Outdoor Project is an outdoor enthusiast and adventure travel media company and community. Our collective mission is to empower people of all abilities to get outside and explore; ultimately fostering healthier lives and a deeper connection to nature.

Outdoor Project is the fastest growing media website with the most engaged audience in the U.S. for outdoor recreation and adventure travel. We feature inspirational content and in-depth informational guides for 17 types of human-powered activities (e.g., camping, hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, etc.) along with campgrounds, unique outdoor-minded lodging, and the gear that allows people to take on these adventures.

Our audience is young, active, social and influential. They’re environmentally conscious, progressively minded, enjoy outdoor adventure, travel and they shop for quality and value.

By the numbers:

- 1 MM+ unique mo. visitors

- 4-10MM mo. social reach

- 365,000 members

- 628,000 Facebook followers

- 120,000 Instagram followers

At the time we were preparing ourselves to enter the market traditional outdoor media focused on the hardcore activities (e.g., climbing, skiing, mountain biking, etc), and digital recreation resources were statistics focused and clunky to use, all of which attracted a niche male dominant audience. With what was then just referred to as “the outdoor project”, a placeholder name for the business, we set out to create a new media company that would cover all types of human-powered activities that would empower people of all abilities and backgrounds.

To do this, we needed to cover not only those hardcore activities, but most notably cover the types of activities that anyone could easily participate in and no other media company was covering (e.g., parks, beaches, swimming holes, roadside attractions, etc.). To appeal to a broader audience, we needed a user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) that was unintimidating, easy and fun to use. Ultimately, we needed to create a brand that was fresh, one-of-a-kind, but most importantly, inviting.

The brand elements started with incredible photography that would be captivating and draw curiosity, and then complimented by iconography that was unique, but drew inspiration by traditional transportation wayfinding graphics and those used by our public land management agencies for a distinctive outdoor feel. The icons would be familiar, and would feel familiar even if new, and would also have more round edges to be friendlier. The color palette started with a sea foam green that other brands notably weren’t using, but that was also soft and almost androgynous in gender appeal and connotations. And, universally, the language we used would be welcoming, encouraging, and never use jargon or localism that would feel exclusive or elitist.

Pulling from our icon set, the bison eventually became the emblem of our brand and company… an iconic mammal that would have national appeal, but also symbolic of our nation’s struggles and tensions between humanity and nature.

In the end, Outdoor Project was phenomenally successful in garnering, and continues to nurture, one of the most diverse audiences in the outdoor industry, impressively being 55% female/45% male and attracting users of all skill levels.

At Outdoor Project, we believe good things come from people spending time outside. It’s about more than standing on the mountain top. It’s about nourishment and learning. It’s about protecting what sustains us. It’s about building relationships with the outdoors and each other.

From its inception, Outdoor Project was built on the framework that by aligning the efforts and interests of individual outdoor enthusiasts and storytellers into one platform, we could build the best media platform for outdoor adventure discovery.

We now feature nearly 8,000 inspiring and in-depth evergreen informational Adventure Guides, have a database with over 110,000 incredible photos from our community, and now have a growing database of Gear Reviews.

Outdoor Project reflects the product of our 300+ active Contributors and 365,000+ members who sharing their passion of the outdoors. In return for their efforts, through an earned rewards system called our Contributor Rewards Program, active Contributors get a share of the business’ revenue, pro deals from our sponsors, and fun seasonal awards and prizes. Underpinning this is our custom content development engine that consistently produces high volume and high quality evergreen content.

An extension of our digital community are our Outdoor Project’s Block Party Festivals. Each event is a high impact setting for our community to come together in-person. The block parties are held at microbreweries in six major cities across the U.S., providing an all-day celebration of the local outdoor community. Enthusiasts, brands, retailers, non-profits, land management agencies, and outdoor recreation groups exhibit and sponsor the event, reaching up to 4,500 attendees. The all-ages events include vendors, gear demos, live music, street games, great food, craft beer, and activities such as climbing walls and yoga sessions. Additionally, each party serves as a fundraiser for a local area nonprofit focused on outdoor conservation, education or advocacy.

