Big news! In February, we’re introducing the first annual Trails Magazine Editors’ Lists. While, within our pages we’re much more focused on telling exciting adventure stories, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that talking about gear is plain fun. But we aren’t happy with the way gear is covered in a lot of other places: sensationalist, consumerist, designed solely to get you to click on links and buy. Instead, we asked, “”How can we make gear writing more like the conversations we have with our hiking buddies?”” These three lists—each highlighting a specific place and time to go backpacking—replace the outdated and unhelpful “best of 2025” lists so prevalent elsewhere. We’re lending more weight to the lowly packing list, reintroducing critical context to editors’ picks, and working hard to earn the trust of skeptical readers. We’ll be sharing more about the lists and how they work between now and Issue 9’s release in February. Subscribe before February 1st to ensure you get ...