Hiking at a glacial ice cave at Skaftafell National Park, Iceland © Peter Adams / Offset

Backpacker in autumn Nire shrubs in Los Glaciares National Park, Patagonia, Argentina © Johnathan Ampersand Esper / Aurora Photos / Offset

Couple hiking on the island of Oahu, Hawaii © Julian Walter / Offset

Hiking and art-making might seem at first like unrelated pastimes, but a small glimpse through history will reveal the two recreations are often inextricably intertwined. Hiking for sport came into prominence in the late 1700s, born in large part from the Romanticism that permeated contemporary art movements. As European cities became increasingly industrial, creative minds flocked to the hilly countryside in hopes of reconnecting with the sublime in nature. Painters like German-born Caspar David Friedrich frequently pictured lone hikers dwarfed by the divine and sprawling landscape that surrounded them, rendering moments in which mankind was at once humbled and exalted by the powers of the wilderness.

Today, of course, hiking is a favorite hobby of many, not just artists. Still, good hiking trips continue to draw creative souls to the peaks and summits of unexplored terrains, and ultimately, there are few visions as satisfying as those captured on hikes. For our latest Offset group show, we pulled together forty-three astonishingly beautiful hiking photographs. Whether they are visiting Patagonia’s Los Glaciares National Park or a glacial ice cave in Iceland, these Offset photographers both speak to and expand upon the great tradition of Romantic masters, reminding us that no matter how far we come as a species, nature will always inspire awe and reverence.

Hiker walking trough a forest near Rott, Germany © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking through the complex sandstone rock formations at Bisti Badlands, Farmington, New Mexico. © Aurora Photos / Offset

Climbers on Via Ferrata, Mt Cristallo, Dolomites, Italy © Radius Images / Offset

Hiking area at Andalusia, Spain © Mel Stuart / Westend61 / Offset

A group of people hike a trail in Glacier National Park © Jimmy White / Offset

Lone hiker at a lake in Patagonia © Ingalls Photography / Offset

Hiking at El Escalon, Jalisco, Mexico © Marcos Ferro / Aurora Photos / Offset

Trekkers make their way down from Everest Base Camp beside the Khumbu glacier in Nepal © Alex Treadway / National Geographic / Offset

Hiking to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska © Rich Reid / National Geographic / Offset

Sunrise at the Horseshoe Bend Overlook with the Colorado River below, Page, Arizona © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington © Shanna Baker / Offset

Looking up at the tall trees in the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington © Shanna Baker / Offset

Crossing a wooden bridge in the Olympic National Park, Washington © Shanna Baker / Offset

Hiking in the Hurricane Ridge area of Olympic National Park, Washington © Shanna Baker / Offset

Group of hikers hiking on Zugspitze mountain © Dieter Heinemann / Westend61 / Offset

Hiker climbing path through the forest, central Oregon © Cavan Images / Offset

Glacier hiking on the Solheimajokull, Iceland © Marko Vesterinen / Offset

A boardwalk beneath the forest canopy on the coast of Olympic National Park, Washington © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking on the coast of Olympic National Park, Washington © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hikers crossing Tree Top Walk in Singapore © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking past a blue lake, San Juan National Forest, Silverton, Colorado © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking in North Cascades National Park © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking in Bugaboos, Rocky Mountains © Radius Images / Offset

Hiking in Bugaboos, Rocky Mountains © Radius Images / Offset

Hiking at Sendero Quise, Canary Islands © Martin Siepmann / Westend61 / Offset

Hikers on a mossy trail behind a waterfall in Iceland © Bernd Vogel / Offset

The Narrows in Zion National Park © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiker in Titcomb Basin, Wind River Range, Pinedale, Wyoming © Aurora Photos / Offset

A young girl walking along a waterfall in Morocco © Kirsty Larmour / Offset

Hiking to Capri from Monte Solaro, Italy © Lauryn Ishak / Offset

Hiking at Low Tauern © Hans Huber / Westend61 / Offset

Hiking in a dense forest on Oahhu Island, Hawaii © Julian Walter / Offset

Hikers admire the view from a dune in Sossusvlei, Namibia © Lauryn Ishak / Offset

Trekkers on the Everest Trek © Alun Richardson / Westend61 / Offset

Climbing Blitzen Ridge at sunrise, Rocky Mountain National Park © Aurora Photos / Offset

Hiking in the Hakaui Valley at Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia © National Geographic / Offset

Walking towards Grasmere from Alcock Tarn in The Lake District, Cumbria, England © Alex Treadway / National Geographic / Offset

All photos featured in this post can be found on Offset, a new curated collection of high-end commercial and editorial photography and illustration from award-winning artists around the world. Offset is a category partner on Feature Shoot.

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