This special issue seeks to generate conversation about how to open up possibilities for how outdoor experiences and subjects are understood and undertaken. Outdoor experiences have largely been made exclusive through discourses that articulate narrow participatory borderlines and definitions. The authors hope through reading the contributions showcased in the collection, readers can reflect on, engage with and act on, breaking down dominant discourses about what it means to ‘be’ in the outdoors for the purpose of leisure. Individually and cumulatively, the papers in this special issue represent a critical engagement with the idea of outdoor leisure beyond the dominant paradigm associated with outdoor recreation.