Destination Backcountry Adventures

I went on my first overnight trip in September and can’t wait to go back out again! I had the best time and Dave was amazing. We had a small group, which only made the experience so much better. Looking forward to the next one!

Went on a hike last month with Destination Backcountry and brought my dog with me. By the end of the hike we were both exhausted! The hike had amazing views and i was glad i was with someone that knew where to go. Overall great time! Thanks!

Dave and lily were very knowledgeable and super friendly. It was my first mountain hike and even though it was a bit intense, they patiently waited for all hikers.

Amazing hiking experience! Dave felt like hiking with a best friend and the views weren’t too hard on the eyes either! We felt very taken care of and will be joining them again soon!

Had a wonderful time on the Hudson Valley Hike and Harvest. This was their easiest hike, combined with some fun exploration in town. Dave is a great guide, and I may even try one of their more challenging hikes in the future (and for an out-​of-​shape lazy bum like me, that’s saying something!)

We had an amazing time on our hike in Minnewaska! Dave was an awesome guide who made the hike fun and informative. We had a delicious lunch and addictive hot chocolate to warm us up. Dave was super accommodating of our barky pup, Bowie, who had a fit that he wasn’t leading the group. Dave walked Bowie with him up front for a good portion of the hike so he could lead the way. We will definitely be back!

Exceeded my expectations! Dave is an excellent guide and right from the first moment he made us all feel comfortable that we were in good hands and that all would be taken care of. He made sure we were safe, having fun and fed us a lovely lunch with incredible hot chocolate to warm us up! He got extra bonus points for being super lovely with my dog who fell in icy water when he mistook how deep it was. Dave removed his fleece and use it’s to dry him off to make sure he wouldn’t freeze. So above and beyond. Thx to dave and mike for an amazing day! Well be back for sure.

We had a blast on a daily hiking trip going up Sugarloaf in the Catskills. If you are looking to get outside the city for a day, learn survival skills, stay overnight, do some more advanced stuff — DBA is the place. Dave is a fantastic guy with lots of insights and war stories.
A couple things to keep in mind:
1. Dave provides snacks and food and everything is high calorie stuff as you burn a lot of energy going up hill. If you are on some dietary restriction — bring your food.
2. Bring plenty of water (2L per person for a daily trip should be enough).
3. Bring some dry clothes and get ready for some rain since it’s often rainy there.
4. Wear shoes with some thread and make sure your clothes are warm enough since it’s much colder uphill.

Absolute fantastic awesomeness!!! (does that make sense… if you hiked with Dave, it totally fits)
I’ve done two hikes with DBA — Mt Wittenberg and Minnewaske Park. I’m truly overcome by the graciousness, variety and overall fulfillment of these tours. DBA definitely has a special touch – a composite of great energy, subject matter expertise, people and organization. Doing a day escape is such a special treat that every New Yorker deserves and if you’re fit and love hiking, it truly gets no better than this.

Excellent tour. Dave was very nice and friendly and has excellent outdoor knowledge. He was patient and well experienced guide. The tour was well organized. and they are even dog friendly! I had a great time with them and so was my doggie popcorn. Will definitely join them again.

I am not typically an outdoors type person, but I decided to try out a day hike adventure I found on Groupon. By far the best choice I made. Having no prior experience with hiking, we climbed up on the Westkill Mountain. Not exactly a breeze, which made reaching the peak even more rewarding. Dave is an awesome guide whose energy and positive attitude made the whole experience fun. After our hike, Dave took us to some much deserved BBQ at Hickory in Kensington, NY. Thanks Dave for making this city girl love the outdoors!

We had an awesome camping weekend with Dave. While we enjoy the outdoors, it’s not always easy to get it all together and make it happen. We asked Destination Backcountry Adventures to much of the work for us. They found a beautiful Catskills spot near a lake and a fresh spring, they set up the tent, they made a fire without a duraflame log even though there had been torrential downpours all afternoon/​evening. We went fishing and Dave showed us where to find natural brook trout, which we caught. Kids loved it. Salamanders, fish, canoe, turtle, and more. Parents enjoyed not having to do all the work. I highly recommend Dave and his company.

