About Us

Most Canadians may live in cities, but a lot of us live for the outdoors. So when we get the chance to get outta town for a day, a week or—is it possible?—an entire month, we want to make the most of it. We want to know where to go, what to take and how to achieve peak results at our favourite outdoor sports. And even when we can’t get away physically, we still want to be out there. We want to share other people’s adventures and their enjoyment of the life outdoors.

Founded in 1981, explore is the award-winning national lifestyle magazine that delivers the information and inspiration that active outdoor-loving Canadians want—or more accurately, can’t do without. For starters, we reveal the destinations that crank up our readers’ heart rates long before they can actually lace up their trail runners, pick up a paddle or jump on their bikes. We also give our readers the straight goods on the latest gear on the market. And we highlight the events from coast to coast to coast that will keep them stoked all year long.

In every issue, we also take readers along as our greatest adventurers travel to the most remote corners of Canada and beyond. And we send some of Canada’s best writers and photographers to capture the highs, the lows and, yup, the laughs that are part of the outdoor-adventure experience.

In the past seven years, explore has been named Best Magazine of the Year by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors three times. It's also been nominated for 103 National Magazine Awards, winning 13 Gold awards and 19 Silver awards. In 2006, to celebrate our 25th anniversary, we published Way Out There, an anthology of some of the best writing to appear in the magazine.

In the fall of 2005, explore was pleased to become the first glossy magazine in North America to publish on Ancient Forest Friendly, Forest Stewardship Council-certified, 100 per cent post-consumer recycled paper.