Camping and Woodcraft, 2011

Horace Kephart

introduction by George Ellison and Janet McCue

Originally published in 1906, Horace Kephart’s classic Camping and Woodcraft has withstood the test of time as the definitive guide to hiking, camping, cabin-making, camp-cooking and outdoor survival. Incredibly, it has undergone nearly 70 printings and is one of the best-selling books on the outdoors ever published.

This edition includes several special features not included in any previous printings. The 80-page introduction, which serves as a concise biography of the enigmatic author, is written by George Ellison and Janet McCue — two of the world’s leading experts on Kephart and his works. In addition, this book includes rare photographs, many never before published, captured by Horace Kephart and his hiking companion George Masa.

Preview the book here

  • "No one has done more toward rediscovering the Wilderness..."

    - Charles L. Gilman, Minneapolis Daily Star

  • "Mr. Kephart is the most level-headed writer on outdoor subjects in this country. His Camping and Woodcraft is without a rival."

    - Edward C. Crossman, Outer’s Book

  • "If I were forced to choose only one field manual for the wilderness, or for my own library, it would be [this book]. His work remains as important, informative, and entertaining today as the day it was first published. Timeless indeed."

    - Bob Plott, author of Strike & Stay: The Story of the Plott Hound and Legendary Hunters of the Southern Highlands

  • "The romance of his prose and precision of his instruction inspired the novice to say: 'I can do this,' 'I want to do this,' and 'I want to do it with style.'"

    - David Wescott, author of Camping in the Old Style and an authority on American outdoor literature

  • "an encyclopedia of living in the open..."

    - Field & Stream magazine

  • "...deserves to be a working tool of every friend of the wilderness and life in the out-of-doors."

    - John Frazier King, writer for Appalachian Heritage magazine

About the authors

Horace Kephart: Librarian, author, and outdoorsman from St. Louis who fell in love with the wilderness and people of the Smokies after arriving in 1904 after his health broke down. His books are classics, stirring interest in outdoor recreation (Camping and Woodcraft) and Appalachian culture (Our Southern Highlanders). He was a vocal campaigner for the establishment of the national park, helped plot the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies, and served on the nomenclature committee. Mount Kephart was named after him in 1931.

Writer-naturalist George Ellison lived near Bryson City, North Carolina for most of his life. He wrote extensively about Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Horace Kephart. For more than 30 years he conducted natural history workshops for the park’s Smoky Mountain Field School. As part of the park’s centennial celebration, Ellison was designated one of the “100 most influential people in the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.” In 2012 he won the Wild South Roosevelt-Ashe award for “Outstanding Journalism in Conservation.” In 2016 he and his wife, the artist Elizabeth Ellison, were named “Blue Ridge Naturalists of the Year.” George passed away in February 2023.

Janet McCue is a writer, researcher, and avid hiker. She and George Ellison have collaborated on several other Kephart publications, including the biographical chapter in the Horace Kephart Reader (2019) and Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography (2019). Learn more about Janet here.