Perfect way to get away from the hectic life of NYC. I did the Yoga retreat and it was amazing!!! A full day of activities and beautiful scenario. Hiking, Yoga, Meditation, Waterfalls, Food!!, More Hiking. It was honestly like a 1 day vacation for me. Highly recommend! I will be back.

Don’t know if I can really say anything the other reviews haven’t. I’ve been out on trips twice with DBA and plan on going on many more in the future. It’s always nice to be able to just pack your gear and not have to worry about food, transportation, logistics, or safety. Dave, the founder and often lead guide, is the real deal — a true mountain man. Always beaming with energy, warmth, and knowledge.
New Yorkers don’t get to appreciate the outdoors very often and DBA offers NYC a chance to experience true wilderness for a very reasonable price point and hikers of all skill levels.
So what are you waiting for? Book today. You won’t regret it.

I just completed the Survival School course with Dave and his team, and it was an awesome experience. We spent two one-​hour sessions learning the basics of survival, starting with the survival mentality. The sheer enjoyment the team takes in being outside, and in sharing their experience in the woods, makes this a really positive experience. They show the wilderness as something to survive in, not something to survive through. Even as an experienced camper, I learned new information and hands on methods to exist for days in the woods. Highly recommend.

On January 25^th, I hiked the Blackhead range and as a person who is more versed in the art of bacon cheeseburger gorging than long distance running, my Girlfriend and one of my close friends who brought me along were convinced I was going to have a coronary due to the nature of this strenuous hike. That being said, I also must disclose that I don’t normally do things like hikes or climbing or anything that involves sustained amounts of physical labor that is not interspersed with several meals and a nap.
However, I was very impressed at how this hike was planned out. There were breaks that gave you just enough time to catch your breath before continuing up the toughest parts up, and down, the beautiful mountain. The terrain was challenging in a very positive way, without being notably hazardous, as the guides were very diligent in offering suggestions on how to approach certain obstacles encountered along the way.
The guides are very worth elaborating on as well.
There is of course Dave, but I like to think of him as Davy Crockett, as he, in my opinion, has redefined what it means to live and breathe your business. The entire trip, from pick up to drop off, he immersed us in stories of how DBA was born, how it has evolved and his visions of the business (I admit I am truly jealous at how much Dave absolutely loves his job). He could walk up and down those trails with his eyes closed and point out scenic overlooks, natural rock formations, ice formations and any other visual bounty of nature you could possibly imagine by scent. This guy is good. I have never had more fun and been more entertained while pushing my body to its natural limits ever before. Dave is not only informative, his stories are hilarious, and his singing along in the van makes for a lively trip back.
The other guides were clearly hand picked by Dave for their personalities, fitness and knowledge of the terrain. They were all helpful at all the right times and very accommodating in every sense of the word. If Dave is the pied piper of DBA, his guides are close behind him — very deserving acolytes.
If you are on the fence about the outdoors, try this company first, as you will not only have a great time and meet some fun people, you will realize a day in the woods is not as intimidating as you may imagine.
If you are an experienced hiker, you will find your outdoor zen in Dave and his merry band of guides, and I would venture to say that you would learn a lot from each other in the process (as well as be privy to plenty of laughs).
There is something for everyone here, and I can’t offer a more solid recommendation for Dave/​DBA. I would be hard pressed to find a more outstanding outdoor experience at such an incredible value (I thought the price was too good to be true, and the truth is he doesn’t charge enough, so effectively I was right:-).

I love this stuff. The mountains. The wilderness. the adventure. I want to run into a bear and I want to wrestle this bear. I want this bear to invite me into its den and make me part of the tribe.
I want to have a house high up in the trees and I want to eat the birds and the bugs that are up with me. I want to be known as tree mountain man. As people walk by they will look up at my kingdom and ponder my necessities.
One day, in my tree mountain castle, I will take a wife. A queen to rule over the mountains and command the bears. Then there will be an uprising of nature. One day the trees will rule again.

