The World's Best Naked Outdoor Events

The List: World's 10 Best Naked Outdoor Events

Here at Adventure Journal, we dig like honey badgers for answers to the really important questions in life. Like, "If I like to do something outside, where can I do it naked, with a large group of other naked people?" Hiking, biking, running, skiing, sledding - we've got you covered. Or uncovered, as it were.

1. World Naked Bike Ride
Nudity is welcomed and encouraged, but not mandatory, on this ride, sometimes referred to as "Critical Ass." After starting in 2003, it's now in 70 cities in more than 20 countries, and its mission is to make a statement about the dangers faced by pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the dangers of our dependence on oil.

2. Bay to Breakers
Probably the most legendary clothing-optional event in the U.S., Bay to Breakers was the world's largest footrace from 1986 to 2010 (with 100,000 participants each year, give or take) and is still one of the world's most colorful. It's not even unofficially a naked race, plenty of folks show up without clothing. Plenty more folks show up in ridiculous costumes, and if you don't mind running with lots of swinging and bouncing body parts for 7.5 miles across San Francisco, it might be your thing. Or your thing might….well, anyway.

3. Naked Hiking Day
Maybe not as many participants as some of our other nude events, and maybe more dispersed, Naked Hiking Day is usually held on the summer solstice - so that's either a warning to you if you're out hiking that day or a heads-up that you have at least somewhat of a license to stow your clothes in your pack. If you'd like to meet other naked hikers to hang out with that day, or hang your stuff out with, or just hang, there's usually a thread on the message board at HikingNaked.com.

4. International Swimming Gala
The de facto nude swimming world championships, this annual event put on by the French Federation of the International Naturist Federation draws approximately 200 competitors and spectators to compete in individual and relay events. Insert joke about "freestyle" and/or "breaststroke" here.

5. Running of the Nudes
Two days before the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, activists gather to run through the streets in little or no clothing to protest the cruelty of bullfighting. As many as 1,000 have streaked in this annual event since it started in 2002, now supported by PETA and other organizations.

6. Nanshan Naked Ski Pig Festival
Of course the biggest naked skiing event in the world takes place in China. Every year in March, Nanshan Ski Resort celebrates the end of the ski season with a naked ski day-like Crested Butte used to do. Competitors fly down a 200m run in costume, with varying levels of nudity, and the winner is judged by the level of crowd noise as they pass.

7. World Naked Gardening Day
The first Saturday in May, take license to tend to your plants in the your most natural state.  From the World Naked Gardening Day website: "Why garden naked? First of all, it's fun! Second only to swimming, gardening is at the top of the list of family friendly activities people are most ready to consider doing nude."

8. Naked Sledging World Cup
Porn stars have showed up at this sled race in this German village, in which dozens of entrants compete for the $1,500 prize money. Not surprisingly, tens of thousands of also spectators show up, and most participants are not quite naked, but for the most part topless. As one judge told a UK news site in 2011, "It's a very closely fought contest which is good for us because we're all very keen on studying the photo finishes."

9. Midsummer Skinny Dip
Each year in June, hundreds of naked people run from a beach in South Wales into the ocean, which is not warm, to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Cure. The 2011 event set a new Guinness world record with 413 participants.

10. Great Annual Nude Tunnel Run
The Homer Tunnel was blasted through the mountains of New Zealand's South Island in 1935 and now brings hordes of penitents to the glorious Milford Sound, but for one day a year it's the site of the Great Annual Nude Tunnel run, organized by kayaking outfitter and mayor of Milford Rosco. If you're a little shy about competing au naturale, perhaps this is the event for you - the tunnel is 1.2 kilometers long and completely dark.

Related Posts by Category