“If you’re not on a crowded path where people are brushing past each other, then I think [hiking and running are] a great form of exercise right now.”

— Kimberly Powers, epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The outdoor is open.

That’s the phrase we heard in March, as the novel coronavirus began its march across the country. It reminded people that, while school, hugs, and public spaces were suddenly ticking time bombs, there was still peace—and adventure—to be found in the great outdoors.

But as the pandemic worsened, the phrase no longer held true. Trails shut down, campgrounds closed, national, state, and local parks locked their gates, and for the first time in recent memory, the outdoors wasn’t open any longer.

Two months later, the outdoors is opening again—with precautions.