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Center for Outdoor Studies

Start your adventure.  

The Outdoor Program is now the Center for Outdoor Studies.

Emory & Henry is an outdoor college, and this means Emory & Henry students can go on outdoor adventures. The Center for Outdoor Studies provides extra-curricular outdoor recreation activities or students can explore the outdoors for college credit through Semester-A-Trail or the Applied Risk Management and Backcountry Leadership concentration.

Applied Risk Management and Backcountry Leadership

New Academic Program for Fall 2023

The program is welcome to students who have had minimal to no experience in the outdoors as well as those who already have a relationship with outdoor adventure. All are welcome! The coursework culminates to form the Applied Risk Management and Backcountry Leadership Concentration. The concentration serves to prepare students for a career in the outdoor industry or a continued passion for their chosen adventure sport. 

Semester-A-Trail

Emory & Henry is the only college that offers students the opportunity to earn college credit while attempting a long section or thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Get to know the Hikers

Outdoor Recreation

On campus, students enjoy climbing in the Outdoor Center’s indoor bouldering crag and playing disc golf on the E&H eighteen hole course.

Whether students are looking to get away for an afternoon walk in the woods, bike ride, or try rafting for the first time, Outdoor Recreation has an outdoor experience for everyone. Trips include hiking in the Grayson Highlands State Park, biking the Virginia Creeper Trail, and whitewater rafting on the Southeast’s beautiful rivers.

Degrees

  • Concentration, Applied Risk Management and Backcountry Leadership

    In a synthesis of traditional classroom and experiential learning, this program provides students with the core knowledge and skills to lead backcountry trips. Students in the program will gain an understanding of risk assessment, decision making, minimizing impact, problem solving, and caring backcountry leadership.

Center for Outdoor Studies Building Take a virtual tour of the Center for Outdoor Studies facilities and preview our outdoor recreation activities and Semester-A-Trail program.

Top Story

  • <div class="lw_news_image"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/news/2889-emory-henry-only-college-to-offer-academic"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.jpg" alt="Emory & Henry is now taking applications for the spring 2024 cohort of explorers in the Semester-A-Trail Program, the only program in..." width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/83/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3000,2318/13900_Outdoor_Program-crop-2021-6.rev.1682599843.jpg 3x" data-max-w="3000" data-max-h="2318" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span></div><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_news_headline"><a href="/live/news/2889-emory-henry-only-college-to-offer-academic">Emory & Henry Only College to Offer Academic Credit for Thru-Hiking in the U.S. Two Options now Available for Students</a></h4><div class="lw_news_summary"><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">From along the Appalachian Trail (A.T.), 25 Emory & Henry students earned college credit while studying in the great outdoors. They participated in the Emory & Henry Semester-A-Trail Program – the only program in the United States that offers college credit for attempting a thru-hike or section of the A.T. with an academic component and training. The College is now taking applications for the spring 2024 cohort of explorers.</span></p><a href="/live/news/2889-emory-henry-only-college-to-offer-academic" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div></div>
  • <div class="lw_news_image"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/news/2108-emory-henry-semester-a-trail-students-reflect"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.jpg" alt="Amara Gardner in Maine on the Appalachian Trail with Emory & Henry College's Semester-A-Trail Program" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/62/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/10521_Amara_photo_taken_in_Maine.rev.1637943318.jpg 3x" data-max-w="3200" data-max-h="2400" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span></div><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_news_headline"><a href="/live/news/2108-emory-henry-semester-a-trail-students-reflect">Emory & Henry Semester-A-Trail Students Reflect on Their Journeys</a></h4><div class="lw_news_summary"><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail is a once-in-a-lifetime experience sought after by about 3,000 people a year. 3,000 people, and a few adventurous students from Emory & Henry College, a small liberal arts school located in Emory, Virginia, these students are participants in a Program called Semester-A-Trail.</span></p><a href="/live/news/2108-emory-henry-semester-a-trail-students-reflect" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div></div>