…The Wilderness Society — which is way up there near the top of the list for conservation organizations working to protect our nation’s shared wildlands — recently released its list of 20 wilderness areas to see before you die. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the nation’s Wilderness Act, which protects more than…

Make an impact with a gap program that extends your education around the world. Learn more about NCOAE gap year programs and register today….

Wilmington, N.C., April 3, 2018 –The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) — a Wilmington-based organization that promotes critical thinking, environmental stewardship, and the acquisition of technical outdoor skills through accredited outdoor and adventure-based experiential education courses — today announced an academic relationship with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). Beginning summer…

Explore the wilderness — and your own capability to lead, learn, and grow on an NCOAE Adult Expedition. Register for a course today!…

…Francis Bacon, the Renaissance statesman and philosopher best known for his promotion of the scientific method, is credited with the expression, “Knowledge is power.” But to those of us who prefer to see a world bathed in fresh new adventures, knowledge can actually be a curse. Here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure…

…This week we begin the first in a three-part series called “Inspiration Through Exploration” where we will see how gifted and novice travelers alike can document their adventures through artwork, photography, writings and other means. Today’s inspiration comes from Australian Alex Hotchin and her beautiful — and very unique maps. Next week, we will explore…

Working in outdoor education is incredible rewarding and fulfilling! Learn more about what it takes to get started on your courses today!…

…Covered in mud, we return to the sterile walls of the school. Nearby, students and teachers stop and stare at us. We say nothing. We keep moving, exhausted from our time spent in the wilderness, observing, interacting, developing skills to survive, absorbing information and processing the incredible time we had spent as a group. What…

…There are lots of things that separate the work we do here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) from others who offer outdoor education, wilderness trips and wilderness medical training for youths and adults. For starters, unlike other many other outdoor adventure education providers, we operate using a core curriculum that…

…One thing we don’t do here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education is work within a vacuum. We depend heavily upon many organizations that went before us or that help us realize our mission and full potential. Today, we’d like to shine the light on one of those groups that works behind…

…Learn about what a typical day could look like on an NCOAE expedition. Start your adventure with us today….

…The novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic James Baldwin said it best when he wrote: “We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it.” Those words guide us here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE)….

…Editor’s Note: Below is final part in Stephen Mullaney’s three-part series of essays about encounters with bears in the backcountry. The first essay in the series recants the shock Stephen experienced with one particular bear encounter, while the second essay in this series attempts to find humor in a persistent bear taking up quarters in an…

…Make an impact on your students by bringing an NCOAE program to your private or independent school. Request a custom program today!…

…Thinking about upgrading your outdoor adventure gear for 2024? Check our our improvement guide to help you decide what to keep and what to retire!…

…Here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) you can find us toiling year-round to bring our students and clients the very best in guided outdoor adventures with meaning. So, as far as our staff is concerned, we’re always in the “getting ready mode” for outings in the wilderness. But as we…

…A little more than three decades ago, two educators and researchers from Canada partnered with the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) on a groundbreaking book titled Safety Practices in Adventure Programming.  Simon Priest, Ph.D., and Tim Dixon, M.Ed., regarded at the time as among only a handful of leading experts in outdoor adventure education and…

NCOAE offers select high school credits through Blueprint Education, an accredited distance learning school for grades 8 through 12….

…On a recent early morning bike ride along some local wooded trails, I happen to stumble upon the greatest of beginners: a group of children playing with rocks, moss, and whatever “loose parts” they could lay their hands on. I smile and ride right past them, unwilling to break the spell. But then I spot…

…Editor’s Note: This year, the NCOAE blog is going to cover a variety of topics, written by a variety of our staff members. Topics will include best practices in Adventure Education (both in and out of wilderness settings), land use, history of course areas, flora and fauna, cooking, and why us “dirtbags” may be the…