Before you go
The official pages to check before a trip
Closures, permits, fire restrictions, conditions and safety, straight from the agencies that publish them. Pick your activity.
For any trip
Where to check a closure, book a site and read the forecast, whatever you are doing.
Forest Service Know Before You Go
fs.usda.gov
Permits, fire restrictions, seasonal closures and what a given national forest expects of visitors. Fire restrictions in particular change week to week through the summer, and the fines for missing one are real.
National Park Service Trip Planning
nps.gov
Hours, fees, closures, permits and alerts for more than 400 national park sites. Go to the alerts page for the park rather than its front page, because road and trail closures land there first.
National Weather Service
weather.gov
Forecasts, watches and warnings for anywhere in the country, with no advertising and no model dressed up as certainty. A point forecast for the trailhead itself is far more useful than one for the nearest town.
Recreation.gov
recreation.gov
Bookings and permits for campgrounds, cabins, lookouts, day use and lotteries across every federal agency. If a site is run by the Park Service, the Forest Service, the BLM or the Corps of Engineers, this is where it is reserved.
By activity
The rules, safety notes and live data for what you are doing.
BLM Off-Highway Vehicles
blm.gov
The rules for riding on Bureau of Land Management ground, which is most of the open desert and high country in the western states. Designations are set field office by field office, so check the area you are heading for rather than the state.
Forest Service Maps
fs.usda.gov
Motor Vehicle Use Maps and forest visitor maps, by national forest. The MVUM is the legal answer to which roads and trails are open to which vehicles, and it costs nothing. Carry the current year, because designations change.
NOHVCC
nohvcc.org
The National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council works with land managers on trail design, funding and keeping riding areas open. Its state association directory is the fastest way to find who advocates for riders where you live.
Tread Lightly!
treadlightly.org
The organization behind the riding ethics most clubs and land managers teach from. Free training and trail stewardship material, and a large part of the reason a lot of areas are still open to vehicles at all.
EPA Fish and Shellfish Advisories
epa.gov
Consumption advisories for waters where mercury or PCBs make a catch worth releasing rather than eating. Worth reading once for the waters you fish regularly, and again before you feed a catch to children.
National Fish Hatchery System
fws.gov
Which federal hatcheries raise which species, and where those fish are released. Useful for understanding why a river fishes the way it does, and many of the hatcheries are open to visitors with no appointment needed.
NOAA Fisheries
fisheries.noaa.gov
The agency that sets seasons, size limits and bag limits in federal waters, which begin where your state waters end. Rules change through the year, so it is worth reading alongside your state regulations before a coastal trip.
USGS National Water Dashboard
dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov
Live streamflow, gauge height and water temperature from every USGS gauge in the country, on one map. This is the same data behind our river conditions, read straight from the source, and it is the first thing worth checking before you drive anywhere.
America the Beautiful Passes
nps.gov
The annual pass covers entrance at every federal recreation site, and there are free versions for fourth graders, for veterans, and for anyone with a permanent disability. Worth checking before you pay at a third gate.
Corps Lakes Gateway
corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil
The Army Corps of Engineers runs hundreds of lakes with campgrounds, boat ramps and day use areas, and they are the most overlooked public campgrounds in the country. Facilities, water levels and closures, lake by lake.
National Park Service Camping
nps.gov
What camping looks like in the national parks, from full hookup loops to backcountry permits, with the reservation window and the vehicle length limit for each park. Read the length limit before you commit to a long rig.
Recreation.gov
recreation.gov
Bookings and permits for campgrounds, cabins, lookouts, day use and lotteries across every federal agency. If a site is run by the Park Service, the Forest Service, the BLM or the Corps of Engineers, this is where it is reserved.
USDA Local Food Directories
usdalocalfoodportal.com
The official directories of farmers markets, on-farm markets, CSAs and food hubs, kept by the Agricultural Marketing Service. Listings are maintained by the operators themselves, so the hours tend to be more reliable than most.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
nass.usda.gov
Crop reports, county level production figures and the Census of Agriculture. This is where the numbers everyone quotes about American farming actually come from, and all of it is free to download.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
nrcs.usda.gov
Conservation programs, cost share and technical help for working land. If you farm, graze or manage woodland, the local NRCS office will walk your ground with you at no charge, which is the part most people do not know.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
planthardiness.ars.usda.gov
The zone map every seed catalog and nursery label refers to, rebuilt in 2023. Type in a zip code and it returns the zone, which is the single most useful number for deciding what will survive a winter where you are.