I’d like to write this review as the full day of adventures and stories are still fresh in my mind. My gf and I just got back from the Minnewaska State Park tour of two waterfalls and a beautiful lake. I’ve trekked all around the world, and I must say that today was one of the most rewarding hikes I’ve been on. Not only did we do a gorgeous hike around and above a waterfall, Dave and Mike (the most awesome tour guides) really accommodated the whole group and made sure we had a fantastic time.
We had a pregnant lady in our group (who, btw, kicked ass trekking far ahead of myself taking photos of everything), and there was never a time where I felt rushed or overwhelmed. We hit every spot promised on the itinerary, and more importantly, it felt very organic going from place to place at a leisurely pace. It wasn’t meant to be a hardcore hike, but it was just as rewarding for a full Saturday trip.
Dave and Mike have wonderful chemistry chatting with each other and engaging everyone in the group to tell little stories and geological facts about each location. From the different color moss on the rocks to the strata and history, they could absolutely answer every question we had. A few highlights of their crazy antics: Dave and Mike had a little mini snowball fight, Dave jumped into the freezing waterfall lake off of a simple dare, and they shared countless stories about anything and everything (from driving speeding tickets to crazy morons getting hangover from coffee).
In list form, here’s what stood out to me, and has convinced me to join the tour again:
1) Trust. I don’t say this often, but I absolutely trust Dave and Mike are completely knowledgeable and will entertain us throughout the trip.
2) People. Everyone I met on the tour of 12 were extremely friendly and absolutely lovely to get to know better. I want to stay in touch and be friends with these people.
3) Flexibility. I love how the guides were able to read the group and make any minor changes they needed to. Our apartment was on the way to the Brooklyn drop point and he just let us off in front of our place.
4) Good vibes. The guides are super upbeat. This is their passion and they’re happy to share the experience with you. That energy is something that can’t be taught.
5) Dave. It’s very rare to find a hands-​on owner that still runs tours and handles customer service. He’s truly the face of the company and I always appreciate it when the business/​operations/​administration work does not get in the way of being involved with the whole purpose of starting the company.
DBA has a variety of amazing trips and I’m looking forward to trying all of them. It really feels like I’m a part of a community of fun people that love the great outdoors, and I’m just pitching in for food and gas. If I had a friend that organized this stuff for me, I’d certainly pay for his meal and a beer, This is exactly that embodied in their brand. Certainly looking forward to the next trip!

This was a ton of fun and made hiking very easy. We don’t have a car and haven’t hiked in ages, but my boyfriend and I saw a deal on Amazon Local and jumped at the chance. Selling point? They pick you up — Manhattan or Brookyn — and drive you to the hiking site, lead you, feed you, and drive you back, with an option to stop for a group dinner before the ride home if everyone in the group agrees.
The hike we did, Balsam Lake Mountain, was billed as Easy and it was a little more challenging than we’d anticipated, but mostly because we chose to take a different route down the mountain in order to pass by a natural spring, which took us down a steeped incline than the regular trail would have. The pace was good, Dave is a great guide, and the group stayed energized and happy, largely due to Dave and Lauren who were great.
We will definitely go again, are already looking through upcoming hikes!

Henry David Thoreau went out into the woods so that he could live deliberately. Robert Frost, having made his way to the woods, took the road less taken. For my part, I went out into the woods to drink some mountain mocha, learn how to walk with walking poles without thinking about it, and to squeeze the life out of my camping gear so as to fit all of it into the pack. None of which would have been possible without Destination Backcountry Adventures and our wonderful guides Dave and Gregor.
In all seriousness (well, not in ALL seriousness, but in MOST seriousness because you can’t be too serious about nature and its accoutrements), Destination Backcountry Adventures provides a wonderful experience.
I went for a one-​night hiking trip with three friends in the Catskills recently. Dave, our guide, the owner of the company, and the man previously known as Day Hike Dave (TMPKADHD), obviously cares a great deal about nature, about his hikers and campers, and about making sure everyone has a great time in a safe and fun way. From the beginning of the trip, Dave and Gregor made sure that we were deliciously well-​fed and comfortable. It would have been impossible for us to enjoy nature and to get as full of an experience without the expertise and logistics provided by this company. Beyond that, the whole thing is just geared to be fun. And did I mention delicious? I never ate so well in my life! (note to you: ask about dried mangoes and tomatoes; note to me: ask you to get me some).
Bottom line: if you’re looking for a guided trip in nature that is fun and trouble-​free, look no further than Destination Backcountry Adventures. I’d recommend it. So would Thoreau. As for Frost, I am not sure he would, not because he’d have anything against it, but simply because he was rather the curmudgeon, as I understand.