Best Outdoor Books to Add to Your 2025 Reading List

Craft your 2025 reading list with these best-selling outdoorsy books in mind.

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the most popular New Year's resolutions out there is "read more books," and for good reason.

There are millions (yes, millions) of unique published books in the world, according to ISBNdb.

But for those who prefer to spend their time visiting national parks, hitting the slopes, or climbing sheer granite cliffs, finding a good read can be tough.

After all, what's more exciting than a real adventure?

These outdoorsy books are the perfect addition to any explorer's 2025 reading list, offering a sense of excitement and wonder for days where you can't get out on your own adventure.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

A classic and well-loved book of adventure and humanity, Wild details author Cheyrl Strayed's time on the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile hiking track that spans three states from Mexico to Canada.

After a devastating personal loss, Strayed decided to change her life in the most profound and radical way possible--hitting the trail.

Her journey is one of life, loss, and laughter as she experiences a once-in-a-lifetime adventure on the PCT.

The Color of Everything

This autobiography by renowned climbed and photographer Cory Richards is a stark, candid look at mental health. Richards details his childhood and early career with unflinching honesty, and doesn't shy away from the reality of being an outdoorsman with mental health struggles.

The Color of Everything is filled with beautiful prose and brutal anecdotes about climbing trips gone wrong, a winter ascent of Gasherbrum, and personal struggles that threaten Richards' career.

The book also contains many of his best photographs and details the stories behind them.

A Walk in the Woods

Another book about thru-hiking, Bill Bryson's autobiography about his time on the world-famous Appalachian Trail is a funny, candid insight on all that the sport entails.

As an inexperienced (and somewhat unprepared) hiker, Bryson's failed thru-hike is filled with mishaps and misadventures of the outdoorsy kind.

This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys laughing out loud while they read.

Appalachian Trail signage, which Bill Bryson would've seen on his thru-hike detailed in his memoir, 'A Walk in the Woods' / Unsplash

Braiding Sweetgrass

Braiding Sweetgrass is a quintessential nature book for anyone who enjoys spending time outside. Author Robin Wall Kimmerer draws on her life as an Indigenous scientist, and details her childhood in Upstate New York.

Kimmerer writes beautiful, poignant prose linking Indigenous wisdom with Western culture, making this a perfect book for anyone ready to learn more about the outdoors.

With rave reviews and a veritable army of happy readers, Braiding Sweetgrass is the perfect book to add to your 2025 reading list!