21 Must-Read Inspirational Outdoor Adventure Books (2025)
/Stories of unknown places, trails and extraordinary accomplishments are best understood when they’re deftly written and intimately searing!
When I wasn’t able to travel for a while, I focused on reading the best outdoor adventure and hiking books to vicariously experience each author’s universally inspiring and personal journeys.
It was through books that I learned things such as thru-hiking, bicycle touring, backpacking remote places and getting out of my comfort zone!
We all love reading stories about following a path that is not mainstream, and one that convinces us of our own personal reserves of endurance to push beyond mental limitations and cultural expectations.
These are some of the best inspirational, offbeat and outdoor adventure books in 2025 that will make you want to forget about the world, and gives us hope and courage no matter who we are, and where we are at this point of our life!
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Inspiring Outdoor Adventure Book Reads
#1 Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey On The Silk Road by Kate Harris
"Every day on a bike trip is like the one before--but it is also completely different, or perhaps you are different, woken up in new ways by the mile."
I had travelled on a bicycle to Central Asia and I know the range of emotions and experiences one goes through when travelling to this part of the world.
This book was well-written and writes about the kind of emotions one faces when they’re in many in-betweens in their lives, whether it is a career, or a dream to explore the unknown or to continue their studies.
Kate Harris realized that the career she most craved -- that of a generalist explorer, equal parts swashbuckler and philosopher -- had gone extinct.
From her small-town home in Ontario, it seemed as if Marco Polo, Magellan and their like had long ago mapped the whole earth. So she vowed to become a scientist and go to Mars.
To pass the time before she could launch into outer space, Kate set off by bicycle down a short section of the fabled Silk Road with her childhood friend Mel Yule, then settled down to study at Oxford and MIT.
#2 Running Home by Katie Arnold
In the tradition of Wild, an Outside magazine writer tells her story—of fathers and daughters, grief and renewal, adventure and obsession, and the power of running to change your life.
I have been obsessed with running! When there has been a lack of trails near where I live in the city, I decided I am going to run and go hard as much as I can to mimic the same adrenaline and rush I felt being out in nature!
Katie writes about her amazing ultra marathon runs, yet she spoke to straight to my soul on love, loss, life and adulting! I lost my dad many years ago and I could relate to how the outdoors felt like an outlet for me to forget and also become stronger!
Running Home is a memoir about the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our world — the stories that hold us back, and the ones that set us free.
Mesmerizing, transcendent, and deeply exhilarating, it is a book for anyone who has been knocked over by life, or feels the pull of something bigger and wilder within themselves.
#3 Beyond Possible: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks — My Life In The Death Zone by Nimsdai Purja
I have hiked some mountains in India and Nepal but the amazing feats by Nimsdai Purja is not an ordinary one for the mountaineering world! Nims, for short — achieved what most thought impossible.
He scaled 14 mountains more than 8,000m high in six months and six days, for what he called Project Possible. It is an important story told by the former Gurkha soldier.
In many mountaineering books, you often hear from Western climbers but the Nepalese and their experience with climbing is often overlooked! Nims tells the story of his life before his recent epic achievement of leading the team that scaled K2 in winter.
He reveals how leadership, a willingness to learn, integrity and collaboration are essential qualities behind the world’s greatest mountaineering feats.
#4 The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts
Lost pianos, who’d have thought? I recall reading this story and wondering what an odd subject but as I read further, I understood why.
This book is an interesting mixture of travel writing, Russian history, and music as the author travels across Siberia ostensibly to locate different pianos, once highly fashionable and popular in Russia - that have now disappeared.
Roberts goes on a three-year adventure as she tracks a number of different instruments to find one whose history is definitively Siberian.
Her journey reveals a desolate land inhabited by wild tigers and deeply shaped by its dark history, yet one that is also profoundly beautiful — and peppered with pianos.
#5 This Road I Ride: Sometimes It Takes Losing Everything to Find Yourself by Juliana Buhring
This book by Juliana Buhring is an inspirational cycling memoir especially enjoyed by those who appreciate mental and physical endurance.
I find myself bookmarking several pages in her book as I make a mental note of how I would approach certain situations if I ever go on a round the world bicycle tour!
Juliana’s story is not just about the ride, but includes snippets of what she endured in captivity in a religious cult and other traumatic events in her life that she works through while cycling across the world.