USDA Web Soil Survey
websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov
Draw a boundary on a map and get the soil types under it, rated for septic suitability, building foundations and what will grow. Free, detailed, and the answer to most of the questions a raw parcel raises.
EPA Private Drinking Water Wells
epa.gov
If your water comes from a well, nobody tests it but you. What to test for, how often, and what the results mean, from the agency that sets the standards public systems have to meet.
FEMA Flood Map Service Center
msc.fema.gov
The official flood zone for any address in the country. Worth pulling before you buy land or decide where a building goes, because the zone drives both your insurance and whether a lender will touch the parcel.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
planthardiness.ars.usda.gov
The zone map every seed catalog and nursery label refers to, rebuilt in 2023. Type in a zip code and it returns the zone, which is the single most useful number for deciding what will survive a winter where you are.
USDA Web Soil Survey
websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov
Draw a boundary on a map and get the soil types under it, rated for septic suitability, building foundations and what will grow. Free, detailed, and the answer to most of the questions a raw parcel raises.
Coast Guard Boating Safety
uscgboating.org
Required equipment, registration, accident reporting, and the free vessel safety check a volunteer examiner will run at the ramp. Also where recalls and safety alerts for boats and engines get published.
Corps Lakes Gateway
corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil
The Army Corps of Engineers runs hundreds of lakes with campgrounds, boat ramps and day use areas, and they are the most overlooked public campgrounds in the country. Facilities, water levels and closures, lake by lake.
NOAA National Data Buoy Center
ndbc.noaa.gov
Live wave height, wave period, wind and water temperature from buoys and coastal stations. These readings are what is happening right now rather than a model, which is why forecasters check them too.
NOAA Office of Coast Survey
nauticalcharts.noaa.gov
Official nautical charts, chart updates and the Coast Pilot, free to view or download. Electronic charts on a plotter go stale quietly, so it is worth confirming a passage against the current edition.
NOAA Tides and Currents
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
Tide predictions, live water levels and current forecasts from the national network of stations. Predictions run years ahead, so this is the one to plan a trip around rather than a weather app.
Forest Service Know Before You Go
fs.usda.gov
Permits, fire restrictions, seasonal closures and what a given national forest expects of visitors. Fire restrictions in particular change week to week through the summer, and the fines for missing one are real.
National Park Service Trip Planning
nps.gov
Hours, fees, closures, permits and alerts for more than 400 national park sites. Go to the alerts page for the park rather than its front page, because road and trail closures land there first.
National Weather Service
weather.gov
Forecasts, watches and warnings for anywhere in the country, with no advertising and no model dressed up as certainty. A point forecast for the trailhead itself is far more useful than one for the nearest town.
Recreation.gov
recreation.gov
Bookings and permits for campgrounds, cabins, lookouts, day use and lotteries across every federal agency. If a site is run by the Park Service, the Forest Service, the BLM or the Corps of Engineers, this is where it is reserved.
Access Fund
accessfund.org
The organization that buys threatened crags, negotiates access with landowners and fights closures. Its regional updates are the fastest way to learn that a crag has closed, and usually why.
American Alpine Club Publications
publications.americanalpineclub.org
Accidents in North American Climbing, going back decades and free to read online. Every report is somebody describing exactly how a day went wrong, which makes it the most useful safety reading in the sport.
National Park Service Climbing
nps.gov
Climbing regulations, permits, fixed anchor policy and seasonal raptor closures across the national parks. The closures are the part worth rechecking every season, because they move with the nesting birds.
Back Country Horsemen of America
bcha.org
Volunteer chapters who clear and maintain the trails stock can actually use, state by state. If a trail you ride is rideable at all, there is a fair chance one of these chapters is the reason.
BLM Wild Horse and Burro
blm.gov
Adoption and sale of wild horses and burros, plus the herd management areas where you can go and watch them on public land. The adoption incentives and the training programs are both listed here.
Equine Disease Communication Center
equinediseasecc.org
Outbreak alerts as they are confirmed, mapped by state and by disease. Worth subscribing to before show season, because a strangles or EHV notice can decide whether a barn is willing to take your horse.
Forest Service Maps
fs.usda.gov
Motor Vehicle Use Maps and forest visitor maps, by national forest. The MVUM is the legal answer to which roads and trails are open to which vehicles, and it costs nothing. Carry the current year, because designations change.
USDA APHIS Equine Health
aphis.usda.gov
Federal rules for moving horses between states, plus the current disease picture. Interstate paperwork is not optional and is far easier to sort out before a haul than at a state line.
