The Sewanee Outing Program (SOP) gives students the chance to explore Sewanee’s 13,000-acre campus, the surrounding region, and wilderness areas across the United States.
On SOP trips, students have fun and are afforded the opportunity to learn valuable leadership and technical skills while gaining a greater appreciation for the natural world around them. We'd love for you to join us on an upcoming trip!
SOP trips are substance free with a focus on camaraderie over competition.
PRE-Orientation offers incoming students the opportunity to get to know Sewanee in a unique and exciting atmosphere. While familiarizing themselves with the 13,000-acre Domain, students meet other first-year, transfer, and upperclass students in an environment that creates trust and establishes new friendships.
These trips are a great way for students to experience the outdoors, increase their outdoor skills, and gain firsthand knowledge of what it takes to lead a trip. Most of the SOP day trips are on the Domain. Activities include rock climbing, bouldering, canoeing, trail running, caving, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and cycling.
The SOP offers extended break trips across the country. These popular outings include canoeing on the Rio Grande, backpacking in the Smokies, and winter mountaineering in Colorado, among others.
Our 95+ student trip leaders are the backbone of the SOP. Students become trip leaders by going on our outings, apprenticing, and completing Wilderness Advanced First Aid training. Being a trip leader takes a lot of responsibility, but it is a terrific way to share your interests with other students.
The Domain is home to an extensive network of hiking trails! The signature Perimeter Trail is a 20-mile loop that circles much of the Domain and provides a hiking experience unparalleled anywhere else in the region. With 13,000 acres, there's plenty to choose from!
Sewanee students not only enjoy access to extensive sport climbing and bouldering just out their back door; with help from the SOP, they also can take their climbing skills across the country!
With miles of passageway under the Domain, Sewanee is an unparalleled place to explore the underground world! Brand-new as well as seasoned cavers can join the SOP for weekly adventures.
Thanks to its avid cycling community, extensive trail network, and immediate proximity to idyllic road riding, Sewanee has something for cyclists of all stripes.
The SOP provides gear for most weekly outings and extended trips. Checking out equipment is free for students. SOP inventory includes, but is not limited to, sleeping bags, tents, backpacks, stoves, climbing equipment, first aid kits, and bouldering pads.
The SOP bike shop is student-run and focuses on basic repairs such as replacing tubes, quick adjustments, and chain lubrication. It is located right on campus for your convenience. For more major maintenance jobs, Woody's Bikes is right downtown.
Not all of the SOP's trips call for adventuring deep into the heart of the Domain; the lovely Manigault Park Frisbee golf course's proximity to central campus makes it easy to pop over for an impromptu game with friends!
The SOP's annual winter mountaineering trip gives students the chance to summit 14,000-foot peaks in the heart of Colorado's San Juan Range.
Located in the heart of the famous TAG caving region, Sewanee's Domain is home to numerous gorgeous caves (some drier than others!).
Students float 83 miles through the Rio Grande's Lower Canyons on the annual spring break canoeing trip.
The impeccable Warren Point Sandstone provides a playground for undergrad climbers right in their back yard!
Sewanee is perfectly situated within a few hours' drive of numerous excellent southeastern whitewater runs.
Spectacular road cycling surrounds the mountain on all sides!
Falling in love with climbing? Take your new skills to Shelf Road, Colorado, and scale some desert limestone with the SOP.
The Sewanee Outing Program empowers students to develop leadership abilities as well as technical skills.
If crawling through Sewanee's miles of underground passageways isn't enough for you, learn the skills to take your caving vertical!
