russia, the publication is now headquartered in Paris with an international team in US, UK, and EU. All of which contribute to a global perspective on stories about brands, designers, and gear.

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Amateurs

Subject Matter: General Outdoors & Travel
Founding Year: 2023
Frequency: TBD
Subscription Fee: $15/issue

Amateurs is the print progeny of gear maker FSP Outdoors. Like the limited selection of high-quality gear the company produces, the magazine is design-minded, thoughtful, and unexpected, with stories you won't find anywhere else.

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Ori

Subject Matter: Travel
Founding Year: 2023
Frequency: Biannual
Subscription Fee: $60

Ori's tagline is "travel from the source" and its mission is "to tell local stories on a global scale." To do that, it taps local journalists and creators rather than rely on parachute-in writers and press releases to bring unique stories to its twice-yearly, coffee table-quality books. Ori's Creative Grant means that 2% of revenue goes back to one of the magazine's contributors for future creative work.

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For more outdoor publications, check out these 10 outdoor books by BIPOC writers and this list of 9 great outdoor books.