Overland offers hiking adventures for 5th through 12th graders in New England, the Blue Ridge, the American West, Alaska and Europe. Many of our adventures include days of exciting sea-kayaking, rock climbing or white water rafting.  We structure our trips to provide safe, fun and carefully crafted challenges that engage and excite our students.  Our hiking trips provide a life experience with value and resonance that extends far beyond the boundaries of a single summer.

For students currently in grade 5, we offer our Berkshire Adventure program. On this week-long trip, our students will be introduced to Overland's outdoor activities as they hike and bike in the beautiful Berkshires, climb Mt. Greylock and raft on the Deerfield River. An excellent introduction to outdoor adventure for our youngest students.

For students currently in grade 6, Overland offers our New England Adventure program. On this week-long trip, our students will be introduced to Overland’s outdoor activities as they bike on Martha's Vineyard, hike in the beautiful Berkshires and raft on the Deerfield River. For 6th graders looking for a two-week option, we offer our Mountains & Sea Adventure which includes hiking in New Hampshire, sea-kayaking Maine's rocky coast and bike rides on Nantucket Island. We also offer Teton Adventure for students wishing to travel out West. We'll spend two weeks in the Jackson area, day hiking and wildlife viewing in Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks and rafting the exciting Snake River. A superb introduction to outdoor adventure!

For students currently in grades 7 and 8, we offer the best of New England on our two-week New England Explorer. This trip includes hikes to the top of the highest peaks in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, a three-day backcountry hike and sea-kayaking off Maine's coast.

Students currently in grades 7 through 9 can also journey outside of New England. Our two-week Blue Ridge Explorer includes hiking, rafting and kayaking in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, as well as a climb on an Alpine Tower and a hike up the highest peak east of the Mississippi. Rocky Mountain Explorer, also a two-week trip, offers hiking, rafting and a challenge climb up one of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks.

For students currently in grades 8 through 12, we offer Yellowstone Teton Explorer, a three-week trip that explores the best of Yellowstone and the surrounding area. We'll backpack in Yellowstone National Park, rock climb in Grand Teton and learn to hard-shell kayak on the Snake River. Venture into the Sierra Nevada of Northern California on our High Sierra Explorer, also a three- week trip offering extended backcountry hiking, rafting and an alpine-style ascent of Mount Shasta.

For students currently in grades 9 through 12, the options are even greater. In addition to some of the trips described above, we also offer more challenging adventures in Alaska and Europe. Alaska Explorer is a three-week adventure that offers backcountry hiking in the Chugach Mountains, white water rafting on the Nenana River and sea-kayaking in Prince William Sound. If you're interested in European adventures, check out our four-week European Explorer that discovers the best of Europe, exploring the Pyrenees of Spain and the breathtaking French, Italian and Swiss Alps. Also in Europe is our Alpine Challenge trip offering four weeks of spectacular hiking in Switzerland. We'll hike through the Bernese Oberland to the base of the Eiger and then tackle the High Route from Mont Blanc to Zermatt, covering some of the most challenging and beautiful terrain in Switzerland.

Finally, for students in grades 10 through 12, our Alaska Leadership Course offers a chance to tackle a month of hiking and leadership instruction in the beautiful Alaskan backcountry, as well as participate in a two-day Wilderness First Aid Course and an ice climbing glacier safety clinic.

The majority of our hiking itineraries have multiple sections that allow us to group students appropriately by age. For example, if there are two Rocky Mountain Explorer groups starting on the same date, one would typically be made up of students finishing 7^th and 8^th grades while the other would consist of students completing 8^th and 9^th grades.

If you need help choosing the right trip for you, please feel free to contact us or refer to the chart below.

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