What differentiates Outdoor Project from other outdoor media publishers is that its audience is gender balanced (55% female), young and highly active (75% between 18-44), and it ranks #1 in terms of audience engagement (3:10 avg. time on site, 9 pageviews per session, 35% bounce rate).

Additionally, Outdoor Project takes a truly custom approach to working with its clients hand-in-hand to understand their needs, and then create and execute holistic native content and advertising campaigns that perfectly match their desires and budgets. The team’s innate ability to brainstorm with clients, work and create meaningful, lasting partnerships is their natural, solution-oriented approach to making an impact within the outdoor and adventure travel space.

Outdoor Project’s products and services are 360, including original and custom native content, and multi-channel promotion, including:

- Custom Video

- Native Articles + Sponsored Content

- Gear Guides + Gear Reviews

- Adventure Guides

- Custom Display Units

- Social Media Promotion

- Email + Newsletter

- Lead Generation

Clients include a wide-range of gear + apparel brands, travel destinations and organizations that first-and-foremost are looking to reach active lifestyle consumers, including: Visit California, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Danner, Travel Oregon, Chaco, ORTOVOX, Danner, Moosejaw, Adirondacks, Wonderland Expeditions, Mountain House, Eddie Bauer, Visit New Hampshire, Louisiana Travel + Tourism, Journeyman Lodge, Oregon Coast Visitors Association, and many more.

In-depth, helpful and reliable information is a must for any content-focused media company, but the hallmark of Outdoor Project is certainly the stunning photography that inspires and lures users outside into nature. Unlike traditional media however, which pays expensive contract journalist, the overwhelming majority of Outdoor Projects content is user generated. The pinnacle of those users, our its highly engaged and uniquely incentivized Contributor community… regular outdoor enthusiasts with typical day job, but those who are passionate storytellers who believe in Outdoor Project’s mission to empower others to also get outside.

In return for their efforts, through our Contributor Rewards Program, 10% of all revenue is distributed among active Contributors, they receive pro deals (40-65% off MSRP) from our sponsors, and they receive seasonal awards and prizes.

All photos by Outdoor Project Contributors, from top to bottom:

Liah McPherson, Halvor Tweto, Eric Guth, Benjamin Krause, Duncan Sadava, Race Jones, Justin Michael, Tyson Gillard, Tyson Gillard, Eric Guth, Fernando Boza, Matthew King, and Wasim Muklashi

Spearheaded by Outdoor Project’s Chief Content Officer, Aron Bosworth, and the sales team, we were able to deliver top-tier clients with fully integrated digital advertising campaigns, including custom and original video production. Working hand-in-hand with clients and our videography team, we executed truly compelling videos from ideation, storyboarding, talent management, narration, and final multi-channel publication.

From each adventure page, members can directly access our custom PDF Field Guides + Maps so that you can download, print and share them giving you all the essential information, even when you're off the grid.

Field Guide + Map features include:

- Customized maps featuring verified route information

- Summer, winter and water maps with both regional and specific adventure scopes

- Includes both quick summaries and detailed trip descriptions

- Current, first-hand trip information from Contributors

- Print a copy for yourself

- Keep a PDF on your phone

- Send the PDF to a friend

The global focus we’ve adopted in today’s world means that many of us have a better idea of what is happening in faraway countries than we know of our own neighborhoods and ecosystems. As we engage in earth-impacting issues such as climate change or loss of biodiversity, we all, to varying degrees, experience consequences of these global trends in our own backyards. Change is happening, for better or worse, and to make it a positive change takes engagement; it takes passion. It’s Outdoor Project’s belief that by engaging in outdoor experiences and learning about our natural surroundings in the process, we all become more engaged and passionate about protecting it for the future.

Supporting that belief, Outdoor Project also operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, supporting and promoting other outdoor non-profits doing critical work in the areas of outdoor conservation, environmental education and increasing outdoor access to disadvantaged individuals. In tandem, Outdoor Project also creates its own original educational content to support the mission… content that is relevant in context, deep in research, and graphically compelling.