Outdoor Programs

Outdoor Programs offers you the opportunity to participate in outdoor educational experiences. You will be educated on essential leadership skills and challenged to be an active participant in your environment and in your own life. 

All Lees-McRae rock climbing, hiking, and backpacking programs taking place on National Forest Service Lands are authorized under a Special Use Permit by the Pisgah National Forest.

Outdoor Leadership Training (OLT)

Interested in becoming a trip leader and taking Lees-McRae students into the outdoors? Gain trip leading experience, get paid, build your leadership skills, and explore the outdoors with others!

Trip leaders who have completed OLT have the opportunity to lead day through week-long trips for a variety of outdoor skills including, but not limited to backpacking, camping, hiking, mountain biking, bike packing, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, bouldering, and more.

Required:

  • Significant outdoor experience or Outdoor Recreation Management (ORM) coursework
  • Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder certifications

Outdoor Leadership Training program includes:

  • Training workshops: Covers OP protocols, van driver training, risk management, and gear management
  • Apprenticing: Work alongside a trip leader on several trips learning the ropes and logistics of running trips. 
  • Skills Check-Offs: Begin checking off on a variety of technical and activity-specific skills so you're able to lead more trips. 

To sign up, contact Katie Wall

Trips
Coming soon

 

Disc Golf Course

The 9-hole disc golf course on the Lees-McRae campus begins at the Mill Pond waterfall, loops around Williams Gymnasium, and comes down from Bobcat Way back to the waterfall. Each hole is a par 3 in difficulty. Discs can be rented for free through the Outdoor Programs equipment rental program
Learn more about the course

 

Bicycling

Lees-McRae is proud to be recognized as a Gold Bicycle Friendly University by The League of American Bicyclists. Bicycling at Lees-McRae is an ideal way to get around, whether for exercise or transportation.
Learn more about cycling at Lees-McRae

 

Keep Exploring!

Interested in learning how to make the outdoors part of your academic experience on campus? Check out the Outdoor Recreation Management program.

Want to take your adventures further by competing on our competitive climbing or ski and snowboard team? Explore these opportunities on our athletics website.