The Outdoor Industry Association puts together a really interesting report each year, which tracks how many Americans spend time participating in outdoor recreation activities.

Their latest report has some very encouraging stats!

• 48.6% of Americans age 6+ participated in outdoor recreation in 2008!
• Backpacking, mountain biking, and trail running are becoming even more popular (yay!). Participation in each of these increased in the double digits in 2008
• Hiking increased 9% 🙂
• People say that the would spend even more time outside, but they find it hard to find the time. (That’s even more of a reason to turn of the TV and get out into nature!)

Check out the full report here.