Outing Club

From the Union directory, Sep 7, 2026

The purpose of the Union College Outing Club is to provide an opportunity for students to spend time in the great outdoors and experience the natural world. Through these experiences, students learn about environmental ethics and practical skills that can be applied in other aspects of day-to-day life. As students, we spend most of our time inside focused on academic studies, but it is crucial to also go outside and experience what nature has to offer.Union College is fortunate to be surrounded by three amazing state parks, the Catskill Mountains to the south, the Green Mountains to the east, the Adirondacks to the north. Additionally, there are numerous lakes and rivers nearby, which offer a vast wilderness to explore. We hope to offer as many students at Union College a chance to augment their academic education with an outdoor experience. We also offer to students the chance to escape the Union College Campus and Schenectady area. Often students find themselves with little to do in the Schenectady area, so we offer students the opportunity to relax in the outdoors and breathe some fresh air. These trips allow for students to unwind and we encourage students to remember that their time at college is to be enjoyed.We reach out to our fellow students through events including backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, snowshoeing, climbing, whitewater rafting, and canoeing. Following the name, we're a predominantly outdoor oriented club and nearly all of our events occur off campus in nature. Aside from the physical aspects, we strive to educate students on different aspects of the great outdoors like backcountry cooking, Leave No Trace ethics, wilderness survival & bushcraft skills, and orienteering.Our goal over the next year is two-fold: first, to build a consistent base of outdoor adventurers that are more self-reliant on the excursions we provide. This means that we can supply the gear, transportation, and planning, but once the trip starts leave it to the rest of the group to manage their own experience with us "leading from the rear" so-to-speak. Second, we want to also include people who haven't had much exposure to the outdoors and give them the opportunity to experience it in a safe, open, and available environment and (hopefully) get them to become a consistent member!