Talk:Outdoor recreation

Purpose section

As this article contains original research, yet there are citations for each, I will be taking out original ideas and words that connote original research such as opinion words. For example, 'outdoor recreation can be a social event and is popular amongst families, children and communities.' This is an opinion and contains original research so this can be changed to a broader, unbiased perspective such as 'outdoor recreation can be used for social events.' — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kstan200 (talk • contribs) 05:26, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

I agree - and went to make changes but there was a conflict because we're both trying to edit the same article.

Suggestion: 'Outdoor recreation can involve social events that include families, children and communities." CloudilyProbably (talk) 05:45, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Additionally, in the purpose section of this wiki article, it has been written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. (February 2019). Therefore, I will be changing 'Although most outdoor recreation is established sports', to 'Outdoor recreation can be used for established sports, and individuals can participate without association with teams, competitions or clubs.' This is now not argumentative and is factual, containing no original research. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kstan200 (talk • contribs) 05:40, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Agreed - please see above comment.

Suggestion: brevity of writing. Remove "any kind of activity", replace with "activities." CloudilyProbably (talk) 05:46, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Another suggestion

"Recreation in nature" should be changed to Outdoor recreation, or outdoor activities. 'Nature' is only one type of location for outdoor recreation, and does not include man-made outdoor structures or environments. CloudilyProbably (talk) 05:47, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Table of activities

In my opinion, the table of activities is not correct. Why is hiking in the mountains? Why is ATV riding in the forest? I suspect this is all original research.

This should not even be a table: it's a list, and will not be read correctly by screen readers. I'll just convert it to an alphabetical list, unless another editor has a better idea? — hike395 (talk) 12:26, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Inclusion of activities in the list

Not sure of the exact criteria here so if there is one someone can correct me. I've added three common outdoor activities 'Cricket', 'Football', and 'Tennis'. Cricket is almost always done outdoors. The other two CAN be done indoors, but since things like ice skating and driving (go karting) can be too that seems a bad distinction. Football might be a more controversial one considering the sport has different names in different countries. Anyway I think the main criteria of the list should just compile anything a person might want to do outside for exercise, it's both informative and more useful that way. 188.30.69.30 (talk) 18:27, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Given the lede of the article, I would think that activities like sports or games that are purely done as a competition would be excluded from the list. I've removed a few such activities that were in the list. — hike395 (talk) 00:50, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

I don't think that this article, or the list of activities given, should cover the gamut of 'anything a person might want to do outside for exercise'.

Yes, "outdoor recreation" is a broad concept. And the sources used in this article support the idea that technically speaking, any sport or form of exercise done outside could be considered outdoor recreation. However, there is a set of activities which are inherently forms of outdoor recreation, as opposed to optionally manifesting as O.R.

In my opinion, the list as it is right now is too expansive and would be more so if every sport of the latter sort were to be included. Otherwise it would just be an arbitrarily-selective "list of sports", which is more or less redunant. Instead, the list should be focused along the lines of "list of activities typically considered outdoor recreation". It should provide activities which take place in an outdoor environment, and are in some way typically engaged with or are motivated by the natural features of that environment. This doesn't exclude all activities in urban settings, because activities like picnicing or birdwatching can just as well happen there, but are still significantly motivated by the experience of being outside.

In addition, I think it's silly that items such as "Amusement park" and "Aviation" are included. Yes, these technically overlap with the concept of outdoor recreation, but they are way too broad to be of any use to readers.

It would make sense, however, to include a paragraph explaining the broader sense of the definition and giving a few examples, like team sports.

This would also be more in line with Wikipedia's guidance for list usage: "Keep lists and tables as short as feasible for their purpose and scope".

Admittedly this is not a fully-formed opinion, so if you or anyone else is interested in working on this article, this should definitely be open for discussion before any big edits to the list. Procyon14 (talk) 14:55, 4 March 2026 (UTC)