She had been mired in a dark hole of depression after the death of a man she loved, and when an acquaintance suggested they honor his memory by biking across Canada, she thought, “Canada? Why not the world?” And why not alone.
She had never seriously ridden a bicycle before.
She had no athletic experience or corporate sponsorship, but with just eight months of preparation, Juliana Buhring departed from Naples, Italy, in July 2012 aiming to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.
#6 Wild By Cheryl Strayed
I watched the movie and I thought it was average, until I re-read reviews about the book and decided to read it finally!
There are times when I felt like I was right there next to Cheryl, with a heavy pack, feet bleeding and sore, filth, hungry and lonely and there are my times I wondered about her unpreparedness and miscalculations.
However, Cheryl is a wonderful writer and this book has probably made people realised that they should start hiking!
Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.
#7 Thirst: 2600 Miles To Home by Heather Anderson
I am currently reading this and within the first few chapters, I understood the author's staggering determination to do something amazing, break the fastest time ever to walk the Pacific Crest Trail.
By age 25, Heather Anderson had hiked what is known as the "Triple Crown" of backpacking: the Appalachian Trail (AT), Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and Continental Divide Trail (CDT)—a combined distance of 7,900 miles with a vertical gain of more than one million feet.
A few years later, she left her job, her marriage, and a dissatisfied life and walked back into those mountains.
In her new memoir, Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, Heather, whose trail name is "Anish," conveys not only her athleticism and wilderness adventures, but also shares her distinct message of courage--her willingness to turn away from the predictability of a more traditional life in an effort to seek out what most fulfils her.
#8 Born To Run by Christopher McDougall
When I read “Born To Run”, I was suffering a common foot injury called Plantar Fascitis and I wondered if really running is for me with these injuries.
McDougall weaves together the story of ultra-running's past with his own quest to find the Tarahumara and become a better runner.
Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.
He takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons.
#9 Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer
I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book when I had watched the movie! This is a classic book on everyone’s must read outdoor adventure book.
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir.
In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash.
He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented.
Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.
#10 Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a bicycle by Dervla Murphy
A bicycle adventure book that gives a good picture of the 1960s in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan and what it was like for a lone woman to be cycling through these places!
The book is supposedly taken straight from the letters she wrote home as she was on the journey from Ireland to India, and while it made me a little jealous of the travels, it also made me feel like I could possibly do this someday but not the route she chose! I stand in awe for her!
#11 She Explores by Gale Straub
This was an inspirational collection of stories from women who spend their lives exploring and adventuring.
She Explores is a spirited celebration of female bravery and courage, and an inspirational companion for any woman who wants to travel the world on her own terms.
Combining breathtaking travel photography with compelling personal narratives, She Explores shares the stories of 40 diverse women on unforgettable journeys in nature: women who live out of vans, trucks, and vintage trailers, hiking the wild, cooking meals over campfires, and sleeping under the stars.
Women biking through the countryside, embarking on an unknown road trip, or backpacking through the outdoors with their young children in tow.
#12 Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land by Noé Álvarez
The son of working-class Mexican immigrants flees a life of labor in fruit-packing plants to run in a Native American marathon from Canada to Guatemala.
Growing up in Yakima, Washington, Noé Álvarez worked at an apple-packing plant alongside his mother, who “slouched over a conveyor belt of fruit, shoulder to shoulder with mothers conditioned to believe this was all they could do with their lives.”
A university scholarship offered escape, but as a first-generation Latino college-goer, Álvarez struggled to fit in.
Running through mountains, deserts, and cities, and through the Mexican territory his parents left behind, Álvarez forges a new relationship with the land
#13 Eat The Buddha: Life and Death In A Tibetan Town by Barbara Demick
It portrays the ideals of Tibetan culture and what Tibetans did to survive under Chinese rule in a way that was honorable, insightful and genuine.
Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick is a compelling, heart-breaking report of the Tibetan struggle over the past several decades, beginning in 1958 with the royal family of Ngaba, most of whom have died under the rule of China's Communist Party.
Her storytelling, a sort of novelization of interviews with exiles and refugees, mixed in with history and pieces of the larger picture, is powerful in the way it brings people in these obscure places close to us, thereby evoking empathy and hopefully stimulating more action and ultimately change.
