Outdoorosity’s Sixteen Ways to Make Your Summer Spectacular

1. Tired of your alarm? Let the sun wake you up. Read our article on revamping your morning routine for summer.
2. Set up a hummingbird feeder just outside your breakfast window and start your day with a smile.
3. Enjoy a lemony and tangy salad of wood sorrel and wild strawberries (from organic, pesticide-free sources, of course).
4. Make a whistle with a blade of grass: use this tutorial to help.
5. Buy a national park passport and collect as many stamps as you can. Share your best photos and memories with Outdoorosity.
6. June 29th is National Camera Day. Head to a scenic spot and share your best shots with us. Get tips on nature photography and see the work of other photographers from NaturePhotographers.net.
7. Use summer’s abundance of fresh basil to make pesto. Find basil at the farmer’s market or grow it in your garden. Try this easy pesto recipe from PickYourOwn.
8. Walk in the woods after a rain and notice how lush the forest smells. Fun fact: that smell is called “petrichor.”
9. Celebrate the Fourth of July by enjoying a red, white and blue salad of watermelon, blueberries and white peaches. Bonus points if you pick them yourself.
10. Music and nature: two of our favorite things. Visit an outdoor concert!
11. Make a summer fitness goal with your family, your roommates or your significant other. Lindsey Evans of HealthyLiving.com has workout goal ideas.
12. Take time to enjoy a park bench. Need a good book for company? Try one from Outdoorosity’s reading list.
13. Explore the night sky with your smartphone. Business Insider has helpful astronomy app suggestions.
14. Participate in an outdoor yoga class. Bonus: many are free! Find class information on your city’s recreation department site or through local studios.
15. Count fireflies: how many can you spot in 3 minutes? Share with us on Facebook or Twitter.
16. Attack a mountainous trail. Afterwards, you’ll feel like you have conquered the world! A few of our favorites: the Foothills Trail (SC), the Kalalau Trail (HI), part of the Appalachian Trail and the Aspen Mountain Trails (CO). Or, search the list of national trails.