Federal Duck Stamp
fws.gov
Required for migratory waterfowl hunters aged sixteen and over, and it doubles as free admission to any refuge that charges. Almost all of the money goes straight into buying and protecting wetland habitat.
National Park Service Hunting
nps.gov
Hunting is allowed in more national park units than most people expect, and prohibited in the famous ones. This is the list, with the rules that apply in each, and they are not the same as state rules.
US Fish and Wildlife Service Hunting
fws.gov
Which national wildlife refuges are open to hunting, for what, and under which refuge specific rules. Refuge regulations sit on top of state regulations rather than replacing them, so both apply at once.
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
usgs.gov
Where chronic wasting disease has been found, mapped and kept current, plus the science on what that means for handling and eating a harvest. Check the county you hunt before the season rather than after it.
NOAA National Data Buoy Center
ndbc.noaa.gov
Live wave height, wave period, wind and water temperature from buoys and coastal stations. These readings are what is happening right now rather than a model, which is why forecasters check them too.
NOAA Tides and Currents
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
Tide predictions, live water levels and current forecasts from the national network of stations. Predictions run years ahead, so this is the one to plan a trip around rather than a weather app.
NWS Rip Current Safety
weather.gov
How rip currents form, how to spot one from the beach, and what to do if you are caught in one. The surf zone forecast linked from here carries the rip risk for a stretch of coast on the day.
Surfrider Blue Water Task Force
surfrider.org
Volunteer labs test water quality at surf breaks and beaches nobody else samples, and publish the results. Worth a look after heavy rain, when runoff is the reason to stay out rather than the swell.
Divers Alert Network
dan.org
The medical side of diving written for divers rather than doctors: decompression illness, fitness to dive, flying after diving, and the emergency hotline. The incident reports are worth reading too.
NOAA Coral Reef Watch
coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
Satellite sea surface temperature and bleaching alerts for reefs worldwide, updated daily. Useful for setting expectations before a trip, and for understanding why a reef you know looks different this year.
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
sanctuaries.noaa.gov
The national marine sanctuaries and what you may and may not do in each, including the wreck sites and the permit rules. Several of the best temperate dives in the country sit inside one of them.
NOAA Tides and Currents
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
Tide predictions, live water levels and current forecasts from the national network of stations. Predictions run years ahead, so this is the one to plan a trip around rather than a weather app.
American Whitewater River Index
americanwhitewater.org
Run descriptions, gradient, rapids and live gauge readings with the levels each run is good at, maintained by paddlers. The access notes are the part that is genuinely hard to find anywhere else.
Coast Guard Boating Safety
uscgboating.org
Required equipment, registration, accident reporting, and the free vessel safety check a volunteer examiner will run at the ramp. Also where recalls and safety alerts for boats and engines get published.
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
fws.gov
The rivers Congress has protected, why each one qualified, and who manages it. A practical way to find a stretch that will still look the way it does now in twenty years.
USGS National Water Dashboard
dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov
Live streamflow, gauge height and water temperature from every USGS gauge in the country, on one map. This is the same data behind our river conditions, read straight from the source, and it is the first thing worth checking before you drive anywhere.
Avalanche.org
avalanche.org
Every regional avalanche center forecast in one place, plus the education calendar. If you are going anywhere outside a patrolled boundary, today's forecast for that zone is the first thing to read.
NOAA National Snow Analyses
nohrsc.noaa.gov
Modelled snow depth, water content and recent change, mapped for the whole country. Better than a resort report for working out whether a low elevation approach is actually covered or just cold.
NWS Winter Weather Safety
weather.gov
Watches, warnings and the driving side of a storm cycle, which is usually the part that decides whether a ski day happens at all. Pass closures and chain controls are linked from the local office pages.
14 CFR Part 105, Parachute Operations
ecfr.gov
The federal regulations governing parachute operations, in full and always current. Worth reading once rather than relying on what somebody told you at a drop zone, particularly the parts on airspace and jump clearances.
Aviation Weather Center
aviationweather.gov
Winds aloft, cloud bases and the forecast products pilots use, from the National Weather Service. The winds aloft table is the quickest honest answer to whether a load is going to be flying today.
USPA Skydiver's Information Manual
uspa.org
The basic safety requirements, license requirements and recommendations the sport actually runs on, free to read. This is the document a drop zone means when it says a jump has to meet USPA standards.
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We link to these pages because we use them. None of the agencies asked to be listed or links back to us. Nobody paid for a place here, and nobody can buy one.