Location
  • United States of America
Length
4 - 12 weeks

Program Details

Activities
Backpacking Camping Canoeing Canyoning Dogsledding Hiking Rafting Remote Exploring Rock Climbing Sailing
Timeframe
Year Round
Housing
Tent
Primary Language
English
Age Min.
18
Age Max
25

Pricing

Starting Price
7695
Price Details
The total cost includes all tuition and fees for the course. This covers your food, technical gear, and equipment while on course. Not included in this total cost are personal expenses such as clothing, insurance, and airfare.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Equipment Meals Park Fees Transportation
What's Not Included
Airfare Wifi
Jun 08, 2023
Jun 08, 2023
14 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

This is where challenge and discovery help you shape your vision for your future. Pathfinder expeditions focus on increasing self-knowledge, strengthening decision-making skills and processes, and setting goals – all life skills to help you chart a path forward with passion and confidence.

We get it, launching into a new life stage can be exciting, confusing, fun, and a little scary at times. Grab a map and compass and navigate stunning landscapes, new connections, and the awesome realization that there is more in you than you know.

Our Pathfinder curriculum was developed by a team of experienced Outward Bound Instructors to lend structure to exploration. What does this mean? It means deepening your experience. It means recognizing that the challenges we face in the backcountry – and how we overcome them – are parallel to our lives back home. What you do next is up to you, and we’ll help you recognize what’s possible.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Pathfinder expeditions are 30 days, and are specifically designed for ages 18-25.
  • This course is ideal for people who are searching for a new focus on the path ahead.
  • This challenging adventure will help you better understand your strengths and interests.
  • You'll focus on increasing self-knowledge, clarifying values, strengthening decision-making skills, and setting goals.
  • Explore iconic wilderness across the U.S.

Popular Programs

Green River Utah

Courses will launch on the Green river in two person canoes for 68 miles through Labyrinth Canyon. The river enters Labyrinth Canyon slowly, named for the serpentine path it carves as it dives deep into the redrock sandstone that characterizes southeastern Utah and the Canyonlands area. The most spectacular aspects of the Utah landscape are the hidden treasures found within its vast canyon networks, formed by millennia of wind and water.

Boundary Waters

Over one million acres in size, the Boundary Waters extends 150 miles along the Minnesota/Canadian border. With over 1,200 miles of canoe routes, nearly 2,200 designated campsites and more than 1,000 lakes and streams, it is an amazing place to experience the wilderness. It contains portage-linked lakes and streams, interspersed with islands, forests and rocky ridgelines. The Boundary Waters' paddling routes offer outstanding opportunities for solitude, remoteness, teamwork, and adventure.

Colorado Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains, one of the most famous mountain ranges in the world, stretch over 3,000 miles. These legendary peaks have had a profound influence on the development of the continental United States. The Colorado Rockies has the greatest concentration of high peaks in the lower 48 states, with hundreds of ‘Thirteeners’ (13,000 foot tall mountains) and 54 ‘Fourteeners.’ The state is famous for its abundant wilderness adventure possibilities, from skiing to rock climbing to mountaineering.

Big Bend Paddling

The Big Bend course area is one of the most remote and geologically interesting in the nation. The Rio Grande River carves a huge, sweeping bend where Big Bend National Park earns its name. Big Bend National park is a desert backpacking and rock-climbing paradise. In this region, delicate desert flowers exist alongside fossilized trees. Mountain passes give way to steep-walled canyons and cliffs. The land itself is awe-inspiring, with canyons towering 1,000 feet over the river.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park - Welcome to the high desert moonscape, where rugged mountains and desert plateaus have been sculpted by wind and rain. Three distinct ecosystems come together to form this land of extremes: the dark, cold, star-filled nights against warm sand and boulder-filled days. Participants will travel through granite monoliths and through narrow canyons.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 3 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
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  • Housing 5
  • Support 5
  • Fun 5
  • Value 5
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Default avatar
Yoshie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Outward Bound Pathfinder

A year and a half out of college, I went into Voyageur Outward Bound's Pathfinder program feeling lost and anxious. I was excited for a break from the stressors of home and while I was optimistic about enjoying the experience, I vastly underestimated the life change I was about to experience. The Pathfinder curriculum is powerful because it offers practical life tools and then allows you to practice those skills in a wilderness setting where your survival depends on your ability to use those skills effectively alongside your fellow travelers. It is both the safest and the riskiest place to work on becoming your best self, because the consequences and the support are both very real.

Besides the excellent content of the course, Big Bend itself is a spectacular course area with an incredible amount of variation. I never expected to love the desert, but now I can't get it out of my head. I will never forget what I saw and the way it felt.

Pathfinder led me to further involvement with VOBS and put me on the path to becoming an instructor, but whether outdoor education is your interest or not - Pathfinder courses offer powerful tools to re-imagine your life and redefine what you're capable of. I wanted to believe that everyone was capable of leadership, but I did not fully believe this about myself until this course.

33 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Claire
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Outward Bound Pathfinder in Texas Big Bend National Park

This trip was one of the best experiences of my life. I've never had an experience before which I can so clearly point to and say "this changed me" or "this helped make me who I am". Going on this expedition challenged me to face fears, empathize with others, and see myself all in ways that I never had before. And back in my "normal life" I see myself applying things I learned on the trip like challenging negative beliefs about myself, working through problems and not giving up easily, building healthy relationships, etc. The people that I was on expedition with mean more to me than I ever could have guessed people I only spent a month with would ever mean. If you are considering going on one of these trips and you're not sure if you're brave enough or ready to "take the plunge", please do it. Trust me, even if you're afraid now, if you're excited about it, and willing to push yourself, you'll be glad you went.

80 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Elise
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Mazama Washington Billy Goat Mountain

I loved loved loved Northwest Outward Bound! I would do it again in a heartbeat! I treasure the memories and abilities that I gained and created throughout my trip through the back mountains of Washington every day! I gained more strength, willpower, and confidence than I could have ever imagined! The people I met on this adventure will forever have a special place in my heart because they are the ones that taught me so much throughout the journey about life, healthy friendships, and the importance of encouragement and teamwork!

What would you improve about this program?
I honestly don’t have an recommendations it was amazing!
93 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers