Introduction
fatigue
INCREASED SLEEP
Physical activity promotes positive physical and mental health outcomes, with evidence that outdoor activity may be particularly beneficial [Hiking can be defined as “walking for a substantive distance in the outdoors, often over natural terrain with obstacles such as rocks and tree roots to navigate around” [Compared to sedentary exposure to nature or indoor physical activity, there is some evidence of greater positive effects of physical activity in nature, including positive impacts on emotions and decreased fatigue and stress [The Get Outside Study was created to examine whether providing free access to a regional winter hiking challenge would impact adults’ activity choices, including how often they went hiking, and also promote aspects of their well-being, including increased sleep duration and decreased stress, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial, randomized Get Outside Study was conducted from January to March 2021, about one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a second randomized study with a separate sample of participants one year later in Winter 2022. In addition to testing effects of this hiking intervention on key outcomes of hiking frequency, sleep duration, and stress, we also: (1) monitored aspects of intervention implementation, including engagement in the winter hiking challenge; (2) assessed whether the intervention affected the frequency of other types of activities, including physical and social activities and activities expected to confer lower or higher risk for COVID-19 transmission (in Study 1); and (3) explored potential intervention effects on an additional aspect of sleep, sleep quality (in Study 2).