How Adventures in the Wilderness, The Dharma Bums, and Wild inspired generations of campers and backpackers.
Recreational camping and backpacking has now been popular in three different centuries. It builds on a much older tradition of pilgrimage travel, but it is separated by a different ideology. What inspired this ideology? There are three primary books historians identify that have most influenced the idea of recreational backpack travel. One was written in each century. These books built on wider cultural ideas and philosophies to be sure. But these three books stand as the great pillars of the noble sport. Together, they helped shape the modern camping and backpacking movement.
Historians compare these books because each produced what might be called a "trail rush." Murray's readers flooded the Adirondacks in the 1870s. Kerouac inspired a generation of spiritual wanderers and backpackers in the postwar years. Strayed's memoir helped drive unprecedented interest in long-distance hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail. While separated by more than a century, all three books convinced ordinary people that the wilderness belonged to them.
In the early and mid-19th century, Romantic and Transcendentalist writers flipped the traditional view of nature on its head. Western culture predominantly viewed nature as dangerous and a place where evil could reside. It was a threat to civilization. Romantics and Transcendentalists painted nature as a paradise uncorrupted by man's evil influence. It was a place of healing and a temple where man could find closeness to the divine.
William Murray and The Invention of Camping
William HH Murray built on these themes in his book Adventures in the Wilderness. The moment Murray published his book in the spring of 1869, it became a massive bestseller. That exact summer, thousands of middle-class city tourists grabbed makeshift gear and swarmed the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York. This book is credited with inventing recreational camping. Many historians consider Adventures in the Wilderness one of the most influential camping books ever written.
Early readers who wandered into the Adirondack wilderness were called "Murray's Fools" because few understood what drew them away from the comforts of the city into the harsh wilderness. The term "Murray's Fools" was intended as an insult, yet it perfectly captured the novelty of the moment. For perhaps the first time in American history, large numbers of ordinary people were willingly entering the wilderness not for work, survival, or necessity, but simply because they wanted to be there.
He infused nature with a "Wilderness as a Church" philosophy. Murray directly adapted the ideas of the Transcendentalists but translated them for the masses. At a time when American cities were becoming choked with the smoke of the Industrial Revolution, Murray argued that the city was a spiritual desert, while the forest was God's true temple.
He wrote with dramatic, poetic flair about the spiritual transformation of the woods:
"The wilderness is a sanctuary... In the silence of the woods, the soul finds its way back to its Maker. The rustle of the leaves is a truer hymn than any sung in our grandest stone cathedrals."
By framing the wilderness as a place of spiritual purification, he gave middle-class Americans permission to view a vacation not as a lazy luxury, but as a moral and religious duty.
If Adventures in the Wilderness had just been a dry list of train schedules and gear, it would have been forgotten in a season. William H.H. Murray was, first and foremost, a charismatic preacher, and he brought his pulpit right into the woods. He didn't just tell people how to camp; he used deeply emotional, flowery, romantic language to convince them that the freedom of camping would save their souls and heal their bodies.
It was precisely the blend of high philosophy and practical utility that made the book a historic juggernaut. Historians point to several specific ways Murray’s philosophy and soaring rhetoric laid the groundwork for the modern wilderness movement.
Murray dedicated large portions of his book to a deeply romantic philosophy of health. He claimed that the crisp air of the Adirondacks, the smell of pine, and the physical act of rowing a boat could cure everything from physical ailments like tuberculosis to mental exhaustion and "brain weariness."
“No health-seeker ever slept on a bed of balsam boughs and woke up with a heavy head... The wilderness breathes life back into the dying.”
This specific rhetoric triggered a slow but massive shift in how Americans viewed health, essentially inventing the concept of nature as a therapeutic sanctuary. Murray was one of the first writers to romanticize the aesthetic experience of camping. He wrote lush, paragraph-long descriptions of watching the embers of a campfire die down, listening to the call of the loon across a misty lake, and the profound peace of sleeping under the stars. He made the discomforts of the woods sound incredibly beautiful, seductive, and deeply fashionable.
Murray paved the way for recreational camping and backpacking. His book encouraged railroads to build new tracks to the wilderness, spurred entrepreneurs to build wilderness hotels, and normalized the commercial sale of tents, boats, and sporting apparel to everyday consumers. Murray’s book single-handedly birthed the outdoor hospitality industry and helped cement the vacation as an American tradition.
