Our trips can take you anywhere: dogsledding in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, spelunking in North Carolina, backpacking the Grand Canyon, paddling the Huron River, and more. Whether you want to take off for a couple of hours, a day or a week, let us handle the details—like food, transportation, logistics, trip leaders, and outdoor equipment—while you take in the great outdoors.
Adventure Leadership Trips that are scheduled, are only open to University of Michigan students. If this is your first trip, please note, that our trips are beginner-friendly, and all gear is provided.
Our Custom Trips are open to U‑M students, faculty, and staff. These provide the framework for designing a custom trip that meets your group’s needs. We provide the gear and trip leaders to make your trip a success.
Leave your studies behind, and join your classmates for a breath (or two) of fresh air along the pristine and picturesque Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. Exploring the sandstone cliffs, beaches, waterfalls, forest, and Lake Superior are all highlights of this trip. This wilderness allows outdoor enthusiasts to experience an area genuinely unique to the Midwest. Most of the hike follows the coastline atop sandstone cliffs that erupt 200ft from the vast Lake Superior.
Please note, that this is a BACKPACKING trip. You will carry a pack of about 40 pounds for up to 10 miles a day and sleep in tents at remote backcountry campsites.
Leave your studies behind, and join your classmates for a breath (or two) of fresh air along the pristine and picturesque Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. Exploring the sandstore cliffs, beaches, waterfalls, forest, and Lake Superior are all highlights of this trip. This wilderness offers outdoor enthusiasts the opportunity to experience an area truly unique to the midwest. Most of the hike follows the coastline atop sandstone cliffs that erupt 200ft out of the vast Lake Superior.
Please note, that this is a BACKPACKING trip. You will carry a pack of about 40 pounds for up to 10 miles a day and sleep in tents at remote backcountry campsites.
First-Year Fridays are 1-day programs designed for first-year students with activities that help develop relationships with other incoming students, increase knowledge and awareness of local green spaces, and grow a connection with nature while recreating outdoors. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in one of three types of outdoor recreation activities, depending on the theme of the week – either biking, paddling, climbing, or some combination of the three! Most events will launch out of the Adventure Education Center.
By the end of a First-Year Friday program, students will have participated in a group adventure activity, taken part in facilitated conversations about campus resources and their transition to the University of Michigan, and explored the inclusive outdoor community cultivated within Adventure Leadership programs.
Michigan Outdoor Leadership Education Series (MOLES)
Have you found yourself wishing to explore Michigan’s beautiful landscapes, but find the idea of “outdoorsiness” to be a little daunting? Let Adventure Leadership show you the way!
The Michigan Outdoor Leadership Education Series (MOLES) will empower you with the skills and confidence needed to take the next step in your outdoors journey. Our workshop leaders will be your guides, facilitating experiences that will feed your enthusiasm for exploration, while also sharing a more authentic story of the public lands upon which we recreate.
We will take care of the gear—all you have to do is show up, ready to engage. No prior experience is needed. You can start as a complete beginner or build on the skills you already have. Each workshop will focus on key outdoor competencies, such as navigation, how to pack a backpack, campsite cooking, and Leave No Trace principles. Participants who attend 6 out of the 8 sessions offered will not only walk away with an expansive wilderness skillset but will also qualify for a discount on rental gear for their own future excursion.
If you have dreams of backpacking over spring break, or simply sleeping outdoors successfully for the first time, this is the opportunity for you to prepare for whatever adventure you seek next.
Workshop sessions will take place on Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 – 8:30pm during the during the Winter semester.
Do you have an employee group, department or organization that’s looking to get outside and learn a new skill? Whether you’re looking to relax around a campfire with s’mores or work up a sweat cross country skiing, we’re certain our unique activities will help you reconnect and engage together.
Set Up Your Group
Email adventureleadership@umich.edu with the outdoor skill(s) you’re interested in, a preferred date, and your group size.
Is it a sport? An art? A balancing act? Let Adventure Leadership staff introduce your group to slacklining – a fun and safely socially distant outdoor activity! Become aware of your body and mind while trying something new, and discover a new way to hang around with friends outside.
Backpacking is the perfect way to immerse yourself in nature for a weekend or longer. Come join us for a hands-on session of the basics: tents and shelter, clothing, cooking, water treatment, navigating, first aid, Leave No Trace principles. Anywhere from one to three hours, depending on how deep and detailed you want to get.
Options include a bike tour around and through campus to the Nichols Arboretum, where we will hike down to the river then back to our bikes for the return ride. A perfect way to spend a couple hours away from screens, enjoying campus and nature.
