About Explore

Explore

Explore is a Canadian outdoor lifestyle magazine published quarterly by Explore Outdoor Media Inc. Founded in 1981, it covers travel adventures, gear, and events across Canada and beyond, and it bills itself as the country's most-awarded outdoor adventure publication. Its website is explore-mag.com.

Overview

Each issue of Explore highlights travel adventures to remote corners of Canada and beyond, alongside gear coverage and event listings. Noted contributors have included adventurer Frank Wolf, paddling writer Kevin Callan, and ice climber Will Gadd. The magazine is published four times a year and is sold on newsstands nationwide — its 45th-anniversary issue appeared on more than 900 newsstands — as well as by subscription.

The brand has expanded digitally with ExploreNOW, a subscription-based digital portal offering long-form features, investigations, and expert guides, and with a podcast, Explore Magazine's Live the Adventure Podcast, launched in 2019. A quarterly curated subscription box, the Live the Adventure Club, launched in 2016.

History

Explore was founded in 1981 as a grassroots provincial periodical — Explore Alberta Magazine, per the magazine's own anniversary accounts, with the first issue going on sale on newsstands in the spring of 1981. It grew from those regional roots into a national publication and, in the company's telling, the definitive voice of Canadian outdoor culture.

Ownership changed several times. In the summer of 2012, Explore was sold by Cottage Life Media Inc. to OP Publishing of North Vancouver in exchange for OP Publishing's Cottage magazine; David Webb, formerly editor of Western Sportsman and The Outdoor Edge, became editor in November 2012. In November 2013, My Passion Media acquired Explore alongside InfoBarrel and Canadian Traveller; in April 2014 the company launched ExploreTheUSA.com as a sister publication. In 2022, Explore Outdoor Media Inc. was formed as an independent media company and publisher of Explore Magazine, with David Webb appointed president and publisher. The company maintains offices in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Dartmouth.

The magazine marked its 45th anniversary in 2026 with a print surge, the ExploreNOW digital portal, and a first-ever apparel collaboration with Canadian outdoor company Northern Sun. That year it earned an Honourable Mention in the Best Magazine: Service & Lifestyle category at the National Magazine Awards, adding to more than 200 editorial awards and nominations the brand claims across its history.

Content

Explore's content spans destination travel, outdoor adventure, gear reviews, and how-to guidance: hiking, paddling, camping, climbing, and winter sports across Canada's landscapes. The magazine publishes features on historical trails, classic summer camps, and personal journeys, alongside gear innovations and expert guides. Its digital guides — such as a free e-book of the 50 best hikes in Canada — extend its service journalism online.

Coverage & Audience

Explore serves Canada's outdoor enthusiasts, from hiking newcomers to seasoned paddlers. It describes itself as Canada's only national outdoor adventure publication and the best-selling magazine in its category on Canadian newsstands, season after season. Its audience is the country's active-lifestyle community, reached through print, digital, podcast, and events.

Ownership

Explore is published by Explore Outdoor Media Inc., an independent media company formed in 2022, led by president and publisher David Webb. Earlier owners included Cottage Life Media Inc. (until 2012), OP Publishing (2012–2013), and My Passion Media (2013–2022).

The 45th-Anniversary Issue

The Summer 2026 issue — the one marking the 45th anniversary — shows what the magazine has become. Its cover lines promise the best of summer science and technology for beating the heat, a guide to keeping adventure pets cool, an exploration of Canada's historical hiking trails, an ode to the classic summer camp, a solo hike of a 164-kilometre trail in England, and a paddle down New Brunswick's Miramichi River. The mix is the Explore formula in miniature: service journalism (the gear, the guides), place writing (the trails, the rivers), and the personal journey, all in one quarterly package.

President and publisher David Webb used the anniversary to state the brand's cause plainly: "Inspiring Outdoor Experiences." In the company's anniversary announcement he called it "my immense pleasure and privilege to lead the team stewarding this iconic Canadian media brand into its 45th year and beyond," committing to world-class storytelling, Canadian voices and expanded print and digital products — and crediting the 45 years to "every reader, writer, photographer and adventurer who has made Explore their own." The anniversary also brought industry recognition: an Honourable Mention in the Best Magazine: Service & Lifestyle category at the 2026 National Magazine Awards.

The Podcast Desk

Explore Magazine's Live the Adventure Podcast, launched in 2019, has grown into a substantial second newsroom. Recent episodes show the range: a September 2025 episode on living with wildfire — "one of the most intense fire seasons on record" — with a guest from the wildfire world; a June 2025 episode marking the show's 40th instalment with Squamish multi-sport racer Dave Norona; an episode on forestry and what the word means to people who spend their lives in forests; a travel episode weighing carbon footprints and overtourism against slow, deep, meaningful travel. A return guest, Kevin Callan — "The Happy Camper" — signals the show's place in the paddling community's affections.

The podcast also carries the brand's partnerships: an episode with the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association on its "Everyone Outdoors Together" movement, building toward the Great Canadian Sunset. Episodes are tagged across the site's taxonomy — Adventure, Health and Wellness, Partner Content — and the ExploreNOW portal marks its exclusives, tying the audio operation back into the subscription business.

Category Leadership

The brand's own claims are consistent across platforms: "Canada's number-one outdoor adventure publication," in the Zinio newsstand listing's words; "Canada's only national outdoor adventure publication" and the best-selling magazine in its category on Canadian newsstands, season after season, in the company's telling; and more than 200 editorial awards and nominations across its history. The 45th-anniversary issue's appearance on more than 900 newsstands gives the claim physical form. In a country where the outdoors is a national identity, Explore has spent 45 years making the case that it is the identity's magazine of record.

The Brand Extensions

The 45th anniversary also produced the brand's first-ever apparel collaboration, with Canadian outdoor company Northern Sun — a sign of how far Explore has travelled from a regional print periodical toward a lifestyle brand. It joins the earlier extensions: the Live the Adventure Club, a quarterly curated subscription box launched in 2016, and ExploreNOW, the subscription digital portal for long-form features, investigations and expert guides. The magazine's digital guides — including a free e-book of the 50 best hikes in Canada and the "America's 50 Most Amazing Outdoor Adventures" franchise — extend the service journalism beyond the quarterly rhythm.

Distribution completes the picture: the print edition sells on newsstands nationwide (the anniversary issue topped 900 outlets) and by subscription, while the Zinio digital edition carries the magazine to readers who never touch paper. Print, portal, podcast, box, apparel — the one-title magazine of 1981 is now a five-channel outdoor media business, still headquartered in the company's telling as the definitive voice of Canadian outdoor culture.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website at explore-mag.com publishes features, guides, gear coverage, and digital exclusives, alongside the subscription-based ExploreNOW portal. The brand maintains a podcast and a social media presence promoting its stories and photography. Its history is documented in its Wikipedia entry, in Masthead Online's industry coverage, and in the company's anniversary announcements.