What Is WI?

Wilderness Inquiry (WI) is an organization dedicated to sharing the outdoors with others. As you will see by exploring our website, we provide all kinds of outdoor adventures for a wide variety of people. We offer canoe, kayak, hiking, horsepack, dogsled and raft trips throughout North America and the world. Each year we conduct over 250 events serving more than 9,000 people.

Our trips are designed for everyone from novices to seasoned outdoor veterans. Over the years, we have found that attitude is far more important than experience or ability. By their very nature, WI experiences have a way of fostering positive attitudes.

Staff Training at WI Conference Center

Canoes in the Warehouse

We are a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. WI is run with 10 full-time staff, 60 part-time staff, and a volunteer board of directors of 21 people. We are not a subsidiary of anything, nor are we officially affiliated with any group or organization. We do partner with many organizations and our trip participants come from all 50 states and from around the world.

Our passion is making high-quality outdoor experiences accessible for everyone, including those who do not typically get out and enjoy the wilderness. In addition to trips, we have a variety of programs and activities that help fulfill our mission. We do training for other organizations and provide outdoor skills workshops at community events. We also raise money to provide scholarships to make our programs financially accessible to everyone.

We hope you will share the adventure with us!

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Wilderness Inquiry Trail Staff