The Ranger's "Tales from the Trails"
An annual literary journal for stories, poems, artwork, photography, and music from conservation workers and nature enthusiasts nationwide.
If you represent a park friend group, campground, or conservation agency, you can request an invoice for steeply discounted copies
Andrew Akers (He/Him) is a forest ranger and fiction writer from Pennsylvania, USA. His work has appeared in Book XI, The Daily Tomorrow, MetaStellar, and over twenty other publications. He recently published his debut novel, Tapestry, and his interactive novel, The Gatebreaker Protocol, is forthcoming. When he isn’t working or writing, Andrew runs marathons, plays Dungeons & Dragons, and raises his sons with his far more talented better half, Kylie. More information about Andrew's stories is available at andrew-akers.com or facebook.com/andrewakersauthor.
Starting out as a Ranger in 2012, Adam Geer has had a fruitful career in both the state parks and state forests of Pennsylvania. Growing up in Northwest PA and attending college in Lock Haven, Adam has spent nearly his entire life in the outdoors.
Yes! We accept almost all genres, including fantasy, horror, science fiction, adventure, suspense, thriller, humor, historical, western, crime, mystery, literary, young adult, romance, historical fiction, alternate fiction, stranger-than-fiction—you name it.
Our only exception is erotica. Please don’t send us any fan-fics of Sasquatch hooking up with Smokey.
…Unless it’s really, really good. However, our tolerance is PG-13.
Absolutely! If we receive enough kid-friendly content, we’ll even include a “Junior Ranger” section in later issues.
Please specify that the submission is intended for children, and note that a parent or guardian must attach a signature to our contract if the piece is accepted.
Please send us the love you have for your local parks. We’d be thrilled to consider publishing it.
We do. However, we pay a flat payment for pieces previously published elsewhere. Please see the submission guidelines for our most up-to-date payment schedule.
We love getting international submissions! Send them over!
We don't have a hard limit on how many pieces our contributors can send at once. However, please try to keep it within reason. 3-5 at a time is usually a good rule of thumb. Too many at once can really slow down our response times.
This can vary, but we aim to respond to most people within a week.
We only publish a paperback version of the Almanac. There is no e-book or Kindle version. However, there may be cheaper versions at your local park store, visitor center, or campground. If they don't have copies, REQUEST ONE! We are currently penning agreements with locations across the country. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds made at that location will go directly back into your park!
Great question! All multimedia submissions will be uploaded to our Ranger's Almanac YouTube page and added to the journal as a QR code. In the future, we may also include narrations of specific pieces or include commentary from creators.
No. We have a zero-tolerance policy on A.I. If we learn that you plagiarized your work with a generative A.I. tool, you will be blacklisted.
Still have questions? Reach out to us at
rangers.almanac@gmail.com
Keep an eye open for our inaugural issue, coming Memorial Day, 2026!