Related Advancement and Awards
- Second Class requirement 1a
- First Class requirement 1a
- American Heritage, Backpacking, Citizenship in the Community, Geocaching, Hiking, Orienteering, and Personal Fitness merit badges
- 50-Miler Award
- Historic Trails Award
- Outdoor Ethics Award
Trip Plans – A trip plan prepares you for the challenges of a hike, a campout, or any other outdoor activity. Write down the five Ws of a trip plan:
- Where are you going? Decide on a route to your destination and back. For backcountry trips, include a copy of a map with your route marked in pencil.
- When will you return? If you are not back reasonably close to the time on your trip plan, Scout leaders and family members can take steps to locate you and, if necessary, provide assistance.
- Who is hiking with you? List the names of your partners. If you need a ride to or from a trail, write down who will do the driving.
- Why are you going? To fish in a lake? Climb a peak? Explore a new area? Write a sentence or two about the purpose of your journey.
- What are you taking? Always carry the Scout Basic Essentials. If you are camping out, you may need additional food, gear, and shelter.
Your unit can earn the Historic Trails Award if you locate and study a historic trail or site, hike or camp two days and one night along the trail, and help a group like a historical society with a project related to the trail or site.Kinds of Hiking – If you think hiking just means following a trail around your favorite Scout camp, think again. There are all sorts of hikes you can take.
- Urban hiking – Of all Scouting adventures, city hikes can be among the most interesting and easiest to plan. Set a course that will take you through parts of town you would like to see, or to a zoo, an exhibit, a museum, or a historical site.
Back-roads hiking – America’s quiet back roads can offer miles of wonderful hiking. They may lead through farm fields, hug riverbanks, drift along in a shady forest, or head out into open prairie.- Snow hiking – A winter hike can be a terrific way to enjoy cold-weather adventures. Remember that territory familiar in the summer can look very different when it is blanketed with snow.
Tundra hiking – Hike high enough in mountainous regions, and you will reach an elevation where conditions are too harsh for forests to survive. A tundra hike can take you up among the summits and surround you with tremendous scenery.- Desert hiking – Hiking across arid country will bring you close to remarkable vegetation, wildlife, and land formations. Consider doing desert hiking in the early morning and evening; spend the hottest part of the day relaxing in the shade.
- Cross-country hiking – Cross-country hiking invites you to escape everything made by humans, trails included. You might cross a river or a lakeshore beach, or the crest of a hill. Or your way might be determined by a series of compass readings and a map to keep your bearings.
- Night hiking – The world looks very different at night. Some animals are more active, and the sky can be ablaze with stars. Night hiking lets you explore this altered world.
- Trail hiking – Scouts do much of their hiking on trails. They may choose pathways leading deep into the backcountry, or shorter routes connecting points of interest in a Scout camp or a city. A trail can lead to a mountaintop, a lake, a neighborhood park, or a prairie.
