Adventure Trips

Fall 2025 Outdoor Adventure Trips

Start your college year off with a bang and join Outdoor Adventures and your fellow new Mason students on a day hike to Great Falls, one of our local national parks.  This beginner-friendly hike will be approx. 4 miles.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Join us for a day hike as we scramble on the rocks along the Billy Goat Trail in MD!  This 5-mile hike features a 1-2 mile rock scramble that requires hands and feet to traverse the rocky terrain along the Potomac River Gorge.

Please consider your capabilities before signing up.  While The Billy Goat trail is a generally beginner-friendly hike, the rock scrambling portions of the hike can be physically demanding.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Join OA for a day of tubing on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River!  No prior tubing experience is required, but participants should be prepared for 3-4 hours on the river.  Trip registration includes equipment, staffing, and transportation.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

We’ll head to the Virginia/West Virginia border to set up camp beneath Big Schloss (a prominent rock outcropping with sweeping vistas of the Shenandoah Valley below) before going for a 4-mile day hike up to the summit of Big Schloss.  After the hike, the trip will return to camp for an evening in tents outside before returning to campus on Sunday.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Want to get out for a hike but don’t know where to begin?  We have you covered.  This beginner-friendly day hike will explore Patapsco State Park in Maryland on a 4.5-mile loop.

While this trip is designed to be beginner-friendly, participants should be prepared for very moderate ascents/descents and rocky, uneven trail.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Join OA for a day of canoeing on the Occoquan River!  No prior paddling experience is required, but participants should be prepared for 2-3 hours of paddling.  Trip registration includes equipment, instruction, and transportation.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Come learn the basics of mountain biking with OA as we take our bikes to one of our local mountain biking trail systems!  The trip registration will include a 30-minute mountain biking skills clinic to teach you a few fundamentals of mountain biking, bike rental, transportation, and staffing.

While this trip is designed to be a beginner-friendly exposure to mountain biking, participants should be prepared to ride their bike on relatively narrow trails, over uneven terrain with some roots and rocks, and moderate ascents and descents.  And of course, participants need to know how to ride a bike.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Spend Fall break with Outdoor Adventures as we backpack through the scenic Dolly Sods Wilderness Area of West Virginia.  This Saturday morning to Monday evening backpacking trip will be a 15 mile loop through a federally designated Wilderness Area and two nights of tent camping.  Trip registration includes equipment rentals, food, transportation, and trip leadership from our student trip leaders!

Please consider your capabilities before signing up for this trip.  Participants should be able to carry a 30-pound backpack over uneven terrain, be prepared for several steep inclines, and be prepared to sleep in a tent overnight.  Additionally, because this is a wilderness backpacking trip, the campsites have no amenities other than a fire ring and spaces to set up tents.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Come join us for a day of bouldering. Whether you’ve never climbed before or are a pro, you’re welcome to join us for a nice day climbing outside. We provide all the necessary equipment, transportation, and instruction.

Bouldering is a form of rock-climbing without ropes or harnesses and involves climbing short vertical distances.  Though there are pads and fellow participants spotting climbers in case of a fall, there is inherent risk in participating.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Come enjoy a camping trip with OA.  We’ll head to Cunningham Falls in Maryland to set up camp beneath Catoctin Mountain (a prominent mountain with several sweeping vistas of the valley below) before going for a 8-mile day hike up to the summits of Catoctin Mountain.  After the hike, the trip will return to camp for an evening in tents outside before returning to campus on Sunday.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

As the nights turn crisper, come celebrate the spooky season with Outdoor Adventures for an urban “hike” as we take a walking guided tour of one of the region’s oldest and most haunted areas.  Trip registration includes transportation and the tour ticket.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].

Come savor the fall colors and join Outdoor Adventures on a Day Hike to Duncan Knob, a prominent rock outcrop offering panoramic views of the Shenandoah Valley.  This hike is approx. 4 miles total and features significant elevation gain, including rock-scrambling that requires hands and feet to climb Duncan Knob’s boulders.

The trip will meet at the Skyline Fitness Center and depart from the trip from there.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].