By the mid-20th century, camping had lost much of its earlier freedom. Programs like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, summer camps, and resort culture had domesticated much of the wilderness experience. Decades of military influence had turned camping into a functional sport with rigid rules and proper form. Many outdoor spaces had become heavily managed as departments like the National Parks Service formalized campgrounds and controlled access. The wilderness had lost much of its earlier freedom. The sport was ripe for a revolution.
Wilderness travel had become respectable, organized, and highly structured. Camping was often presented as a wholesome family activity or educational program. For many young people, however, something had been lost. The wilderness was becoming another institution at a time when a generation was growing suspicious of institutions themselves.
Jack Kerouac and the Wilderness Revolution
Where Murray preached that nature could heal the body and soul, Jack Kerouac argued that it could liberate the mind. Published in 1958, The Dharma Bums arrived at a moment when postwar America was becoming increasingly suburban, institutionalized, and conformity-driven. The nation was wealthier than ever before, yet many young people felt spiritually restless. Kerouac's answer was not found in churches, schools, or offices. It was found on mountain trails.
Through characters inspired by himself and the mountaineer-poet Gary Snyder, Kerouac portrayed wilderness travel as a path toward enlightenment. Mountains became places of meditation and self-discovery. Hiking was no longer merely recreation. It became an act of rebellion against materialism and modern society. Unlike Murray's carefully managed Adirondack vacations, Kerouac celebrated spontaneity, simplicity, and wandering. A backpack, sleeping bag, and willingness to embrace uncertainty were often all a traveler needed.
His influence extended far beyond literature. Many historians regard The Dharma Bums as one of the foundational texts of the modern backpacking movement. Few books have had a greater influence on backpacking culture. It popularized the image of the lightweight wanderer carrying everything needed on his back while pursuing experiences rather than possessions. In doing so, Kerouac helped create the cultural conditions that would later support the rise of long-distance hiking and backpacking, especially in untamed wilderness. If Murray taught Americans that wilderness could heal the body and soul, Kerouac taught a generation that wilderness could liberate the mind. It may seem surprising that a novel could inspire generations. But inspiration and wisdom can be found in unusual places. (Such as the Life Advice from Gear Instruction Manuals we put together.)
Cheryl Strayed and The Wilderness as Self-Discovery
When Cheryl Strayed published Wild in 2012, Americans were no longer looking to escape industrial smoke or suburban conformity. Many were instead wrestling with grief, loss, anxiety, and personal uncertainty. Strayed's memoir presented the trail as a place where damaged people could rebuild themselves.
Her story intentionally violated many backpacking conventions. She began her Pacific Crest Trail journey inexperienced, underprepared, and burdened by an absurdly heavy backpack. Her backpack was so oversized she vividly named it “monster.” Experienced hikers recognized her mistakes immediately. Many readers saw themselves.
The brilliance of Wild was that it repositioned wilderness travel from a specialized athletic activity into something emotionally and physically accessible. The long-distance trail was no longer reserved for experts. It was presented as a place where ordinary people could confront extraordinary personal struggles.In doing so, Strayed helped change who readers imagined when they thought of a backpacker. Women, beginners, and people experiencing hardship suddenly appeared at the center of the story rather than the margins. Wild's influence extended far beyond book sales. Many women cited Strayed's memoir as their introduction to long-distance hiking, while outdoor retailers reported increased interest from first-time backpackers.
The physical impact of the book (and its subsequent 2014 movie adaptation) was unprecedented: According to the Pacific Crest Trail Association, the number of people completing the entire trail or large sections of it skyrocketed by over 300% in the few years following the book's release.
Before Wild, popular depictions of long-distance hiking often centered on highly experienced outdoorsmen committed to endurance, gear mastery, and wilderness expertise. Strayed shattered that stereotype. Her success demonstrated that backpacking could be an act of personal transformation rather than merely a display of outdoor competence. Women, beginners, and people experiencing hardship suddenly appeared at the center of the story rather than the margins. Just as Murray convinced city dwellers they belonged in the Adirondacks, Strayed convinced an entirely new generation that they belonged on the trail.
Thoreau and Muir taught Americans how to revere wilderness. Murray taught them to vacation there. Kerouac taught them to seek enlightenment there. Strayed taught them to heal there. Each inherited an older vision of nature and translated it for a new generation. More than simply describing wilderness travel, these authors expanded the circle of people who believed the wilderness was meant for them. For that reason, Adventures in the Wilderness, The Dharma Bums, and Wild remain three of the most influential books in the history of camping, backpacking, and outdoor recreation.
By David F. Garner
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