Five Tips to Make the Most of Your My Backpack Account

My Backpack is a feature of wta.org that allows you to collect trip reports, hikes and volunteer days all in one place. Whether you've been a trip reporter for years or are brand new to the website, you can fill your backpack with great hiking possibilities. Click on the My Backpack hiker in the orange box to get started!

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Save Hikes to your Backpack.

Didn’t cross off all of your dream hikes this summer? Save them for next year by adding them to your backpack! One of the most helpful and fun features of creating a personal My Backpack account is the ability to curate a personal collection of hikes and check them off as you explore.

Your saved hikes can be kept hidden—for your eyes only—or visible for other hikers and trip reporters to see and draw inspiration from.

When viewing a hike in the hiking guide, simply hover over the big orange "Save Hike to My Backpack" button and give it a click! 

Add notes

Did you read a spectacular trip report for a hike? Hear some good advice from a friend? Make your future self's day by including a note on your next hike idea.

While looking at your saved hikes, just check the "Notes" box and a new text box will appear to save your additional information.

Use the map view

Ever wanted a visual representation of everywhere you’ve been or everywhere you want to go? My Backpack makes it easy with our Map view option.

After clicking on "My Hikes" in your My Backpack dashboard, scroll over to the “Map” option and you can easily see which areas of the state you have seen a lot of—and which areas may need a little more love. The drop down menu will help you toggle between "Hiked", "Want to hike" or "All". 

Use your saved hikes as a personal hiking guide

The hikes in your Backpack can be filtered by mileage, elevation gain, keywords, and features—it’s like a curated hiking guide, hand-picked by you! With over 3,000 total hikes on WTA, it can feel intimidating to search through all of them. But by narrowing your search to your Backpack, it makes finding your next adventure a breeze.

After clicking on "My Hikes" in your My Backpack dashboard, you'll be taken to a searchable list of hikes. Click the "Advanced Option" plus sign and you'll find even more options to narrow your search!

Share your saved hikes with friends and family

Trying to plan a group hike can be challenging enough as you consider the group members’ preferences, locations and physical ability. To help make that process just a little bit easier, you can share your list with your hiking buds.

If you'd like your saved hikes list to be public so you can share it with friends or family, check the "My Hikes Viewable" box at the top of the Edit Profile page. (Notes in your Saved Hikes list will always remain private, even if this box is checked.)