>>314897>>314892 Me again, "Top Fifty" (Falcon Press and the like are great for nubes, but...Eventually, you want to find the BEST top fifty hikes that nobody knows about. That's where I've been for years.
This is when you want to dig deeper. See:
>>314892Also, honestly, meetup.corn hiking groups can be a great resource, depending on the group.
One of my old ones was just a gal doing "fitness hikes" in prep for her trip to Machu Pichu, Peru. But, oh she got my respect because she was /out/ doing it!
Another was a GREAT every fucking weekend car camping group, but folded when the leader tried to make it a pay thing. Really great people.
Another won't let you even be a Member if you don't participate on a regular basis. Way too serious and structured for my dynamic and fluid lifestyle. But they do very interesting hikes! Even to me and I've been at this a while.
That's just hiking, there are MX groups, mountaineering groups, off-road 4X4 groups, kayaking groups (I'm a member of three), sometimes I just vamp off the meetups and do them myself based off the details and descriptions. But if you do get involved, you will find there is ALOT that you can learn about history, plants, birds, other animals, paleo-archeology geology and such from other more experienced Members, depending on their interests.
It all depends on how much of a "lone wolf" you really are or want to be. You can learn a lot from others, skipping that, other's books.
Luck.