Stuck at home all day? Favorite hikes and nature trails still closed because of the pandemic? Trying to do your part to social distance by avoiding travel? Hope is not lost. You can still get your nature fix even if you’re stuck inside.
Virtual Trail Tours
There are a few different ways to take virtual tours of many parks and trails around the globe.
Google Earth
Google Earth has put together virtual tours of 31 U.S. National Parks. To explore them, head to Google Earth’s National Parks of the United States page and click on a picture of the park you’d like to “visit.” From there, you can move between different points of interest within the park, read about each location, and navigate within the frames to get a 360° view.
Google Maps
Some trails are fully documented from a first-person perspective on Google Maps, such as this virtual forest tour of the Trollkyrkerundan Trail in Sweden. You can “hike” the full trail by clicking your mouse along the trail path and panning around to see everything around you.
I haven’t found a simple list of all of the trails that have this option available, so your best bet is to search the name of a trail in which you’re interested and drag Pegman (the little yellow figure in the bottom right) onto the map. If your entire trail has a blue highlight, you can trek around it virtually by dropping Pegman anywhere on the route.
National Parks System Website (nps.gov)
The U.S. National Parks System has a series of Video Walks for many parks that allows you to follow along with a hiker walking the trail in real time. For example, here is the page for Yellowstone. The video titles tell you which trail you’ll be viewing, and the videographer usually takes the time to focus on the informational signage as well as the natural wonders along the way.
Other Resources
Chances are, if you simply do a Google or YouTube search for “[Park or Trail Name] + Virtual Tour”, such as “Yosemite Virtual Tour”, you’ll be able to find a website or video uploaded by someone who has hiked the trail in the past. When I did a quick search for Yosemite, I found virtualyosemite.org—a great resource for points of interest in Yosemite that include written descriptions, photos and nature sounds from the area to help you feel like you’re really there.
Some people have even uploaded drone-piloted videos that allow you to see a bird’s-eye view of the trail route, such as this video of The Wave in Coyote Buttes, Arizona.
Movies and Shows That Feature Nature
Fictional movies and TV shows can often do more than you’d think to whisk you away to a beautiful setting. While not an exhaustive list, here are some that come to mind.
- 127 Hours: Filmed in the red rock canyon country of Moab, Utah (based on real events)
- The Amazing Panda Adventure: Filmed in the Sichuan province of China, near the Himalayas
- Avatar: Filmed in New Zealand, with many scenes inspired by ZhangJiaJie National Forest Park in China. Mixture of live-action enhanced with CGI environments. Perhaps not entirely real, but certainly beautiful and Earth-adjacent.
- Bridge to Terabithia: Filmed in New Zealand. Real forest shots sometimes enhanced with CGI when the children imagine a fantasy world, but enough to make you feel like you’re there.
- Dances With Wolves: Filmed in the Badlands of South Dakota
- The Edge: Set in Alaska, but filmed in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, including Banff National Park
- E.T.: Forest scenes were filmed in Redwood National Park
- Fargo: Filmed in North Dakota and Minnesota (note: TV show of the same name also features great scenery)
- Free Solo: Filmed at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park (based on real events)
- The Grey: Set in Alaska, but filmed in Vancouver and British Columbia, Canada
- Grizzly Man: Filmed in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska (based on real events)
- Into the Wild: Filmed in Oregon, Alaska, Arizona and South Dakota. This one gets my vote for #1 pick on this list. It’s a moving film that will undoubtedly encourage you to connect with your inner adventurer. (Based on real events).
- The Jungle Book: Though the live-action version was filmed entirely on sound stage setups in Los Angeles, the digital cinematography is spectacular.
- Jurassic Park: Filmed in Kauai, Hawai’i
- Last of the Mohicans: Set in upstate New York, but filmed in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina
- Lord of the Rings: Filmed in New Zealand (all three movies in the trilogy)
- Moonrise Kingdom: Filmed in Prudence Island, Rhode Island
- Ozark: Some shots filmed in Lake of the Ozarks, but mostly filmed near Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier near Atlanta, Georgia.
- Return of the Jedi: Endor scenes were filmed in Redwood National Park
- Wild: Set on the Pacific Crest Trail, but mostly filmed in Oregon (based on real events)
Backyard Camping
Backyard camping is fun for adults and kids alike. Set up a tent in your backyard and make it cozy with sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. If you have a fire pit or a propane stove, toast some marshmallows and make s’mores. Read scary stories around the fire, or inside the tent by lantern-light or flashlight. The best part is, you can walk inside your house if you need to use the bathroom or forget any supplies.
Live somewhere without a yard? Not a problem! You can still set up a tent in your living room, watch movies, read scary stories by flashlight, and make s’mores over your stove.
Plan Your Next Trip
Even if you can’t travel now, you can get excited about a future trip. Find someplace you’d like to go and start a Google doc to keep track of landmarks, trails, sights to see, restaurants to try or scenic roads to drive on your trip. Gather photos, maps, directions, and any other information that you might find useful on your trip. Include a packing list, especially if you realize you will need to bring any specific items to visit certain places, like a flashlight for a cave tour, or a snorkel for a dip in a natural spring.
Need some ideas? Find a place to visit on our Interactive Map!
Of course, none of these options are a replacement for good ‘ol natural Vitamin D and exercise. If you’re really jonesing to get outside, do some research and you might find trails that are still open near you, especially if they’re not within a State or National Park. Keep in mind that facilities like restrooms may be closed for health reasons, so prepare for that possibility.
No matter where you are, there are plenty of ways to satiate your appetite for the great outdoors.