#14 Karakoram: Climbing Through the Kashmir Conflict by Steve Swenson
A story about climbing in Asia during the time of conflict.
Karakoram is world-class alpinist Steve Swenson's personal story of climbing K2 and other peaks in the Karakoram Range that straddles the borders of China, India, and Pakistan story told against the backdrop of extreme altitude and conflict between these nations for control of Kashmir.
#15 Alone On The Wall By Alex Honnold
I watched Free Solo and was impressed with Alex climbing feats and his journey!
Alone on the Wall recounts the most astonishing achievements of Honnold’s extraordinary life and career, brimming with lessons on living fearlessly, taking risks, and maintaining focus even in the face of extreme danger.
We also get to enjoy the inside of Alex’s mind a lot more, and see more of his journals verbatim. “I could suddenly travel full-time without feeling like I had to come back for something.”
#16 Sovietistan by Erika Fatland
If your knowledge of Central Asia’s Stan countries stops at Borat and that one episode of Dark Tourist, then this book is for you.
Sovietistan, she takes the reader on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
In Kyrgyzstani villages, she meets victims of the tradition of bride snatching; she visits the huge and desolate Polygon in Kazakhstan where the Soviet Union tested explosions of nuclear bombs; she meets shrimp gatherers on the banks of the dried out Aral Sea; she witnesses the fall of a dictator.
#17 Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsiu
A personal and historical tour of swimming. This book touches on why we swim.
We swim in freezing Arctic waters and piranha-infested rivers to test our limits. We swim for pleasure, for exercise, for healing.
Why We Swim is propelled by stories of Olympic champions, a Baghdad swim club that meets in Saddam Hussein’s palace pool, modern-day Japanese samurai swimmers, and even an Icelandic fisherman who improbably survives a wintry six-hour swim after a shipwreck.
New York Times contributor Bonnie Tsui, a swimmer herself, dives into the deep, from the San Francisco Bay to the South China Sea, investigating what about water—despite its dangers—seduces us and why we come back to it again and again.
#18 Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton
The author chronicles the year he spent travelling to every national park in the United States.
When Conor Knighton decided to spend a year wandering through "America's Best Idea," he was worried the whole thing might end up being his worst idea. But, after a broken engagement and a broken heart, he desperately needed a change of scenery.
In this smart, informative, and often hilarious book, he'll share how his journey through these natural wonders, unchanged by man, ended up changing his worldview on everything from God to politics to love and technology.
#19 Journey’s North: The Pacific Crest Trail
If you ever want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, this is one of the better ones out there that offers an authentic tale with a great cast of characters.
In Journeys North, legendary trail angel and thru-hiker Barney Scout Mann spins a compelling tale of six hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2007 as they walk from Mexico to Canada
This ensemble story unfolds as these half-dozen hikers--including Barney and his wife, Sandy--trod north, slowly forming relationships and revealing their deepest secrets and aspirations.
If you are looking for an armchair adventure along the PCT, or wondered what it would be like to tackle a thru-hike of a long trail, or are curious about the people who undertake such a challenge, you will enjoy Journeys North!
#20 Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas
As someone who backpacked the Himalayas for 3 months, there’s a certain mystique and appeal about the Indian Himalayas.
For centuries, India was a destination enthralled by westerners looking for an exotic getaway, a brief immersion in yoga and meditation, or in rare cases, a true pilgrimage to find spiritual revelation.
Drawing parallels to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, Rustad’s non-fiction work focuses on the unsolved disappearance of an American backpacker in India -- one of at least two dozen tourists who have met a similar fate in the remote and storied Parvati Valley.
Get this book if you’re in search for reasons why people are enamoured by the Himalayas!
#21 The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East
In 2015, as the Syrian War raged and the refugee crisis reached its peak, Rebecca Lowe set off on her bicycle across the Middle East.
Driven by a desire to learn more about this troubled region and its relationship with the West, Lowe's 11,000-kilometre journey took her through Europe to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, the Gulf and finally to Iran.
If you love stories of adventure, history, and a nuanced look of people and politics and culture told through a different lens in these current times, then this book might be worth a read.
I have pre-ordered it on my end and can’t wait to read it!
What other books did you read or are planning to read this year? Share with me in the comments below!
Also Read: 27 Best Hiking Quotes From Inspiring & Outdoorsy Storytellers
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