For a longer ride we can start the day with a relaxed 45-minute bike ride through campus, past the hospital, along the Huron River and to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Almost the entire route is on car-free bike paths, with the final stretch on a newly paved award-winning nature trail. Once there we will enjoy a bag lunch and explore for about an hour with a hike through woods and fields, including trails along Fleming Creek. We will then re-mount our bikes and ride back.
Trip leaders and bikes are included, although you’re welcome to ride your own bike. Please bring a bike, helmet, bike lock (or use one of ours), weather-appropriate clothing, and a small daypack.
All bike tours start at the Adventure Leadership Rental Center.
What more do we need to say? We provide fire, graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. You get to find sticks in the woods for roasting. Trip leaders will provide tips on how to create a perfect golden-brown marshmallow, or a completely burnt marshmallow, if you are into that sort of thing.
Cooking while camping ranges from minimalist to gourmet. We’ll teach you the basics, including how to use three different camp stoves, and then you’ll get to try your hand at preparing some food. Sessions at the AEC may include cooking over a fire.
If we have snow (at least 4”), we can ski! A basic lesson and try-out on Elbel Field at the Adventure Leadership Rental Center, or a few hours out at the Adventure Education Center (hot chocolate included!). Nothing beats the peacefulness of a snow-covered landscape, and nothing beats Seasonal Affective Disorder like outdoor exercise.
The best times to take a night hike are during a full moon, when the night world is bathed in ethereal, faint white and grey, or the new moon, when stars are most visible. Join us for a unique walk in the woods and fields of the Nichols Arboretum or the Adventure Education Center. Even if it’s cloudy, walking through the woods at night is a great experience. Headlamps provided. Time frame is generally between 8:30pm and 10:30pm.
Take your team building in a new direction by learning to navigate without a GPS unit or cell phones. Discover the parts of a compass, measure your pace, and try triangulation. Once you’ve gotten your bearings, complete a practice course to solidify your skills and work collaboratively with your team to solve a puzzle!
Engage all of your senses while connecting your body and mind with nature. Allow yourself to break away from daily distractions and pressures to live in the present moment. Join us for an opportunity to practice mindfulness and learn body regulation skills at our beautiful wooded facility at the Adventure Education Center, or any other quiet outdoor location of your group’s choice.
The most important aspect of survival is to be prepared – both with appropriate supplies and the ability to work with your environment in critical situations. Increase your knowledge of fire and shelter building, practice cooperation and team decision-making skills, and expand your capacity for resourcefulness in the outdoors.
Available Locations
Adventure Education Center
Available Locations for Outdoor Skills
Adventure Leadership Rental Center: Stationed near Elbel field, this location is ideal for a short commute to find a big adventure – and pick up all the gear you need for your excursion!
Nichols Arboretum: A prominent and notable campus feature within walking distance of most student housing and university office spaces.
Adventure Education Center: Our most remote and secluded-feeling location, within a short drive or moderate bike ride from campus.
Wilderness First Responder courses are designed specifically to meet the needs of wilderness guides, expedition leaders, and anyone traveling in the backcountry with friends or family. This is the industry standard for outdoor professionals and the course you want your friends to have taken before you travel with them. Using the Wilderness Medicine Training Center’s unique Hybrid Course, participants complete a course of study and tests online (Part 1) prior to the start of the practical on-site training (Part 2). This training is focused and thorough. The online portion requires serious study and the in-person portion requires commitment and effort. Refunds are generally not available for those who do not successfully complete the course. Call with questions or for more information at 734-764-3967.
Ignite your passion for adventure! The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour will exhilarate you with amazing big-screen stories when it comes to the Michigan Theater, hosted by Adventure Leadership. Journey to exotic locations, paddle the wildest waters and climb the highest peaks.
April 2024, time and date TBA
Location
Michigan Theater @ 603 E Liberty Street, Ann Arbor
Let us boost your teen’s summer with a healthy dose of fresh air, forests, and growth!
Recreational Sports Adventure Leadership Camps are packed with opportunities for campers to build courage and independence, develop new friendships, expand their outdoor skillset, and put leadership theories into practice. Campers (ages 13-15) can expect to walk away from a five-day session of Adventure Leadership day camp having engaged in hands-on, mindful activities that include bicycle maintenance, responsible climbing practices, and outdoor survival techniques – all through the lens of experiential learning and leadership development.
Refunds for Adventure Leadership trips are given only for the following circumstances:
You can find someone to take your place on the trip.
You have a documented medical emergency and must cancel.
There is an active wait list for the trip and we are able to fill your spot.
You are cancelling at least 3 weeks prior to the trip. For Spring Break and First Ascent Trips, at least 4 weeks prior is required.
Each trip follows a different set of policies and guidelines. We typically cover this information in our mandatory pre-trip meetings. These meetings are held a few days before your trip; if you have questions at any time, contact us.